messenger was dispatched to Lukabela with the news; and within a couple
of hours he appeared on board to personally welcome his friends upon
their return. George at once concluded an arrangement with the chief
for the supply of a strong gang of men to assist in refitting the
_Nonsuch_; and on the following day the work was energetically begun,
and so strenuously carried forward that ten days later the vessel was
ready for sea. All that now remained was to suitably reward the
Cimarrones for their services, and this George did upon so lavish a
scale that Lukabela there and then vowed to hold himself and his tribe
henceforth at the service of any and every Englishman who might visit
those waters. The Englishmen were then divided into two parties
proportionate to the tonnage of the ships, George resuming the command
of the _Nonsuch_, while he put Hubert--now completely recovered, and a
strong, robust, handsome man once more--in command of the galleon. This
made both ships very short-handed, but it was the only arrangement
possible, for during their voyage round from Panama the cargo of the
galleon had been overhauled, and found to be so enormously rich, and of
such great bulk, that it was deemed unwise to entrust it and the rest of
the treasure to a single ship; therefore on a certain glorious January
morning all hands went to work to unmoor both ships, and by mid-day they
were clear of the cove and heading north for the treasure island, which
they reached five days later. But during that five days' voyage it had
become so clear to all that both ships must be thoroughly cleared of
weed before the voyage across the Atlantic was undertaken, that they
decided to careen them before proceeding further. This was accordingly
done, the work occupying all hands for three months; but when it was
done both craft were fit in every respect to battle with the spring
gales which they knew awaited them.
Finally, they sailed from the treasure island on the fifth day of May,
1570, and working their way to the north-east between the islands of
Cuba and San Domingo, hit the Gulf Stream, which swept them to windward
as they struggled northward against the north-east trade-wind. This
proved to be the most tedious and wearisome part of their passage; for
upon clearing the trades they were fortunate enough to run into a
succession of strong westerly winds, before which they went foaming and
rolling across the Atlantic at a merry rate, arriving in Plymouth Sound
within two hours of each other, on the afternoon of the twenty-seventh
of July, 1570, to the joy of everybody concerned, after an absence from
home of just over fifteen months.
The partition of the treasure was immediately proceeded with; and so
enormous was its amount that even the lowest grade of mariner received
sufficient to render him independent in a modest way for the remainder
of his life, while as for George, he was--after old Simon Radlett, the
owner of the _Nonsuch_--easily the richest man in all Plymouth, his
share being sufficient not only for his own needs but also for those of
his brother Hubert, with whom he insisted upon an equal division,
despite the energetic and long-continued protests of the elder brother.
For a time there was a possibility that George's exploits on the Spanish
Main and at Panama might involve him in serious trouble with the Queen;
indeed he and old Simon Radlett were summoned to London to give an
account of themselves. Luckily, however, for them, the Catholics were
at the moment making themselves obnoxious in the matter of conspiracies
in favour of Mary, Queen of Scots, while Philip of Spain was also out of
Elizabeth's favour; consequently Her Majesty was just in the right mood
to be favourably impressed by the straightforward story which George had
to tell; and his account of the doings of the Inquisition at San Juan de
Ulua, and the atrocities practised upon the galley-slave prisoners, as
witnessed by himself, excited such lively sympathy in the Queen's breast
that, instead of sending them to the Tower, as they at one time more
than half-expected, she knighted them both and sent them back to
Plymouth happy in the full assurance of her most gracious favour.
THE END.