midnight
`` Cut them down , lads ! '' cried Raleigh . `` Every one is a priest of Spain or a traitor ; do n't spare the vermin ! '' The din and clamour ashore and afloat -- the cries , curses , clash of weapons , and groans of the wounded -- turned midnight and darkness into an hour of pandemonium . The shore fight was short , for , though the three chief conspirators and Windybank fought desperately enough , the rank and file seemed more anxious to save their skins than do aught else . They dared not ask for quarter after Raleigh 's order -- 't was fight to the death , or fly . The men from Gloucester moved at once to their horses , and some of them managed to spring into the saddle and get off in the darkness .