They stared at each other, as if hardly able to realize the peril into which they had so suddenly been plunged.
"I think that was the quickest adventure I ever had in my life," muttered Clif.
The suddenness of it made him laugh; they had almost walked into a Spanish fort.
But it was no laughing matter, certainly; it was a confounded piece of ill-luck.
"For they'll be watching for us now!" muttered Clif. "I'm afraid that will settle us."
"They'll follow our footsteps!" exclaimed one of the sailors.
That was so, and it was an unpleasant prospect; it was plain that if the Americans wished to find any safety they must get some distance away from that battery.
"We'll make one more effort to get back into the country," muttered Clif.
And amid silence and anxious suspense they once more started up the sloping seashore.
They crept along as it seemed by inches. But fortunately they did not run across any more "guns." When they came across an embankment it was of solid earth and marked the end of the beach.