nearer, for the sentries were already regarding this
straying pair of natives. Noll, with a quick catch in his throat,
stepped after his chum. It looked like running into almost certain
death, for aside from the six sentries there were hundreds of Moros
within call.

"Bola mak no benga?" demanded Sergeant Hal, with an impudence and cool
assurance that he was far from feeling.

One of the Moro sentries looked at the Army boys, grinning and shaking
his head. Then laying two fingers across his mouth as a sign for
silence, he pointed inside the mud-walled enclosure.

"Him hasta putti datto?" asked Hal, in a low voice.

"Datto" was the only word the Moro could make out, but he understood
that, and again pointed inside.

"Banga tim no satti du," remarked Hal softly to his chum. Then Sergeant
Hal bent low, making an elaborate bow before the gateway. Noll Terry
"caught on" and followed suit. The Moro sentries grinned. Nor did they
offer any objection when the Army boys strolled off into the
tempest-ridden darkness.

"Now, what?" whispered Noll, as the Army boys halted under a tree.

"Noll, the biggest game in the world, now--to get back out of the trap
into which we've stepped!"

CHAPTER XXIII

DOOMING THE DATTO

"Noll, you remember the first sentry inside the gully at this end?"

"Yes."

"Have you the nerve to stay near him while I try to get back to camp
alone?"

"I have nerve enough to do anything that a soldier may be called upon to
do."

"I was sure of it," Hal replied.

"But what's the game?"

"You are to keep close to that sentry until just before daylight,"
continued Hal. "Then, if nothing happens, slip out and make your way
back to camp as best you can. But if Captain Freeman allows me to lead
the expedition through that gully, you are to be on hand to silence that
sentry at the first sound of our coming."

"I think I can do that," Sergeant Terry replied thoughtfully. "I'll
either win out or give up my life without a murmur."

"Noll, if you prefer it, you can try to reach camp, and I'll stay by
that first sentry inside the gully."

"No, Hal; I think you are far more apt to succeed in reaching camp than
I. I'm satisfied with the second part in the game. Both parts are big
enough."

"Very well! Good-bye, chum. Take care of yourself!"

They had yet a little distance to go before they came upon the Moro
sentry beyond the inner mouth of the gully. As they approached him they
strolled al