At last Columbus began to grow better.  And when he knew what his enemies had done he was very much troubled for fear they should get the king and queen to refuse him any further aid.  So, just as soon as he was able, on the tenth of March, 1496, he sailed home to Spain.

How different was this from his splendid setting out from Cadiz two years before.  Then everything looked bright and promising; now everything seemed dark and disappointing.  The second voyage to the Indies had been a failure.

So, tired of his hard work in trying to keep his dissatisfied men in order, in trying to check the Indians who were no longer his friends, in trying to find the gold and pearls that were to be got at only by hard work, in trying to make out just where he was and just where Cathay might be, Columbus started for home.  Sick, troubled, disappointed, threatened by enemies in the Indies and by more bitter enemies at home, sad, sorry and full of fear, but yet as determined and as brave as ever, on the tenth of March, 1496, he went on board his caravels with two hundred and fifty homesick and feversick men, and on the eleventh of June his two vessels sailed into the harbor of Cadiz.

The voyage had been a tedious one.  Short of food, storm-tossed and full of aches and pains the starving company “crawled ashore,” glad to be in their home land once more, and most of them full of complaints and grumblings at their commander, the Admiral.

And Columbus felt as downcast as any.  He came ashore dressed, not in the gleaming armor and crimson robes of a conqueror, as on his first return, but in the garb of what was known as a penitent—­the long, coarse gown, the knotted girdle and peaked hood of a priest.  For, you see, he did not know just what terrible stories had been told by his enemies; he did not know how the king and queen would receive him.  He had promised them so much; he had brought them so little.  He had sailed away so hopefully; he had come back humbled and hated.  The greatest man in the world, he had been in 1492; and in 1496 he was unsuccessful, almost friendless and very unpopular.  So you see, boys and girls, that success is a most uncertain thing, and the man who is a hero to-day may be a beggar to-morrow.

But, as is often the case, Columbus was too full of fear.  He was not really in such disgrace as he thought he was.  Though his enemies had said all sorts of hard things against him, the king—­and especially the queen—­could not forget that he was, after all, the man who, had found the new land for Spain; they knew that even though he had not brought home the great riches that were to have been gathered in the Indies, he had still found for Spain a land that would surely, in time, give to it riches, possessions and power.

So they sent knightly messengers to Columbus telling him to come and see them at once, and greeting him with many pleasant and friendly words.  Columbus was, as you must have seen, quick to feel glad again the moment things seemed to turn in his favor; so he laid aside his penitent’s gown, and hurried off to court.  And almost the first thing he did was to ask the king and queen to fit out another fleet for him.  Six ships, he said he should want this time; and with these he was certain he could sail into the yet undiscovered waters that lay beyond Hayti and upon which he knew he should find Cathay.