Men scrambled up the mast poles to gaze
seaward for sight of sail to the fore. Every nerve was braced. They
were now across the equator. A few hundred miles more, and the _Glory
of the South Seas_ would lie safe inside the strong harbor of Panama.
Drake ordered the thirty cannon ready for action, and in a loud voice
offered the present of his own golden chain to the man who should first
descry the sails of the Spanish treasure. For once his luck failed
him. The wind suddenly fell. Before Drake needed to issue the order,
his "brave boys" were over decks and out in the small boats rowing for
dear life, towing the _Golden Hind_. Day or night from February
twenty-fourth, they did not slack, scarcely pausing to eat or sleep.
Not to lose the tremendous prize by seeing the _Glory of the South
Seas_ sail into Panama Bay at the last lap of the desperate race, had
these bold pirates ploughed a furrow round the world, daring death or
devil!
At three in the afternoon of March the 1st, John Drake, the commander's
brother, shouted out from the mast top where he clung, "Sail ho!" and
the blood of every Englishman aboard jumped to the words! At six in
the evening, just off Cape Francisco, they were so close to the _Glory
of the South Seas_, they could see that she was compelled to sail
slowly, owing to the weight of her cargo.
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