CHAPTER XVI.
Although the bark “Eliza,” in obedience to the orders of the LordAdmiral, quitted Leigh a few hours after the interment of Inez,several days intervened before she made Portsmouth. An account ofher daring exploit at Lisbon reached that place before her; and,on her arrival at Spithead, she was hailed from the several shipsof the fleet, as she passed by them to her anchorage, with themost stirring and hearty cheers.
Hildebrand’s instructions directed him, after he should arrive atPortsmouth, to put himself under the orders of Admiral Hawkins;and accordingly, when he had come to an anchor, he proceeded torender them obedience. Having waited on the Admiral, he becamefor a while his own master, and he then sought the presence ofSir Walter Raleigh.
Sir Walter received him with his usual cordiality; but he hadno opportunity of conferring with him, as he had intended, onthe aspect of his private affairs, or taking his advice on hisrecent troubles. He learned from him, however, the exact forceand position of the fleet, and what it would probably effect.Hence he became aware, in the end, that it was quite ready forsea, and, indeed, had been about to weigh the day previous; butthe intelligence that the enemy had sustained great damage froma storm, of which he was himself the author, had induced theAdmiral to recall his order for sailing, and continue in port. Helearned, also, that a letter (which was, indeed, no other thanthe one written by Evaline, informing him of the revelationsof Don Felix) was lying for him at Sir Walter’s house, in theStrand; but, never thinking who had been its writer, he felt noanxiety respecting it, but was content that it should remainthere till, whatever might be its issue to himself, the comingengagement with the invading armada should be some way decided.
He had been at Portsmouth a full week before the signal was givenfor the fleet to put to sea. It was a lovely summer’s morning,but a fine, fresh breeze, that made one’s heart bound again, blewfrom the shore, and carried the brave squadron past the Needles,and on to the Channel. The several ships, by order of theAdmiral, here kept pretty close together, but still two or threeshot ahead, and the fairy-like “Eliza”, though under slack sail,took the lead. She was thus sailing on, when, to the surprise ofthe whole fleet, she suddenly tacked about, and fired a gun.
As the report boomed over the water, a gun from the ship of theAdmiral, Lord Effingham, rendered it a response, and a signal washoisted for the fleet to close. Before the order could be wellobeyed, a mass of tall masts, extending over an area of sevenmiles, and looking like a forest in the distance, appeared on thehorizon, and announced the approach of the long-expected enemy.
The tremendous armament looked none the less formidable as itdrew more near. One hundred and thirty ships, larger than anyyet seen, bristling with cannon, and manned with armies, mighthave struck terror into an assembled nation; and how could onepoor squadron array itself against them. The British navy lookedlike a bevy of cock-boats in their proximity. Still, however, itretreated orderly, and the Spaniards did not attempt to give itchase. As night fell, the two armaments were scarcely five milesapart. The night came on dark, and, covered by the darkness, theEnglish Admiral, by a dexterous manœuvre, suffered the Spanishfleet to pass him, and slipped to the rearward. Sir FrancisDrake, to quote his own words, there “_fell foul_” of the heaviersailers of the armada, and caused them great damage. The wind hadbeen pretty fresh hitherto, but towards daylight, which broke atan early hour, it dropped, and the forward ships of the armadawere thus unable to return to the succour and relief of the rear,or lend them any support. On the other hand, the English fleet,being all smaller ships, could sail under a light wind, andharassed the rear with continual assaults. Thus they progressedfor two days; but then, being more favoured by the wind, theSpanish ships drew close together, and bade the English defiance.The English Admiral began to apprehend that they would put intoCalais, and, after recruiting there, sally forth with augmentedforce, and overpower him. He determined, therefore, to hazard abattle.
The Spaniards were formed in such excellent order, right acrossthe channel, that it seemed impossible, on a first view, to finda vulnerable point in their whole line. The daring and experienceof Drake, however, soon carried out a scheme by which such anopening could be effected.[A] Taking eight old ships, filled withcombustibles, which he had brought with him from Portsmouth, hedrove them forward as if they had been fire-ships; and directedthem straight on the Spanish centre. As he had expected, the linewas broken in a moment. With a promptitude that, consideringhis disparity of force, could not be too highly admired, heimmediately bore down on the opening with his whole division. Hismanœuvre threw the entire line of the enemy into disorder; andLord Effingham and Hawkins, with the right line of the Englishfleet, availed themselves of their confusion to fall on theirnearer extremity, while Sir Martin Frobisher bore down on itsoffset.
[A] This stratagem was suggested by the Queen.
A terrible and deadly conflict hereupon ensued. The superiorcalibre of the Spanish guns, though so much higher from thewater, threatened to blow the little squadron of Drake to atoms,but that gallant mariner met them undaunted. Wherever the dangerwas greatest, his puny figure was seen, like a shadow, flittingbefore his men, and animating them to renewed efforts by hisexample. But he did not continue long to fight with mere cannon.After a time, his division advanced, under cover of dense massesof smoke, to meet the enemy at closer quarters, and orders wereissued for each ship to prepare to board. Loud cheers emanatedfrom the little squadron as this injunction was carried intoforce. In despite of a tremendous fire, they quickly rangedalongside the enemy; and with the hardihood of English seamen,which laughs at danger, and defies death, proceeded to board themat the cannon’s mouth.
While these operations were in progress, the division of LordEffingham, as was before stated, had attacked the enemy’s outerline. But, though an experienced mariner, the noble Admiral didnot, in the outset, proceed so successfully as his assistant, theable and renowned Drake. In one respect, indeed, circumstanceswere not so favourable to his progress; for the line here wasmore compact, and not so easily entered. The consequence was,that, in trying to force a passage, his division was scattered,and each individual ship was left to itself. In this melancholyjuncture, he became entangled, by a sudden gust of wind, betweentwo of the enemy, each of which was sufficiently strong at onceto overwhelm him. Still the intrepid patrician maintained theconflict, and determined, whatever should be the issue, to standto the last. The overpowering force opposed to him did notsuffer what would be the result to remain long doubtful. After abrief interval, it became evident that, despairing of sinking hisvessel, they were preparing to board him. Just at this moment,however, another English ship, almost as large as his own, boredown to his rescue, and a thundering cry of “Raleigh! Raleigh!”rang through the air. His leeward enemy, being nearest to hisally, was hereupon obliged to defend her own self, but the foeto windward still prepared to board him. In a few minutes, herboarders, embracing a greater force than his original crew, ofwhich not half were now effective, poured down her sides, andpushed on for his deck. The Lord Admiral received them handto hand. On his side, all distinctions of rank, not exceptinghis own, were thrown aside, and every man fought under his ownunaided direction. But, struggle as he might, no degree ofheroism could withstand the imposing and constantly-increasingsuperiority of the Spaniards. Step by step, he was driven tothe centre of the deck, and hardly enough of the ship remainedto him, notwithstanding the inroads on his ranks, on which tomaintain a stand. In this position, he was considering whether,as all hope was now lost, it would not be better to blow the shipup, when the whole vessel sustained a violent shock, and startedto her very centre. The dense smoke prevented him from discerningwhat had occasioned the agitation, but he supposed, and truly,that some other ship, not seeing her in the smoke, had run intoher bows, and so come in collision with her. The next moment, hisconjecture was established; and a tremendous cry of “Cliffordto the rescue!” with the rush of a host of feet, assured him ofcoming succour.
The t
all form of Hildebrand, looking still taller in the smoke,soon incurred the Admiral’s notice, and filled his undauntedbosom with new ardour. The rescue swept down the deck like athunderbolt. So rapid was its progress, that the Admiral scarcelyhad time, in the confusion, to draw back his men, so that it hadnearly slaughtered friends and foes together. It cleared thedeck in a moment; and, in the hurry of retreat, not a few ofthe Spaniards, rather than be captured, leaped overboard, andperished in the sea. The leeward ship had kept up a fire tilljust before, but she was now silent, and loud cries of “Raleigh!a Raleigh!” which rose from her deck, indicated that she had beenboarded by the English. The cries were still in progress, when,covered with grime and gore, and flushed with victory, Hildebrandpresented himself before the Admiral.
“Captain Clifford, thou hast done nobly!” cried the Admiral,grasping his hand. “But let us not tarry to talk. We must pushour advantage to the utmost.”
“Mean’st thou to board the enemy, my Lord?” asked Hildebrand,touching his helmet.
“On the instant,” answered the Admiral. “Now, my lads!” he added,in a loud voice, “forward! for God and the Queen!”
A loud shout of “Hurrah for Effingham!” uttered by the wholecrew, responded to his appeal, and all hands sprang to windward,and proceeded to clamber up the enemy’s bulwarks. They met noopposition. The enemy, without making the slightest resistance,struck his flag, and gave them quiet possession of the ship.
The atmosphere was now comparatively clear, and, from the moreelevated deck of the captured ship, the Admiral could view,without interruption, the entire field of action. The battle wasover. From sixteen of the enemy, alone a match for the entirefleet of England, proudly floated
“The flag that’s braved a thousand years The battle and the breeze!”
Eight more had been sunk, five had been blown up, and theremainder, including the redoubted Admiral, were seen in fullflight, followed closely by Drake. The invincible armada wasvirtually annihilated, and, as he turned to the lower deck, theLord Admiral, with a proud smile, caught Hildebrand by the arm,and bade him thank God for victory.
“’T is a right glorious one, my Lord,” answered Hildebrand.
“And as thou hast behaved nobly therein, thou shalt be itsharbinger to the Queen,” answered the Admiral. “Speed theestraight to thy ship, and make for Dover. Thence take horse forWestminster, and notify to her Highness, by word of mouth, whathath happed, signifying that I will further advise her thereofanon.”
“I will away incontinently, my Lord,” returned Hildebrand.