, even
to the extent of going to war with Spain, had grown louder and more
insistent, until it was evident that they must be heeded. With the
destruction of the _Maine_ affairs reached such a crisis that the
people, through their representatives in Congress, demanded to have the
Spanish flag swept forever from the Western hemisphere.

In vain did President McKinley strive for a peaceful solution of the
problem; but with both nations bent on war, he could not stem the tide
of popular feeling. So, on the 20th of April he was obliged to demand
from Spain that she should, before noon of the 23d, relinquish forever
her authority over Cuba, at the same time withdrawing her land and
naval forces from that island. The Spanish Cortes treated this
proposition with contempt, and answered it by handing his passports to
the American Minister at Madrid, thereby declaring war against the
great American republic.

At this time Spain believed her navy to be more than a match for that
of the United States, and that, with nearly two hundred thousand
veteran, acclimated troops on the island of Cuba, she was in a position
to resist successfully what she termed the "insolent demands of the
Yankee pigs."

On this side of the Atlantic, Congress had appropriated fifty millions
of dollars for national defence, the navy was being strengthened by the
purchase of additional ships at home and abroad, fortifications were
being erected along the entire coast, harbors were mined, and a
powerful fleet of warships was gathered at Key West, the point of
American territory lying nearest the island of Cuba.

Then came the President's call for 125,000 volunteers, followed a few
weeks later by a second call for 75,000 more. This was the summons for
which our young friend, Ridge Norris, had waited so impatiently ever
since that February morning when he had arranged a bowl of roses and
read the startling news of the _Maine's_ destruction.

No one in all the country had been more impatient of the long delay
than he; for it had seemed to him perfectly evident from the very first
that war must be declared, and he was determined to take an active part
in it at the earliest opportunity. His father was willing that he
should go, his mother was bitterly opposed; Dulce begged him to give up
his design, and even Spence Cuthbert's laughing face became grave
whenever the subject was mentioned, but the young man was not to be
moved from his resolve.

Mardi Gra