'My word, if we only had a maxim!' muttered Roy, as he stared at the closely-formed column. 'Couldn't we make hay of 'em?'
Ken did not answer. He watched the men pass on until they were out of sight around a curve in the track. Then he and Roy moved on again.
Round the next bend, they found themselves at the end of the friendly wood, and the ground beyond was a deal more open than seemed healthy.
'We'll have to wait until those chaps are well out of the way,' said Ken, and calmly sat himself down on a big stone, one of many which lay among the tree trunks.
'Hope they'll hurry,' said Roy rather viciously. 'I'm infernally hungry. I want to get back to my dinner.'
While Ken rested Roy stood staring out through the tree trunks.
Presently he turned to Ken. 'Tell you what, Ken, I believe there's a chance for us now. There's another patch of wood less than a quarter of a mile away, and if we watched our chance we might slip across without being spotted. Beyond it, the ground rises again, with a lot of rocks and scrub. Plenty of cover at any rate. What do you think?'
Ken got up and took a long and careful survey.
'It looks all right,' he said at last. 'I'm game to try it anyhow.'
'Then the sooner the better. Those Turks have topped the rise.'