"Prate not to me, my lord, of truth or honor amongst these savages," he
replied. "Did not their chief himself but even now lie to me? Well knew
the rascally heathen where the Spaniard hides! The truth indeed! They
know not the meaning of such words."
In vain the younger man petitioned to be allowed to deliver the promised
gift with the aid of his own retinue.
"Thou can'st not get under way for two hours at best, sir," he pleaded,
"and well within that time I will be back. 'Tis but a stone's throw to
the shore!"
But Drake first scoffed at his rashness, then, finally losing patience,
as commander of the expedition he sternly forbade him or any of his men
to leave the ship.
"We dare not lose the wind," he finished emphatically, "and are like to
start at any minute." Then, turning on his heel, he strode away to his
cabin and shut the door behind him.
Left in this unceremonious fashion, young Harold considered a moment,
glancing with anxious eyes at the dim line of the coast just visible in
the darkness. For some minutes he leaned upon the rail, lost in thought.
"The old man will e'en have to bear his disappointment," he muttered at
length, "but, an' heaven help me, the maid shall not!"
Then he, too, left the deck to seek out his favorite retainer, the dark,
swarthy man who had sat that morning in the prow of the long boat.
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