o in to
where the channel was very narrow. Then he was to let the anchor fall
and swing the ship round crossways with the rudder. Then he would touch
the button to fire the torpedoes. When that was done they would all jump
overboard and swim to the little boat that was towed astern. They
expected the _Merrimac_ would sink across the channel and thus cork it
up.

That was the plan. Don't you think it was a very good one? I am sure
Lieutenant Hobson and Admiral Sampson thought so, and felt sure they
were going to give the Spaniards a great deal of trouble.

It was about three o'clock when the _Merrimac_ came into the mouth of
the channel. Here it was pitch dark and as still as death. But the
Spaniards were not asleep. They had a small picket-boat in the harbor's
mouth, on the lookout for trouble, and its men saw a deeper darkness
moving through the darkness.

They thought it must be one of the American warships and rowed out and
fired several shots at it. One of these hit the chains of the rudder and
carried them off. That spoiled Hobson's plan of steering across the
channel. You see, as I have just told you, it does not take much to
spoil a good plan.

The alarm was given and the Spaniards in the forts roused up. They
looked out and saw this dark shadow gliding swiftly on through the
gloom. They, too, thought it must be an American battleship, and that
the whole fleet might be coming close behind to attack the ships in the
harbor.

The guns of Morro Castle and of the shore batteries began to rain their
balls on the _Merrimac_. Then the Spanish ships joined in and fired down
the channel until there was a terrible roar. And as the _Merrimac_ drove
on, a dynamite mine under the water went off behind her, flinging the
water into the air, but not doing her any harm.

The cannonade was fierce and fast, but the darkness and the smoke of the
guns hid the _Merrimac_, and she went on unhurt. Soon the narrow part of
the channel was reached. Then the anchor was dropped to the bottom and
the engines were made to go backward. The helm was set, but the ship did
not turn. Hobson now first learned that the rudder chains were gone and
the ship could not be steered. The little picket-boat had spoiled his
fine plan.

There was only one thing left to do. He touched the electric button. In
a second a dull roar came up from below and the ship pitched and rolled.
A thousand pounds of powder had exploded and blown great jagged holes in