And the instant they heard it Clif rose silently to his feet; the men did likewise, and began to creep softly off to one side.
But careful as they were they could not help the grinding sound of their footsteps in the sand, and it caught the quick ear of the Spaniard.
"Hear it!" he cried. "Por dios, again! Somebody is stealing upon us!"
And an instant later the air was rent by a sharp crack of a rifle—the sentry had fired!
There was wild confusion at once, and the unfortunate castaways were aghast. For an instant Clif thought of charging the battery—with four men. But he realized the folly of that.
"Quick!" he cried, "let us hide. Forward!"
Lights were flashing and men shouting and running about behind the sand wall just in front of them, but the sailors were still unseen. They broke into a run and fairly flew down the shore.
They fancied the whole Spanish company was at their heels; but after they had run for some distance they found that they had not been pursued.
For the enemy were so taken by surprise at the sudden alarm that they were if possible more frightened than the Americans.
And so the men stopped for breath.