"There were two signal officers and three other boys with me. We were
laughing and joking with one another to steady our nerves. When we
were well under the guns a rocket was fired, and every man braced
himself. Then you could hear the breech blocks closing and the
officers telling the men to aim steady and to kill.

"Well, all the ships passed that fort, but there were twenty-six miles
to go yet, and God and the Spaniards alone knew how many batteries,
mines and torpedoes were ready to send us all to eternity.

"The Olympia passed two more forts The Baltimore was next to us. She
passed all right, but when the Raleigh came under the guns of the
second fort, there was a flash and I heard the shriek of the first
shell. Then almost before the shell struck, there was a spout of
flame from the Raleigh, and her shell killed forty men, as we learned
yesterday. Two more shells were fired at us, but we were well past
them. Then the men were told to lie down.

[Illustration: Rapid-fire Gun.]

"Now, commenced the signal corps work. Soon our signal lights were
flashing the order to close up. At four o'clock I was told by the
signal officer to lie down and catch a nap.

"At four, coffee was given to all the men and at fifteen minutes to
five, the shore batteries had shells dropping all around, but we did
not fire until sixteen minutes past five. The Spanish fleet was in
sight off the navy yard. Then the fight started in earnest. For a
while I thought my time had come. After we made the signal 'commence
firing,' we had nothing to do but watch the fight. The shells flew