CHAPTER XXII
PLAYING GOO-GOO IN A GRIM GAME
Down the slope the Army boys walked boldly for a few hundred yards. Thenight was so dark that there was small possibility of being seen at adistance.
"Now, we'd better go a little more cautiously," whispered Hal, checkinghis companion by a touch on the arm.
"It's going to rain within a very few minutes," Noll whispered inreturn, as he looked up at the inky sky overhead.
"The more rain the better. I hope there will be no lightning."
"Where are you going to try to slip through the lines?"
"Do you remember the gully that runs back through the woods below,somewhat to our left as we stand now?" queried Hal.
"Yes; certainly."
"That gully is a trap such as sane soldiers would hardly dare ventureinto. If they did, and were discovered, the Moros could annihilate themfrom above."
"Surely," nodded Noll.
"Therefore I have an idea that the Moros haven't attempted to guard thatgully in force, though there may be men on either side above it. Noll,if we are careful not to make a sound I think we can steal through thatgully without getting caught."
"Or else we'll run into a hundred times as much trouble as we canhandle," replied Noll thoughtfully.
"It's worth taking a chance, isn't it?"
"I think it's the best single chance I can see."
"Come along, then," whispered Hal. "You might keep just a little behindme. I think I can find the mouth of the gully, even in this pitchyblackness. If you see me drop to my knees, do the same."
Hal started forward again. The natural-born scout, once he has observeda place in the daylight, has some kind of an instinct that guides him tothe same spot in the darkness.
Sergeant Hal had not gone far when the rain began to descend. There weredistant rumblings of thunder, but no lightning. For this he wasthankful. He hoped to be behind the Moro lines before lightning began toflash.
Two wanderers in front of the enemy's lines would be sure to excitesuspicion, while two seeming natives behind the lines would attractlittle attention.
Presently Sergeant Overton dropped to his knees, peering ahead andlistening keenly, as he crept along. Sergeant Terry imitated his chum.Hal crawled within fifty feet of the mouth of the gully, just a littlesouth of it. After a moment's pause he obtained his bearings andextended one arm in silent direction to Noll.
Then they crept noiselessly into the mouth of the gully. So far they hadnot been hailed, but this was not positive proof that human eyes werenot watching their movements.
Once inside the gully they moved, cautiously, still on hands and knees,halting after every advance of two or three feet. They were shivering intheir thin raiment, for the rain was heavy and cold. Noll's teeth wereall but chattering.
"I don't believe the gully is guarded at all," whispered young Overtonin his friend's ear. "This place looks so like a trap that few militarycommanders would ever think of leading men into it in the dark. I figurethat the datto thought this gully not worth guarding by night."
"The slopes above us on either side may be well guarded, however,"warned Noll.
"Yes; and you can wager that we'll know all about that before we try togo back to camp," returned Hal. "The place to start such aninvestigation is from the rear of the enemy's lines."
"All right; lead on."
They had gone another hundred feet into the gully when Hal Overtonstopped again. Now he rose to his feet.
"We'll walk through," he whispered. "I don't believe we will run intoany of the datto's men hereabouts. If we do, leave it to me to do thefirst talking."
"Jersey hog-Latin?" queried Noll, with a grin.
"Of course; Spanish or English would be fatal to fellows who look thepart that we're rigged up to play."
Hal walked on, steadily, though with caution. Noll kept a few feetbehind him until the gully widened, then stepped to his chum's side.
Neither spoke. There was danger in unnecessary conversation. They hadcovered six hundred feet more when they felt, rather than saw, thatthey were nearing the further end of the gully.
At last they stepped out into the open--then received a sudden shock.Less than a dozen feet away a Moro sentry, rifle on shoulder, halted,regarding them keenly.
"Manu batto dobi kem," murmured Hal to his chum, in a low voice. Nollanswered in the same low tone. Both were shaking with more than thechill of the rain, but Hal turned to the sentry, inquiring mildly:
"Hoppo tuti sen antrim mak?"
The Moro sentry shook his head. He did not understand that dialect.
"Basta morti hengo pas tum," murmured Hal regretfully, hesitating beforethe sentry.
"Manga tim no troka," remarked Noll.
Hal turned slowly, nodding at his chum. Then both strolled along, thesentry merely staring after them.
"That's the advantage of scouting within the lines of an enemy wheremany tongues are spoken," whispered Noll in his chum's ear.
The Army boys had not gone twenty feet, however, when they ran intoanother Moro sentry, who stood under a tree evidently trying to keep outof the rain.
This sentry addressed them with two or three words in the Moro tongue.
"Banda nokku him slengo mat," replied Hal.
Again the sentry spoke to them, accompanying his words with a gesturethat seemed to order them to pass on. The Army boys were glad enough toobey.
"We're right in the middle of the hornet's nest," whispered Noll.
Fifty feet further on the Army boys came upon a rudely built shack underwhich a number of brown men were huddled to escape the rain.
"The outpost crowd," whispered Hal. "Noll, I believe we're getting intothe heart of the Moros' camp."
Noll was about to answer, but at that moment discerning another sentry,a few yards ahead, checked his reply. This sentinel they managed to passwithout words. Being well within the enemy's lines now, and apparentlynatives themselves, the Army boys were not as likely to attractsuspicion to themselves.
A heavier downpour of rain drove the young scouts for a moment under thespreading branches of a large tree.
"This job is almost as easy as stealing the marmalade from mother'spreserve closet," chuckled Sergeant Noll, despite his discomfort.
"This place is like a good many traps," replied Hal. "It seems easyenough to get in, but remember, boy, we've got to get out."
As soon as the rain slackened somewhat the two scouts sauntered onagain. Here and there they passed rude shacks in which Moros and alliednatives were sleeping. Then the young scouts came upon a new scene thatmade them fairly catch their breath.
They were standing by a mud wall now, a wall of about nine feet inheight. There could be no doubt that this was a Moro fort, erected for aparticular purpose, and Hal's active mind immediately fathomed thatpurpose.
"The datto's own headquarters!" he whispered in his chum's ear. "Oh,Noll, I hope that I am right!"
Terry nodded. He was as excited as was his comrade.
The wall, as well as the Army boys could judge, was more than twohundred feet long. About half way down they came to a gate. Here sixMoro sentries, armed with rifles and protected from the storm by wovenrush raincoats, stood on guard.
Hal boldly stepped nearer, for the sentries were already regarding thisstraying pair of natives. Noll, with a quick catch in his throat,stepped after his chum. It looked like running into almost certaindeath, for aside from the six sentries there were hundreds of Moroswithin call.
"Bola mak no benga?" demanded Sergeant Hal, with an impudence and coolassurance that he was far from feeling.
One of the Moro sentries looked at the Army boys, grinning and shakinghis head. Then laying two fingers across his mouth as a sign forsilence, he pointed inside the mud-walled enclosure.
"Him hasta putti datto?" asked Hal, in a low voice.
"Datto" was the only word the Moro could make out, but he understoodthat, and again pointed inside.
"Banga tim no satti d
u," remarked Hal softly to his chum. Then SergeantHal bent low, making an elaborate bow before the gateway. Noll Terry"caught on" and followed suit. The Moro sentries grinned. Nor did theyoffer any objection when the Army boys strolled off into thetempest-ridden darkness.
"Now, what?" whispered Noll, as the Army boys halted under a tree.
"Noll, the biggest game in the world, now--to get back out of the trapinto which we've stepped!"