n had been taken out, nor had trunks and chests been sent
ashore. Neither had the wooden decks nor any other wooden fixtures been
prepared to resist fire. Apparently the crew had not even wet down the
decks.

"But the _Texas_ tarried at this gruesome scene only for a moment. They
wished only to make sure that the two Spaniards were really out of the
fight, and when they saw the _Iowa_ was going to stand by both, away they
went to join the race between the _Brooklyn_ and the _Oregon_ on our side,
and the _Cristobal Colon_ and _Almirante Oquendo_ on the other.

"In spite of the original superior speed on the part of the Spaniards, and
in spite of the delay on the part of the _Texas_, the Spaniards were not
yet wholly out of range, though the _Cristobal Colon_ was reaching away at
a speed that gave the Spanish shore forces hope.

"Under battened hatches the Yankee firemen, stripped to their trousers,
plied their shovels and raised the steam-gauges higher. The Yankee ships
were grass-grown and barnacled, but now they were driven as never before
since their trial trips. The Spaniards had called us pigs, but Nemesis had
turned us into spear-armed huntsmen in chase of game that neither tusks
nor legs could save.

"For while the _Colon_ was showing a speed that was the equal at least of
our own _Brooklyn_, long-headed Commodore Schley saw that she was hugging
the coast, although a point of land loomed in the distance to cut her off
or drive her out to sea.

"Instead of striving to close in on the Spaniards, Schley headed straight
for that point,--took the shortest cut for it, so to speak,--and in that way
drew steadily ahead of the _Colon_, leaving to the _Oregon_ and _Texas_
the task of holding the Spaniards from turning out across the _Brooklyn's_
stern.

[Illustration: U. S. S. IOWA.]

"It was a splendid piece of strategy, well worthy of the gallant officer,
and it won.

"The task of the battle-ships was well within their powers. It is not
without reason that both the _Oregon_ and the _Texas_ are the pride of the
nation as well as of their crews.

"The _Oregon_ and the _Brooklyn_ had hurled a relentless fire at the
flying Spaniards, and it had told on the _Almirante Oquendo_ with
increasing effect.

"For the _Oregon_ was fair on the _Oquendo's_ beam, and there was not
enough armour on any Spanish ship to stop the massive 13-inch projectiles
the ship from the Pacific was driving into her with unerring aim.

"A