ll power of the engines. And from every
one of them came flashes as of lightning, and roars as of thunder, and
huge shells went whirling through the air toward the Spanish ships.

Out of the channel they dashed, four noble ships, and turned to the west
along the coast. Only the _Brooklyn_ was on that side of the harbor, and
for ten minutes three of the Spanish ships poured at her a terrible
fire.

But soon the _Oregon_, the _Indiana_, the _Iowa_, and the _Texas_ came
rapidly up, and the Spanish gunners had new game to fire at.

You might suppose that the huge iron shells, whirling through the air,
and bursting with a frightful roar, would tear and rend the ships as
though they were made of paper.

But just think how it was at Manila, where the Spaniards fired at the
sea and the sky, and the Americans fired at the Spanish ships. It was
the same here at Santiago. The Spaniards went wild with their guns and
wasted their balls, while the Americans made nearly every shot tell.

It was a dreadful tragedy for Spain that day on the Cuban coast. The
splendid ships which came out of the harbor so stately and trim, soon
looked like ragged wrecks. In less than half an hour two of them were
ashore and in a fierce blaze, and the two others were flying for life.
The first to yield was the _Maria Teresa_, the flagship of the admiral.
One shell from the _Brooklyn_ burst in her cabin and in a second it was
in flames. One from the _Texas_ burst in the engine-room and broke the
steam-pipe. Some burst on the deck; some riddled the hull; death and
terror were everywhere.

The men were driven from the guns, the flames rose higher, the water
poured in through the shot holes, and there was nobody to work the
pumps. All was lost, and the ship was run ashore and her flag pulled
down.

In very few minutes the _Oquendo_ followed the flagship ashore, both of
them looking like great blazing torches. The shells from the great guns
had torn her terribly, many of her crew had been killed, and those who
were left had to run her ashore to keep her from going to the bottom of
the sea.

In half an hour, as you may see, two of the Spanish ships had been half
torn to pieces and driven ashore, and only two were still afloat. These
were the _Vizcaya_ and the _Cristobal Colon_. When the _Maine_ was sent
to Havana, before the beginning of the war, a Spanish warship was sent
to New York. This was the _Vizcaya_. She was a trim and handsome ship
and her of