ke, and a burning shell landed in the village street, apparently just
in front of the administration building, which was soon afire. The poor
natives fled in every direction, and the rebel soldiers followed their
noble example, and took to their heels, too. Another shell followed
the first, and soon several buildings were burning in the village. The
admiral watched developments carefully, and finally he decided that they
would be glad to surrender the village if another boat was sent ashore.

Accordingly, the same boat started out again, with three new men in
place of those who were wounded, and for sake of effect the cruiser
steamed farther in toward shore. This time there were no crowds upon the
beach, and the thirty men marched to the burning buildings, where the
natives fell before them, begging for mercy. The soldiers were nowhere
to be seen, so the crew took possession of the town and slept there, in
company with thirty more sailors, that night.

CHAPTER XXI.

CONTINUING THE CRUISE--ANOTHER VILLAGE CAPTURED--THE ADMIRAL ARCHIE'S
FRIEND--A GREAT BATTLE AND AN UNEXPECTED VICTORY--LONGING TO BE HOME
AGAIN.

IT may go without saying that the sixty men from the cruiser had a very
interesting time before the night was over. The entire village was in a
constant uproar; the poor natives, horrified by what they had witnessed
during the afternoon, ran hither and thither, some even leaving the
place entirely and starting for the interior with their goods and
families. The rebel soldiers had evidently gone for good, and a small
party sent out to look for traces of them returned without learning
anything of their whereabouts. The bombardment of the village had
certainly had great effect.

It was only a tiny place, with possibly not more than a thousand
inhabitants, but there were evidences that it had been formerly a
flourishing town. There were fine residences in some of the streets,
which were now quite deserted, and there were some very respectable
business houses in the village square. All these had once been occupied
by Spanish traders, who had been driven away when the rebels came, and
if the insurgents had never come the town might now have been a booming
place. But the rebels were lazy, as usual, and did no work, so that now
the fine residences were vacant, and the business blocks stood empty.

Some of the sailors looked about for a casino, where they might be able
to find entertainment of some kind