For God and Gold

by Julian Stafford Corbett

''Tis naught; and yet there are some indifferent foolish toys gathered there that will repay some of the blood that was spilt.'

'Why, how is this, Sergeant? Did not the general charge that no man should load himself save with what came from the Treasure-House.'

'True, sir, so he did; but, as I was saying, saving his most excellent dispositions, he is unlearned in things warlike. If a man make war, look you, he must make it according to the honoured, ancient, universal customs and discipline of war, whereof the honest pillaging of a captured town is one; wherefore I made bold of my bitter experience to supply our general's sweet ignorance, and lead some of the lads, when occasion was, to certain indifferent well-furnished houses. If some thereafter made free with certain trifling bars of silver from the governor's house it was by no furthering of mine. All I did was out of niceness for our general's honour. What think you those Spanish cabaleros would have thought of him if, when they had returned, they had found their houses unplundered? I warrant you, sir, they would have been sore grieved in their soldiership to think that a man who could deliver an assault so boldly against all their force and discipline was ignorant of the most common and ancient usage of the wars.'

Here one came to summon me to the general's presence, so I heard no more, though I found afterwards it was even as the Sergeant said, and that, far from coming out of the town empty handed as I thought, almost every man had carried off something, which all being gathered in the common store according to custom, made a show which was no little content to us.

Indeed, I think we were all very merry that afternoon, not only as seeing how easily we had captured the town, which bred in us no less courage for further attempts than hope of their success, but also because we had brought off our general safely, in comparison with which gain we held our loss of the gold is nothing, the more so as his hurt proved of no great account; nor was any other of our company more than slightly wounded, save our trumpeter, who had been slain on the spot.

Thus we were in a gentle mood to receive the envoy from Nombre de Dios, which was the occasion of the general's summons to me. I found Frank with a cheerful countenance, seated in a kind of hammock, which the mariners had made for him from a piece of sail-cloth. His officers and gentlemen stood about him, to receive the envoy with as much state as we might, whereby, having brushed the dust from our clothes and made what shift we could, we displayed a tolerable front.

Mr. Oxenham and Harry were sent to conduct the Spaniard to the presence, and we saw them return with the most point-device little gentleman I ever beheld. He was by his dress a captain of foot, and by his delicate and well-guarded complexion but late come out of Spain. His little black moustache was disciplined to the nicety of a hair, and his whole dress no less brilliant than his countenance, nor more fantastic than his bearing.

He approached, making legs very sweetly to us all, and a profound congee to our general, which we returned as decently as we might. After an offering of commendations, so stuffed with unheard-of conceits as I can never remember again, he told us the occasion of his coming.

'Of my mere goodwill, and as it were for my own unworthy honour, most admirable cabaleros,' said he, with an infinity of conceited gestures, 'I have conveyed myself festinately hither to your most honourable presence, moved thereto by the wholesome desire, with which my eyes were an hungered, to behold, view, regard, and contemplate the most redoubtable captain and his heroical gentlemen who have attempted so great and incredible a matter with so few, paltry, and inconsiderable valiant numbers; being more especially moved thereto when it was discovered by the most excellent shooting of your honourable arrows that you were Englishmen, and no Frenchmen as we apprehended, seeing that now we knew our foe would hold themselves after the ancient gentle discipline of the wars, and be content with an honourable courteous pillage of our treasure, instead of seeking vulgar and bloody cruelty upon our persons; and being most especially moved thereto because his excellency, our honourable governor, being assured that you were gentlemen Englishmen and no pirate French, gladly consented to my coming; and lastly, being most singularly especially moved thereto, because his excellency, having been informed by certain townsmen that they knew your honourable captain, having at divers times been most courteously pillaged and kindly used by him these two years past, charged me to inquire as follows:

'Imprimis. Whether your honourable captain be the valiant Captain Drake or not?