Brownson on the bridge, publicly commending him. We were correspondingly
elated, and worked all the harder.

It was not until we had been firing some time that we began to take
particular note of our surroundings. At first the novelty of the
situation and a state of excitement, natural under the circumstances,
kept us absorbed in our duties, but when it became apparent that the
engagement was to be a matter of hours--and also that the Spaniards did
not aim very well--we commenced to look about.

One of the first things to strike me personally, and it was rather
humorous, was the appearance of "Stump," the second loader. Orders had
early been given to avoid exposing ourselves to the enemy's fire as much
as possible. "Stump," than whom no more daring and aggressive man could
be found on board, thought it wise to obey, so he crouched behind the
gun-mount and compressed himself so as to be out of range. From this
position he had only to reach out one hand to train the gun, which was
his special duty. Meanwhile, he continually urged "Hay" to keep on
firing.

"Doesn't make any difference whether you can see or not," he exclaimed.
"Shoot anyway. Give it to the beggars! That's the ticket, old chap. Now
another. Whoop! did you see that land? Ah-h-h! we are the people."

As the novelty of the scene gradually wore off we began to enjoy it
hugely. We pumped away at the guns, commenting freely on the enemy's
marksmanship. We felt more like a party watching a fireworks display
than the crew of a warship engaged in bombarding a number of forts.

The two lines were steaming back and forth in front of the batteries,