the ship's sides.

Hobson and his men leaped over the side into the water. Those who were
slow about it were flung over by the shock. Down plunged the _Merrimac_
beneath the waves, while loud cheers came from the forts. The Spanish
gunners were glad, for they thought they had sunk a great American
battleship.

[Illustration: HOBSON BLOWING UP THE MERRIMAC.]

But it does not matter to us what the Spaniards thought. All we want to
know is what became of Lieutenant Hobson and his daring men. Their
little boat had been carried away by a Spanish shot, and they were
swimming in the deep waters without knowing what would be their fate. On
one side was the sea; on the other were the Spaniards: they did not know
which would be the worst.

"I swam away from the ship as soon as I struck the water," said Hobson,
"but I could feel the eddies drawing me backward in spite of all I could
do. That did not last long, however, and as soon as I felt the tugging
cease I turned and struck out for the float, which I could see dimly
bobbing up and down over the sunken hull."

The float he spoke of was a sort of raft which lay on the ship's deck,
with a rope tied to it so as to let it float. The rope pulled one side
of it a little under the water, so that the other side was a little
above the water.

This was a good thing for Hobson and his men, for Spanish boats were
soon rowing out to where the ship had gone down. The eight men got under
the high side of the raft, and held on to it by putting their fingers
through the crevices.

"All night long we stayed there with our noses and mouths barely out of
the water," says Hobson.

They were afraid to speak or move, for fear they would be shot by the
men in the boats. It was that way all night long. Boats kept rowing
about, some of them very close, but nobody thought of looking under the
raft. The water felt warm at first, but after a while it felt cold, and
their fingers ached and their teeth chattered.

One of the men, who thought he could not stand this any longer, left the
raft and started to swim ashore. Hobson had to call him back. He came at
once, but the call was heard on the boats and they rowed swiftly up. But
they did not find the hiding place of the men and rowed away again.

After daylight came Hobson saw a steam-launch approaching from the
ships. There were officers in it, and when it came near he gave it a
hail. His voice seemed to scare the men on board, for they backed