"Too much tramping about on deck to sleep.

Say, looks as if we were going to have a little rain, doesn't it ?" The moon had just passed behind a scurrying cloud, causing the silvery sparkle of its reflection to suddenly fade from the surface of the water.

The lights and shadows on the nearby beach changed to a streaky dark smudge.

There was a damp touch to the air.
"This would be a proper night for one of those sneaking torpedo boats to give us a scare," resumed "Kid," thoughtfully.

"Funny ways of fighting those Dagoes have, eh?
It's like prisoner's base that I played when I was a boy." "Kid's" eighteen years were a mature age in his opinion.
"The two torpedo craft in Santiago harbor could do a great deal of damage if they were properly handled," I ventured.