lished in those few hours Clif felt
chagrined that he had, in the excitement of the struggle on the boat and
under fire of the Spanish soldiers on shore, been forced to return to
the flagship without the shell.

He had thought considerably about it even during the stirring scenes
through which they had passed. He had his own ideas about it and wanted
to put them to the test.

Everything connected with it indicated to his mind some mystery, the
solution of which would materially help the American forces.

In the first place, the way in which it was brought to his attention was
unusual, to say the least. That a ship being pursued by a hostile craft
should deliberately fire away from the pursuer and toward the land was
peculiar, even for a Spaniard.

It was ridiculous to think that the shell had been aimed at Clif and his
party, for even had it been broad daylight the American boat's crew
would not have been visible to those on the Spanish ship. It was merely
a coincidence that Clif happened to be where the shell landed.

"No," thought Clif as he revolved this in his mind, "that shot was not
aimed at our forces. There was some other reason for firing it."

What that was he could merely conjecture, and he was not entirely clear
in his own mind. That the mysterious purpose had been carried out to the
satisfaction of those on the Spanish boat, Clif felt convinced, was
evident from the fact that not another shot was fired.

Then the shape of the shell was an important factor.

"They are not using those round ones nowadays," thought Clif. "This one
must be used for a special purpose. What that is, I'm going to find
out."

The arrival of the Spanish soldiers and their peculiar actions before
the little battle that followed also demanded explanation.

"They didn't know we were there," mused Clif, "or they would not have
been so easily taken by surprise. Why were they there? Their capture of
the Cuban courier was accidental, I'm sure. They were on some other
mission."

Last of all, the theft of the ship's boat and the strange behavior of
the two Spaniards who had taken it and whom Clif had been forced to
overcome added a peculiar feature to the affair.

Taking it all in all, Clif felt that though they had bravely avenged the
murder of the Cuban, and had brought the dispatches safely to the rear
admiral, and with them a prisoner, still an important object had not
been accomplished.

He meant to return for that unexp