then surged forward to show itself as the brazen beak of
the great red vessel which bore it. Looking back, the whole bank of
cloud was broken by the widespread line of noble ships which were
bursting through it. The Basilisk lay a mile or more in front of them
and two miles clear of their wing. Five miles farther off, in the
direction of the French coast, two other small ships were running
down Channel. A cry of joy from Robert Knolles and a hearty prayer
of gratitude to the saints from the old shipman hailed them as their
missing comrades, the cog Thomas and the Grace Dieu.

But fair as was the view of their lost friends, and wondrous the
appearance of the Spanish ships, it was not on those that the eyes of
the men of the Basilisk were chiefly bent. A greater sight lay before
them--a sight which brought them clustering to the forecastle with eager
eyes and pointing fingers. The English fleet was coming forth from the
Winchelsea Coast. Already before the fog lifted a fast galleass had
brought the news down Channel that the Spanish were on the sea, and the
King's fleet was under way. Now their long array of sails, gay with
the coats and colors of the towns which had furnished them, lay bright
against the Kentish coast from Dungeness Point to Rye. Nine and twenty
ships were there from Southampton, Shoreham, Winchelsea, Hastings, Rye,
Hythe, Romney, Folkestone, Deal, Dover and Sandwich. With their great
sails slued round to catch the wind they ran out, whilst the Spanish,
like the gallant foes that they have ever been, turned their heads
landward to meet them. With flaunting banners and painted sails, blaring
trumpets and clashing cymbals, the two glittering fleets, dipping and
rising on the long Channel swell, drew slowly together.

King Edward had been lying all day in his great ship the Philippa, a
mile out from the Camber Sands, waiting for the coming of the Spaniards.
Above the huge sail which bore the royal arms flew the red cross of
England. Along the bulwarks were shown the shields of forty knights, the
flower of English chivalry, and as many pennons floated from the deck.
The high ends of the ship glittered with the weapons of the men-at-arms,
and the waist was crammed with the archers. From time to time a crash of
nakers and blare of trumpets burst from the royal ship, and was answered
by her great neighbors, the Lion on which the Black Prince flew his
flag, the Christopher with the Earl of Suffolk, the Salle du