were
moved by his determination. They began to believe in him more and more.
They resolved to help him. One of the principal sea captains of Palos
was named Martin Alonso Pinzon. He became so interested that he offered
to lend Columbus money enough to make one last appeal to the king and
queen of Spain, and if Columbus should succeed with them, this Captain
Pinzon said he would go into partnership with Columbus and help him out
when it came to getting ready to sail to Cathay.

This was a move in the right direction. At once a messenger was sent to
the splendid Spanish camp before the city of Granada, the last
unconquered city of the Moors of Spain. The king and queen of Spain had
been so long trying to capture Granada that this camp was really a city,
with gates and walls and houses. It was called Santa Fe. Queen Isabella,
who was in Santa Fe, after some delay, agreed to hear more about the
crazy scheme of this persistent Genoese sailor, and the Friar Juan Perez
was sent for. He talked so well in behalf of his friend Columbus that
the queen became still more interested. She ordered Columbus to come and
see her, and sent him sixty-five dollars to pay for a mule, a new suit
of clothes, and the journey to court.

About Christmas time, in the year 1491, Columbus, mounted upon his mule,
rode into the Spanish camp before the city of Granada. But even now,
when he had been told to come, he had to wait. Granada was almost
captured; the Moors were almost conquered. At last the end came. On the
second of January, 1492, the Moorish king gave up the keys of his
beloved city, and the great Spanish banner was hoisted on the highest
tower of the Alhambra--the handsomest building in Granada and one of the
most beautiful in the world. The Moors were driven out of Spain and
Columbus's chance had come.

So he appeared before Queen Isabella and her chief men and told them
again of all his plans and desires. The queen and her advisers sat in a
great room in that splendid Alhambra I have told you of. King Ferdinand
was not there. He did not believe in Columbus and did not wish to let
him have money, ships, or sailors to lose in such a foolish way. But as
Columbus stood before her and talked so earnestly about how he expected
to find the Indies and Cathay and what he hoped to bring away from
there, Queen Isabella listened and thought the plan worth trying.

Then a singular thing happened. You would think if you wished for
something very m