I do hope and trust we'll keep out o' mischief till Frankie gets us
home to Plymouth, Hol'." Will grinned back cheerfully, and there was a
subdued laugh from the group about the fire. The fleet was itself again.
Adventure after adventure succeeded, wilder than minstrel ever sang. The
_Marygold_ went down with all hands; Wynter in the _Elizabeth_,
believing the Admiral lost, turned homeward; the _Christopher_ and the
_Swan_ had already been broken up. All alone the little _Golden Hynde_,
blown southward, sailed around Cape Horn and proved the Antarctic
continent a myth. Then Drake steered northward after more than two
month's tossing on the uncharted seas, to revictual his ship in Spanish
ports, fill his hold with the rich cargoes of one prize ship after
another, and capture at last the great annual treasure-ship _Nuestra
Senora de la Concepcion_, nicknamed the _Spitfire_ because she was
better armed than most of the ships plying on that coast. As they
ballasted the _Golden Hynde_ with silver from her huge hulk the jesting
seamen dubbed her the _Spit-silver_. The little flagship was literally
brimful of silver bars, ingots of gold, pieces of eight, and jewels
whose value has never been accurately known. The Spanish Adelantados,
accustomed to trust in their remoteness for defense, frantically looked
for Drake everywhere except where he was.
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