A garland of the flowers, And on a misty autumn day They crowned their queen--and ran away! And by that gift they made you free Of all the roads of Faerie!_ CONTENTS PAGE _To Foresta_ v I ASGARD THE BEAUTIFUL (1348) 1 _The Viking's Secret_ 17 II THE RUNES OF THE WIND-WIFE (1364) 18 _The Navigators_ (1415-1460) 34 III SEA OF DARKNESS (1475) 35 _Sunset Song_ 48 IV PEDRO AND HIS ADMIRAL (1492) 50 _The Queen's Prayer_ 65 V THE MAN WHO COULD NOT DIE (1493-1494) 66 _The Escape_ 80 VI LOCKED HARBORS (1497) 81 _Gray Sails_ 93 VII LITTLE VENICE (1500) 94 _The Gold Road_ 104 VIII THE DOG WITH TWO MASTERS (1512) 105 _Cold o' the Moon_ (1519) 117 IX WAMPUM TOWN (1508-1524) 121 _The Drum_ 133 X THE GODS OF TAXMAR (1512-1519) 134 _The Legend of Malinche_ 148 XI THE THUNDER BIRDS (1519-1520) 150 _Moccasin Flower_ 165 XII GIFTS FROM NORUMBEGA (1533-1535) 167 _The Mustangs_ 181 XIII THE WHITE MEDICINE MAN (1528-1536) 182 _Lone Bayou_ (1542) 195 XIV THE FACE OF THE TERROR (1564) 197 _The Destroyers_ 214 XV THE FLEECE OF GOLD (1561-1577) 215 _A Watch-dog of England_ (1583) 237 XVI LORDS OF ROANOKE (1584) 238 _The Changelings_ 250 XVII THE GARDENS OF HELENE (1607-1609) 252 _The Wooden Shoe_ 269 XVIII THE FIRES THAT TALKED (1610) 270 _Imperialism_ 282 XIX ADMIRAL OF NEW ENGLAND (1600-1614) 284 _The Discoverers_ 299 BIBLIOGRAPHY 300 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "'I will tell you where there is plenty of it'" (in color) _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE "'And Freya came from Asgard in her chariot drawn by two cats'" (in color) 4 "Nils marked out an inscription in Runic letters" 30 "The miniature globe took form as the children watched, fascinated" 44 "He proposed that Caonaba should put on the gift the Spanish captain had brought" 78 "A sapling, bent down, was attached to a noose ingeniously hidden" 86 "The natives seemed prepared to traffic in all peace and friendliness" (in color) 132 "Cortes flung about his shoulders his own cloak" 146 "Moteczuma awaited them in the courtyard" (in color) 162 "Cartier read from his service-book" 176 "The creatures darkened the plain almost as far as the e