And
then when it was done, we made two lines down the deck to where the block
stood by the main-mast; and the two came down together; and they kissed
one another there. And Mr. Doughty spoke to the men, and bade them pray
for the Queen's Grace with him; and they did. And then he and Mr. Drake
put off their doublets, and Mr. Doughty knelt at the block, and said
another prayer or two, and then laid his head down, and he was shivering
a little with cold, and then, when he gave the sign, Mr. Drake----" and
Hubert brought the edge of his hand down sharply, and the glasses rang,
and the ladies drew quick hissing breaths; and Lady Maxwell put her hand
on her son's arm, as he looked round on all their faces.
Then he told them of the expedition up the west coast, and of the towns
they sacked; and the opulent names rolled oddly off his tongue, and
seemed to bring a whiff of southern scent into this panelled English
room,--Valparaiso, Tarapaca, and Arica--; and of the capture of the
_Cacafuego_ off Quibdo; and of the enormous treasure they took, the
great golden crucifix with emeralds of the size of pigeon's eggs, and the
chests of pearls, and the twenty-six tons of silver, and the wedges of
pure gold from the Peruvian galleon, and of the golden falcon from the
Chinese trader that they captured south of Guatulco. And he described the
search up the coast for the passage eastwards that never existed; and of
Drake's superb resolve to return westwards instead, by the Moluccas; and
how they stayed at Ternate, south of Celebes, and coasted along Java
seeking a passage, and found it in the Sunda straits, and broke out from
the treacherous islands into the open sea; crossed to Africa, rounded the
Cape of Good Hope; came up the west coast, touching at Sierra Leone, and
so home again along the Spanish and French coasts, to Plymouth Sound and
the pealing of Plymouth bells.
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