ecause
if they did the Spanish horses would not be bought and sold, as mules
were so much cheaper and were easier to ride. But Columbus was sick and
it hurt him to ride horseback, while he could be fairly comfortable on
an easy-going mule. So the king and queen gave him special permission to
come on mule-back.

When Columbus appeared before the queen, looking so sick and troubled,
Isabella was greatly affected. She thought of all he had done and all he
had gone through and all he had suffered, and as he came to the steps of
the throne the queen burst into tears. That made Columbus cry too, for
he thought a great deal of the queen, and he fell at her feet and told
her how much he honored her, and how much he was ready to do for her, if
he could but have the chance.

Then the king and queen told him how sorry they were that any one should
have so misunderstood their desires and have treated their brave and
loyal Admiral so shamefully. They promised to make everything all right
for him again, and to show him that they were his good friends now as
they always had been since the day he first sailed away to find the
Indies for them and for Spain.

Of course this made Columbus feel much better. He had left Hayti in fear
and trembling. He had come home expecting something dreadful was going
to happen; he would not have been surprised at a long imprisonment; he
would not even have been surprised if he had been put to death--for the
kings and queens and high lords of his day were very apt to order people
put to death if they did not like what had been done. The harsh way in
which Bobadilla had treated him made him think the king and queen had
really ordered it. Perhaps they had; and perhaps the way in which the
people cried out in indignation when they saw the great Admiral brought
ashore in chains had its influence on Queen Isabella. King Ferdinand
really cared nothing about it. He would gladly have seen Columbus put in
prison for life; but the queen had very much to say about things in
her kingdom, and so King Ferdinand made believe he was sorry and talked
quite as pleasantly to Columbus as did the queen.

Now Columbus, as you must have found out by this time, was as quick to
feel glad as he was to feel sad. And when he found that the king and
queen were his friends once more, he became full of hope again and began
to say where he would go and what he would do when he went back again as
Viceroy of the Indies and Admiral of