aroon servant to bring back the Spanish
answer. But the Spanish messenger ran his lance into the Maroon and
cantered away. The Maroon dragged himself back and fell dead at
Drake's feet. Drake sent word to say he would hang two Spaniards a day
till the one who had killed his Maroon was hanged himself. No answer
having come in next morning, two Spanish friars were strung up. Then
the offender was brought in and hanged by the Spaniards in front of
both armies. After this Drake burnt a fresh bit of the town each day
till the Spaniards paid the ransom.

The next dash was for Cartagena on the mainland of South America. The
Spaniards felt safe from a naval attack here, as the harbour was very
hard to enter, even with the best of Spanish pilots. But Drake did
this trick quite easily without any pilot at all; and, after puzzling
the Spaniards by his movements, put Carleill ashore in the dark just
where the English soldiers could wade past the Spanish batteries under
cover at the weakest spot. When Carleill reached the barricade his
musketeers fired into the Spaniards' faces and wheeled off to let the
pikemen charge through. After a fierce hand-to-hand fight the
Spaniards ran. The town gave in next day. Having been paid its ransom
Drake sailed for the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine in Florida and
utterly destroyed it, then went on to Sir Walter Raleigh's colony of
Roanoke, in what is now North Carolina, and thence home.

He had missed the yearly treasure fleet by only half a day. He had
lost so many men by sickness that he had no chance of taking and
holding Havana. And the ransoms were less than he had hoped for. But
he had done enough to cripple New Spain for the next few years at any
rate. Arrived at Plymouth he wrote to London, saying, "There is now a
very great gap opened, very little to the liking of the King of Spain."

But the King, stung to the quick, went on with his Armada harder than
before, and in 1587 had it more than half ready in Lisbon and Cadiz.
Then Drake "singed King Philip's beard" by swooping down on Cadiz and
smashing up the shipping there; by going on to Cape St. Vincent, which
he seized and held with an army while his ships swept off the fishing
craft that helped to feed the great Armada; and by taking "the greatest
ship in all Portugal, richly laden, to our Happy Joy." This was the
best East Indies treasure ship, loaded with silks and spices, jewels
and gold, to the value of many