ke
example from them, and keep up your hopes. I propose to make a raft
upon which I myself will embark, and by making out from this bay
into the open sea, may succeed in catching sight of the pinnace,
and bringing it hither to your rescue."

The proposal seemed a desperate one, for it was far more likely
that the Spaniards' ships would come along, and descry the raft,
than that the latter should meet with the pinnace. However, there
seemed no other resource. The materials for the raft were scanty
and weak; and when Captain Francis, with three companions, got
fairly out of the bay, the raft sank so deeply in the water that
they were completely standing in the sea.

For some hours they beat about; and then, to their great joy, they
descried the pinnace in the distance, making for land. The wind had
now risen, and it was blowing hard, and their position on the raft
was dangerous enough. They found that it would be impossible for
them to keep at sea, and still more impossible to place themselves
in the track of the pinnaces, which were making for a bay behind a
projecting headland.

Painfully paddling the raft to the shore, Captain Francis landed;
and they made their way, with much toil and fatigue, over the hill
which divided them from that bay; and, towards morning, got down to
the pinnace, where they were received with much joy. Then they at
once launched the boat, and made for the spot where they had left
their comrades. These received them as if risen from the dead, for
they had all made up their minds that their admiral, and his
companions, had been lost upon the frail raft on which they had
embarked.

They now put to sea, and had the good fortune to escape the ken of
the Spaniards, who had sailed further up the coast. So, thanking
God for their escape, they sailed back to the bay where the Pacha
and her prizes lay, and then all hands began to make great
preparation for return home.

Chapter 5: Cast Ashore.

It was time, indeed, for the little band of adventurers to be
turning their faces towards England. Their original strength, of
eighty men, was reduced to fifty; and of these, many were sick and
weak. They had gained a vast store of wealth, although they had
missed the plunder of Nombre de Dios and of Carthagena. Their
doings had caused such consternation and alarm that it was certain
that the Spaniards would, ere long, make a great and united effort
to crush them; and fifty men, however valiant