of a mile, when the first faint breathings of the land breeze made
themselves felt, then the muffled oars were thankfully laid in, the
sails hoisted, and before a steadily strengthening breeze the boats
stood off the land upon a diagonal course which not only made the land
breeze a fair wind over the larboard quarter, but also carried them
toward Nombre while it swept them out toward where the trade-wind was
blowing. The boats sailed in line ahead; and when, as was soon the
case, their relative speeds had been determined, they were made fast in
a string by a stout warp, with the fastest boat leading and the rest
following in the order of their speed.
It was exactly half-past one o'clock when, after an uneventful voyage,
having previously hove-to beyond the Point, lowered their sails, and
snugly stored them and the masts away, the six boats from the _Nonsuch_
entered Nombre de Dios harbour and, keeping well within the shadow of
the land, crept cautiously along the shore toward the battery, which was
to be their first point of attack. There were several ships in the
harbour, as could be seen by the number of riding lights dotted about
here and there, casting shimmering reflections upon the surface of the
placid water; but everything was perfectly quiet, no craft of any
description were moving, and if a watch was anywhere set the watchmen
were probably fast asleep at that hour, since there was no sound or sign
of movement. Yet it struck George as somewhat strange that an air of
such absolute security should seem to pervade the port; for things had
been said during his visit to San Juan de Ulua which must have caused
the authorities there to more than suspect the intention of the
Englishmen to descend upon Nombre; and there had been time enough for a
fast dispatch boat to make the voyage from the one city to the other,
warning Nombre to be on the alert. As young Saint Leger pondered upon
these things he grew suspicious that he might quite possibly be
blundering into some ingeniously prepared trap, and, calling the boats
about him, he gave instructions for the observance of certain additional
precautions. But, had he but known, he need not have entertained the
slightest anxiety or misgiving; for it afterward transpired that
although, as he had all along suspected, the authorities at San Juan had
actually dispatched a message to Nombre, recounting in detail all that
had happened at the Mexican port, and warning the authorities at Nombre
to be on the look out for the English, and to adopt every possible
measure to ensure their capture, the vessel bearing the dispatch never
reached her destination, and it was shrewdly conjectured that she must
have foundered with all hands in the hurricane which the _Nonsuch_ had
encountered.
The great bell of the Cathedral was booming out the hour of two a.m. as
the six boats swerved toward the shore and advanced in line abreast; and
some six minutes later they gently grounded upon the beach, the oars
were noiselessly laid in, and each man, grasping his weapons, and
stepping quietly over the side, waded ashore, while those who stepped
over the bows stood ready to push off the boats again, each with its two
boat-keepers, at the low-spoken word of the officer in command. Every
man knew exactly what his duty was up to the moment of landing, and did
it; and so excellent were the arrangements that within two minutes of
grounding the boats were again afloat, while those who had come in them
were drawn up in two unequal parties on the beach, the duty of the
smaller party, under Mr Richard Basset, being to surprise and capture
the shore battery, while the other, numbering some forty men, under
Saint Leger's leadership, was to march upon the Grand Plaza and seize
it, and the Governor's house, which was situated therein. But with so
small a force, and the numbers of the enemy unknown, it was necessary to
exercise a very considerable amount of precaution lest some unforeseen
accident should wreck the entire enterprise; therefore, while the force
under George stood to their arms, motionless, close down by the water's
edge, Basset with his contingent crept warily up the sand toward the
shore battery and presently were swallowed up within its shadows.
Then ensued an anxious five or six minutes of breathless waiting on the
part of George and his company, during which no sound save the gentle
wash of the miniature breakers on the shore immediately behind them
broke the breathless stillness of the night. Then, from the direction
of the battery, there suddenly came to the ears of the eagerly listening
party the sounds of subdued scuffling, the faint clink of steel, and a
shout which suddenly ended in a choking gurgle. The sounds were by no
means loud; indeed, so subdued were they that at double the distance of
the listening party from the battery they would probably not be heard at
all. Nor did they last long; the whole affair, whether for good or for
ill, was over in less than five minutes. But George knew that the
termination of it was for good, so far as the English were concerned,
for had it been otherwise the subdued sounds of the scuffle would have
risen into shouts of alarm and the firing of musketry, instead of dying
down again into silence, as they did. And presently a man came running
down the beach from the battery, bearing a message from Basset to George
to the effect that the former had succeeded in taking the garrison
completely by surprise and capturing them and the battery practically
without striking a single blow--"and Mester Basset he du zay, zur, that
if you'll give un half an hour he'll make thicky battery so's he can
hold mun again' all comers."
Now, time was pressing, and it was of the utmost importance that the
Grand Plaza and its approaches should be secured before the earliest of
the inhabitants of the city should be stirring; but it was of at least
equal importance that the battery should be rendered capable of being
held against attack at least until all the contemplated negotiations had
been satisfactorily concluded, since the battery commanded a good part
of the city; therefore, after some consideration, George sent back a
message to the effect that he and his party would remain where they were
for exactly thirty minutes, during which Basset must do all that he
could to render his position completely tenable, because at the
expiration of that time the advance upon the Grand Plaza would begin.
For half an hour, therefore, the party under the command of the young
captain crouched, silent and motionless, upon the beach, during the
whole of which seemingly endless time George was quaking with
apprehension lest some nocturnal prowler, a fisherman, or a boat from
one of the craft at anchor in the harbour should appear upon the scene,
discover the presence of the lurking Englishmen, and succeed in raising
an alarm before a capture could be effected. But fortune seemed to be
on their side, for no intruder of any sort appeared, and when at length
the half-hour had expired the word was given, and with a little sigh of
relief from the strain of suspense, the men rose noiselessly to their
feet and moved off in the wake of Dyer, who, knowing the way, was to act
as pilot to the party.
Nombre de Dios was even then a city of considerable size and importance:
it was, indeed, the most important Spanish settlement on the Atlantic
side of the isthmus, exceeding Cartagena in the number of its
inhabitants, and rivalled only by Panama on the whole continent. But
when that is said it must not be supposed that it covered a very great
extent of ground; moreover, the Grand Plaza did not occupy the exact
centre of the city, this point being nearly half a mile further inland,
consequently a march of some twenty-five minutes sufficed to enable the
party to cover the distance between the beach and their destination.
But that march had to be made through narrow, tortuous, unlighted
streets and for some forty armed men, complete strangers to the place,
to accomplish this during the darkest hour of the night without
attracting a certain amount of attention was practically an
impossibility, let their precautions against so doing be as elaborate as
they might. The wonder was that they did not attract a great deal more
attention than they actually did, for although the strictest silence was
enjoined upon the members of the party, the tramp of forty men and the
unavoidable jingle and rattle of their accoutrements sounded appallingly
loud in George's sensitive ear as they passed along through ways so
confined that two vehicles could only have passed each other with the
utmost difficulty, and where the high walls and overhanging upper
stories reflected back every sound in the breathless stillness of the
night. But it was the hour when people sleep most heavily, and although
there can be little doubt that the sounds of the party's progress must
have disturbed a good many people along the route, so complete was the
sense of security in the city that only very few troubled themselves to
rise from their beds to investigate the cause of the disturbance. And
of those few it is safe to say that not one really suspected the actual
state of affairs at the moment. Thus it was that the daring intruders
actually succeeded in eventually reaching the Grand Plaza and securing
the command of its every approach without raising a general alarm.
But of course it was not possible that such a state of affairs could
endure very long, nor indeed was any serious effort made to prolong it,
for, with one party of his men in possession of the Grand Plaza, and
another holding the shore battery, George felt that for all practical
purposes the town was his, therefore so soon as the Grand Plaza had been
secured all further attempts at secrecy and concealment were abandoned;
the men moved hither and thither without restraint, and orders were
given in tones which, while not unnecessarily loud, were still loud
enough to awaken people here and there in the houses facing the square
and apprise them that something quite out of the usual order of things
was happening. Men began to rise from their beds and go to their
windows to investigate, jalousies were thrown back here and there to
enable those behind them to obtain a better view, and when, in the dim
light afforded by some half a dozen lamps that were permitted to burn
all night in the Plaza, armed men were seen to be moving hither and
thither, with the feeble light from the lanterns glancing on their
weapons, and with lighted matches glowing redly in the linstocks, a few
of the bolder inhabitants summoned up courage enough to shout an inquiry
as to what was amiss. And when at length the more persistent ones were
told, in good Castilian, that yet had in it the suspicion of an alien
twang, that nothing was amiss, and were advised to return to their beds
and resume their interrupted slumber, suspicion at last began to awake,
and instead of returning to bed the citizens proceeded to arouse their
households, and to hurriedly dress. Then a few of the more courageous
ones--but these were very few--ventured to sally forth into the square
to investigate more closely, only to find that each approach was guarded
by a small band of sturdy, bushy-bearded men clad in foreign-looking
garments, armed to the teeth with most formidable and business-like
weapons, and speaking some uncouth and incomprehensible tongue, who
gently but firmly refused to allow them passage. At which those
citizens returned somewhat precipitately to their houses and, retiring
to their back premises, proceeded to discuss the matter with their
neighbours out of adjacent windows, or over garden fences, some of them
hazarding the opinion that _El Draque_ had returned and, profiting by
his previous experience, had surprised the city in the dead of night and
secured possession of it. Then, as the opinion spread and, in process
of spreading became announced as a certainty, lanterns were lit, spades
and mattocks were routed out, and those who had jewels or money to
conceal proceeded to conceal them with frantic haste by burying them
either in secluded corners of their gardens or beneath the floors of
their cellars, while those who had nothing to conceal busied themselves
in hastening through the city by its back ways and byways, knocking up
their relatives and acquaintances and frightening them out of their wits
by informing them that a hostile army had entered the city, the saints
knew how, and coming from the saints knew where, and were encamped in
the Grand Plaza. At which intelligence the city awoke to life with
amazing rapidity, men turned out into the streets and shouted the news
to others, or others shouted it to them, women rushed out of their
houses weeping, dragging their frightened and screaming children after
them, ran aimlessly hither and thither, still further frightening
themselves and others as they did so, and then rushed back home again,
rightly believing that this was the best and safest place for them; and
at least a hundred men in the course of a single hour mounted horses and
galloped at breakneck speed to the barracks to acquaint the military
commandant of the disaster that had befallen the city, while others
again forced their way into the churches and proceeded to ring the bells
frantically. By four o'clock in the morning every man, woman and child
in the city was broad awake, and the air was vibrant with the discordant
clang of bells furiously rung by unaccustomed hands, pealing out above
and piercing through that indescribable murmur of sound which tells the
hearer that an entire population is swarming the streets, half frenzied
with terror, the whole punctuated at frequent intervals by the scream of
a woman or child, the shouts of men, and the occasional crack of a
musket-shot fired by someone demented with fright and quite
irresponsible for his actions.
Meanwhile, having secured possession of the Grand Plaza and made the
best dispositions in his power for its defence, George, accompanied by a
bodyguard of four men, proceeded to the Governor's house and, arousing
its inmates, demanded an immediate interview with His Excellency Don
Sebastian Salvador Alfonso de Albareda, the individual who just then
chanced to hold the responsible post of Governor of His Most Catholic
Majesty's city of Nombre de Dios on the Spanish Main.
When first awakened, His Excellency was disposed to be somewhat
explosive upon the subject of so untimely an invasion of his slumbers;
but when the terrified major domo of the establishment informed him that
the city had been surprised and taken possession of by a party of
ruffianly English who appeared to have no sense of respect for any
earthly thing, and one of whom claimed to be a friend of, or in some way
connected with, that redoubtable pirate and most valiant cavalier, _El
Draque_, the Don's wrath suddenly subsided, for he felt that the matter
was indeed of extreme moment, brooking no delay; he therefore gave
instructions that the Most Illustrious One who claimed to be the chief
ruffian of the lot should be ushered with all due ceremony and respect
into His Excellency's reception room; and while the major domo retired
to execute this errand the Governor hastily assumed the garments that he
had laid aside a few hours earlier, and in a remarkably brief space of
time presented himself before his unwelcome visitor.
Entering the room with stately deliberation, he bowed to George in his
grandest manner, and said, as calmly as though interviewing English
raiders were an everyday occurrence with him:
"Good morning, senor! You have business with me?"
"I have, senor, if in you I have the honour to behold the Governor of
the city of Nombre de Dios," answered George, with a dignity of manner
at least equal to that of the Spaniard.
"Good!" returned Don Sebastian. "I have the honour to be the individual
you refer to."
"Then, in that case," said George, "I will proceed at once to explain my
business with your Excellency. In the first place, I have the honour to
inform you that your city is in my hands and at my mercy; and although
my followers who hold possession of the Grand Plaza are but a few in
number, they are so placed, and are so resolutely determined to hold
their positions, that they can only be displaced at the cost of great
loss of life to both sides. Also another party of my followers is in
possession of the shore battery, and their commander has instructions to
turn the guns of the place upon the town and open fire upon it at the
first signs of conflict which may reach his ears. In order, therefore,
to save the lives and property of the citizens from needless
destruction, I have first to request that your Excellency will at once
take such steps as may be necessary to prevent all possibility of an
attack upon my people by any soldiers who may happen to be in garrison
here, or by the citizens themselves. And when that has been done I
shall have the honour to explain to your Excellency the precise nature
of the business which has brought me to Nombre."
Don Sebastian bowed smilingly, displaying a very fine set of even, white
teeth, of which he was quite pardonably proud. This, however, was
merely a habit, for he was not thinking of his teeth just then. What he
was thinking was that it was an atrocious misfortune that the city of
which he had the honour to be Governor should have been selected for
attack by these truculent English, who were no doubt bent upon avenging
the reverse of their fellow-countrymen at San Juan during the previous
year. But if this were the case, why had they not attacked San Juan,
instead of coming to Nombre to make trouble and bring about his ruin?
For the statement which this great hulking boy captain had just made to
him showed clearly enough that he and his party could not be driven out
of Nombre without desperate fighting, accompanied by tremendous loss of
life and ruinous destruction of property, if indeed it could be achieved
at all, with a garrison of less than one hundred and fifty men, fifty of
whom constituted the garrison of the shore battery and were now
prisoners, if the young Englishman spoke the truth, which Don Sebastian
did not doubt. No, clearly, fighting was not to be thought of,
excepting possibly as a very last resource. But he, Don Sebastian, was
a man of the world, a man of mature experience in the ways of diplomacy,
and surely far more than a match, in this respect, for the simple-
looking lad who stood there staring at him so solemnly. Yes, diplomacy
was undoubtedly the way out of this unfortunate scrape; the Englishman
must be made to realise that the capture of Nombre was a stupid mistake,
out of which neither honour nor profit was to be gained; and once
convinced of this, he would perhaps withdraw himself and his forces
peaceably. These thoughts flashed through Don Sebastian's brain while
George was still speaking; and by the time that the latter had finished,
His Excellency had formulated his plans and was ready to reply. Hence
his benignant smile, which was intended to suggest also a tinge of
sarcasm and incredulity.
"Senor," he said, "I will not be so presumptuous as to suggest the
slightest doubt of your own conviction that the city of Nombre de Dios
is absolutely at your mercy. But you must pardon me if I decline to
share that conviction. I know the strength and courage of the troops
who constitute our present garrison, and, without for a moment casting
the slightest reflection upon the strength or courage of your own
people, you must permit me to believe that, should we unhappily be
driven to resort to force of arms, we could drive you and yours into the
sea. But I trust," he continued hastily, in response to a certain gleam
in George's eye that had not escaped his notice, "we may not be forced
to the adoption of any such extreme measure. For I may as well inform
you at once that if you have come hither with any thought of pillage,
you are too late; the plate fleet left here nearly two months ago with
the year's accumulations of treasure, and our treasure-house is at the
moment absolutely empty, as I am prepared to prove to you by taking you
to it, if you doubt my word. And, this being the case, I trust it will
not be difficult for us to come to some amicable arrangement by which
you may be induced to quit Nombre without the resort to measures on
either side which could only result in unnecessary and much to be
deplored bloodshed."
"Senor," answered George, with a deep bow--he was rapidly becoming as
punctiliously courteous of manner as the Spaniards themselves--"I am
charmed and delighted to find you so readily prepared to adopt a
reasonable and friendly attitude in the face of existing circumstances.
I accept unreservedly your statement as to the emptiness of your
treasure-house, and will certainly not put you to the injurious
necessity of proving it by conducting me thither to satisfy myself upon
the point; and I do this the more readily since my visit to Nombre has
no reference whatever to what you are pleased to term pillage. No; my
object in coming hither was of a quite different kind; and if I have
taken possession of Nombre it is merely in order that I might enjoy the
advantage of being in a position to drive a bargain with the authorities
of the town, should I unhappily find them less amenable to reason than
your Excellency seems disposed to be."
This was excellent, very much better than Don Sebastian had dared to
hope; these English were not bent upon plunder, it would appear; and,
that being the case, he cared very little what else their object might
be; it would be strange indeed if he, a master of the art of diplomacy,
could not get rid of them without a fight, and so not only avoid a
severe reprimand from the Viceroy, but also perhaps earn his hearty
commendation. Don Sebastian's spirits rose; the imbroglio was but a
petty thing after all; and in imagination he already pictured not only
the peaceful but the friendly departure of the English, and himself
receiving the compliments of the Viceroy upon the tactfulness of his,
Don Sebastian's, management of the affair, which might easily be
represented as being infinitely more serious than it really was.
Therefore he bowed to George more deeply and smiled at him more
expansively than ever as he replied:
"Senor Englishman, I am gratified beyond all power of expression to find
in you so amicable a disposition, and I feel certain that whatever may
be the occasion of the visit with which you have honoured us, neither
you nor I, nor the citizens of Nombre, will have the smallest reason to
regret it. But perhaps, senor, it has escaped your memory that you have
not yet enlightened me as to that occasion?"
"No," answered George; "oh! no, it has not. I shall come to that
presently. But, meanwhile, time is passing, and I should like you to
take those steps I spoke of just now to prevent a collision between your
troops, or the citizens, and my people. For I warn your Excellency that
if fighting is once permitted to begin it will be exceedingly difficult
to stop it, and before that happens you may find the greater part of
your city in ruins. Therefore I beg that you will not lose a moment in
adopting the measures which I suggest. When that is done it will be
time enough for us to talk together about the business which has brought
me hither."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
HOW THE GOVERNOR OF PANAMA TREATED DON SEBASTIAN'S REQUEST.
The imminence of the danger indicated by the young Englishman appealed
so powerfully to Don Sebastian that he acted upon the suggestion which
accompanied it without further delay, excusing himself to George for
temporarily withdrawing himself, and assuring the young man that not a
moment should be lost in taking every possible precaution to prevent a
collision between his own countrymen and the English. But he had not
been absent longer than twenty minutes when he re-appeared, in a state
of dismay, to explain that the messengers whom he had dispatched in
various directions were returning, one after another, with the
intimation that they had been turned back by the parties of Englishmen
who were holding the Grand Plaza, who would not permit them to leave the
Square; also they had brought with them the news that from the sounds
which had met their ears, they judged the city to be in a state of
complete turmoil, and fighting imminent.