In the Trenches 167 



der betrayed not the slightest sign of their where- 

 abouts. They caused us a great deal of annoyance 

 and some little loss, and though our own sharp- 

 shooters were continually taking shots at the places 

 where they supposed them to be, and though oc- 

 casionally we would play a Catling or a Colt all 

 through the top of a suspicious tree, I but twice saw 

 Spaniards brought down out of their perches from 

 in front of our lines on each occasion the fall of 

 the Spaniard being hailed with loud cheers by our 

 men. 



These sharp-shooters in our front did perfectly 

 legitimate work, and were entitled to all credit for 

 their courage and skill. It was different with the 

 guerillas in our rear. Quite a number of these had 

 been posted in trees at the time of the San Juan 

 fight. They were using, not Mausers, but Reming- 

 tons, which shot smokeless powder and a brass- 

 coated bullet. It was one of these bullets which had 

 hit Winslow Clark by my side on Kettle Hill ; and 

 though for long-range fighting the Remingtons 

 were, of course, nothing like as good as the Mau- 

 sers, they were equally serviceable for short-range 

 bush work, as they used smokeless powder. When 

 our troops advanced and the Spaniards in the tren- 

 ches and in reserve behind the hill fled, the guerillas 

 in the trees had no time to get away and in conse- 

 quence were left in the rear of our lines. As we 



