Arizona republican., 1902-06-08
Willie Jones, Trooper
By WALTER T. GREGORY.

turrets of the castle, and the hearts of the soldiers beat high with expectation at the prospect of a battle with the Dons. One gun from the fort belched forth note of defiance to the fleet, but the missing shell fell far short and plunged into the sea. It was the first gun heard by the Americans on their mission of mercy. and when next the fleet passed the fort on the homeward journey the red and yellow of Spain had disappeared from the battlements and the stars and stripes proclaimed to the world the downfall of Spain and the supremacy of the United States on | land and sea.
 | The soldiers were eager to set foot on soil again after being penned up for several days, but their patience was tried for another day. as the fleet slow ] ly steamed back and forth in order to , deceive the enemy as to the point of diSembarkation. After that first shot | the guns of Morro remained silent l though the smaller gunboats of the blockading squadron dashed back and [ forth almost under the muzzles of the | frowning cannon. as though to tanta- lize the enemy to begin hostilities. 1 At last the news was carried along ] the fleet that a landing would be at 1 tempted a Daiquiri. a small ore ship l ping point about fifteen miles east of i Santiago. The transports remained off shore out of gun range and the war vessels closed in and shelled the woods and hills to drive the enemy back. For several hours the cannonading con- tinued and the return fire from a soli- tary hidden battery on the shore was at last silenced when the gunners on
 the warships got the range.
 The order to disembark was given and the launches from the war vessels and the boats of the transports were requisitioned to land the troops. Slow l progress was made and it was late in
 the day before the first boatload Of American soldiers landed on Cuban soil. An officer from Willie's regiment.
 who fell few days later on the field at
 Guasimas. ascended the hill overlook
 ing the village and planted the first
 flag of the invading army in the en-
 emy's country. When the emblem of
 freedom fiuttered to the breeze
 mighty cheer went up from the thou
 sands of soldiers that crowded the
 decks of the transports, and the hearts
 of all beat fast with pride and enthu
 siasm. Blinkie, standing beside Willie
 slapped him on the back and stuttered
 his delight: ''S-s-say, c-corpora1, who
 wouldn't f-f-fight flor that piece of
 cloth?"
 It was dusk when the work of land
 ing the volunteer cavalry began, and il
 was not until the last few loads that
 Willie's troop was taken to the shore
 In the boat with Willie and Blinkie was
 Morris. and several others. though
 neither he or Blinkie noticed the pres
 ence of Morris on account of the dark
 ness. The boat was driven shoreward
 alongside lighter. but the heavy
 swell of the waves made landing on
 the lighter difficult and dangerous. hampered as the men were with their
 equipments. One man had already
 been lost from one of the boats. having
 missed his footing in attempting to jump from the boat to the lighter. In order to prevent similar accident the order was given for the men to remove
 their equipments and have them passed out after the men had landed.
 Willie and his chum had made sue l cessfu1 landing and were standing by waiting for the others. One of the men made a spring for the lighter and missed. He disappeared beneath the
 waves with a cry. He had no sooner
 disappeared than there was a double
 splash, the two friends having jumped
 overheard at the same instant in order
 to save the life of a comrade. Willie
 had never been in very deep water in
 his life. but swimming was one of the
 very few accomplishments he had ac-
 quired. Blinkie was an expert in the
 water and he was the first to reach
 the drowning man. Willie soon got his hnn ri, I,0 I,oI to, t1n cr1r-
 face and swan to the assistance of
 Blinkie. The rescued soldier was un-
 conscious, having struck his head
 against the gunwale of the boat as he
 fell into the water. and he lay motion
 less in the grasp of the two men. Ir
 the meantime the cry of ''man over
 board" had attracted a crowd on the
 lighter and several of the cool heads
 had trown out ropes. Willie raised a
 cry to those still in the boat and after
 much difficulty to keep from being
 struck by the boat, which was plung- |, ing madly in the waves, the rescued and rescuers were hauled on board. tho T. latter well nigh exhausted. for in addi- ! tion to the dead weight of the burden l, they held up in the water they were en- q cumbered with heavy clothing.
 The entire regiment being unloadet . it went into camp for the night a shor e distance from the shore. Fires were 1 prohibited and the tired and hungry e soldiers satisfied their appetites or e hard tack and canned beef, then threw . themselves on the ground to get wha 8 sleep they could, for none knew wha Q the morrow may bring forth.
 e Willie and Blinkie were wet to thu @ skin and had to sleep in their soake, !, garments. but the numerous land crab: !. made slumber almost an impossibility | During the night the camp was aroused