he adventurous
Drake in loud tones of appreciation, "that I may have life and leave
to sail but once an English ship in this mighty ocean of the West!"

Then he called up the rest of the voyagers, and told them of his
prayer and purpose.

"I will follow you by God's grace!" cried John Oxenham, "unless you do
not wish my company."

Drake smiled good-humoredly, and, with a wave of his arm in the
direction of the glistening waters, descended to the ground.

"On, my hearties!" cried he, "and we'll soon bag a mule train with its
panniers filled with gold."

The men started forward, singing an old English ballad. As they walked
through the high pampas grass, they began to get glimpses of Panama
and the low-lying ships in the harbor. They kept silence and at length
hid themselves in a grove near the high road from Panama to Nombre de
Dios, while a negro was sent into the city as a spy.

In the afternoon the faithful henchman returned.

"A certain great man intends to go to Spain by the first ship," he
said. "He is travelling towards Nombre de Dios this very night with
his daughter and his family. He has fourteen mules, eight of which are
laden with gold and one with jewelry. Two other trains of fifty mules
each--burdened with food and little silver--will also come up this
night."

The English smiled, and, without more ado, marched to within two miles
of Vera Cruz, where half of them lay down upon one side of the road,
and half upon the other. They were screened by the tall grass; so
well, indeed, that no eye could see them, and in an hour's time, to
their eager ears came the sound of mule trains passing to and fro near
Vera Cruz, where trade was lively because of the presence of the
Spanish fleet. All was propitious for a successful attack.

But misfortune seemed always to follow the bold and adventurous
Drake. As mischance would have it, one of his men called Robert Pike,
who had "drunk too much brandy without water," was lying close to the
roadway by the side of a grinning Maroon, and, when a well-mounted
cavalier from Vera Cruz rode by--with his page running at his
stirrup--he rose up to peer at him, even though his companion pulled
him down in the endeavor to hide his burly form.

"Sacre Nom de Dieu," cried the traveller. "It is a white man! An
Englishman!" and, putting spurs to his horse, he rode away at a
furious gallop in order to warn others of the highwayman's position.

The ground was hard and the night