ust be more than
fifteen hundred rebels," he said, "and they will all be on us here in
less than an hour, for their sharpshooters have been following us up for
a long time. I was beginning to think that we would be unable to fight
them, for they seem to be well equipped, but with the cruiser to kelp
us we can whip them at once. The thing to do will be to let them come
on without suspecting that we have received any help, and then, when the
fight is getting a little warm, or they are about to charge us, let the
cruiser fire a few shells into the air, and it will all be over. Most of
them are country troops, and have never seen a cruiser, so they will be
too much frightened to speak when they hear the thunder of the guns, and
see the shells explode in the air. And then they have a village about
three miles back from the coast, and if you can send a few shells into
that village it will simply ruin the insurgents.

"I had no idea of meeting these rebels," the colonel then explained. "I
took the men out for a little practice marching, but before we had gone
far we encountered these sharpshooters, and later discovered that they
had all these men about a mile and a half away. Then we decided to
return to camp as quickly as possible, to get more ammunition, and we
felt, too, that we would stand a better chance of resisting them here
among the trees. But now we will soon finish them up, if you will just
send a man out to tell the admiral of our plans." Archie immediately
volunteered to carry the information, and as he could be spared better
than one of the soldiers or sailors, he was permitted to undertake the
mission. So he started out, and was on board the cruiser in a very short
time. The admiral was dumbfounded to learn that American troops were
encamped on the shore, and in imminent danger of being defeated, and he
at once set about giving orders with great vigour. "We will show them
how they can attack a small regiment of Americans with their ridiculous
army," he declared, and at once gave orders for the vessel to move
inshore. "But wait," he cried, a minute later, "I see by my chart
that there is a deep stream about a mile up the coast, and if I am
not mistaken we can enter this stream and perhaps get very near the
advancing rebels. We may even be able to destroy them before they have
a chance at our soldiers," and the old admiral almost danced in the
enthusiasm of this idea. So the cruiser steamed rapidly up the coast,
a