Then a singular thing happened.  You would think if you wished for something very much that you would give up a good deal for the sake of getting it.  Columbus had worked and waited for seventeen years.  He had never got what he wanted.  He was always being disappointed.  And yet, as he talked to the queen and told her what he wished to do, he said he must have so much as a reward for doing it that the queen and her chief men were simply amazed at his—­well, what the boys to-day call “cheek”—­that they would have nothing to do with him.  This man really is crazy, they said.  This poor Genoese sailor comes here without a thing except his very odd ideas, and almost “wants the earth” as a reward.  This is not exactly what they said, but it is what they meant.

His few friends begged him to be more modest.  Do not ask so much, they said, or you will get nothing.  But Columbus was determined.  I have worked and waited all these years, he replied.  I know just what I can do and just how much I can do for the king and queen of Spain.  They must pay me what I ask and promise what I say, or I will go somewhere else.  Go, then! said the queen and her advisers.  And Columbus turned his back on what seemed almost his last hope, mounted his mule and rode away.

Then something else happened.  As Columbus rode off to find the French king, sick and tired of all his long and useless labor at the Spanish court, his few firm friends there saw that, unless they did something right away, all the glory and all the gain of this enterprise Columbus had taught them to believe in would be lost to Spain.  So two of them, whose names were Santangel and Quintanilla, rushed into the queen’s room and begged her, if she wished to become the greatest queen in Christendom, to call back this wandering sailor, agree to his terms and profit by his labors.

What if he does ask a great deal? they said.  He has spent his life thinking his plan out; no wonder he feels that he ought to have a good share of what he finds.  What he asks is really small compared with what Spain will gain.  The war with the Moors has cost you ever so much; your money-chests are empty; Columbus will fill them up.  The people of Cathay are heathen; Columbus will help you make them Christian men.  The Indies and Cathay are full of gold and jewels; Columbus will bring you home shiploads of treasures.  Spain has conquered the Moors; Columbus will help you conquer Cathay.

In fact, they talked to Queen Isabella so strongly and so earnestly, that she, too, became excited over this chance for glory and riches that she had almost lost, Quick! send for Columbus.  Call him back! she said.  I agree to his terms.  If King Ferdinand cannot or will not take the risk, I, the queen, will do it all.  Quick! do not let the man get into France.  After him.  Bring him back!

And without delay a royal messenger, mounted on a swift horse, was sent at full gallop to bring Columbus back.