"Scratch, I guess," answered Chester. "Bullet touched me on the arm.
Doesn't amount to much."
"Stubbs?" queried Hal.
"I'm killed!" exclaimed the little man, and there was the trace of a quaver in his voice. "Shot through the heart."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Hal. "If you had been shot through the heart you wouldn't be talking about it now."
"But I was," protested Stubbs.
"Look him over, Colonel Anderson," instructed Hal. "If it's as bad as all that, throw him out. We can't be bothered with excess now."
"No! No! I'm all right!" declared Stubbs, drawing away as Colonel Anderson extended an exploring hand. "I don't think the bullet touched me."
"All right then," declared Hal, smiling to himself, for his ruse had worked. "We'll go ahead then."
"Which way?" demanded Chester.
"Back to the Italian lines; and it behooves us to hurry. There will be a squadron of the enemy after us in a minute."