The interpreter--who was the only one left of those ten stolen Indians carried by Columbus to Spain--came to the Admiral's side; by the light of the ship's lantern they could make out the figure of an Indian in his canoe.

He brought presents from his chief.

But where are my men at the fort?
asked the Admiral.

And then the whole sad story was told.
The fort of La Navidad was destroyed; the Spaniards were all dead; the first attempt of Spain to start a colony in the new world was a terrible failure.

And for it the Spaniards themselves were to blame.
After Columbus had left them, the forty men in the fort did not do as he told them or as they had solemnly promised.