"So! aer that it?" the sergeant answered wonderingly. "You're mighty cute, young feller. Hillo! Durn me, but thar aer a fern on the walk."
He rose to his knees, and, sighting carefully, pulled his trigger very gently. The report was followed instantly by a commotion amidst the leaves, which suddenly fell to the ground.
"That fetched home, I'm thinking," he cried. "Here goes for another. Ah——"
Hal turned his head, to see the unfortunate American suddenly collapse, and lie motionless across the bowlder. A Spanish bullet had brought quick revenge for the death of a comrade.
"Poor beggar! The fortune of war," Hal remarked sadly. "Well, as he's gone, I must act for both."
He placed a cartridge in the breech and went on firing. Then he passed the news that the Spaniards were, like Malcolm's army of old, decked with boughs and leaves, along the lines of trenches which had been thrown up hastily for the protection of the outposts. Hour after hour the musketry duel continued, and so clever were the Spanish guerrillas at taking cover that they forced the American pickets back to the main body of the marines. About midnight Hal retired from the firing line for refreshment and sleep.
"What advice do you give about these fellows?" asked the officer. "They're certainly clever at keeping out of sight, and there seems no way of getting alongside them. We've four killed already, including our surgeon, and if it wasn't for the bad shootin' of the enemy there'd be heaps more."
"I should say, turn on the electric searchlight till morning, and then pound the bush with the guns of the ships," Hal answered. "If that does not stop the firing, you'll have to choose between retiring and rushing their cover."
"We're not going to do the first, in any case," the officer replied sturdily; "but that is a good dodge—to turn on the light. I'll signal down for it," and he went away at once.
Hal ate a meal of tinned meat and rusks, which he washed down with a big draught of coffee from the lid of his canteen. Then he rolled himself in a blanket which had been given to him, and quickly fell asleep, for he was worn out with his long day in the trenches. But all night long the musketry flickered along the hillside, and when morning dawned it was as active as ever. Early in the day a band of Cuban insurgents joined the invading Americans, and gave information of a Spanish camp four miles away.