So a messenger was sent back over the dusty road to Palos, and soon
Doctor Garcia Fernandez, mounted on his mule, appeared at the gate of La
Rabida. The monks showed him in and made him acquainted with their
visitor. The doctor was at once impressed and saw that this was no
ordinary traveler. White hair surmounting a highly intelligent face,
dreaming eyes, inspired voice--this combination did not come every day
to La Rabida. He knew that the foreigner would prove interesting and he
proceeded to explain that his friend Martin Alonzo Pinzon could not
come, as he was at that moment away on a voyage.

"But you must remain with us till he comes back," declared the monk
Marchena, "for no man in all Spain is more experienced in matters of
navigation. You must tell him about this island you propose to
discover." And Fernandez, when he heard Christopher's tale, said the
same thing. Thus it was that little Diego never got to his aunt in
Huelva; for by the time Martin Alonzo had returned, the monks had grown
so fond of the child, and were so impressed with the great future that
lay before his inspired father, that they offered to keep him and
educate him free of all expense. This offer Columbus was glad to accept.

The man whose return Columbus awaited in the hospitable monastery of La
Rabida belonged to the most influential family of Palos. For generations
the Pinzons had all been sailor-merchants and had amassed considerable
wealth. The head of the family still sailed the seas; and as, in Palos
and in near-by Huelva, many Portuguese lived who boasted about the
discoveries their country had made, his interest had been much piqued by
their talk. He was educated and open-minded. Moreover, he was considered
the best navigator of all who sailed from that important maritime region
of Huelva.