A fortnight later, in a fair clearing on the summit of those
forest-clad hills which separate the Atlantic Ocean from the South
Sea knelt eighteen sunburnt, way-worn Englishmen. In their midst
rose a giant-tree that reared its head high above all the dense
growth around it. In its rugged bark steps had been cut that led
upwards to a sort of bower high amidst the massive branches, which
might have served as a watch-house to the little settlement that was
about the glade.
For all around where those gaunt men knelt were strong houses built
in the manner of the Cimaroons, some thirty of whom knelt reverently
outward of the Englishmen listening to the prayer which the
thick-set, curly-bearded man in the centre offered up so earnestly.
Earnestly, too, those seventeen others listened, as they knelt in the
heart of the Spanish Main, with as stout an air of triumph on their
youthful faces as though it were all their own. And no wonder it was
so. For each man there had but just ascended to that silvan
watch-tower, and there had seen to the northward the ocean whence he
had come, and over against it, beyond the rolling slope of gorgeous
tropic forest, that silent sea of mystery on which no Englishman had
sailed stretched at his feet, as though waiting peacefully for him to
come and take possession.
[Illustration: SIR FRANCIS DRAKE]
To our fancies, heated with the hundred tales we had heard of the
inexhaustible treasure which came from that new-found sea whereof the
wisest of the ancients were ignorant, it seemed to glitter like a
boundless, unfathomable caldron of molten silver. From this, our
first sight of it, it seemed but a little step with our elated
spirits to enter and possess it; and so it was with uplifted hearts
and throbbing pulse that, resting on our weapons, we kneeled and
listened to Frank Drake's prayer.
'O Almighty God,' he said, 'who has granted us of Thy great goodness
that we should set our eyes at last on that great sea which for all
the ages till now no man knew, but only Thou, and which, though Thou
hadst kept it hidden as an inheritance for all mankind who served
Thee aright, the Bishop of Rome has impiously taken upon himself to
give to an idolatrous king and people: Grant to me now out of the
plenty of Thy power and bounty life and leave to sail once, if only
once, in an English ship in that sea. So shall I, thy servant, and
such of those others here to whom Thou wilt vouchsafe the same, enter
thereon to the advancement to Thy glory, and the confusion of the
lewd priest and potentate who has usurped and abused the vineyard
which Thou hadst prepared for Thy people.'
So he ceased, and a deep 'Amen' mingled with the rustle of the breeze
amongst the vines and canes. Then up sprang Mr. John Oxenham, and
held on high his right hand.
'Hearkye, lads,' he cried, very excited, 'you have heard the
captain's prayer, and know his resolution. Now bear witness that by
yea and nay I protest, as I am a gentleman, that, unless he beat me
from his company, I will follow him, by God's grace, into that sea.'
So one after another we all protested to the like intent, very
earnest and eager for that time to come; and yet, resolute as we all
were, how few ever made good our resolve, and notably Mr. Oxenham!
Had he but been content to follow Frank, instead of faithlessly
trying to be before him, who knows but he too might have died a
knight with a golden collar, and not, as he did, like a felon with a
necklet of Spanish hemp! But let that pass, for who knows better
than I how hard it may be to keep a resolution which in the making
seemed so easy? Such falling away we must openly condemn, for the
sake of the state and reverence for the laws; yet no wise man will
inwardly hasten to loathe sin, since he is well aware that until he
has made trial he cannot tell how small a shock of temptation will
lay his own honour in ruins.
And surely the sight of that golden sea, whereof no man knew the
bounds, was enough to turn any man's head. None of us were in haste
to leave that glorious sight, feeling as though we could never gaze
our fill. To us, the first of Englishmen, was unfolded the
portentous secret which the Spaniards had kept so well. That night,
then, we lay there to dream over the boundless visions to which our
discovery gave birth.
On the morrow, refreshed with our rest, and feeling each one of us a
new man in the presence of that new ocean, we began our perilous
descent towards Panama. And perilous indeed it was, though none of
us now could think of danger or anything but the golden sea.
We were, as I have said, but eighteen Englishmen. This little band
was all we could muster for our attempt. Eight and twenty of our
company were lying dead in graves already half hidden in brakes.
Well-nigh half the rest were sick; and when these were set aside with
a sufficiency of whole men to tend them, and above all to protect our
ships and prisoners, eighteen were all we could spare.
I had been appointed one of the number, seeing that I was still
whole; yet it must be said I was hard put to it to go. For my
prisoner coaxed me so prettily to stay and protect her, and pouted so
sweetly with her full red lips when I would not be moved, that I more
than once came near to yielding, and was not a little glad that we
marched as soon as we did.
Besides our eighteen we had with us thirty Cimaroons, who lightened
the labour of our march not only by their ready bearing of our
burdens, which they would not suffer us to touch, but also by their
cheerful spirits. They seemed never to weary, and were ever laughing
and singing, even when the way was steepest and the brakes most
dense. They seemed, now that they were away from the Spaniards and
we came to know them better, an altogether docile, childlike people,
whom one could but love, for all their hidden fierceness, as one
would a staunch and faithful hound.
Pedro, their chief, who best knew the danger of our enterprise, had
put it hard to the general that he should tarry at a certain town of
theirs till a greater force of Cimaroons could be gathered. But this
Frank would not hearken to. 'No, Pedro,' said he; 'the time speeds
for "making" my voyage, and since I have enough I would not delay an
hour though I might have twenty times as many.' A resolute answer
which rejoiced and gave heart to us all.
So on the morrow of our discovery of the South Sea we began our
descent as we were towards Panama. It was our general's purpose to
waylay a _recua_ as close as possible to Panama, where the Spaniards
would least look for us, in case they had any wind of our still being
on the coast. To this end we had made our toilsome march, going a
good way about that we might not be descried, and so come down
secretly upon the road which led from Panama to Venta Cruz, where, as
I have said, the gold was embarked in frigates to be carried down the
Rio Chagres to Nombre de Dios. We were the more moved to this course
because of our uncertainty whether the _recuas_ went as yet all the
way by land to Nombre de Dios. As we were now it mattered little;
for by thus striking boldly across the Main we could deal with them
before they reached the river, and thus save them the pain of
disappointing us.
Very warily now we pursued our painful way through the matted forest,
in the order which Pedro besought us to adopt. First went, about a
mile ahead of us, four Cimaroons, who best knew those trackless
solitudes. For not a sign of a way was there, and even had there
been one it would have been overgrown by the luxuriant brakes as fast
as it was made. We had nothing further to direct us than the broken
branches by which our guides marked the way we were to follow. How
they could know their road amidst those wellnigh impenetrable woods,
where they could not even see the sky above their heads, was more
than I could tell. Mr. Oxenham said it was a special instinct which
God had given them that they might the better be revenged upon the
Spaniards who had so foully ill-treated them. How this may be I
cannot say, but I know that Frank and most of the company said openly
it was nothing short of a miracle, by which God showed His great love
and tenderness towards us. For it is certain that without the aid of
these poor folk we could never even have attempted the Spaniards by
land.
Our general was very earnest to show his gratitude for this mercy by
burdening himself with care for their souls. For when he found that
they seemed to have no religion, save a sort of idolatrous and
superstitious reverence for the Cross, he would not rest till by
continual urging them at our halts he brought them to lay it aside
and learn in its stead the Lord's Prayer and certain plain doctrines
as he thought sufficient for their low understanding.
Great as was the skill of our guides in leading, it was little
exceeding our vanguard's diligence in clearing the way. For in the
front of our main body marched twelve Cimaroons, who with loving care
made the way as easy as might be for us and their two chiefs, who
were in company with us. Rearwards of all were twelve negroes more,
bearing our burdens and watching against any danger that might
threaten from the rear.
So we marched stealthily through that eternal wilderness of brake,
and vine, and flower, and massive overshadowing trees hour after
hour, in perfect silence, save for the scolding of the frightened
parrots overhead and the strident screaming of the fearless guans.
To me that march gave a pleasure and present sense of strong life
that I had never known before; nor did my content end there. For
Harry felt the influence as strongly as I, and so there was bred
between us one more piece of sympathy, which gave me yet further hope
that I might win his love again. It seemed to bring back our
boyhood, and almost in his old boyish way he came that night and sat
beside me.
'Is this not glorious work?' said he, as he stretched his weary limbs
upon the flowers.
'I could almost wish it would never end,' I answered. 'It lifts a
man out of himself like nothing else I know.'
'That is it,' he mused. 'Indeed, I think there is nothing which will
keep a man so continually excited as silently stalking through a
boundless forest like this, where a white man's foot has never trod
before. As you pick your way at each step, that no stick may crack
or stone roll; as cautiously you press through the boughs, that none
may break or fly back noisily; as you strain your ear for the
whispered order that is passed from your comrade, and peer ever
forwards towards where the danger lies, then you know best the pure
joy of living, the joy of the tiger leaping on his prey, the joy of
the falcon stooping at his quarry.'
'Well said! well said!' I cried, catching his enthusiasm. 'Even so I
now at last can say, "I live and know my life. Now live I with the
life of my father Adam, the son of God." Now know I that fable for a
true allegory, and feel I have dominion over the beast of the field
and the fowls of the air, which is called the inheritance of Adam.'
'Truly what greater joy was his than we have now!' said Harry. 'The
wild pigs and deer and pheasants are our meat, the bubbling brooks
our wine-cups, the leafy boughs our roof, the flowers our beds. His
inheritance is ours! 'Slight, it is a time to tempt a man to throw
aside the fetters of his clothes and the burden of his arms, and rise
up with nought but a spear as symbol of dominion, and live to his
life's end a lord of beasts.'
'It is you, Harry,' said I, 'whom I must thank that I too can know
'this intense joy. It was your father's bringing-up of me that
taught me to love the out-of-doors.'
'Well, it is mock-modesty,' he answered, 'to say he knew not how to
make a man. Indeed, I think Machiavelli did not much err when he
praised the education of Achilles, for whom Chiron chose a master
half-man, half-beast, that he might be acquainted with both, seeing
that without the qualities of one the other will be of little
duration. Such teachers we cannot come by now, yet we can make shift
with one who forgets not that man is half a beast.'
Such talk we had many times afterwards; and I call it a fortunate
thing that our march drew to an end before we had quite run wild. On
the second day after leaving the spot where we had viewed the South
Sea we came out of the forests to a pleasant champaign country,
overgrown with mighty grass, so rank that, as Pedro told us, the
Spaniards had to burn it thrice a year, lest it grow so tall that the
oxen cannot reach to feed on it; which will seem a wonder to those
who know not the Western Wonderland, but it is none the less plain
truth.
Three days we passed through this marvel, suffering grievously from
the heat after the cool shadows of the forest, yet being cheered many
times by getting glimpses of Panama whenever we passed over the
rolling hills that fell in our path. On the fourth day, being the
14th of February, we had for our valentine the blue roadstead of
Panama, with its burden of gold ships riding upon it.
It was a sight to set every heart there beating faster,
notwithstanding the many dangers and excitements through which we had
passed since we heard the farewell guns from Plymouth platform.
Indeed, it was now that our great peril began; for by hook or crook
we had to reach undescried a great grove which lay apart in the midst
of the champaign lands, about a league from the town.
Our danger of discovery, which would mar all, was now very great; for
the Cimaroons told us it was the custom of the ladies in Panama to
send out fowlers in search of a certain delicate bird of which they
were very fond. Should we fall in with but one of these men, which
would be very easy in the tall grass, the alarm would be at once
given, and our chance of gold gone--ay, and perhaps our lives with it.
Frank therefore bade us break up our order, and, falling into small
parties, grope our way as silently and stealthily as possible towards
our goal. It was weary work, and anxious. The sun was blazing down
upon us with intolerable power. Every few minutes we had to stop and
listen.
After going thus for a good space with infinite toil we struck a
river bed, which was almost dry. This, to our great relief, the
Cimaroons said we could follow safely, since it led straight to the
grove. So in the end, by picking our way over the stones like cats,
we came undescried to our hiding-place about three in the afternoon,
and then disposed ourselves to rest, wellnigh exhausted.
There was now nothing to do but lie there still as mice till the
night fell; for the _recuas_ do not travel by day between Panama and
Venta-Cruz, because the way lies wholly across the champaign country,
where there is no shelter from the scorching fire of the sun.
Moreover it was our captain's purpose, as soon as evening drew near,
to send a negro in disguise into Panama to discover whether any
_recuas_ were to be laden that night, and at what hour they were to
start.
As I lay with the rest, half-asleep after my weary march, Frank came
to me and asked if I were too tired for half an hour's more work.
'Not if you want it of me,' said I.
'Well then,' says he, 'come with me to the edge of the grove, whence
Pedro says we can descry Panama.'
'But to what end?' I asked. 'We shall run great risk of discovery.'
'Not if we are careful,' says he; 'and it is worth the risk.'
'Why, what good will our intelligence be?' I asked, not wishing him
to expose himself.
'Not much now,' he answered, 'but, by God's help, some day I will
serve Panama as I served Nombre de Dios. If God grants my prayer for
life and leave, and we sail that sea, yonder harbour is where we must
strike, if we get not our fill elsewhere; and now I have opportunity
of learning how the town lies, I will not throw it away. It is thus
I have sped so far, and thus I mean to continue. For I hold it not
enough for a man to pray earnestly; he must show by fearless,
ungrudging endeavour that he is in earnest, and leave nothing undone
which may speed the granting of his prayer. God could do all this
and more without my help, that I know well; but yet I think He loves
best to help men who are ready to show they are in earnest in seeking
His help.'
So together we went and lay down where we could see the fair city,
lying some little way from the harbour on either side of a goodly
broad street that led northwards from the sea right through the
houses. All was very still, because of the great heat that still
prevailed. Yet we could see the convent nestling in its garden of
palms, the tall spire of the church, the high bare walls of the
King's Treasure-House, as big and strong as that at Nombre de Dios.
And beyond all slumbered the gold ships in the roadstead.
'A fair place! a goodly place!' said Frank in a whisper. 'Too fair
and goodly for those that possess it. It should be ours, Jasper, and
our Queen's; and so it shall be, at least for as long as its
plundering will take, if I can come into that roadstead with but two
stout well-manned ships. We shall see, we shall see. Let us come
away. It is in the Lord's hands to deal with as He wills.'
On our return to the strength we found the Cimaroons busy dressing
our espial in the costume which the servants in Panama were
accustomed to wear. He was a merry, shrewd fellow, who had served a
master in the city formerly, and he bade us not to doubt that he
would soon be back with all the intelligence we wanted.
After his going was another space of anxious waiting, during which we
refreshed ourselves with such victuals as we had with us. To every
man was given a little _aqua vitæ_ for his comfort. I was surprised
to see Sergeant Culverin drinking, as I thought a little too freely,
from a private store he had. I went to him, and he respectfully
offered me some.
'No, Sergeant,' said I; 'if there is danger before us I would rather
keep my head cool.'
'As you will, sir,' he said. 'It may be well enough for a young man,
but with an old soldier it is different.'
'Then has not an old soldier as much need of a cool head as a young
one?' I asked.
'Yes, perhaps,' he answered; 'but a cool head is little use if your
heart is cool too.'
'Why, Sergeant,' said I, very surprised, 'your heart at least will
not be faint when a fight is ahead.'
'No, sir,' said he gravely, 'no man shall say that; and yet I like to
go about with it that it shall not faint, and therefore I discipline
it with a sufficiency of _aqua vitæ_.'
'Well, Sergeant,' said I, still very puzzled at the signs of timidity
on the part of the grim old soldier, 'you are the last I should have
suspected of needing so base a crutch for his courage.'
'Maybe my courage halts,' he answered sadly, 'maybe it does not.
Once I never gave a thought to danger, but when a man has served much
he knows. I do not think I have less courage than any man here, but
I know what war is better than they. As you shall see more of war,
sir, you shall see less of its glory and more of its horror. That is
why I wished to come to England; and to be plain with you, I should
never have run my head into this wild venture of Captain Drake's had
it not been that my poor master---- but I crave your honour's pardon,
I prattle impertinently.'
'No matter, Sergeant,' said I; 'it is I who should crave your pardon.
But tell me, do you think our danger so very great?'
'Not perhaps if we succeed,' answered the Sergeant; 'but if we fail,
where shall we retreat?'
'But we must not think of that,' said I.
'A young soldier need not,' said he sadly; 'but alas! an old soldier
cannot choose but think of it, unless----'
'Unless what, Sergeant?' I asked.
'Unless, sir,' said he, grimly smiling, 'in the stead of the ardent
spirit of youth, which in you burns up such doubt, a man may come by
a sufficiency of this most courageous _agua ardiente_.'
With that I left him, revolving much in my mind whether he or I were
the braver man.
It was not long before our espial came back. We gathered eagerly
round him for his news, which as eagerly he gave, seeing he was so
full of it that he was like to burst had he not got this relief as
soon as he did. And no wonder, for he told us he had found the Plaza
full of mules, which men were fitting with packs. On questioning
these he found that two great _recuas_, with a little silver and much
victuals, were about to start for the fleet that night; but what was
better, and what caused his eagerness, was that, besides these, there
was preparing to precede them a _recua_ for no less a man than the
Treasurer of Lima himself,' who, being bent on returning to Spain by
the first _adviso_ that sailed, was starting that very night for
Nombre de Dios with all his servants and his daughter, together with
one mule load of jewels and eight of gold!