THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE 



It was on that ever memorable night before 

 the discovery of America. Sleepless, it is said, 

 Columbus stood on board his ship and gazed 

 out into the darkness. Lay there before him 

 in this impenetrable blackness only the desolate 

 ocean through which he had already sailed so 

 long, or did there lie therein a new unknown 

 land? Suddenly a light appeared moving mys- 

 teriously. It was a firebrand swung by an In- 

 dian. Under the veil of night there lay in fact, 

 although yet unseen, the island of San Salva- 

 dor, the first shores of the new world. In the 

 morning, the cannons would salute, the palms 

 would wave and it would stand revealed. In 

 the night all concealed itself in this little red 

 spark, this tiny star. We can picture to our- 

 selves how in this ghostly hour the whole gigan- 

 tic continent of America lay pressed together 

 in this red star on San Salvador, — its snow- 

 decked volcanoes, its enormous streams, its wild 

 untrodden primeval forests, its endless green 

 plains, — all unlocked in a moment to the 

 searching eye of European culture in that tiny 

 star-like point of light. 



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