if she meant to fight and could not cope with the Americans in the
West Indies, to send all her available ships and overwhelm us in
the East Indies. At the same time the German, French, Russian and
Japanese men-of-war represented the interest of the live nations of
the earth in the Philippines. As fast as possible Admiral Dewey was
re-enforced; but it was not until the two monitors, the Monterey and
Monadnock, arrived, the latter after the arrival of General Merritt,
that the Admiral felt that he was safely master of the harbor. He
had no heavily armored ships to assail the shore batteries within
their range, and might be crippled by the fire of the great Krupp
guns. It was vital that the health of the crews of his ships should
be maintained, and the fact that the men are and have been all summer
well and happy is not accidental. Admiral Dewey took the point of
danger, if there was one, into his personal keeping, by anchoring the
Olympia on the Manila side of the bay, while others were further out
and near Cavite; and throughout the fleet there was constant activity
and the utmost vigilance. There was incessant solicitude about what
the desperate Spaniards might contrive in the nature of aggressive
enterprise. It seemed incredible to Americans that nothing should
be attempted. How would a Spanish fleet have fared for three months
of war with us in an American harbor? There would have been a new
feature of destructiveness tried on the foe at least once a week.

The Spaniards ashore seemed to be drowsy; but the Americans were
wide awake, ready for anything, and could not be surprised; so
that we may commend as wisdom the Spanish discretion that let them
alone. The ship that was the nearest neighbor of Admiral Dewey for
months of his long vigil flew the flag of Belgium. She is a large,
rusty-looking vessel, without a sign of contraband of war, or of
a chance of important usefulness about her; but she performed a