the whiz and crash of an exploding shell, then another, and another, and
knew that a general bombardment of the fortress had begun. He hastily
examined the cell to see what protection it would offer from bricks and
mortar falling from the walls and roof. At the first shot the sentry on
guard had bolted the door and left. The American pulled the table and
wash-stand in front of the door, and stood the galvanized iron box that
had been sent him against the end of the table; this he thought would
catch splinters and stones which would probably be more dangerous than
actual shells. He lay down under the protection of this cover. He knew
that the gunners of the American fleet were good shots, and figured that
they could easily demolish all that part of the Morro in which his cell
was situated. One shell after another against the walls of the fortress
made the whole structure tremble, and it seemed as if part of the walls
would be blown away. Fortunately, however, the firing soon turned in
another direction, and Hobson could come from his shelter, and, standing
on his cot-bed, look through the window at the battle. Several times
he took shelter again under the table, and several times returned to
watch the cannonade. The shells screamed through the air; plowed through
shrubs and earthworks; knocked bricks and mortar from the Morro, and set
fire to some of the Spanish ships. But no serious damage was done, and
the bombardment ended in a stand-off between the two sides.
The American officer had no desire to pass through such a cannonade
again, and he wrote to the Spanish governor to ask that his crew and
himself be transferred to safer quarters. Next day an officer arrived
with orders to take all the prisoners to the city of Santiago. So
after a four days' stay in Morro Castle the little party set out on an
inland march, guarded by some thirty Spanish soldiers. It was not far
to Santiago, and there the Americans were housed in the regular army
barracks. These quarters were much better than those in the fortress,
and the British Consul secured many comforts and delicacies for the
Americans.
The men of the _Merrimac_ stayed in Santiago during the siege of that
city. On July 5th arrangements were made to exchange Hobson and his
men. In the afternoon they were blindfolded and guided out of the city.
Half a mile or more beyond the entrenchments they were told that they
might remove the handkerchiefs, and found themselves facing their own
troops on a distant ridge. Soon they were being welcomed by their own
men, who told them of the recent victories won by fleet and army. Not
long afterward they reached their ships, and were received on board the
_New York_ by the officers and men who had watched them set out on their
dangerous mission on that moonlight night of June 3d. They gave a royal
welcome to the small crew who had brought the collier into the very
heart of the Spanish lines and sunk her, taking their chances of escape.
They were the heroes of a desperate adventure, from which every man
returned unharmed.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Simple typographical errors were corrected.
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Accent marks on Japanese words have not been changed.
[=o] represents the letter "o" with macron accent mark. [)u] represents
the letter "u" with breve accent mark.
End of Project Gutenberg's Historic Adventures, by Rupert S. Holland