ld be overwhelmed as soon as it grew light enough for the
Spaniards to see the littleness of the band which had attacked them.
Diego's words confirmed the statements of the lumbermen at the Isles of
Pines. The men of Drake's party were young. They had never fought
before. They had been on the rack, as it were, for several days. They
were now quite out of hand, and something of their panic began to spread
among the party on the Plaza. Before Drake could do more than despatch
his brother, with John Oxenham, to reassure the guard, and see how
matters stood, the situation became yet more complicated. "A mighty
shower of rain, with a terrible storm of thunder and lightning," burst
furiously upon them, making such a roaring that none could hear his own
voice. As in all such storms, the rain came down in a torrent, hiding
the town from view in a blinding downpour. The men ran for the shelter
of "a certain shade or penthouse, at the western end of the King's
Treasure House," but before they could gain the cover some of their
bowstrings were wetted "and some of our match and powder hurt." As soon
as the shelter had been reached, the bowstrings were shifted, the guns
reprimed, and the match changed upon the linstocks. While the
industrious were thus employed, a number of the hands began talking of
the reports which had reached them from the boats. They were "muttering
of the forces of the town," evidently anxious to be gone from thence, or
at least stirring. Drake heard the muttered talk going up and down the
shed, and promptly told the men that he had brought them to the mouth of
the Treasure of the World, and that if they came away without it they
might blame nobody but themselves.

At the end of a "long half-hour" the storm began to abate, and Drake
felt that he must put an end to the panic. It was evidently dangerous
to allow the men any "longer leisure to demur of those doubts," nor was
it safe to give the enemy a chance of rallying. He stepped forward,
bidding his brother, with John Oxenham and his party, to break open the
King's treasure-house, while he, with the remainder of the hands,
maintained the Plaza. "But as he stepped forward his strength and sight
and speech failed him, and he began to faint for want of blood." He had
been hit in the leg with a bullet at the first encounter, yet in the
greatness of his heart he had not complained, although suffering
considerable pain. He had seen that many of his men had "already