But a great storm arose and scattered his ships for a whole week or more. When they met again on the 16th he heard that the Dreadnought had been nearly wrecked and that a pinnace had been lost.
But Drake had learnt from prisoners taken at sea that Cadiz harbour was full of transports and store-ships, and he smiled a grim smile.
Signal was made—"Officers assemble for council of war."
Drake sat at the head of the table and Burrows sat opposite him.
It was usual for Sir Francis to ask very courteously for the advice of his officers, and then—to take his own way!
On this occasion he made a slight change in his method. He forgot to ask Burrows or the others for their advice, and bluntly spake out: "Gentlemen, I am going to attack the shipping in Cadiz harbour."
The vice-admiral was shocked, and for a moment paralysed, by the outrage upon his reputation as a scientific tactician.
"Good God! did Sir Francis know what it meant to run into that harbour close to the guns of the town batteries, with rocks and shoals everywhere, and no entrance possible except by the help of the port pilots! Then there were the galleys to reckon with, the most formidable war-ships in confined waters! Surely the matter required a fuller consideration."
Drake laughed aloud, and waving his hand to dismiss them to their ships, said—
"I think my officers believe in me—and we enter Cadiz harbour this very Wednesday at set of sun."