of affairs,
Admiral Cervera, taking a wild chance for life and liberty, with the
hope of being able afterward to help his countrymen, led his fleet out
of the harbor.

Sunday morning, July 3d, was clear and beautiful. The cliffs of the
harbor, and the old forts, made a fine show under the blue sky. The
red and yellow flag of Spain floated, as usual, on top of Morro
Castle. Far in the distance the mountain tops showed plainly--a dark
line against the sky. The sea was smooth.

Our vessels were in place near the mouth of the harbor, though a few
were missing. The Massachusetts and some smaller vessels had gone to
Guantanamo for coal; the flagship New York had gone eastward to a
place where Admiral Sampson could go ashore, for he wished to arrange
plans with General Shafter. Commodore Schley had been left in charge
of the fleet, and his flagship was the Brooklyn. It was at the western
end of our half-circle of ships.

On Saturday evening, the night before, some of the men on board the
Iowa saw a good deal of smoke rising within the harbor, and thought
the Spanish ships might be getting ready to rush out. These men spoke
to their captain about the smoke, but the captain thought that the
Spaniards were only fixing their fires. The smoke seemed to him no
thicker than it had often been before. The men on the deck could not
help thinking about the smoke, and tried to ease their minds by making
ready the signal, so that it could be run up instantly if the Spanish
ships started out. But the night passed away, the signal was not
needed, and the men concluded that the smoke really had meant nothing.
They never dreamed that the Spaniards would come out in daytime. So it
seemed likely that the day would pass quietly.

As it was Sunday, not much work was going on. By nine o'clock all the
men were dressed in their white clothes, ready for the Sunday morning
"inspection." Some of the officers were gloomy, for they had had news
about the terrible losses in the Army during the last two days.

Suddenly, about half past nine, shouts are heard on some of the ships,
and the signal flies up on the Iowa: "Enemy's ships are coming out,"
and a gun is fired from the Iowa, to attract the notice of all the
fleet. Our ships, so still a moment before, are now full of life.
Every man shouts to his neighbor, "They're coming out! they're coming
out!" Men run in all directions to get to their posts; officers buckle
on their swords; orders are quickl