e last of the soldiers had left the open railroad tracks,
disappearing in the thick brush that covered the eastern side of Aguadores
inlet.

The water in the sponge tubes under the breeches of the big guns was
growing hot in the burning sun.

Ashore there was no sign of the Spaniards. They were believed to be on the
western bluff.

Between the bluffs ran a rocky gully, leading into Santiago City. On the
extremity of the western arm was an old castellated fort, from which the
Spanish flag was flying, and on the parapet on the eastern hill,
commanding the gully, two stretches of red earth could easily be seen
against the brush. These were the rifle-pits.

At 10.15 a signal-flag ashore wigwagged to Admiral Sampson to commence
firing, and a minute later the _New York's_ guns blazed away at the
rifle-pits and at the old fort.

The _Suwanee_ and _Gloucester_ joined in the firing.

Of our troops ashore in the brush nothing could be seen, but the ping,
ping, of the small arms of the army floated out to sea during the
occasional lull in the firing of the big guns, which peppered the
rifle-pits until clouds of red earth rose above them.

An 8-inch shell from the _Newark_ dropped in the massive old fort, and
clouds of white dust and huge stones filled the air. When the small shells
hit its battlements, almost hidden by green creepers, fragments of masonry
came tumbling down. A shot from the _Suwanee_ hit the eastern parapet, and
it crumbled away. Amid the smoke and debris, the flagstaff was seen to
fall forward.

"The flag has been shot down!" shouted the ship's crew, but, when the
smoke cleared away, the emblem of Spain was seen to be still flying and
blazing brilliantly in the sun, though the flagstaff was bending toward
the earth.

A few more shots from the _Suwanee_ levelled the battlements until the old
castle was a pitiful sight.

When the firing ceased, Lieutenant Delehanty of the _Suwanee_ was anxious
to finish his work, so he signalled to the _New York_, asking permission
to knock down the Spanish flag.

"Yes," replied Admiral Sampson, "if you can do it in three shots."

The _Suwanee_ then lay about sixteen hundred yards from the old fort. She
took her time. Lieutenant Blue carefully aimed the 4-inch gun, and the
crews of all the ships watched the incident amid intense excitement.

When the smoke of the _Suwanee's_ first shot cleared away, only two red
streamers of the flag were left. The shell had gone th