he front!" was the cry. "Down with the Dons!" And away went
troop after troop on the double-quick, with Acting Colonel Roosevelt
leading them. Shot and shell were hurling themselves through the air in
all directions, and on all sides could be heard the shrieks and groans
of the dead and the dying. It was a time long to be remembered. Men went
down in all directions, and with them not a few officers. It was so hot
that Roosevelt's orderly was prostrated from the heat and afterward
died. Roosevelt summoned another Rough Rider, and had just finished
giving the man some orders when the soldier pitched forward upon his
commander, killed by a bullet through the throat.

As the troops advanced, Theodore Roosevelt urged his men forward and
told them to do their best, to which they responded with a cheer. He was
on horseback at the time, and soon came across a man lying in the shade,
probably overcome by the heat. He started to speak to the Rough Rider
when a bullet hit the fellow and killed him on the spot.

"I suppose that bullet was meant for me," says Mr. Roosevelt, in writing
of this incident. "I, who was on horseback in the open, was unhurt, and
the man lying flat on the ground in the cover beside me was killed."

The fight had now centred around the possession of San Juan Hill, upon
which was located a Spanish blockhouse. The bullets were flying as
thickly as ever, when Roosevelt was ordered to advance in support of
another regiment. As the Rough Riders reached the spot where the other
regiment was, they found the men lying down awaiting orders.

"I am ordered to support your regiment," said Theodore Roosevelt to the
first captain he met.

"We are awaiting orders to advance," answered the captain of the
regulars.

"In my opinion we cannot take these hills by firing at them," returned
the commander of the Rough Riders. "We must rush them."

"My orders are to keep my men where they are."

"Where is your Colonel?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if he isn't here, then I am the ranking officer, and I give the
order to charge," came quickly and positively from Theodore Roosevelt.

"Well, sir,--I--I have orders from our Colonel--" began the captain of
the regulars.

"If you won't charge, let my men pass through, sir," cut in the Acting
Colonel of the Rough Riders, and he ordered his men to move to the
front. This was too much for the regulars, and up they sprang with
shouts and yells, and Rough Riders and regulars went u