medicines, she carried several thousand rifles and an immense amount
of ammunition. Down in the hold were a hundred horses and mules, and
among the passengers were several hundred recruits for the Cuban army.

The Florida reached the Cuban coast in safety, and was met at the
appointed place by more than a thousand Cubans. It required three days
and one night to unload the cargo. Small boats conveyed the stores to
the eager hands that hurried them inland. The mules and horses swam
ashore. Women and children flocked to the scene, bringing fruit and
vegetables to exchange for coffee and meat--the first they had tasted
for a long time.

[Illustration: Searching for Contraband.]

When the cargo was all ashore, the Florida prepared to return to the
United States. Then the Cuban soldiers ranged themselves along the
shore; women and children grouped behind the ranks, and a Cuban
marching song burst from happy hearts as the Florida steamed away.

A great deal of blockading duty was done by the small vessels of the
fleets, the torpedo-boats and the armed tugboats. Many strange
encounters took place during those nights when these little craft
rolled about in the Caribbean swells, or moved along in hostile waters
without a light visible on board.

The tug-boat Leyden had one of these. With her two or three small guns
she held up a big ship one night, firing across her bow, and
demanding, "What ship is that?" It was the same vessel that had the
encounter with the Nashville, the story of which I have told you; and
so the answer came back: