g party, believing that that
particular patch of cover had been pretty effectually cleared, boldly
galloped forward, under cover of the continued shell fire, to examine
the spot which, from the resolution with which it had been defended,
they felt convinced must be one of the keys of the position. And there
is little doubt that they were as much surprised as disgusted to be
received with a volley, from a totally different and not easily
discernible point, which caused them to again retire precipitately,
leaving nearly two-thirds of their number behind them.

Finding himself thus persistently foiled, the officer in command
slightly altered his tactics; and, while instructing his artillery to
persistently shell every bit of timber or other cover that could
possibly afford concealment to the defenders, deployed his infantry into
a column of open order and threw out a strong firing line, with
instructions to them to advance, taking advantage of every bit of cover
that they could find, and shoot at every puff of smoke that they could
see. As on the occasion of the previous attack, many of the Spanish
shells failed to burst; but, notwithstanding this, a few casualties now
began to occur among Jack's party of defenders, and he therefore decided
that the moment had arrived for bringing his twelve-pounder into action.
This gun, accordingly, which Jack had by this time got mounted on a
cleverly-constructed and carefully-masked earth battery, now opened fire
upon the enemy's artillery; and as Singleton had personally laid the
piece, and knew the exact range to practically an inch, he was lucky
enough to dismount and put out of action one of the Spanish guns with
his first shot, while his second swept away every one of the
artillerymen from the gun next to it. His third and fourth shots did
comparatively little damage; but his fifth shell struck one of the guns
fair upon the muzzle, at the precise moment when it was being fired,
with the result that both shells burst simultaneously, completely
shattering the fore part of the gun, as far back as the trunnions, and
scattering death and destruction broadcast among the rest of the
artillerymen. But by this time the Spanish gunners had managed to
locate the position of the weapon that was punishing them so fearfully,
and from that moment they devoted their attention exclusively to it,
with the result that shells began to drop thick and fast about Jack's
ears, smothering and half-bli