an easy matter in those brave old times to get together an
excellent ship's company. Men of all ranks and stations were wild for
adventure, and bold sailors literally trod upon one another in their
eagerness to be berthed aboard a ship chartered for a voyage to the
magic New World. Captain Drake had picked and chosen at his leisure,
and a man needed to be many-sided in his accomplishments to get his
name inscribed on the ship's books. Take Dan Pengelly. He was an
excellent sailor, as bold as a lion, and had sailed the western ocean
before. But a hundred men in Plymouth could claim so much as that.
Dan's precious packet and his skill as a singer were the deciding
points in his favour. A capable band of musicians could be mustered
from amongst the crew and the archers. Life aboard the _Golden Boar_
was jolly enough, and no man in the whole company wished to be
otherwhere. Glorious days! heroic hearts! and happy, happy, land that
bred them!

The Azores were readied without accident, almost without incident, and
Captain Drake sailed boldly into the harbour of Flores and sent ashore
for fresh fruits and water. There were two Spanish vessels in the
harbour, one a heavily-armed galleon of about six hundred tons. Like
the English ship, she was going westwards, her destination being Vera
Cruz, from which port she was to escort a treasure-ship filled with the
produce of the Mexican mines. When the English captain heard this he
resolved, other things failing him, to bear King Philip's treasure to
Europe himself. His company was eager to be away, so a night and a day
completed his stay at Flores.

And now for a full month, with varying winds and under changing skies,
through storm and shine, the _Golden Boar_ ploughed her ocean furrow in
the path of the sun; and on the twenty-fourth of May she cast anchor in
the bay of San Joseph, Trinidad. West and north of her lay the
multitudinous islands of the fertile Indies. Southwards stretched the
continuation of the great American continent, the land of so many
dreams and hopes and desires. Johnnie Morgan stood with Master
Jeffreys and gazed at the long-sought land--at its waving palms, its
gleaming sands, the native huts, and the white houses of the Spaniards.
A native boat shot out from the shore. Two dusky, pleasant-faced
fellows stepped aboard. Johnnie went forward. He put out his hand and
touched them with trembling fingers. Wonderful, new creatures!

Chapt