Then the trap door, relieved of his weight, flew back into place.
Sergeant Hal shot down a steep incline, too smooth for him to be able to stay his downward progress.
CHAPTER V
ENOUGH TO "RATTLE" THE VICTIM
Bump!
Sergeant Hal landed at least twenty feet below with a suddenness that jarred all the breath out of him for a moment.
Ere he could recover his half-scattered senses he felt himself seized. Nor had the Army boy fallen into one pair of hands. Four or five men, as nearly as he could judge, seized hold of different parts of his body.
There was little use in a prostrate youth fighting against such odds. Hal was swiftly rolled over on to his face, in the dark, and two of his captors threw themselves upon him, holding him down.
At the same time another thrust an armful of hemp under his face, holding it close against his mouth.