It was a Stormy morning in the month of May, 1572; and the<br />fishermen of the little village of Westport, situate about five miles<br />from Plymouth, clustered in the public house of the place; and<br />discussed, not the storm, for that was a common topic, but the fact<br />that Master Francis Drake, whose ships lay now at Plymouth, was<br />visiting the Squire of Treadwood, had passed through the village<br />over night, and might go through it again, today. There was not one<br />of the hardy fishermen there but would gladly have joined Drake&rsquo;s<br />expedition, for marvellous tales had been told of the great booty<br />which he, and other well-known captains, had already obtained from<br />the Dons on the Spanish Main.