lenting persistence was having some effect, and our army was closing in on Santiago. We at least had the Spaniards everywhere on the defensive, and their situation was everywhere perilous. Cervera had been corralled, if we may use a Rough Rider's term, and he had now to choose between tamely submitting within and making a wild dash through the narrow gate.

And when he had considered the matter from every point of view-how at night the Yankee squadron was close in, but by day was farther off; that the Yankee battle-ships were slow and his cruisers fast; that while the Yankees were superior in weight, his destroyers, in the excitement of battle, might reduce the preponderance; that if he remained all would be lost, but if he ran he might save some-when he had considered all this and had discussed it with his captains he could come to but one conclusion: a dash for the open sea had to be made.

CHAPTER XVII

DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S SQUADRON

LUCK WAS WITH THE SPANIARDS, IN A WAY, FOR TWO OF OUR BIG SHIPS HAD LEFT THE BLOCKADE-THEIR SMOKE HAD EXCITED OUR SUSPICION AND OUR LOOKOUTS WERE ALERT-QUICK WORK WITH THE TORPEDO-BOATS AND TWO CRUISERS-EULATE'S VAIN EFFORT TO CATCH THE BROOKLYN-A RECORD RACE IN NAVAL WARFARE THAT ESTABLISHED THE FAME OF THE BULL DOG OREGON-HOW WAINWRIGHT'S DAY CAME AT LAST.

WHEN the morning of Sunday, July 3d, came, the conditions off-shore were much more in favor of the Spanish Admiral than he had had any reason to hope for. The battleship sentinels of Sampson's fleet during the fore part of Saturday night were the Massachusetts and the Texas, but some time after midnight the Massachusetts, being short of coal, was ordered away to Guantanamo to replenish her bunkers. She left the squadron at 4 o'clock; we had one less battle-ship than usual to guard the harbor when daylight came. Worse yet, in view of the accredited speed of the Spanish ships, we were also to be lacking the aid of our swift armored cruiser, the flag

arranged to go to Shafter's head-quarters on Sunday morning, and at 8.55 o'clock the New York left the guard-line and steamed away east to land the Admiral.

"The remaining vessels were in or near their usual blockading positions, distributed in a semicircle" (of which the Morro was the centre), "about the harbor entrance, counting from the eastward to the westward in the following order: The Indiana, about a mile and a half from shore; the Oregon-the New York's place was between these two-the Iowa, Texas, and Brooklyn, the latter two miles from the shore west of Santiago. The distance of the vessels from the harbor entrance was from two and a half to four miles, the latter being the limit of day-blockading distance. The length of the arc formed by the ships was about eight miles. The auxiliaries Gloucester and Vixen lay close to the land, and nearer the harbor entrance than the large vessels, the Gloucester to the eastward, and the Vixen to the westward." So says Sampson's official report.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, "fair and warm," with a "light breeze from north'ard and east'ard" [from private letter to author] beautiful alike without and within the harbor. On the sea, our ships in the wide arc, with their bows toward the harbor entrance, swayed gently to the lazy, trade-wind swell, with only a

whiff of smoke coming now and again from their funnels, for steam was low and only enough coal was used to keep the furnaces ready for an emergency. "The steam at this time in the boilers was sufficient for a speed of five knots," according to one report, but it was not that of the Oregon. On the Oregon, Chief Engineer Milligan had been "running a sweatshop'-keeping steam up for a ten-knot gait, regardless of the profanity of his shipmates."

In the harbor the Spaniards swung to the pull of the winches that were heaving in the cables, while huge volumes of smoke poured from their funnels-volumes so large as to make their commanders look aloft uneasily. On the sea our men, in the usual Sunday routine, washed themselves, and put on their best clothes, and blacked their shoes, to make ready for the tour of the inspecting officers; in the harbor the Spaniards, stripped to the waist, dumped coal into their furnaces, and sent up ammunition for all the guns, which they cast loose and loaded with the hurry and fume and noise of the unaccustomed when preparing for battle.

But while our ships were in perfect repose out at sea, their lookouts were nevertheless. perfectly alert. Even when at 9.30 o'clock the regular call to quarters for Sunday inspection rang through the seemingly listless squadron, there were men in every lookout perch, and on