off in
great haste.

They were still more surprised when they saw a number of men clamber out
from under the float. The marines in the launch were about to fire, but
the officers would not let them.

Then Hobson swam towards the launch and called out in Spanish:

"Is there an officer on board?"

"Yes," came the reply.

"I have seven men to surrender," said Hobson.

He now swam up and was seized and lifted out of the water. One of the
men who had hold of him was Admiral Cervera, the commander of the
Spanish fleet.

The admiral gave an odd look at the queer kind of fish he had caught.
Hobson had been in the engine-room of the _Merrimac_ and was covered
with oil, coal-dust, and soot. But he wore his officer's belt, and when
he pointed to that the admiral smiled and bade him welcome.

Then the men were taken on board the launch, where they were well
treated. They had come very near death and had escaped.

Of course, you want to read the rest of this story. Well, they were
locked up in Morro Castle. This was a fine old fort on the cliff at the
harbor's mouth, where they could see the great shells come in from the
ships and explode, and see the Spanish gunners fire back.

Admiral Cervera was very kind to them and sent word to Admiral Sampson
that they were safe, and that he would exchange them for Spanish
prisoners.

They were not exchanged until July 7, and by that time Admiral Cervera's
ships had all been destroyed and he was a prisoner himself.

CHAPTER XXIX

SAMPSON AND SCHLEY WIN RENOWN

THE GREATEST SEA FIGHT OF THE CENTURY

I HAVE told you what Hobson did and what Wainwright did at Santiago. Now
it is time to tell all about what the ships did there; the story of the
great Spanish dash for liberty and its woeful ending.

Santiago is the second city of Cuba. It lies as far to the east as
Havana does to the west, and is on the south of the island, while Havana
is on the north. Like Havana, it has a fine harbor, which is visited by
many ships.

Well, soon after the war with Spain began, our naval captains were in
trouble. They had a riddle given them for which they could not find the
answer. There was a squadron of Spanish warships at sea, and nobody knew
where to look for them. They might fire into the cities along the coast
and do no end of damage. Maybe there was not much danger of this; but
there is nothing sure in war, and it does not take much to scare some
people.

The navy wanted to