went
the Spaniards through the Panama gate, with screaming townsfolk
scurrying before them. Bang went the gate, now under English guard, as
Drake made for the Governor's house. There lay a pile of silver bars
such as his men had never dreamt of: in all, about four hundred tons of
silver ready for the homeward fleet--enough not only to fill but sink
the _Pascha_, _Swan_, and pinnaces. But silver was then no more to Drake
than it was once to Solomon. What he wanted were the diamonds and pearls
and gold, which were stored, he learned, in the King's Treasure House
beside the bay.

A terrific storm now burst. The fire-pikes and arquebuses had to be
taken under cover. The wall of the King's Treasure House defied all
efforts to breach it. And the Spaniards who had been shut into the
town, discovering how few the English were, reformed for attack. Some of
Drake's men began to lose heart. But in a moment he stepped to the front
and ordered Oxenham to go round and smash in the Treasure House gate
while he held the Plaza himself. Just as the men stepped off, however,
he reeled aside and fell. He had fainted from loss of blood caused by a
wound he had managed to conceal. There was no holding the men now. They
gave him a cordial, after which he bound up his leg, for he was a
first-rate surgeon, and repeated his orders as before. But there were a
good many wounded; and, with Drake no longer able to lead, the rest all
begged to go back. So back to their boats they went, and over to the
Bastimentos or Victualling Islands, which contained the gardens and
poultry runs of the Nombre de Dios citizens.

Here they were visited, under a flag of truce, by the Spanish officer
commanding the reinforcement just sent across from Panama. He was all
politeness, airs, and graces, while trying to ferret out the secret of
their real strength. Drake, however, was not to be outdone either in
diplomacy or war; and a delightful little comedy of prying and veiling
courtesies was played out, to the great amusement of the English
sea-dogs. Finally, when the time agreed upon was up, the Spanish officer
departed, pouring forth a stream of high-flown compliments, which Drake,
who was a Spanish scholar, answered with the like. Waving each other a
ceremonious adieu the two leaders were left no wiser than before.

Nombre de Dios, now strongly reinforced and on its guard, was not an
easy nut to crack. But Panama? Panama meant a risky march inland and a
still risk