"Right ye are, me lad, and ’twas no slouch of a scrimmage, at all, at all. The Navy wanted a good sheltered harbor as a base for their ships close to Santiago, where that foine old Spanish Admiral, Cervera, was bottled up. So Guantanamo Bay, being the foinest kind of a place, they decided to go in there, dhrive away the enemy and hold it. Well, the ships shelled the beach before we landed and then us marines was sent ashore under Colonel Harrington; and a hot reception we got, I’d like ye to know." "How many marines were there in the fight?" "About four hundred altogether, and out in the bosky[#] there were over three thousand Spaniards pouring the lead into us at every opportunity. We took the beach with a rush and charged up the hill back of our landin’ place, and then havin’ got a toe-hold we dug in and we stayed dug in, with the Dagoes a-takin’ pot shots at us every time we showed a hat." [#] Really the word "Bosque"--Spanish word meaning wood, and pronounced--boskay. Henry, having joined the little group surrounding Dorlan and Richard, as usual asked a question at this point in the recital: "Did the army come to help you, Corporal?" "Army nothin’. They was busy gettin’ ready to take Santiago, and didn’t bother about us. We marines was the first to land and the first to fight, but unless we drove those Dagoes out of the woods it wasn’t goin’ to be a very healthy place to stay put." "And did you drive them away?" inquired Dick. He had read all about the fight, but to get first hand news from one who had participated in the actual fighting was much better than reading it from a book.