crew, all more or less injured, but the others had gone down with their
boat, crushed beneath a hurtling deck beam.

The _Speedy_ stood off and on until daylight enabled her commander to
locate the scene of catastrophe and examine what was left of the
shattered steamer. He found that she had been run ashore on one of the
small outlying cays that are numerous off Cardenas Bay, and with other
floating wreckage he picked up a life-preserver on which was painted,
"_Manuel Ros_, Barcelona."

"How strangely and unexpectedly things turn out," he said to Ridge as
he turned from examining this telltale relic. "Our Government learned
some time ago that the _Manuel Ros_ was taking on board at Cadiz a
cargo of improved mines, submarine torpedoes, and high explosives for
use in Puerto-Rican harbors. It was positively stated that she would
not attempt to run the Cuban blockade. Nevertheless, we were all
notified to keep a sharp lookout for her, especially around Santiago
and Cienfuegos. She was reported to be very fast, and I can well
credit it, for there are few ships in these waters can show their heels
as she did to the _Speedy_. As it is, I am afraid she would have
gained Cardenas Harbor in safety if it had not been for Mr. Comly's
last lucky shot, which must have crippled her steering-gear. And to
think that a ship which would have been considered a handsome prize by
any cruiser should be destroyed by the little _Speedy_. I wonder,
though, where the _Wilmington_ that generally patrols this vicinity
could have been?"

This mystery was explained a little later when the cruiser in question
hove in sight, having been lured from her station by a small Spanish
gunboat the evening before.