ork they must now draw
closer to the fire of their enemies.

"Fifty feet nearer shore!" exclaimed the lieutenant, and the crew
grasped the oars and unflinchingly began to carry out the order.

The shots of the Spaniards began to tell. Bullets splintered the sides
of the boat, and they had not moved but a few feet from the spot when
another volley severely wounded two of the men.

Wilson, the man who had been so active, fell into the bottom of the boat
severely wounded in the shoulder, and another sailor who was near where
Clif sat, was shot in the thigh. But the boat kept on, rowing nearer and
nearer.

Clif resigned the tiller to the lieutenant, while he bound up the men's
wounds and comforted them as best he could. Then he jumped back to the
tiller.

This was an unfortunate move for him, for in that position he and the
lieutenant were the most conspicuous figures in the boat, and the
Spanish riflemen were making every effort to pick off the officer. A
bullet, intended for the lieutenant, struck Clif in the arm as he took
his place.

"Are you wounded?" shouted the officer above the din, noticing that Clif
momentarily paled.

"It is nothing," replied Clif, resolutely clinching his teeth and
continuing to guide the boat.

Just then the welcome sound of the firing of cannon to seaward reached
their ears.

"It is the New York!" cried Clif. "She is taking a hand in the
scrimmage!"

It was true. With deadly accuracy, the flagship was hurling shrapnel
shell over the heads of the bluejackets into the battery on shore.

And thus between the two fires the little band in their frail boat
continued coolly with their labors, Clif assisting those who became
wounded wholly unmindful of the fact that he himself was bleeding
freely.

But it was soon over. The terrible havoc of the well-directed shrapnel
shot from the New York quickly silenced the masked battery and dispersed
the gunners and the cutting of the cable received no further
interruption from the Spanish forces.

They were enthusiastically received upon their return to the flagship,
bearing a section of the cable to be cut up as souvenirs. The wounded
were tenderly cared for, and Clif himself examined the nature of his own
injury. Fortunately, though it had bled freely, it was but a slight
flesh wound, which gave him no uneasiness after being properly bandaged.

This operation was just completed, when a jaunty young ensign appeared,
and turning to Clif, sai