rough the centre of
the bunting.

A delighted yell broke from the crew of the _Suwanee_.

Two or three minutes later the _Suwanee_ fired again, and a huge cloud of
debris rose from the base of the flagstaff.

For a few seconds it was impossible to tell what had been the effect of
the shot. Then it was seen that the shell had only added to the ruin of
the fort.

The flagstaff seemed to have a charmed existence, and the _Suwanee_ only
had one charge left. It seemed hardly possible for her to achieve her
object with the big gun, such a distance, and such a tiny target.

There was breathless silence among the watching crews. They crowded on the
ships' decks, and all eyes were on that tattered flag, bending toward the
top of what had once been a grand old castle. But it was only bending, not
yet down. Lieutenant-Commander Delehanty and Lieutenant Blue took their
time. The _Suwanee_ changed her position slightly.

Then a puff of smoke shot out from her side, up went a shooting cloud of
debris from the parapet, and down fell the banner of Spain.

Such yells from the flag-ship will probably never be heard again. There
was more excitement than witnessed at the finish of a college boat-race,
or a popular race between first-class thoroughbreds on some big track.

The _Suwanee's_ last shot had struck right at the base of the flagstaff,
and had blown it clear of the wreckage, which had held it from finishing
its fall.

"Well done!" signalled Admiral Sampson to Lieutenant-Commander Delehanty.

At 11.30 General Duffield signalled that his scouts reported that no
damage had been done to the Spanish rifle-pits by the shells from the
ships, and Admiral Sampson told him they had been hit several times, but
that there was no one in the pits. However, the _Suwanee_ was ordered to
fire a few more shots in their direction.

[Illustration: ADMIRAL W. T. SAMPSON.]

At 12.18 P. M. the _New York_ having discontinued fire at Aguadores,
commenced firing 8-inch shells clear over the gully into the city of
Santiago de Cuba. Every five minutes the shells went roaring over the
hillside. What destruction they wrought it was impossible to tell, as the
smoke hid everything. In reply to General Duffield's question:

"What is the news?"

Admiral Sampson replied:

"There is not a Spaniard left in the rifle-pits."

Later General Duffield signalled that his scouts thought reinforcements
were marching to the battered old fort, and Admiral S