THE SPANISH MENACE 

 The First Action. 



Howard, Drake, Hawkyns, and Frobisher were clear by the morn- 

 ing of the twenty-first, and although they had only a portion of the fleet 

 with them they considered themselves strong enough to attack, not so 

 much with any hope of defeating the enemy as to prevent him making 

 any attempt at a landing. They got the weather gage, and sending in 

 the little pinnace Disdain to give the Spanish Admiral defiance — which 

 she appears to have done unmistakably — Howard took his flagship the 

 Ark alongside the Spanish leader and hammered her until he was com- 

 pelled to desist by the ships that came to her assistance. Meanwhile 

 Recalde, whom the British respected far more than his leader, was 

 having a very bad time from Drake and his kinsmen, and was very glad 

 to withdraw. This was scarcely what the Spaniards expected and there 

 was a good deal of confusion among them, an explosion blowing out the 

 deck of the San Salvador and collisions doing a good deal of damage. 

 At the end of two hours there was little risk of the Spaniards trying to 

 land, and Howard decided to call off the action until more ships could 

 come out, at the same time sending warning to Seymour and Wynter who 

 had their squadrons further up Channel. 



Following up the Enemy. 



That night the Commander-in-Chief gave Drake the job of keeping 

 in touch with the enemy, guiding the fleet with his big poop lantern. 

 There was always something of the pirate about Drake, however, and 

 as soon as he saw one of the enemy's big ships straggling slightly the 

 promise of loot was too strong for him. He had no desire to share his 

 prize with others, so extinguished his lantern and, of course, caused the 

 greatest confusion in the fleet while he pursued his prey. She was a big 

 enough mouthful for the little 500-ton Revenge, for she was the Nuestra 

 Senora del Rosario of 1,150 tons, one of the biggest ships in the whole 

 Armada and flagship of Don Pedro de Valdes. She mounted forty-six 

 guns, and had on board 304 soldiers and 118 mariners. The Revenge 

 had forty-three guns and 250 men in all, and even the fact that the 

 Spaniard was already damaged aloft could not make the odds even. 

 She was taken, and her valuable commander — he afterwards proved to 

 be worth £3,000 ransom — transferred to the British ship, which then 

 sent her prize into Dartmouth and hurried after the flag. Drake's 

 action very seriously hampered his admiral, who was hanging on to the 

 skirts of the enemy with scarcely a ship to support him in consequence 

 of the confusion it caused. Had the enemy turned with any display of 

 energy things might have gone very ill with us. Drake caught up with 

 his chief on the evening of Monday the 22nd, and in the meantime we 

 had taken possession of the San Salvador, which had been badly damaged 

 by explosion. 



The Armada Treasure. 



In the loss of the San Salvador was the beginning of all the wonder- 

 ful stories of the Armada treasure which has cost so many thousands in 



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