“A nice place for an ambush,” he said in a low, insinuating voice. “I suppose, señor, you are prepared to stand before your Maker.”
The native shuddered. He saw only too clearly the accusation and threat in this terrible American’s words. If there was to be an ambush, he knew nothing of it, but if a single hostile shot was fired, he would pay the penalty with his life.
The Filipino forced an uneasy laugh. “As far as I know, señor capitan, there are no insurgents this side of Banate.”
“For your sake, I hope you are right,” the American replied. “As you see, I am taking no chances. You are our guide; if you get us into trouble, you pay, that’s all.”
Captain Blynn ordered a halt and called a lieutenant from the leading company.
“Take ten men, Simpson,” he said, “and act as the point. If you are attacked, retreat and fall back on the main body.”
Lieutenant Simpson picked his men quickly and disappeared quietly down the trail. Captain Blynn watched them until swallowed up in the darkness, and then set the long line in motion again. Every soldier took, instinctively, a tighter grip upon his musket, and loosened the sharp sword bayonet from its scabbard. Each knew that when “Black Jack” Blynn took precautions there was reason to scent trouble.
Half-way through the defile a guarded whistle of warning came to Blynn’s ears from the point. As one man the long column halted; the soldiers’ heavy breathing was distinctly audible above the tremor of the metallic rattling of accoutrements. Each soldier sought his neighbor’s face for a key to the solution of the problem. Blynn, motioning Espinosa to follow, rode silently forward. In the trail a hundred paces ahead he saw Lieutenant Simpson bending over a dark object.
“What is it?” Blynn asked in a harsh whisper.
“A dead native,” Simpson answered shortly. Espinosa was off his horse instantly; bending down quickly he struck a match, illuminating the native’s dead face. He started, turning a sickly yellow. His heart stopped beating, and his knees shook under him, but Captain Blynn was too much occupied with the silent figure to notice the peculiar behavior of his guide. They turned the dead man over, revealing the terrible havoc accomplished in but a few hours by the tropical scourge.