"There'll be an end to the sergeant kid, in two seconds more!" gloated the rascal.
Sergeant's Hal's forward wheel struck the log, throwing full weight upon it. There was a snapping crackle, then a shriek from thousands.
For the log had snapped in two, and Sergeant Hal Overton, thrown head downward, was on his way to a broken neck at the bottom of the gully.
CHAPTER XIII
CHASING A SPEEDING DESERTER
INSTEAD of one, there were two flying bodies headed toward the gully's bottom. Corporal Noll Terry, standing there, had heard the ominous crackle of snapping wood.
If there is one thing that a soldier is taught above another, it is to think and move swiftly at a critical moment.