coast from the mouth of the Thames westward. We catch sight through March and April of soldiers gathering and moving. Lookout vessels hung about the Channel, watching the Flanders ports. One morning when the darkness lifted, sixty strange sail were found at anchor in the Downs;[1] and swiftly two thousand men were in arms upon the sandflats towards Deal. Cheyne never took off his clothes for a fortnight. Strong easterly gales were blowing, which would bring the fleet across in a few hours. 'Mr Fletcher of Rye,' in a boat of his own construction, 'which he said had no fellow in England,' beat up in the wind's eye to Dover, 'of his own mind, to serve the King's Majesty.' At daybreak he would be off Gravelines, on the look-out; at noon he would be in the new harbour, with reports to the English commander. Day after day the huge armada lay motionless. At length sure word was brought that an order had been sent out for every captain, horseman,
- ↑ Holinshed, Stow.
looked for nothing but immediate hostilities.
'At this moment there is especial agitation on account of the appearance of sixty sail of Flemings, said to be on their way to Spain for the expedition to Algiers. People here do not believe that Algiers is their real destination. They are vessels of large burden, unsuited to the Levant, and the impression is that they are transports. Fifty or sixty more have been discovered by scouts in the harbours of Zealand, and report says that they have ten thousand men on board them.'These things have placed the King upon his mettle. He has sent troops northward, for he looks to be invaded over the Scottish Border. But his preparations are defensive merely, not aggressive. He will never choose such a time as the present to meddle with his neighbours of his own will, or to seize and fortify any second Calais on the French coast. As matters stand, his great anxiety is to be on friendly terms with our master, for never was our master's friendship of more importance to him.'