dron,
without anybody's remembering particularly that this officer in far
Hong Kong had seen fighting and knew how to bear himself under fire.
It is a significant fact that when he had won the first great victory
of the war, and the newspapers were searching everywhere for stories
illustrative of his character, it was discovered that he had chiefly
impressed himself on the Washington mind by his excessive
punctiliousness in matters of dress.

Four days after the declaration of war there was a commotion on the
ships of Dewey's squadron. The signal to weigh anchor flew from the
foremast of the "Olympia," and everybody knew that the admiral had
received fighting orders. For some days past the ships had been in
their battle rigging. The white paint had been covered by a dull
greenish-gray. All woodwork, railings, and unnecessary hamper had been
stripped off and sent ashore. The officers' baggage was reduced to the
barest necessities. Nothing was left anywhere on board which could be
turned into a cloud of flying splinters by a shell, or which cumbered
the decks to the inconvenience of the gunners. The warships which, in
time of peace, were as bright and sparkling as a well-kept yacht, had
put on the sullen, vicious air of war.

Dewey's objective point when he set sail from the harbor of Hong Kong
was the Asiatic squadron of Spain, under the command of Admiral
Montojo. There was every reason to believe that he would find the
enemy under the protecting guns of the forts that guarded the harbor
of Manila. In themselves the Spanish ships were no match for the
American fleet. Three good ships had Admiral Montojo--the "Reina
Cristina," the "Castilla," and the "Don Antonio de Ulloa"; but his
others were old-fashioned and lacking in modern armament. But should
they take positions under the guns of the Spanish forts, at the end of
a channel plentifully guarded by mines and torpedoes, the disparity in
forces would disappear. As it occurred this was precisely what they
did, giving Admiral Dewey opportunity to put into practice tactics
which it seems he had studied for months in anticipation of exactly
such an emergency.

On the night of April 30 the American ships arrived at the entrance of
Manila harbor, unseen by the sentries on the forts. It was known that
Montojo was inside, and every light was extinguished and every noise
hushed on the Yankee ships, for the admiral had planned a midnight
entrance to the stronghold. The ships