not to be carried by some thirty or
forty men, however gallant and determined they might be. There was,
too, but little hope that the old man had spoken falsely, for they
had themselves heard guns, shortly before their arrival there. With
much bitterness, it was determined to abandon the plan of attack;
and thus Carthagena, as well as Nombre de Dios, escaped from the
hands of the English.

They did not, however, go out empty handed; for they succeeded in
capturing, by boarding, four pinnaces, each laden with cargo; and
as they turned their heads to go out to sea, a great ship of
Seville came sailing in. Her they laid alongside and captured
easily, she having just arrived from Spain, having no thoughts of
meeting a foe, just as she reached her port of destination.

This lightened the hearts of the crew, and with their prizes in
tow, they sailed out in good spirits. The ship contained large
stores of goods from Spain, with sherries, and merchandise of every
kind. They went back to the Isle of Pines, their usual rendezvous,
and on adding up the goods that they had taken from various prizes,
found that, even now, they had made no bad thing of their voyage.

They were now much reduced in fighting strength by illness, and
Captain Drake determined in his mind that the crews were no longer
strong enough for the manning of two ships, and that it would be
better to take to one, alone. He knew, however, that even his
authority would not suffice to persuade the sailors to abandon one
of the vessels, for sailors have a great love for their ships. He
therefore determined to do it by a sudden stroke, and that known
only to himself and another. Therefore he called to him Thomas
Moore, the carpenter of the Swanne; and, taking him aside, told him
to make auger holes in the bottom of that ship. Moore, who was a
good sailor, made a great resistance to the orders; but upon the
admiral assuring him that it was necessary, for the success of the
enterprise, that one of the ships should be destroyed, he very
reluctantly undertook the task.

Previous to this Captain Drake had ordered all the booty, and a
considerable portion of the stores of both ships, to be hauled on
shore; so that they might lose nothing of value to them.

The next morning, Ned and his friends were sitting on the bulwark
of the vessel, watching the fish playing about in the depths of the
clear blue water.

"We seem to be lower in the water than usual," Ned said. "Does