your trust in princes, the verse in the Bible had said. If I go back I
may only be put off and worried as I have been before. And yet, perhaps
she means what she says. At any rate, I will go back and try once more.

So, on the little Bridge of Pinos, he turned his mule around and rode
back to Granada. And, sure enough, when he saw Queen Isabella she
agreed to all that he asked. If he found Cathay, Columbus was to be
made admiral for life of all the new seas and oceans into which he might
sail; he was to be chief ruler of all the lands he might find; he was to
keep one tenth part of all the gold and jewels and treasures he should
bring away, and was to have his "say" in all questions about the new
lands. For his part (and this was because of the offer of his friend at
Palos, Captain Pinzon) he agreed to pay one eighth of all the expenses
of this expedition and of all new enterprises, and was to have one
eighth of all the profits from them.

So Columbus had his wish at last. The queen's men figured up how
much money they could let him have; they called him "Don Christopher
Columbus," "Your Excellency" and "Admiral," and at once he set about
getting ready for his voyage.



CHAPTER IV. HOW THE ADMIRAL SAILED AWAY.

The agreement made between Columbus and the king and queen of Spain was
signed on the seventeenth of April, 1492. But it was four months before
he was quite ready to sail away.

He selected the town of Palos as the place to sail from, because