The gully ran for some two hundred yards. Then the soldier boys came out in the open once more.
"More caution than ever now," whispered Hal, detaining his bunkie by a strong grip on the arm.
"We must be beyond their guard line," Noll returned in a whisper.
"Don't you believe it! Freeman isn't the captain to maintain lax guard. Don't attempt to stand up. Crouch low, and get all the cover you can behind bushes. Better let me lead. I'll halt often and listen."
With great stealth the pair had covered another two hundred yards or so, when there came a sharp hail of:
"Halt! Who's there."
The challenge had come from some one invisible to the bunkies. Hal instantly and noiselessly dropped to the ground, lying as flat as he could.
Noll imitated his example.
"Halt! Who's there?" came the insistent challenge.
Then the lurkers heard a man coming toward them. Neither dared stir, as the slightest noise might prove enough for their undoing. It was a desperate situation, at any rate, for it hardly seemed possible that the sentry could fail to come upon them.