“He will go down with the Semiramis. He could have no nobler tomb.”
Boom! The roar of the Spanish gun is the salute the people of the Semiramis hear as the boats pull away from the doomed yacht. The cruiser is within range and though her commander must be aware that the American vessel is sinking he is firing on her.
“The coward!” grits Van Zandt. “But the Semiramis will not strike her flag. She sinks with the stars and stripes flying.”
“Pull hard!” shouts Capt. Beals. “Pull hard! She’s going down!”
CHAPTER LVII.
AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE.
“Ashley, we will give you something to write about,” remarks Capt. Meade, as the America steams out of the harbor of Santiago.
“What’s that, captain? A thrilling description of a voyage from Santiago de Cuba to Key West?”
The commander of the cruiser smiles good-naturedly. “More excitement than that, and something that will cause the little senorita to cling frantically to your arm.”
“Ah, then, you may open the ball at once.”