CHAPTER IX.
THE ENEMY"S COUNTRY.
It must have been at least five minutes before those exhausted men moved again; when at last they managed to rise to their feet it was to find themselves in the midst of absolute darkness, with the wild sea on one side of them and on the other no one knew what.
The faint point of light which they had seen had now disappeared: but they took it to mean that there were Spaniards in the neighborhood.
And they did not fail to recognize the peril in which they were. The firing had probably been heard and the wreck of the merchantman seen. If so, the Americans could not be in a much worse place.
"We may be right in front of a battery," whispered Clif.
The first thing the sailors did was to see to their revolvers and cutla.s.ses. And after that they started silently down the sh.o.r.e.
"We won"t try to go far," Clif said, "but we must find a hiding-place."
But in that darkness the hiding-places were themselves hidden; the best the Americans could do was to stumble down the sh.o.r.e for a hundred yards or so, being careful to walk where the waves would wash out their footprints.
Then they were a short distance from the wreck and felt a trifle safer.
"We may as well strike back in the country now," said the leader, "at least until we can find some bushes or something to conceal us."
That was a rather more ticklish task, and the men crouched and stole along in silence. They had no idea what they might meet.
It was fortunate for them that they were quiet. Otherwise they would have gotten into very serious trouble indeed.
They stole up the sandy beach a short ways, feeling their way along and getting further and further away from the sea. They were struggling through soft dry sand.
And suddenly Clif, who was in front, saw something loom up before him, a dark line. And he put out his hand to touch it.
He found that the sand rose gradually into a sort of drift or bank. It was high, and seemed to reach for some distance.
The sailors stopped abruptly, and Clif crept softly forward, feeling along with his hands; suddenly the men heard him mutter a startled exclamation under his breath.
"Men," he whispered, "we"re in a terrible fix; I ran into a gun!"
"A gun!"
"Yes--a big one. We"ve struck a Spanish battery, and we must be near some town!"
The sailors stared at him aghast; and then suddenly came a startling interruption--one that fairly made their blood grow chill.
"Who goes there?"
It was a loud, stern hail in Spanish, and it seemed to come from almost beside them!
Quick as a flash the Americans dropped, crouching close together in the darkness. They could hear the beating of each others" hearts.
There were several moments of agonizing suspense; the Spaniard who had shouted out was evidently awaiting a reply. And then suddenly he repeated his challenge.
"Who goes there?"
And a moment later came a sound of hurrying footsteps.
"What"s the matter?" Clif heard a voice demand.
He was the only one in the party who understood Spanish, and knew what was said. But it was plain to the rest that it was a conversation between a sentry and an officer.
"I heard a footstep, senor capitan!" cried the man. "Quidada! Take care!
It"s very near."
There was a moment"s pause.
"You must be mistaken," said the officer.
"I am not mistaken," repeated the man firmly. "Santa Maria, my ears do not deceive me. You said to be watchful, for you have heard firing."
To that the Americans had listened in trembling silence; but the next made them jump. "I will light this lantern," said the officer.
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 sh.o.r.e.
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.
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."