things had turned out made Captain Alonso Pinzon feel so badly that he
fell sick; and in a few days he died.

But Columbus, after he had seen his good friend Juan Perez, the friar at
Rabida, and told him all his adventures, went on to Barcelona where King
Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were waiting for him. They had already sent
him letters telling him how pleased they were that he had found Cathay,
and ordering him to get ready for a second expedition at once. Columbus
gave his directions for this, and then, in a grand procession that
called everybody to the street or window or housetop, he set off for
Barcelona. He reached the court on a fine April day and was at once
received with much pleasure by the king and queen of Spain.

Columbus told them where he had been and what he had seen; he showed
them the gold and the pearls and the birds and curiosities he had
brought to Spain as specimens, of what was to be found in Cathay; he
showed them the ten painted and "fixed-up" Indians he had stolen and
brought back with him.

And the king and queen of Spain said he had done well. They had him
sit beside them while he told his story, and treated this poor Italian
wool-weaver as they would one of their great princes or mighty lords.
They told him he could put the royal arms alongside his own on his
shield or crest, and they bade him get together at once ships and
sailors for a second expedition to Cathay--ships and sailors enough,
they said, to get away up to the great cities of Cathay, where the
marble temples and the golden palaces must be. It was their wish, they
said, to gain the friendship of the great Emperor of Cathay, to trade
with him and get a good share of his gold and jewels and spices. For,
you see, no one as yet imagined that Columbus had discovered America.