ed Grant, as he lit another
cigar.

* * * * *

The Chilian fleet had relieved New York. Elated by her victory over
Peru, and thirsting for revenge against Spain for the latter's merciless
bombardment of Valparaiso in 1866, the Chilians, as soon as they had
learned of the declaration of war against the United States, tore up the
treaty of truce and armistice made with Spain in 1871, and announced
themselves an ally of this country. Realizing the weakness of our navy,
and the unprotected position of our seaports, Chili instantly dispatched
her three ironclads to New York. They made the voyage with remarkable
celerity, stopping only for coal and provisions, and reached the
beleaguered city just in the nick of time, as has already been detailed.

It was fortunate that the "Zaragoza" had been obliged to put so far out
to sea that she could not return in season to take part in the conflict,
otherwise the result might have been different.

As it was, when she came back a day later, and discovered the position
of affairs, she took to her heels without delay.

It is not necessary here to speak of the greeting which the Chilians
received, or the thanks which were lavished upon them by the people of
the United States. Neither need we picture the dismay of the citizens of
New York when they came to realize the fearful damage which had been
inflicted upon their city. Fully one-half of the town lay in ruins. The
metropolis was the metropolis no longer. The proudest city of the Great
Republic had been at the mercy of a conqueror, and, as if this
humiliation were not deep enough, she owed her preservation from utter
destruction to the guns of an insignificant Republic of South America.

* * * * *

Six months after the relief of the city, a Chilian sailor belonging to
the "Huascar," which was lying off the Battery, stopped to watch a crowd
of workmen who were busily engaged in clearing away the ruins of some
tenement buildings near Tompkins Square.

The face of one of the workmen had evidently attracted the foreigner's
attention, as he gazed at him intently and curiously.

Suddenly there was a sharp detonation. The crowd scattered in all
directions. An unexploded shell which had lodged in the building had
been struck by a pick in the hands of one of the laborers, and had been
fired.

The sailor helped carry out the dead.

Among the victims was the man at whom he