In the Trenches 171 



perative to see what was really going on, so I ran 

 up to the trenches and looked out. At night it 

 was far easier to place the Spanish lines than by day, 

 because the flame-spurts shone in the darkness. I 

 could soon tell that there were bodies of Spanish 

 pickets or skirmishers in the jungle-covered valley, 

 between their lines and ours, but that the bulk of 

 the fire came from their trenches and showed not 

 the slightest symptom of advancing; moreover, as 

 is generally the case at night, the fire was almost all 

 high, passing well overhead, with an occasional bul- 

 let near by. 



I came to the conclusion that there was no use 

 in our firing back under such circumstances; and 

 I could tell that the same conclusion had been 

 reached by Captain Ay res of the Tenth Cavalry on 

 the right of my line, for even above the cracking of 

 the carbines rose the Captain's voice as with varied 

 and picturesque language he bade his black troopers 

 cease firing. The Captain was as absolutely fearless 

 as a man can be. He had command of his regimen- 

 tal trenches that night, and, having run up at the 

 first alarm, had speedily satisfied himself that no 

 particular purpose was served by blazing away in 

 the dark, when the enormous majority of the Span- 

 iards were simply shooting at random from their 

 own trenches, and, if they ever had thought of ad- 

 vancing, had certainly given up the idea. His 



