knew what he was doing. As with sagacious bravado he had sprung ashore
at Santa Marta, and had mocked the Spanish fleet in Cartagena harbor, so
now before he struck he exulted that his unfleshed host should hear him
shout "_En garde!_" to the King of Spain; that they should listen while
he cried that England cared not for spying traitors, for she had nothing
to conceal; that her fleets meant to sail when and where they would, and
Philip might do his worst. It was a stroke of that divine instinct which
marks out a hero from among able captains--the magic touch of a great
leader of men, under which the dead fabric of an army springs into life
and feels every fibre tingling with the strong purpose of its heart.

Two leagues from the town of Bayona the fleet anchored; and resolved at
once to display his whole strength, and exercise his men in their
duties, Drake ordered out his pinnaces and boats for a reconnaissance in
force. His boldness bore immediate fruit. The Governor sent off to
treat, and by nightfall it was arranged that troops should land, and in
the morning be allowed to water and collect what victuals they could.
But at midnight the threatened storm rolled up. The troops were
hurriedly reembarked; and, barely in time to escape disaster, the
flotilla regained the ships. For three days the gale continued,
threatening the whole fleet with destruction till it was got safely up
above Vigo. There the whole of the boats in which the panic-stricken
inhabitants had embarked their property were captured, and, though by
this time the Governor of Bayona had arrived with a considerable force,
he was compelled to permit Drake to carry out his purpose in peace.

By October 8th he was out in the Bayona road again, waiting for a wind
to waft him on his way, and it was reported at the Spanish court that he
had gone toward the Indies. The consternation was universal. The Marquis
of Santa Cruz, high admiral of Spain and the most renowned naval officer
in Europe, declared that not only the African islands, but the whole
Pacific coast, the Spanish Main, and the West Indies were at the
corsair's mercy, and told his master that a fleet of forty sail must be
instantly equipped for the pursuit. But though for another fortnight
Drake rode defiantly at the Bayona anchorage, not a limb of Philip's
inert machinery could be moved against him; and, while the chivalry of
Spain chafed under their sovereign's deliberation, the second blow was
s