CHAPTER XV.
COALING IN THE TROPICS.
The well-directed fire of the forts at the entrance to Cienfuegos was rapidly making the "Yankee's" position untenable, and it soon became apparent that we would have to give way before overwhelming odds.
Fifteen minutes after the battle began between the Spanish gunboat and the "Yankee," the former beat a hasty retreat, steaming back into the harbor.
It was plainly evident, however, that she had been badly hulled, as she yawed wildly while passing from sight behind the headlands.

This of itself was victory enough for the present, and at the end of twenty minutes' firing, we withdrew out of range.
Our object in the first place was, as we ascertained from forward during the day, to intercept a Spanish blockade runner, the "Purissima Concepcion"; so we laid off the harbor and waited for the coming of the ship, which was supposed to have left Jamaica for Cienfuegos.

The day was spent in cleaning up after our brief but lively battle, and when night came, we were again shipshape.
Shortly after daybreak the following morning, the lookout aloft reported that a steamer, evidently a man-of-war, was emerging from the harbor.
The crew were called to "general quarters" at once, and every preparation made to give the stranger a lively reception.

She proved, however, to be the German warship "Geier" bound for Santiago.
"In time of peace prepare for war" is a good adage, but the reverse is also true.

Peaceful pursuits are of a necessity carried out even in the face of the enemy.
At "evening quarters" new hammocks were doled out, and all hands were instructed to scrub the old ones next morning and turn them in.
By this time we had become quite expert laundrymen, but we had never tackled a stiff canvas hammock, and the prospect was far from pleasant; the following morning, however, we learned how to perform this final feat of cleansing; after which we felt qualified to wash anything--from a handkerchief to a circus tent.
As "Hay" said, "I feel equal to applying for the position of general housework man, if I lose my job.