the Spanish havin' got under way and runned our ships aboard. But they
didn't gain much by that move, for though they sank three of our ships,
we sank four of them and reduced their flag-ship to a mere wreck, while
their losses in men must ha' been something fearful. But although we
gived 'em such a punishin', we, bein' the weakest, was gettin' the worst
o' it; and bimeby, when they took to sendin' fireships down to attack
us, the admiral thought 'twas time to make a move, so he signalled that
such ships as could get to sea was to do so. Accordin'ly, all that was
left of us cut our cables, and made sail as best we could, the _Jesus_
leadin' the way, we in the _Judith_ goin' next, and the _Minion_ comin'
last and coverin' our retreat.
"But that didn't end our troubles by any manner o' means, for we'd
scarcely got clear of the land when the _Jesus_ was found to be so
riddled and torn wi' shot that we only just had time to take her crew
off of her when down she went, takin' with her all the treasure that
we'd gathered together durin' the voyage. Then we parted company wi'
the _Minion_, and whether she's afloat, or whether she's gone to the
bottom, God only knows, for I hear that she haven't arrived home up to
now."
"And when did the _Judith_ arrive?" demanded George, when it became
evident that Dyer had brought his story to an end.
"Not above two hours agone," answered the man. "We got in a'ter dark,
and come to an anchor in the Hamoaze; and so anxious were the cap'n to
report that he wouldn't wait till to-morrer, but must needs have a boat
lowered and come ashore to see Cap'n William Hawkins to-night. And he
bade me walk over here to see madam, give her the news, and say, wi' his
dutiful respec's, that if time do permit he will call upon her some time
to-morrer, to answer any questions as she may wish to ast him."
"One question which I shall certainly want to ask him will be how it
came about that he was so careful to provide for his own safety without
making any effort to rescue my son," remarked Mrs Saint Leger, in a
low, strained voice.
"Nay, madam, by your leave, you must not ask mun that," answered Dyer.
"I, who saw everything, saw that the cap'n could not ha' rescued Mr
Hubert, had he tried ever so. He could not ha' saved Mr Hubert, and if
he'd been mad enough to try he'd only ha' been took hisself. Moreover,
from what he've a said since 'tis clear to me that he thought Mr Hubert
had got safe aboard, or he'd never ha' left mun behind. I knowed that
by the grief o' mun when he was first told that Mr Hubert had been
took."
"What do you suppose the Spaniards will do with my brother?" impulsively
asked George, and could have bitten his tongue out the next moment for
his imprudence in asking such a question in his mother's presence. For
Dyer was a blunt, plain-spoken, ignorant fellow, without a particle of
tact, as young Saint Leger had already seen, and he knew enough of
Spanish methods to pretty shrewdly guess what the reply to his question
would be. And before he could think of a plan to avert that reply, it
came.
"Well, Mr Garge," answered Dyer, "you and I do both know how the
Spaniards do usually treat their prisoners. I do reckon they must ha'
took a good twenty or thirty o' our men, and I don't doubt but what
they'll clap the lot into th' Inquisition first of all. Then they'll
burn some of 'em at an _auto-da-fe_; and the rest they'll send to the
galleys for life."
"What sayest thou?" screamed Mrs Saint Leger, starting to her feet and
wringing her hands as she stared at Dyer in horror, as though he were
some dreadful monster. "The Inquisition, the _auto-da-fe_, the galleys
for my son? George! I conjure you, on your honour as an Englishman,
tell me, is it possible that these awful things can be true?"
For a second or two George hesitated, considering what answer he should
return to his mother's frenzied question. He knew that the horrors
suggested by Dyer were true, and the knowledge that his brother was
exposed to such frightful perils--might even at that precise instant be
the victim of them--held him tongue-tied, for how could he confirm this
blunt-spoken sailor's statement, knowing that if he did so he would be
condemning his dearly-loved mother to an indefinite period of heart-
racking anguish and anxiety that might well end in destroying her reason
if indeed it did not slay her outright? He was as strictly
conscientious as most of his contemporaries, but he could not bring
himself to condemn his mother to the dreadful fate he foresaw for her if
he told her the bald, unvarnished truth. He knew, by what he was
himself suffering at that moment, what his mother's mental agony would
be if he strictly obeyed her, therefore he temporised somewhat by
replying:
"Calm yourself, mother dear, calm yourself, I beg you. There is no need
for us to be unduly anxious about Hubert. I will not attempt to conceal
from you that he is in evil case, poor dear fellow--all Englishmen are
who fall into the hands of the Spaniards, especially if they happen to
be Protestants--and I greatly fear me that some of those who were taken
with Hu may be in grave peril of those dangers of which Dyer has spoken.
But not Hubert. Hubert was an officer, and it is very rare for even
Spaniards to treat captive officers with anything short of courtesy. I
fear that our dear lad may have to endure a long term of perhaps
rigorous imprisonment; he may be condemned to solitary confinement, and
be obliged to put up with coarse food; but they will scarcely dare to
torture him, still less to condemn him to the _auto-da-fe_. Oh, no,
they will not do that! But while Dyer has been talking, I have been
thinking, and my mind is already made up. Hubert must not be permitted
to languish a day longer in prison than we can help. Therefore I shall
at once set to work to organise an expedition for his rescue, and trust
me, if he does not contrive to escape meanwhile--as he is like enough to
do--I will have him out of the Spaniards' hands in six months from the
time of my departure from Plymouth."
At the outset Dyer had listened to George's speech in open-mouthed
amazement, and some little contempt for what he regarded as the young
man's ignorance; but even his dense intellect could not at last fail to
grasp the inward meaning and intention of the speaker; a lightning flash
of intelligence revealed to him that it was not ignorance but a desire
to spare his mother the anguish of long-drawn-out anxiety and the agony
resulting from the mental pictures drawn by a woman's too vivid
imagination; and forthwith he rose nobly to the exigencies of the
occasion by chiming in with:
"Ay, ay, Mr Garge, you'm right, sir. Trust your brother to get away
from they bloody-minded Spaniards if they gives him half a chance. For
all that we knows he may ha' done it a'ready. And if he haven't, and
you makes up your mind to fit out an expedition to go in search of mun,
take me with ye, sir. I'll sarve ye well as pilot, Mr Garge, none
better, sir. I've been twice to the Indies wi' Cap'n Drake, once under
Cap'n Lovell and now again under Cap'n Hawkins. And I've a grudge to
pay off again' the Spaniards; for at La Hacha they played pretty much
the same trick upon Cap'n Lovell as they did this time upon Cap'n
Hawkins."
"Aha! is that the case?" said George. "Then of course you know the
Indies well?"
"Ay, that do I, sir," answered Dyer, "every inch of 'em; from Barbadoes
and Margarita, all along the coast of the Main right up to San Juan de
Ulua there ain't a port or a harbour that I haven't been into. I do
believe as I knows more about that coast than the Spaniards
theirselves."
"Very well, Dyer," returned George. "In that case you will no doubt be
a very useful man to have, and you may rest assured that, should I
succeed in organising an expedition, I will afford you the opportunity
to go with me. Ah! here comes your supper at last--" as the maid Lucy
appeared with a well-stocked tray--"Draw up, man, and fall to. You must
stay with us to-night--is not that so mother?" And upon receiving an
affirmative nod from his mother the young man continued--"and to-morrow
I will send you over to Cawsand in our own boat."
Whereupon, Dyer, pious seaman that he was, having first given God thanks
for the good food so bountifully set before him, fell upon the viands
with the appetite of a man who has been two months at sea upon less than
half rations, and made such a meal as caused Mrs Saint Leger to open
her eyes wide with astonishment, despite the terrible anxiety on behalf
of her first-born that was tugging at her heart-strings and setting
every nerve in her delicate, sensitive frame a-jangle. And, between
mouthfuls, the seaman did his best to reply to the questions with which
George Saint Leger plied him; for it may as well be set down here at
once that no sooner did the youngster learn the fact of his capture by
the Spaniards than he came to the resolution to rescue Hubert, if rescue
were possible; and, if not, to make the Spaniards pay very dearly for
his death. But to resolve was one thing, and to carry out that
resolution quite another, as George Saint Leger discovered immediately
that he took the first steps toward the realisation of his plan--which
was on the following morning. For he was confronted at the very outset
with the difficulty of finance. He was a lad of rapid ideas, and his
knowledge of seafaring matters, and the Spaniards, had enabled him to
formulate the outlines of a scheme, even while listening to Dyer's
relation of the incidents of Hawkins' and Drake's disastrous voyage.
But he fully recognised, even while planning his scheme, that to
translate it into action would necessitate an expenditure far beyond his
own unaided resources. True, his mother was very comfortably off,
possessing an income amply sufficient for all her needs derived from the
well-invested proceeds of her late husband's earnings, but George was
quite determined not to draw upon that if he could possibly help it,
although he was well aware that Mrs Saint Leger would be more than
willing to spend her last penny in order to provide the means of
rescuing her elder son from a fate that might well prove to be worse
than death itself. Therefore the younger Saint Leger began operations
by calling upon Mr Marshall, the merchant and owner of the
_Bonaventure_, and, having first ascertained that that gentleman had
definitely, though reluctantly, decided not to risk his ship in another
Mediterranean voyage so long as the relations of England and Spain
continued in their then strained condition, unfolded a project for an
adventure to the Indies, which, if successful, must certainly result in
a golden return that would amply reimburse all concerned for the risks
involved. But Mr Marshall had not grown from an errand boy into a
prosperous merchant without acquiring a certain amount of wisdom with
his wealth, and he at once put his finger on the weak spot in George's
proposal by inquiring what guarantee the latter could offer that his
scheme would be successful when a very similar one conducted by such
experienced adventurers as Hawkins and Drake had just disastrously
failed. He frankly admitted that the young man's scheme was promising
enough, on the face of it, and he also intimated that, as a merchant, he
was always ready to take a certain amount of risk where the prospects of
success seemed promising enough to justify it, but he no less frankly
declared that, while he had the utmost confidence in George's ability as
a seaman, he regarded him as altogether too young and inexperienced to
be the head and leader of such an adventure as the one proposed; and he
terminated the interview by flatly refusing to have anything to do with
it.
Bitterly disappointed at his failure to enlist Marshall's active
sympathy, George called upon some half a dozen other Plymouth merchants.
But everywhere the result was the same. The adventure itself met with
a certain qualified approval, but the opinion was unanimous that George
was altogether too young and inexperienced to be entrusted with its
leadership. In despair, George at last called upon Mr William Hawkins,
the father of Captain John Hawkins, to obtain his opinion upon the
project. Captain John had arrived home a day or two previously, and
young Saint Leger was so far fortunate that he was thus able to obtain
the opinion of both father and son upon it. As might have been
expected, although these two seamen were friends of the Saint Legers,
they were so embittered by disappointment at the failure of the recent
expedition that they could not find words strong enough to denounce the
scheme and to discourage its would-be leader, and so well did they
succeed in the latter that for an hour or two George was almost inclined
to abandon the idea altogether. Yet how could he reconcile himself to
the leaving of his brother to a fate far worse than death itself--for
though he had sought to make the best of the matter to his mother, he
himself had no illusions as to what that fate would be--and how could he
face his mother with such a suggestion? The lad had infinite faith in
himself, He knew, better than anybody else, that he had never yet had an
opportunity to show of what stuff he was made, he candidly admitted the
damaging fact of his extreme youth, but he would not admit to himself
that it was a disability, although others regarded it as such; he had
been a sailor for seven years and during that time he had mastered the
whole of the knowledge that then went to make the complete seaman;
moreover, he was also old for his years, a thinker, and he carried at
the back of his brain many an idea that was destined to be of
inestimable value to him in the near future; therefore, after a long
walk to and fro upon the Hoe, he returned home, disappointed it is true,
but with his resolution as strong and his courage as high as ever.
And here he found balm and encouragement awaiting him in the person of
one Simon Radlett, a shipbuilder, owning an extensive yard at Millbay.
"Old Si Radlett," as he was generally called, was something of a
character in Millbay and its immediate neighbourhood, for, in addition
to being admittedly the best builder of ships in all Devon, he was a bit
of an eccentric, a man with bold and original ideas upon many subjects,
a man of violent likes and dislikes, a bachelor, an exceedingly shrewd
man of business, and--some said--a miser. He was turned sixty years of
age, and of course had seen many and great changes in Plymouth during
his time, yet, although well advanced in the "sere and yellow," was
still a hale and hearty man, able to do a hard day's work against the
best individual in his yard; and although he had the reputation of being
wealthy he lived alone in a little four-roomed cottage occupying one
corner of his yard, and did everything--cooking, washing-up, bed-making,
etcetera, etcetera, for himself, with the assistance of a woman who
came, for one day a week, to clean house, and wash and mend for him. He
had known George Saint Leger from the latter's earliest childhood, and
had loved the boy with a love that was almost womanly in its passionate
devotion, nothing delighting him more than to have the sturdy little
fellow trotting after him all over the yard, asking questions about
ships and all things pertaining thereto.
He it was who had presented George with the toy ship that still occupied
a conspicuous position in the latter's bedroom at The Nest, and which
was such a gorgeous affair, with real brass guns, properly made sails,
and splendid banners and pennons of painted silk, that the child had
never cared to have another. And the affection which the old man had
manifested for the child had endured all through the years, and was as
strong to-day as it ever had been, yet such was Radlett's reputation for
close-fistedness that it had never once occurred to George that he might
possibly be willing to help him, consequently he had not sought him. No
sooner, however, did the youngster enter the house and discover the old
tarry-breeks in close and animated conversation with Mrs Saint Leger
than his spirits rose; for it had been years since Radlett had so far
presumed as to actually call upon madam, and George somehow felt
intuitively that such an unwonted and extraordinary circumstance was in
some way connected with the realisation of what had now become his most
ardent desire.
CHAPTER THREE.
HOW OLD SIMON RADLETT MADE A CERTAIN PROPOSITION TO GEORGE.
"Well, Garge, my son, so you'm safe whoam again," exclaimed the old
shipbuilder, rising to his feet with outstretched hand, as young Saint
Leger entered the room. "My word!" he continued, allowing his gaze to
rove over the lad's stalwart frame, "but you'm growed into a reg'lar
strapper, and no mistake; a reg'lar young Goliath of Gath a be, no less.
And you've been a slayin' of a Philistine or two, here and there, so I
do hear" (Mr Radlett was a little mixed in the matter of his Bible
imagery, you will perceive, but he meant well). "Ay, ay; I've been
havin' a crack wi' old Cap'n Burroughs, since mun comed whoam, and he've
a been tellin' me all about ye. Garge, I'm proud of 'e, boy--and so be
madam here, too, I'll be boun'--for 'twas I that made a sailor of 'e by
givin' of 'e thicky toy bwoat, a matter o' twelve or vourteen year agone
'tis now. My goodness me! how time du vly, to be sure. It du seem to
me only like a vew months ago that I took spokeshave and chisel in hand
to make thicky bwoat, and here you be, a'most a man in years, and quite
a man in experience as I du hear.
"Wi' madam your mother's good leave, I'll ask 'e to sit down, Garge, for
I be comed over expressly to have a talk with 'e. And, first, let me
say to 'e--as I've already said to madam, here--how sorry I be to hear
of what ha' happened to your brother, Mr Hubert. But--as I was sayin'
to madam when you comed in--you'll soon have mun out o' Spanish prison
again, for I do hear as you'm arrangin' an adventure expressly for that
purpose."
"I certainly _want_ to arrange such an adventure, if the thing can be
managed," replied George; "but I have got no farther than wanting, as
yet. I have called upon Mr Marshall, the owner of the _Bonaventure_,
and some half-dozen other merchants, and tried to interest them in my
scheme, but all to no purpose. They say that I am much too young to be
entrusted with the responsibility of heading such an adventure."
"Too young be danged!" exclaimed Radlett with energy.
"They don't know 'e as well as I do, Garge, or they wouldn't talk like
thicky. Why, old Cap'n Burroughs told me hisself that if it hadn't ha'
been for you the _Bonaventure_ 'd ha' been in the Spaniards' hands to-
day, and all hands o' her crew, _too. Too young_? Rubbidge! Now, just
you tell thicky plan o' yours to me, and I'll soon tell 'e whether I do
think you'm too young, or not. And I be an old man; I've seed a good
many strange happenin's in my time, and I've drawed my own conclusions
from 'em; I'm just so well able to form a sound opinion as Alderman
Marshall or any other man to Plymouth. Now, Garge, you just go ahead,
and when you've a done I'll tell 'e what I do think of your plan, and
you too."
"Well," replied George, "it is simple enough. My brother was taken
prisoner in the course of a treacherous attack made by the Spaniards
upon a party of peaceful English traders; therefore I take the ground
that his relatives are entitled to demand his release, together with
compensation for any suffering or inconvenience that may have resulted
from the treacherous action of the Spaniards. I learned, only to-day,
that the Queen has already demanded satisfaction for the outrage from
the Spanish Ambassador. But we all know what that means. The
negotiations may go on for years, and the demand may be withdrawn in the
end if by so doing the interests of diplomacy may be served. Therefore
I do not propose to wait for that--for who trows what may happen to my
brother in the interval? My plan is this: I intend to go on trying
until I can find somebody sufficiently interested in my scheme either to
advance me the money, or to entrust me with a ship. Then I will get
together a crew who will be willing to go with me, taking a certain
share of the proceeds of the expedition in lieu of wages--and I believe
I shall be able to raise such a crew without difficulty--and I shall
sail direct to San Juan de Ulua. Arrived there, I shall make a formal
demand for my brother's immediate release. And if the Spaniards refuse,
or attempt to put me off by saying that they do not know what has become
of Hubert, I will at once attack the town, take it, and hold it for
heavy ransom. And if ransom is refused, I will sack the place, taking
every piece of gold or silver and every jewel that I can lay hands upon.
And from there I will traverse the entire coast of the Spanish Main,
attacking every town that promises to be worth while, until I have
succeeded in persuading the Spaniards that it will be to their advantage
to free my brother and deliver him over to me."
"And, supposin' that they should deliver up your brother at the first
town you call at--San Juan de Ulua, I think you named the place--what'll
you do then, boy?" demanded Radlett.
"I shall still require compensation for my brother's seizure," replied
George. "And," he added, "that compensation will have to be amply
sufficient not only to recompense Hu for his imprisonment, but also to
pay handsomely all connected with the expedition. It is my intention,
sir, not to return home until I can replace every pig of iron ballast in
my ship with gold and silver."
"Hear to him! hear to him! Gold and silver, quotha!" exclaimed Radlett,
delightedly. "And how big's thy ship to be, then, eh, Garge?"
"The biggest that I can get," answered George; "the bigger the better,
because she will carry the more men, the more guns--and the more gold.
I should have liked the _Bonaventure_, if I could have got her, for I'm
used to her, and she is just the right size. But Mr Marshall will have
nothing to do with me and my scheme."
"Ay, the _Bonaventure_," remarked the shipwright, meditatively. "Iss,
her be a very purty ship, very purty indeed. What be her exact tonnage,
Garge?"
"One hundred and twenty-seven," answered George. "Yes," he agreed, "she
_is_ a pretty ship in every way, and as good as she is pretty. And
fast! There's nothing sailing out of Plymouth that can beat her--
although perhaps I ought not to say as much to you, Mr Radlett, seeing
that 'twas Mr Mason, your rival, who built her."
"Never mind vor that, boy, never mind vor that," answered Radlett,
heartily. "'Tis true what you do say of the ship, every word of it; and
she be a credit to the man who built her, although he do set up to be my
rival. But 'twont be true very much longer, Garge, for I've a-got a
ship upon my stocks now as'll beat the _Bonaventure_ every way and in
all weathers. I've a called her the _Nonsuch_, because there's never
been nothin' like her avore. I drawed out the plans of her shortly
a'ter the _Bonaventure_ was launched, because I couldn't abear to be
beaten by Mason nor nobody else. And I altered they plans, and altered
'em, and altered 'em until I couldn't vind no more ways of improvin' of
'em, and then I started to build. And now the _Nonsuch_ be just ready
for launchin', and I'd like you to come over and look at her avore I
puts her into the water."
"Certainly; I will do so with very great pleasure," answered George,
delightedly, for he had a very shrewd suspicion that this invitation
meant more than appeared upon the surface, that indeed--who knew?--it
might mean that the eccentric old fellow was rather taken with his
(George's) scheme, and might be induced to take a very important hand in
it. "When shall I come?"
"Come just so soon as ever you can, the sooner the better; to-morrow if
you do like," answered Radlett. "And now," he continued, rising, "I
must be gettin' along, for 'tis growin' late and I be keepin' of you
from your supper. No, thank'e, madam, I won't stay. My supper be
waitin' vor me to whoam, and a'ter I've had it I've a lot o' things to
do that won't wait for time or tide. So good-bye to 'e both. And you,
madam, keep up your spirits about Mr Hubert; for I'll warrant that
Garge, here, 'll have mun out o' Spanish prison in next to no time."