find by land or sea, and in the morning I will board your ships; and if I find any Catholics they will be well treated; but all who are heretics shall die." In the silence which prevailed while the parley was in progress, those aboard his ship heard a boat put out from one of the Frenchmen, carrying a message to their flagship and the reply of the French commander, "I am the Admiral, I will die first," from which they inferred that it was a proposition to surrender. When the conversation was ended there followed an exchange of abuse and foul words, until Menéndez ordered his crew to draw their swords and to pay out the cable so as to board at once. The sailors showed some hesitation, so Menéndez sprang down from the bridge to urge them on and found that the cable was caught in the capstan, which caused some delay. The Frenchmen had also heard the signal and, taking advantage of the momentary pause, cut their cables, passed right through the Spanish fleet, and fled, three vessels turning to the north and the other to the south, with the Spaniards in hot pursuit. Menéndez' two ships took the northerly course, but the three French galleons outsailed him, and at dawn he gave up the chase. He reached the mouth of the St. Johns at ten o'clock in the morning to pursue his original plan of seizing and fortifying it. On attempting its entrance he discovered three ships up the river and at the point of the land two companies of infantry, who brought their artillery to bear upon him. So he gave up trying to capture the entrance and made for St. Augustine. The three Spanish vessels which took the southerly course in pursuit of the remaining French ship continued the chase all night. Menéndez had ordered them to rejoin him at the mouth of the St. Johns in the morning, and, if unable to do so, to return to St. Augustine. A storm arose and they were obliged to cast anchor off the coast, the vessels being so small they dared not to take to the sea. One of the three broke away, and while in this peril a French ship was sighted, but it did not attack them, although it hove to within a league of their own ship. Founding of St. Augustine The