of mines in safety. Then the Spaniards discovered her, and from the
way they let loose they must have thought the whole American fleet was
trying to force the passage. In an instant she was the focus for a
perfect cyclone of shot and shell from every gun that could be brought
to bear, on both sides of the channel.

"It was like rushing into the very jaws of hell, with mines exploding
all about her, solid shot and bursting shells tearing at her vitals,
and a cloud of Mauser bullets buzzing like hornets across her deck.
How she lived to get where she was wanted is a mystery; but she did,
and they sunk her just inside the Estrella battery. At the last they
could not steer her, because her rudder was knocked away. So they
anchored, waited as cool as cucumbers for the tide to swing her into
position, opened all their sea-valves, touched off their torpedoes, and
blew her up.

"So far everything had worked to perfection. The seven men, still
unhurt, were well aft, where Hobson joined them the moment he had
pressed the button; but now their troubles began. The dingy in which
they had hoped to escape had been shot to pieces, and they dared not
try to get their raft overboard, for the growing light would have
revealed their movements, and they would have been a target for every
gunner and rifleman within range. So they could only lie flat on deck
and wait for something to happen. A little after daybreak the ship
sank so low and with such a list that the raft slipped into the water
and floated of its own accord. On this all of them, including two had
been wounded by flying splinters, rolled overboard after it, caught
hold of the clumsy old float, and tried to swim it out to where Powell
could pick them up. They had only gained a few yards when a
steam-launch coming from the harbor bore down on them. Some marines in