There he unfolded to them his plan of forcing the entrance to the port, and destroying the Spanish fleet gathered there.

Cadiz was one of the strongest places of Spain, and the enterprise would, to most men, have seemed a desperate one.

But to men who had fought in the Spanish Main it seemed but a light thing.
As they left the admiral's cabin, Ned invited his three friends to dine on board his ship, the Sovereign; and a right merry gathering it was, as they talked over their past adventures, and marveled to find themselves each commanding a ship, about to attack the fleet of Spain in its own harbor.
Upon the following day the fleet sailed boldly towards the port of Cadiz, where the people could scarce believe that the British intended to force the entrance to the fort.

When they saw that such was indeed their purpose, they opened fire with all their batteries, great and small.

The English ships sailed on, unheeding their reception, and delivering their broadsides as they neared the port.
Although they had been in many fights, this was the first great battle at which the friends had been present; and the roar and din of the combat, the sound of their own guns and of those of the enemy, the crash and rending of wood, and the cheers of the sailors in no little surprised them.