Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. TRUE STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS BY MILDRED STAPLEY Whatever can be known of earth we know, Sneered Europe's wise men, in their snail shells curled; No! said one man in Genoa, and that No Out of the dark created the New World. --JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL CONTENTS CHAPTER I COLUMBUS BEFRIENDED BY ROYALTY CHAPTER II THE YOUTH OF COLUMBUS CHAPTER III "LANDS IN THE WEST" CHAPTER IV THE SOJOURN IN MADEIRA CHAPTER V A SEASON OF WAITING CHAPTER VI A RAY OF HOPE CHAPTER VII ISABELLA DECIDES CHAPTER VIII OFF AT LAST! CHAPTER IX "LAND! LAND!" CHAPTER X NATIVES OF THE NEW LAND CHAPTER XI THE RETURN IN THE _NINA_ CHAPTER XII DAYS OF TRIUMPH CHAPTER XIII PREPARING FOR A SECOND VOYAGE CHAPTER XIV FINDING NEW ISLANDS CHAPTER XV ON A SEA OF TROUBLES CHAPTER XVI THE THIRD VOYAGE CHAPTER XVII A RETURN IN DISGRACE CHAPTER XVIII PUBLIC SYMPATHY CHAPTER XIX THE LAST VOYAGE CHAPTER XX THE COURAGE OF DIEGO MENDEZ CHAPTER XXI "INTO PORT" CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS CHAPTER I COLUMBUS BEFRIENDED BY ROYALTY Spain, as every one knows, was the country behind the discovery of America. Few people know, however, what an important part the beautiful city of Granada played in that famous event. It was in October, 1492, that Columbus first set foot on the New World and claimed it for Spain. In January of that same year another territory had been added to that same crown; for the brave soldier-sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, had conquered the Moorish kingdom of Granada in the south and made it part of their own country. Nearly eight hundred years before, the dark-skinned Moors had come over from Africa and invaded the European peninsula which lies closest to the Straits of Gibraltar, and the people of that peninsula had been battling fiercely ever since to drive them back to where they came from. True, the Moor had brought Arabian art and learning with him, but he had brought also the Mohammedan religion, and _that_ was intolerable not only to the Spaniards but to all Europeans. No Christian country could brook the thought of this Asiatic creed flourishing on her soil, so Spain soon set to work to get rid of it. This war between the two religions began in the north near the Bay of Biscay whither the Christians were finally pushed by the invaders. Each century saw the Moors driven a little farther south toward the Mediterranean, until Granada, where the lovely Sierra Nevadas rise, was the last stronghold left them. Small wonder, then, that when Granada was finally taken the Spanish nation was supremely happy. Small wonder that they held a magnificent fete in their newly-won city in the "Snowy Mountains." The vanquished Moorish king rode down from his mountain citadel and handed its keys to Ferdinand and Isabella. Bells pealed, banners waved, and the people cheered wildly as their victorious sovereigns rode by.