ce of orders before I ever again undertake
to act the low-down part of a spy," he reflected, bitterly. At the
same time he was wondering how he should manage to escape the kindly
but embarrassing attentions of these new-found friends, and reach
Daiquiri in time to communicate with General Shafter upon his arrival.

In spite of these thoughts, he did not fail to admire the beauty and
massive symmetry of the ships they were approaching. There lay the
_Cristobal Colon_, latest product of Italian skill; the splendid
_Vizcaya_, that had recently attracted the admiration of all who saw
her in New York Harbor; the _Almirante Oquendo_, that had been received
with such wild enthusiasm in Havana; the _Maria Teresa_, famed for the
richness of her interior fittings; the _Reina Mercedes_, used as a
hospital-ship; the _Pluton_ and the _Furor_, low, black, and ugly to
look upon, both holding records for enormous speed, and more dreaded as
engines of destruction than all the others put together. Stripped to
fighting trim, these ships were the very embodiment of modern
sea-power, and in his ignorance Ridge wondered if anything afloat could
resist them. From them his attention was at length attracted to the
Admiral, who was saying:

"I am about to send this launch, under a flag of truce, out to the
American flag-ship to procure some supplies for our prisoners, the
Senor Hobson and his men. So if you have a desire to view the Yankee
ships at close range I shall be pleased to have you accompany it.
Possibly you speak the English, in which case you might prove of use as
interpreter."

"I do not speak it so well as does my friend the Senor Remelios,"
replied Lieutenant Navarro, to whom this invitation had been extended.

"Then it may be that he will do me the favor to accompany the launch,"
suggested the Admiral, and of course Ridge gladly embraced the
opportunity thus offered.

"Perhaps I can stay on board the American ship," he said to himself,
"and not be compelled to revisit Santiago until I can do so as an
honest fighter, instead of as a contemptible spy. And what a chance it
will be for Navarro to escape from the Spaniards!"

Half an hour later the trim launch, now displaying a large white flag
forward, had passed the masts of the sunken _Merrimac_, the frowning
Morro on its lofty headland, and, standing out to sea, was drawing near
the superb cruiser _New York_, flag-ship of Admiral Sampson's fleet.
On either side of her,