THE TOWN. 29

 cancer who swept his glass across the low-lying
 barrier of the island, where, to be sure, there was
 a little watch-tower, on which a flag was to be
 raised, to indicate the approach of pirates, and
 allow the townspeople huddled on the shore
 time enough to run away. Yet the island is
 so flat that doubtless it was often the watch-
 tower which first caught the keen eyes of the
 outlook on those high pooped vessels with
 swelling sails and straining masts. One can
 hear the order of Sir Francis Drake to "put
 about" that he might discover what this little
 group of buildings could be, and so the Golden
 Hinde" was turned from her course for yet
 heavier ladings of gold and spoil. No eye was
 keener than Sir Francis's. Perhaps he prided
 himself upon it, remembering how, on the
 Isthmus, he had "climbed the goodlie and great
 high tree," and gazed upon the Pacific, into
 which he besought God that he "might sail
 an English ship."
 There is a curious charm about this dead
 man, who was as free and brave and cruel as
his own ocean. His worn, brown face, as keen