"Not long after this the great man made ready for another voyage across the ocean.
"How different everything was now! There was no trouble now to find sailors willing to go with him. Indeed, it was almost too easy. Everyone was anxious to visit the Indies. They believed it was the quickest way to gain riches and comfort.
"When the second fleet was ready to sail there were seventeen ships and fifteen hundred men. Only think of it! It was almost like a traveling city.
"They had no trouble in crossing the ocean, but when they came to the island where Columbus had before left a part of his men, there was no sign of them nor of the homes they had made.
"'This time I will choose a different place to settle,' said Columbus.
"He sailed into a fine harbor about forty miles away. The men landed and began to build the first city of the New World for white people to live in. They called it Isabella after the good queen of Spain.
"Columbus spent some time as governor of the settlement. Then he went back to Spain with news of the white men's city in the west. He did not stay long, however. He was soon restless for a third voyage across the great ocean.
"He sailed farther to the southward than he had before. For the first time he saw the shores of South America. Then he went back to the settlement in the West Indies, but the people were not glad to see him."
Uncle Sam stopped for a moment and looked quite sad.