Young Glory and the Spanish Cruiser Part 37

"Shure, an' it's more than I'd give for ye," laughed Dan Daly. "A thousand dollars! Begorra, it's yourself won't be afther getting it."

And with these words Dan launched a terrific blow at the Spaniard nearest to him. The man dropped.

"Shure, it's right I was."

Dan turned his attention elsewhere, and Young Glory was defending himself bravely.

His comrades had heard the Spanish officer put a price upon the young hero's head, and the horrible proceeding infuriated them. They flew to his a.s.sistance, cl.u.s.tering around him to protect him from harm.

It was a terrible struggle. It must be said for the Spaniards that they fought bravely. They vastly outnumbered the Americans, and this may have given them courage. However, the end was near.

One after another the leading men in the Spanish ranks were shot down and killed with the cutla.s.s. The survivors began to falter.

"Courage!" cried an officer, das.h.i.+ng up and waving his sword. "Courage!

Stand your ground! Help is at hand!"

Those words stayed the retreat. Back to the rocks at the charge rushed the Spaniards, some of them looking anxiously around for the promised aid.

There was a wild cheer from the Spanish ranks now. Three large boats, each filled with soldiers, swept round the point.

The Americans were taken in the rear now. Between them and the sea there was no shelter.

Bang! Bang!

It was the Spaniards in the boats firing.

Up rushed Mr. Tyler.

"Lads," he said, "this place can be held no longer. We are between two fires. There is but one thing to do. We must dash out of here, cut our way through the enemy and storm the fort."

"Hurrah!"

The men shouted wildly. It was a bold plan, quite suited to the audacious nature of these reckless sailors.

Over the rocks, led by the lieutenant, they rushed. Their coming had not been expected by the Spaniards, and the consequence was, that they gave way in face of the sudden attack.

In all directions they turned and fled, the sailors in their eagerness das.h.i.+ng after them and cutting them down. The scene of the fight was a ghastly sight now. All around lay the dead and dying, and every minute added fresh victims to the list.

But now the men were recalled from the pursuit of the flying enemy to resume the main purpose for which they had landed. This was to attack and capture the fort and silence the guns.

Up the steep ascent they toiled, protected from harm by the trees which covered the slope. As they drew nearer the batteries, they saw that an almost impossible task was before them.

The walls of the fort were steep and high. The sailors had no scaling ladder with them. How, then, could they hope to make a successful attack?

This was the problem that confronted Lieut. Tyler.

"Faith, we can jump it!" cried Dan.

"Then you're wasting your time in the navy if that's so, Dan," laughed Young Glory. "A man who can clear fifteen feet ought to go in for athletics."

There was no holding the men back.

Furiously they rushed forward, leaving the shelter of the trees to a.s.sail the fort.

Bang, bang!

The Spaniards had them at their mercy now. They fired from the rampart at the helpless men below.

"Back!" shouted Lieutenant Tyler. "Back, I say! This is folly!"

It needed no more talking to show this. Already in this brief attack the men had sustained a heavier loss than in all the fighting of the day.

"Where's Young Glory?" was the cry.

There was a look of dismay on everyone's face as they glanced round and saw that he was missing.

"The boy gone!" cried Dan, frantically. "Arrah, then, it's meself's goin' too!"

And breaking away from those who tried to hold him, Dan fairly flew till he came to the spot beneath the fort where his comrades had just fallen.

"Not there!" he cried. "It's a prisoner he is! An' shure, how could they take him prisoner? It's not one of them Spaniards has ventured out. An', begorra, he wouldn't be afther takin' himself prisoner!"

Dismissing this last idea as unreasonable, Dan, who had miraculously escaped the enemy's bullets, ran back to his comrades.

"It's the last we've seen of him."

Now, where was Young Glory?

In the attack that had been made on the fort the boy had been at the extreme right--that is, the point of view nearest the sea. Whilst his comrades were aimlessly throwing themselves against the walls of the fort, Young Glory was otherwise engaged.

He had seen a figure emerge from the fort and glide amongst the trees at some distance away. Quick as lightning Young Glory did the same. He stole along towards the spot where the Spaniard had secreted himself, and there was a look on the boy's face that spoke volumes.

"It is he!" he muttered. "I only saw him for an instant, but it's a face I never forgot."

Bang! A man sprang forth, pistol in hand, and fired.

As he did so he laughed defiantly.

"Good-by, Young Glory!"

"You villain, I am not dead yet, as you shall see, Jose Castro!"

For it was the famous Spanish spy.

Quick as lightning, before Jose could fire again, Young Glory had sprung on him.

"Give me the key!" he cried, holding the spy in an iron grasp. "Give me the key, or I will kill you!"