And
Isabella kept her word. The next time Christopher Columbus rode forth
from Granada it was not with bowed head and heavy heart, but with his
whole soul rejoicing. We may be sure that he turned back for a last
affectionate look at the lovely mountain city; for it had given him what
historians now call "the most important paper that ever sovereign put
pen to, "--a royal order for the long-desired ships and men with which to
discover "lands in the west."
CHAPTER II
THE YOUTH OF COLUMBUS
Having seen how that great event in Spanish history, the fall of
Granada, set the date for the discovery of America, let us see how it
was that a humble Italian sailor came to be present among all those
noble Spanish soldiers and statesmen. Let us see why he had brought to
Spain the idea of a round world, when most Spaniards still believed in a
flat one; and why his round world was perfectly safe to travel over,
even to its farthest point, while their flat one was edged with monsters
so terrible that no man had ever sought their evil acquaintance.
[Illustration: From "The Story of Columbus" by Elizabeth L. Seelys,
courtesy of D. Appleton and Company. THE GENOA HOME]
The amount of really reliable information which we possess concerning
the childhood of Christopher Columbus could be written in a few lines.
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