n one cannon
after another boomed out, giving the signal to all our ships in that
vicinity. The booming of the cannon was heard away eastward at Siboney,
whither Admiral Sampson had gone with his ship to confer with General
Shafter, and without delay the _New York_ raced madly back to get into
the fight that followed.

"Remember the _Maine!_" was the cry. "Down with the Spanish ships! Give
'em what Dewey did!" And this cry, "Give 'em what Dewey did!" was heard
on every hand.

The first vessel to go down was a torpedo-boat, sunk by the
_Gloucester_, and this was quickly followed by the sinking of the second
torpedo-boat. In the meantime the larger vessels were pouring in their
rain of steel upon the Spanish cruisers with deadly effect, knocking
great holes into the ships and killing scores of those on board.

The Spanish cruiser _Teresa_ was the first to succumb to the heavy
attack, and soon she turned in to shore to save her crew from drowning.
Then the _Oquendo_ caught fire in several places, and burning fiercely
from stem to stern, she, too, turned in.

But two ships were now left to Admiral Cervera, the _Vizcaya_ and the
_Colon_, and each had suffered much. Both were doing their best to get
out of reach of our guns and the marvellous accuracy of our gunners.

"Don't let 'em get away!" was the cry. "Give 'em what Dewey did!"
Forward went the war-ships of Uncle Sam, the powerful _Oregon_ leading,
with the _Brooklyn_ and _Texas_ not far behind. The rain of steel
continued, and at last, burning like her sister ships, the _Vizcaya_
turned shoreward, and many of her crew leaped overboard to save their
lives.

Only the _Colon_ now remained. She was still in fair condition, and it
was the Spaniards' ardent hope to save at least one ship from the dire
calamity that had overtaken them. But this was not to be, and after a
run of a few miles, during which the _Oregon_ and _Brooklyn_ continued
to pound her with shot and shell, the Spanish flag was lowered, and the
_Colon_ also ran ashore.

It was assuredly a mighty victory, a fitting mate to the great victory
won by Admiral Dewey, and when the news reached our country there was
such a Fourth of July celebration everywhere as will never be forgotten.
Twice had our navy met the ships of Spain, and each time we had sunk
every vessel without losing any of our own. More than this, while the
Spaniards had lost many men through shot and fire and drowning, our
total loss was but