Their object
was to fish, the greater river itself being too muddy for the succulent
kind that they wished. The incomparable "Galleon" had also been supplied
with fishing tackle, and in a short time they caught a splendid supply of
black bass and perch, which proved to be very fine and toothsome. As their
boat floated back from the smaller stream into the Mississippi, Shif'less
Sol heaved a deep sigh.
"What's the matter, Sol?" asked Paul.
"I wuz thinkin' o' Christopher Columbus," replied Shif'less Sol. "Ef it
wuzn't that I'd be dead now, I wish I'd been with him. I do enjoy sailin'
on an' discoverin' lands an' waters that ain't yet got no name to 'em. It
looks funny to me that we wuzn't discovered sooner, when we've always been
here, but Columbus has all my respeck an' admiration 'cause he done it
when the others didn't."
"That shorely wuz a man," said Tom Ross, his eyes lighting up. "I've heard
the tale how he kep' tryin' an' tryin' to git a ship, an' couldn't, an'
at last the Spanish lady pulled off her earrings an' finger rings an'
bracelets an' said: 'Here, Chris, these, these are my jewels, take 'em,
trade 'em fur the best ship thar is in the market, an' discover Ameriky.'
An' then he got his ship, an' kep' sailin' on an' on, an' the sailors they
began to git skeered an' then more skeered.
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