But at midnight the threatened storm rolled up. The troops were
hurriedly reembarked; and, barely in time to escape disaster, the
flotilla regained the ships. For three days the gale continued,
threatening the whole fleet with destruction till it was got safely up
above Vigo. There the whole of the boats in which the panic-stricken
inhabitants had embarked their property were captured, and, though by
this time the Governor of Bayona had arrived with a considerable force,
he was compelled to permit Drake to carry out his purpose in peace.
By October 8th he was out in the Bayona road again, waiting for a wind
to waft him on his way, and it was reported at the Spanish court that he
had gone toward the Indies. The consternation was universal. The Marquis
of Santa Cruz, high admiral of Spain and the most renowned naval officer
in Europe, declared that not only the African islands, but the whole
Pacific coast, the Spanish Main, and the West Indies were at the
corsair's mercy, and told his master that a fleet of forty sail must be
instantly equipped for the pursuit. But though for another fortnight
Drake rode defiantly at the Bayona anchorage, not a limb of Philip's
inert machinery could be moved against him; and, while the chivalry of
Spain chafed under their sovereign's deliberation, the second blow was
struck.
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