terrific volley from the windows of the buildings facing the little
valley across which the great ships were so peacefully advancing.

Instantly the scene changed as by magic; the foremost vessel swung
broadside toward us, and bringing her guns into play returned our
fire, at the same time moving parallel to our front for a short
distance and then turning back with the evident intention of
completing a great circle which would bring her up to position once
more opposite our firing line; the other vessels followed in her
wake, each one opening upon us as she swung into position. Our own
fire never diminished, and I doubt if twenty-five per cent of our
shots went wild. It had never been given me to see such deadly
accuracy of aim, and it seemed as though a little figure on one of
the craft dropped at the explosion of each bullet, while the banners
and upper works dissolved in spurts of flame as the irresistible
projectiles of our warriors mowed through them.

The fire from the vessels was most ineffectual, owing, as I
afterward learned, to the unexpected suddenness of the first volley,
which caught the ship's crews entirely unprepared and the sighting
apparatus of the guns unprotected from the deadly aim of our
warriors.

It seems that each green warrior has certain objective points for
his fire under relatively identical circumstances of warfare. For
example, a proportion of them, always the best marksmen, direct
their fire entirely upon the wireless finding and sighting apparatus
of the big guns of an attacking naval force; another detail attends
to the smaller guns in the same way; others pick off the gunners;
still others the officers; while certain other quotas concentrate