the water, the buoyancy with which, after the first deep
plunge, she rose to her bearings and sat upon a perfectly even keel, and
the cleanness with which she divided the water as she drove out toward
the middle of the bay. Then, too, the craft being farther distant from
him than he had ever before viewed her, he was the better able to
observe the very marked differences in model which Radlett had
introduced into her design, the easier and more flowing lines, the more
graceful shape, the shallower hull, and the absence of those towering
fore and after castles which rendered the ships of those days so
awkward, crank, and uneasy in heavy weather; and he told himself grimly
that with such a ship as that, and with a good strong sturdy crew of
staunch Devonian hearts to back him up, it should not be his fault if he
did not make the word "Englishman" a name of dread from one end to the
other of the Spanish Main.

From the moment of the launch the preparations for the voyage progressed
rapidly, yet not as rapidly as George could have wished, for the time
was one of great difficulty and tension in England; war with France, or
Spain, or both, threatened to break out at any moment; the country was
swarming with spies, and it was therefore of vital importance to the
success of the expedition that the most absolute secrecy concerning it
should be maintained. It was even necessary that the very existence of
the ship and the fact of her being fitted out should be noised abroad as
little as possible, for, as things then were, in the event of a crisis
arising it was quite upon the cards that the authorities might lay
forcible hands upon the craft and annex her for the service of the
country. Such a condition of affairs militated very strongly indeed
against extreme rapidity of progress; yet so well did cunning old
Radlett manage that, in spite of everything, the process of rigging the
_Nonsuch_ and preparing her for sea went forward with surprising speed.
It was of course impossible to keep the fact of her fitting-out an
absolute secret from everybody, so when inquisitive people came prowling
about the wharf, asking all sorts of inconvenient questions, old Radlett
gave them to understand, with many nods and winks of mystery, that he
had it in his mind to see what could be done with her in the way of a
trading voyage to the eastern Indies, where, he understood, pots of
money were to be made by those who were willing to take a little