anish squadron is about to make a dash from Santiago
Harbor with the hope of taking our fleet by surprise and escaping."

"What is that to me?" asked the Captain, coolly.

"What is that to you!" cried Ridge. "Why, some of our ships may be
destroyed if they are not warned in time."

"That is their lookout, not mine. Besides, Uncle Sam can afford to pay
for them; while if this ship should be injured the loss would fall on
the owners, and I should lose my job."

"Do you mean that you refuse to take me out to the flag-ship?"

"Of course I do," responded the Captain; "and not one foot nearer to
it, or to any other warship, does my vessel move this day than she is
at present."

"Then, sir," said Ridge, still struggling to maintain his calmness, "I
will thank you to set me ashore again, as speedily as possible."

"Why should I set you ashore?" asked the Captain, with exasperating
indifference. "You came on board without an invitation, and now you
may stay here until the next boat is ready to run in, which will be in
the course of an hour or two."

"By which time half the American fleet may have been destroyed for lack
of warning," groaned Ridge. Then he added, his face blazing with
anger: "I hope you are not an American, and I don't believe you can be,
for you are a traitor, a coward, and a contemptible cur. I only hope I
may meet you again some time when I am off duty, and can give you the
thrashing you deserve."

"All right, my young mud-lark," replied the Captain. "I'll give you a
dose of medicine whenever you want it. Now clear out of here, and
don't let me catch sight of you again!"

Ridge did not hear these last words, for he was already walking rapidly
aft, filled with a tumult of rage and perplexity. What ought he to do?
What could he do? Was ever any one so utterly helpless in a crisis of
such importance? Not until he reached the extreme after part of the
ship did a ray of light break upon the situation. Then he caught sight
of a yacht steaming swiftly into the harbor. She might be a
despatch-boat, or a destroyer, or any one of half a dozen things; but
whatever she was, she could help him if she only would.

Close at hand was a jack-staff upholding an American ensign. Acting
upon the impulse of his despair. Ridge hauled down this flag, and then
half-masted it, union down, thus making a signal of distress that
called for prompt aid from any vessel sighting it. Then he gazed
eagerly at the sw