s of the English, but it was
found that she was sinking too fast for them to save her, and the
boarders were at once recalled.

Harry, however, determined not to leave without his friend, and he was
therefore left behind when the Englishmen returned to their own vessel.
The grapnels uniting the two ships were cut, and at once the craft began
to drift apart, Harry being left on board the Spanish vessel searching
for Roger.

How he found him and rescued him, obtaining possession of certain
documents at the very last moment, and hoisted Roger on deck even as the
ship swamped beneath their feet, has already been told.

Now, as to the result of the action. Of the two ships first engaged by
the English--the _Maria Dolorosa_ and the _Buena Vista_--the latter had
been sunk at the commencement of the action, and the former had blown
up.

The third ship, the _Gloria del Mundo_, had sunk. The _Salvador_ and
_El Capitan_ were the only two of the Spanish fleet that still remained
afloat, and both were fearfully knocked about. The _Salvador_ had lost
all her masts, every one of her boats had been smashed to pieces by the
gun-fire of the English, and her sides were everywhere perforated with
shot-holes. But a prize crew had been put on board her, and was now
hard at work patching her up and rendering her seaworthy, rigging
jury-masts, cutting away wreckage, and otherwise putting her once more
into sailing trim. _El Capitan_ was in a similar condition. She had
still her mizzenmast standing; but otherwise she was as badly damaged as
her companion, and was undergoing the same repairs and refit.

The Spaniards who had escaped on board the _Salvador_ and _El Capitan_
from the other vessels, and the crews of the two ships themselves still
left alive, had been divided into five batches, one being put on board
each ship. This was done by way of precaution, since, thus separated,
there was much less likelihood of their attempting to recapture their
own ships or take those of the English.

The English squadron had suffered almost as badly, for although none of
the vessels had been sunk, they were all in a very seriously damaged
condition. Cavendish's vessel, the _Stag Royal_, had lost all her
masts, and was in great danger of foundering, her appearance being that
of a huge mass of wreckage rather than a ship; but the carpenters were
hard at work on her, and were making good her defects as quickly as
possible.

The other two ves