And he was Sir Jeremy Bowes, born of that golden time When in the soil of Conquest blossomed the flower of Rhyme. Dauntless he fronted the Presence,--and the courtiers whispered low, "Doth Elizabeth send us madmen, to tempt the torture so?" "Have you heard of that foolhardy Frenchman?" Ivan the Terrible said,-- "He came before me covered,--I nailed his hat to his head." Then spoke Sir Jeremy Bowes, "I serve the Virgin Queen,-- Little is she accustomed to vail her face, I ween. "She is Elizabeth Tudor, mighty to bless or to ban, Nor doth her envoy give over at the bidding of any man! "Call to your Cossacks and hangmen,--do with me what ye please, But ye shall answer to England when the news flies over seas." Ivan smiled on the envoy,--the courtiers saw that smile, Glancing one at the other, holding their breath the while. Then spoke the terrible Ivan, "His Queen sits over sea, Yet he hath bid me defiance,--would ye do as much for me?" XVI LORDS OF ROANOKE Primrose garlands in Coombe Wood shone with the pale gold of winter sunshine. Violets among dry leaves peered sedately at the pageant of spring. In the royal hunting forest of Richmond, venerable trees unfolded from their tiny buds canopies like the fairy pavilion of Paribanou. Philip Armadas and Arthur Barlowe, coming up from Kingston, beheld all this April beauty with the wistful pleasure of those who bid farewell to a dearly beloved land. Within a fortnight Sir Walter Ralegh's two ships, which they commanded, would be out upon the gray Atlantic. The Queen would lie at Richmond this night, and the two young captains had been bidden to court that she might see what manner of men they were.[1] Armadas, though born in Hull, was the son of a Huguenot refugee. Barlowe was English to the back-bone. Both knew more of the ways of ships than the ways of courts. Yet for all her magnificence and her tempers Elizabeth had a way with her in dealing with practical men. She welcomed merchants, builders, captains and soldiers as frankly as she did Italian scholars or French gallants. Her attention was as keen when she was framing a letter to the Grand Turk securing trade privileges to London or Bristol, as when she listened to the graceful flatteries of Spenser or Lyly. In this year 1584 she had granted a patent to Ralegh for further explorations of the lands north of Florida discovered half a century since by Sebastian Cabot. She heaped upon it rights and privileges which made Hatton and her other court gallants grind their teeth. Ralegh knew well that this was no time for him to be wandering about strange coasts. He was therefore fitting out an expedition to make a preliminary voyage and report to him what was found.