"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. 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. And there were some trees and bushes there, so the Americans began to feel more comfortable. For all they knew they might in the darkness have been strolling into a town. But they were apparently out in the open country, there seemed to be no people and no houses near. So they started boldly forward. It was then late at night, a dark and damp and windy night; so they were not likely to find many people wandering about. "What we want to do," Clif said, "is to get back in the country a while where we can hide until morning. Then if we can find some Cubans we'll be all right." Clif was about tired to death. He had done far more work that day than any of those sailors. But there was no time for resting then. He gritted his teeth and started; they took their bearings from the sea, and then went straight on, watching and listening carefully, but meeting with no trouble. At first their walk led through what had evidently once been a cultivated country, for it was level and had but few trees upon it. At present, however, it was overgrown with weeds.