"Right away, Lieutenant Ben Carson."
They shook hands, and Hal inquired of the newcomer their destination.
"We're bound for Cardenas," was the answer. "It's a bit of a warm place to walk into. Reefs and that sort outside. There are three Spanish boats, the same as this, in the harbor, and they are a nuisance. I'll allow that they've proved too much for us up to this, but we'll do for them this time. Say, Mr. Marchant, have you ever been under fire?"
"Once or twice," Hal answered, "and I cannot admit that it was particularly enjoyable."
"That's so; I judge that there are few who revel in the experience," was the answer. "But you must get used to it, and will have another chance, for we're goin' into that harbor right now."
That this was the intention of the Hudson was soon made clear. Joined by the gunboats Wilmington and Machias, and by the torpedo boat Winslow, she lay off the harbor of Cardenas till morning dawned. Then, the men and officers having breakfasted, the little fleet steamed in, piloted through a side channel in the reefs by a Cuban who was well acquainted with them.
"It's queer sort of work, this," remarked Lieutenant Billing, as the little cutter rushed into the bay. "For instance, the main channel's mined, and you'd get blown sky-high if you sailed that way. Then this place is full of rocks, so the fellow who is commandin' has to keep his eyes mighty wide open. But we're in the bay safe enough, and I guess the fun will commence right away."
At this moment the Machias parted company, and steamed to the east, towards Diana Key, where Spanish barracks had been erected. Very soon her guns were heard in action, though not till hours after was it learned that she had put the Spanish garrison to flight, and had sent ashore an armed boat's crew, who hoisted the Stars and Stripes over Cuban soil for the first time in the war.
"Now the band will play," cried the lieutenant excitedly, as the Hudson steamed onward with her consorts. "Say, boys, we're after those gunboats, and I expect the shells will be flyin' about our heads before very long. But we've got to find them first; they'll be about this way somewhere, but exactly where is the particular question. Now, where can they have hidden themselves?"
"What are those over there, then?" said Hal suddenly, lifting a pair of glasses to his eyes, and directing them across the bay to a long, narrow quay, constructed of stone, which projected far out into the water from the coast-line. "I can see something lying behind there. Perhaps it is a gunboat, for that is a likely place behind which to hide."