A few minutes later the road which they were traversing narrowed, and, passing through a thick grove of orange trees, ran between two rows of houses. At the end of the street a barricade was erected, and a sentry, who stood behind it in the shadow, challenged them loudly.
"Halt!" he cried harshly. "Who goes there?"
"Friends," answered Gerald, in his finest Spanish.
"Then advance, and show yourselves."
Hal and his comrade promptly stepped forward in obedience to the order, for it was too late to turn back now, even if they had wished; and, moreover, the sight of the sentry as he stood out from the shadow of the barricade, with rifle pointed in their direction, was sufficient to show them that even to hesitate would mean a report, and the whistle and shriek of a bullet in their direction.
Accordingly they moved forward till close beside him, when they stopped as the bayonet was dropped to the level of their chests.
"Here are two who wish to enter. Bring a light, one of you," the sentry cried.
"A lantern? Wait, and I will come with one," a second voice answered; and steps were heard as another of the Spanish soldiers approached.
He carried an unlighted lantern in his hand, and, when close beside the lads, placed it upon the top of the barricade, while he fumbled in his pocket for a match. At length he produced a solitary one, and, lifting his foot, struck it sharply across the sole. But the flash was instantly extinguished by a puff of wind that came whistling through the trees at that moment.
"Ah, caramba!" he exclaimed, with an angry stamp of his foot. "It is the very last that I have, and to get another I must go back to the guard-room. Have you a box about you, comrade?"