Dan fired and missed the captain by a hairbreadth.
"It's a more civil tongue in your head I'd have ye kapin'!" cried the Irishman.
The Spaniards had formed to repel the attack now. By the hundred they rushed on to the deck of the ship. From the tops Spanish riflemen kept up a withering fire on the enemy.
Captain Long saw this. Instantly he put his riflemen at work.
With deadly aim the American riflemen fired. One by one the Spaniards dropped dead in the tops, and those who did not, climbed down from their elevated positions to seek a less dangerous spot.
A hand to hand fight was going on.
The Americans and Spaniards had met on the deck of the cruiser in a fierce contest. Nothing was heard but the clash of steel, the firing of pistols, and the shouts of the fighters.
The Spaniards were three to one, for the Americans had left a large part of their force on the gun-boat. It was quite impossible to employ all the blue jackets in the attack on the cruiser.
Young Glory was in the front of the battle, laying about him with his cutlass. Mr. Tyler, leading the sailors, was fighting by his side. Dan Daly was not far off, and Dan's quaint remarks could be heard above everybody's voice.
The Spanish officers kept somewhat in the background, urging their men to the attack, by every means in their power.