“All being properly divided, the question arose as to how the little flotilla would pass to sea under the heavy guns of the castle, but this Morgan accomplished by a most brilliant ruse. On the day before he planned to make his dash he loaded his canoes with men and had them paddled towards the shore as if intending to land them. Here, among the low-hanging foliage, the boats waited for a while and then, with all but two or three men lying flat in the bottoms of the canoes, they paddled back to the ships. This was repeated over and over again, and the Spaniards, seeing canoes full of men coming ashore and apparently empty craft returning, were convinced that Morgan intended to make an attack on the land side of the fort. In order to defend themselves the Dons moved practically all their guns and the greater part of their men to the landward side of the castle, exactly as Morgan had foreseen. Then, as night fell, Morgan weighed anchor and without setting sail let his ships drift down with the ebb tide. Not until they were under the walls of the fort were sails hoisted and all speed made towards the harbor mouth. “With shouts and cries the Dons gave the alarm and madly they ran and scurried to get their guns back in position, but the wind was fresh and fair and before the first shot was fired the buccaneers were almost out of range. A few balls tore through the sails, a few round shot splintered the bulwarks and the high poops, and a few men fell, but the damage was of little moment. Out of reach of the guns, Morgan brought his ships to, and, loading his prisoners into small boats, sent them ashore. Then, with a parting shot of seven guns in a broadside, Morgan spread sails once more and headed for Jamaica.” CHAPTER V THE TAKING OF SAN LORENZO “Well, he certainly was clever for all his cruelty,” said Fred. “But what a beast he was. Seems to me he was the worst of all the buccaneers. Even L’Ollonois had some good points.” “Yes,” agreed Mr. Bickford. “Morgan could have made a name for himself as a great general, or an admiral, perhaps, if he had turned his talents to honest purposes. But he was too much of a rascal and too unprincipled to succeed for long, even in piracy. When he returned from taking Maracaibo he believed there was nothing he could not successfully carry out and he began to consider taking even richer and more strongly fortified spots than those he had ravished. “At that time the three richest cities in the New World were Cartagena, Panama and Vera Cruz, and of these the richest was Panama. To Panama all the wealth and treasure from the western coasts of South and Central America and Mexico and the Orient were brought, as well as the fortunes in pearls from the pearl islands, and from Panama, as I have already explained, the riches were carried over the Gold Road to Porto Bello.