"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 296 - A Quarter of Eight - Walter Gibson" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

the business before them was unquestionably a post-war project.
The business concerned a large and curious silver coin which lay on the
wrought-iron table that graced Sargon's back room. It bore the inscription
BOBADILLA - IMPERATOR and it showed the face of a stern Spanish grandee,
topped
by a plumed helmet. On the other side, the coin bore an unidentified
coat-of-arms, and it was scored deeply with two cross-lines which divided the
coin into four sectors. Each of these quadrants in turn had a furrow that ran
horizontally across the coin, making eight divisions in all.
 One man put a sudden question:
"You say this was found in the ruins of St. Pierre?"
"In the cellar of an old house," another replied. "A house that belonged
to a family named LeClerq before the great eruption of 1902."
Both men looked toward a third, who was studying the coin with care. When
he spoke, the man's tone carried authority.
"This explains the mystery of Bobadilla," he asserted. "It fits with a
theory that has lingered through four centuries. Shall I expound it?"
There were nods from the other three.
"Bobadilla was the first Spanish governor of Hispaniola," related the
speaker. "His misrule was so notorious that Columbus was sent on one of his
later voyages to order Bobadilla back to Spain. Only Bobadilla didn't wait; he
set out with his entire fleet, carrying all the treasure that he had
accumulated at the expense of the enslaved natives."
A chuckle came from the fourth man, who so far had remained silent. Then:
"I'm glad you're telling us this," the man said. "Go on."
"Bobadilla sailed right into a hurricane which he knew was coming," the
narrator resumed. "His ships were sunk, his treasure lost and with it his
famous golden table, which he was reputedly taking to the King of Spain as a
peace offering. But there is another theory, the one I have mentioned; namely,
that Bobadilla intended to keep his treasure for himself."
Pausing to note that the fourth man was alert, the narrator continued
calmly:
"It was in 1500 that Bobadilla arrived in Hispaniola and his first act
was
to arrest Columbus, who was already there, and send him back to Spain in
chains.
The year 1502 was when Columbus returned with authority to order Bobadilla
home.
Meanwhile, during the year between, another explorer named Americus Vespucius
had discovered new lands to the South, the country now called Brazil.
Unquestionably Bobadilla had heard of this, so what could have suited him
better than to sail to that vast continent and set up his own empire there!"
Reaching to the table, the speaker fingered the ancient coin and finally
clinked it upon the ironwork.
"This coin proves the theory," he declared. "Having cast his gold into
one
great piece, he must have used his silver to strike off his own currency for
the
empire that was to be, but never was."
A nod of agreement from the fourth man, who suddenly became spokesman for