again.

Delays and tempestuous head winds induced Drake to let intermediate
points alone and make straight for Cartagena on the South American
mainland. Cartagena had been warned and was on the alert. It was strong
by both nature and art. The garrison was good of its kind, though the
Spaniards' custom of fighting in quilted jackets instead of armor put
them at a disadvantage. This custom was due to the heat and to the fact
that the jackets were proof against the native arrows.

There was an outer and an inner harbor, with such an intricate and
well-defended passage that no one thought Drake would dare go in. But he
did. Frobisher had failed to catch a pilot. But Drake did the trick
without one, to the utter dismay of the Spaniards. After some more very
clever manoeuvres, to distract the enemy's attention from the real point
of attack, Carleill and the soldiers landed under cover of the dark and
came upon the town where they were least expected, by wading waist-deep
through the water just out of sight of the Spanish gunners. The
entrenchments did not bar the way in this unexpected quarter. But wine
casks full of rammed earth had been hurriedly piled there in case the
mad English should make the attempt. Carleill gave the signal. Goring's
musketeers sprang forward and fired into the Spaniards' faces. Then
Sampson's pikemen charged through and a desperate hand-to-hand fight
ensued. Finally the Spaniards broke after Carleill had killed their
standard-bearer and Goring had wounded and taken their commander. The
enemies ran pell-mell through the town together till the English
reformed in the Plaza. Next day Drake moved in to attack the harbor
fort; whereupon it was abandoned and the whole place fell.

But again there was a dearth of booty. The Spaniards were getting shy of
keeping too many valuables where they could be taken. So negotiations,
emphasized by piecemeal destruction, went on till sickness and the
lateness of the season put the English in a sorry fix. The sack of the
city had yielded much less than that of San Domingo; and the men, who
were all volunteers, to be paid out of plunder, began to grumble at
their ill-success. Many had been wounded, several killed--big, faithful
Tom Moone among them. A hundred died. More were ill. Two councils of war
were held, one naval, the other military. The military officers agreed
to give up all their own shares to the men. But the naval officers, who
were poorer and who were als