nited
States, and it was as if everything else was relegated to the background
until information could be had regarding that American fleet which sailed
from Mirs Bay, in the China Sea, on the afternoon of April 27th.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BATTLE OF MANILA BAY.

_May 1._ "Manila, May 1.--The squadron arrived at Manila at daybreak this
morning. Immediately engaged the enemy, and destroyed the following
Spanish vessels: _Isla de Cuba_, _Isla de Luzon_, _Reina Christina_,
_Castilla_, _Don Antonio d'Ulloa_, _Don Juan d'Austria_, _Velasco_,
_General Lezo_, _El Correo_, _Marques del Duero_, _Isla de Mindanao_, and
the water-battery at Cavite. The squadron is uninjured. Few men were
slightly injured. The only means of telegraphing is to American consulate,
Hongkong. I shall communicate with him.

"DEWEY."

All the world loves a hero, but idolises him when he performs his deeds of
valour without too many preliminaries, and, therefore, when on the seventh
of May the telegram quoted above was flashed over the wires to an
anxiously expectant people, it was as if all the country remembered but
one name,--that of Dewey.

_April 25._ It was known to the public that the Asiatic Squadron had
sailed from Hongkong on the 25th of April to avoid possible complications
such as might arise in a neutral port, and had rendezvoused in Mirs Bay,
there to await orders from the government at Washington.

[Illustration: ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY.]

_April 26._ So also was it known that on the next day Commodore Dewey
received the following cablegram.

"WASHINGTON, April 26th.

"_Dewey, Asiatic Squadron_:--Commence operations at once, particularly
against Spanish fleet. You must capture or destroy them.

"MCKINLEY."

_April 27._ On the twenty-seventh came information from Hongkong that the
squadron had put to sea, and from that day until the seventh of May no
word regarding the commodore's movements had been received, save through
Spanish sources.

Then came a cablegram containing the bare facts concerning the most
complete naval victory the world had ever known. It was the first
engagement of the war, and a crushing defeat for the enemy. It is not
strange that th