It was only a tiny place, with possibly not more than a thousand inhabitants, but there were evidences that it had been formerly a flourishing town.  There were fine residences in some of the streets, which were now quite deserted, and there were some very respectable business houses in the village square.  All these had once been occupied by Spanish traders, who had been driven away when the rebels came, and if the insurgents had never come the town might now have been a booming place.  But the rebels were lazy, as usual, and did no work, so that now the fine residences were vacant, and the business blocks stood empty.

Some of the sailors looked about for a casino, where they might be able to find entertainment of some kind for the evening, but every place of amusement was closed, and the streets were deserted.  Since the occurrences of the afternoon all the people had locked themselves into their houses, to await the departure of the Americans.  But, even though the casino was closed, the Yankees managed to have a good time.  They sang and danced and played the banjo until an early hour in the morning, when they finally went to sleep, leaving only two for a night watch, for there was no danger that the insurgents would return, after their engagement, in which they had lost six men.

When morning came, some officers landed from the cruiser, and all the villagers were summoned to the public square and made to swear allegiance to the American flag.

In the afternoon the cruiser steamed away again on her errand of forcible pacification, and more days of quiet watchfulness followed, as the vessel steamed along near the shore.  There were many small villages along this coast, but all of them seemed peaceful and free of insurgents.  The captain even said that some of the people in them probably didn’t know that there had ever been a war between Spain and the United States.  Archie, who had enjoyed his experiences during the occupation of the last village, now began to be impatient again at the long quiet.  The day when the cruiser bombarded the administration building would be a memorable one to him, and the succeeding events were just such as he had been longing to see for months.  And then to think that he had taken part in the occupation of the village.  It was all very wonderful, but very real, too, and for several days he took much pains in writing an article for the paper describing the events leading up to and including the capture of the village.  And in the narration Bill Hickson was an important character.  He had again proved himself a hero of the first water by insisting that the boat proceed when the first attempt was made to land, and by being the first man ashore when a landing was finally effected.  He was a leader in everything that was done.  He marched at the head of the squad when they marched through the streets of the village, calling all the people to assemble in the public square, and be stood