"Look out overhead!" called Danny Grin, suddenly.
From the roofs of three houses overlooking the naval detachment fire opened instantly after the warning. Two of the "_Long Island"s_"
men dropped, one of them badly wounded.
Then the sailormen returned the fire. Two Mexicans dropped to the street, one shot through the head; the other wounded in the chest. Other Mexicans had been seen to stagger, and were probably hit. Thereafter a dozen seamen constantly watched the roofs close at hand, occasionally "getting" a Mexican.
"I know what I would do, if I had authority," Darrin muttered to his superior. "I"d send back for dynamite, and, whenever we were fired on from a house I"d bring it down in ruins."
It was a terrible suggestion, but being fired upon from overhead in a city makes fighting men savage.
Evidently the Mexicans on the hotel roof had been reinforced, for now the fire in that direction broke out heavier than ever.
"Shall I have the machine gun brought up, sir?" Dave hinted.
"Yes," approved Trent, crisply. "We"ll see what a machine gun can do when brought to bear on a roof."
So Ensign Darrin ran back to give the order. The gun was brought up instantly, loaded, aimed and fired.
R-r-r-r-rip! Its volleys rang out. A rain of bullets struck at the edge of the hotel roof, driving back the snipers amid yells of pain.
Yet the instant the machine gun ceased its leaden cyclone the snipers were back at work, firing in a way that showed their rage.
"We can keep "em down with the machine gun," declared Trent, "But it might take all the ammunition of the fleet to keep it running long enough unless we can make more hits."
In their recklessness the Mexicans exposed themselves so that four more of them fell before the seamen"s rifles.
"Probably the Mexicans can get reinforcements," Dalzell muttered.
"Though we may hit a few in an hour"s firing, they can replace every man we hit."
"At least we can give those fellows something to think about between now and daylight," Dave returned, compressing his lips grimly.
"Grenfel is wounded, sir, and Penniman has just been killed,"
reported a petty officer, saluting.
Lieutenant Trent hastened back to confirm the death of Penniman, and also to see if anything could be done for the comfort of the wounded man. He decided to send Grenfel back, two sailormen being detailed for that purpose.
"Look out for snipers," the officer warned the bearers of the wounded man. "Carry your rifles slung and be ready for instant work. If we hear you firing behind us I"ll send men to help you through."
Along the street, ahead of the detachment, a man came crawling from the direction of the hotel.
In an instant a dozen sailormen leveled their weapons.
"Hold up there, men!" Darrin called, sharply.
"Don"t shoot at him."
An instant later snipers on the hotel roof discovered the crawling man, opening fire on him so briskly that the endangered one rose to his feet and came sprinting toward the sailors with both hands uplifted.
"Lower your hands!" shouted Darrin. "They make targets. We won"t fire on you!"
That the man understood English was plain from his instant obedience.
With Mexican bullets raining about him, the fugitive came on at headlong speed.
"Here! Stop!" Ensign Darrin ordered, catching the man and swinging him into a doorway. "Keep in there, and you"re safe from the enemy"s fire."
Swiftly Lieutenant Trent crossed the street to hear the escaped one, whom Darrin was already questioning.
"You"re an American?" asked Dave.
"Yes!" came the answer.
"How did you come to be here?"
"Escaped from the bas.e.m.e.nt of the hotel. I knew it was up to me to get through to you if I could live through the storm of bullets that I knew would be sent after me. My news is of the utmost importance!"
Then, to the astounded American Navy officers the stranger made this blood-stirring announcement:
"In the Hotel Diligencia are at least twenty American women!"
CHAPTER XXI
A RESCUE AND A "FACER"
"You"re sure of that?" breathed Trent, tensely.
I ought to be, uttered the man, hoa.r.s.ely. "One of the women is my wife, and another is my daughter! I haven"t seen any of the women in five hours."
"How so?" asked Trent, sharply.
"The soldiers thrust me into the bas.e.m.e.nt. Ever since I found myself alone I"ve been working with a penknife to dig out the mortar of the bricks in which the window bars were imbedded."
"The instant I had jerked enough bars loose I crawled through the opening and started for you."
Giving swift instructions to keep the machine gun going continuously, and to keep the fire trained on the edge of the hotel roof, Trent detailed four riflemen to remain with the machine gun man, then led the rest swiftly under the hail of bullets that raged over their heads.
In this mode of attack the sailormen gained the sidewalk under the hotel without a shot having been fired from the roof.
"Ensign Darrin, lead as many men as you can against the doors!"
ordered the lieutenant. "Get them down as fast as you can!"
Their first a.s.saults against the ma.s.sive doors failing, four sailors were sent on a run for some form of battering ram. They returned with half of a telegraph pole that had been cut in two by sh.e.l.l fire in the afternoon.
Borne by a dozen stout jackies, the pole was dashed against the door. At the second a.s.sault the lock was broken. Dave dashed into the hotel at the head of his squad.
"Straight to the roof, Ensign Darrin!" shouted Lieutenant Trent.