“This was taking us too much inshore. 'Starboard for a point!' I said.
“As I turned from the wheel I saw that which sent a thrill over me and brought me up all standing. It was the murky loom of a great ship, black and dim and dark and silent as ourselves. She was off our port quarter and not five hundred yards away. It gave me a start, I confess. None of our ships should be that far to the west of Havana. It was a sword to a sheath knife she was one of Cervera's advance.
“Instantly I reached for the electric button; and instantly the red and white lights, which stood for the letter of that night, burned in our semaphore. The stranger replied with a red over two white lights. It was the wrong letter.
“With my first motion, the captain was on his feet; his hand gripped the lever that worked the engine bells.
“'Try her again!' he said.
“Again I flashed the proper letter, and again came a queer reply.
“The next moment the captain jammed the lever 'Full steam, ahead!' and a general call to quarters went singing through the ship.
“'Starboard!' shouted the captain to the man at the wheel; 'starboard! pull her over!'
“There was a vast churning from the propellers; the vessel leaped forward like a horse; the sailor climbed the wheel like a squirrel. We surged forward with a broad sheer to port. The next instant we opened on our dark visitor with every gun in the larboard battery. It wasn't ten seconds after she gave us the wrong signal when she got our broadside.
“The result was amazing. With the first crash of our guns the stranger went from utter darkness to the extreme of light. She flashed out all over like a Fall River steamer. Knowing who we were—for they bore orders for us—and realizing that there had been some mixing of signals, the officer on her bridge had the wit to turn on every light in his ship. It was an inspiration and saved them from a second broadside.