"We'll watch and listen until you get safely away. If any trouble starts near here hold your ground and rely upon my sending men to your aid." "Very good, sir." Lieutenant Prescott and Sergeant Overton watched the two soldiers step over the entrenchment, crouch, and vanish into the darkness. "I hope they get through," sighed the young officer. "By the way, Sergeant, from the fact of your recommending the men I didn't ask you whether either man is likely to drink any intoxicant at Bontac and unfit himself for the return." "Neither man touches liquor, sir." "Then they're to be depended upon. I never trust work of importance to a man who drinks." "There's a bed in the house for you, whenever you wish it to-night," announced Mr. Seaforth, stepping outside. "Thank you, sir, but when in the field I sleep with my men. I shall spread my poncho and blanket on the ground presently. Sergeant Overton, I leave you in command until half past one in the morning. At that hour rouse me, report, and then turn in yourself." "Very good, sir." "Of course, if anything turns up in the meantime, you'll call me." "Yes, sir." For some minutes more the two young Americans stood listening for sounds of possible trouble which Kelly and Slosson might have encountered. Then the lieutenant spread his bed and lay down without removing any of his clothing, placing his revolver beside him on the ground. Hal set guards on all sides, while the rest of the men turned in, which they were glad to do. Another army now invaded them! Mosquitoes--myriads of them--buzzed busily about, seeking whom they might devour! The mosquito of the Philippines is well entitled to be called an insect of prey. He is a big fellow, tireless, always hungry and a valiant fighter. The men who lay on the ground carefully wrapped themselves in their blankets, with their hands tucked in. Their heads and necks were protected by collapsible nets that they had taken from their haversacks. For those who were up and on duty the torment of the flying pests was acute. There was little danger of a sentry going to sleep without a head net and some protection for his hands. "Ain't it awful, Sarge?" demanded Private Bender, as Hal paused near him. "That word isn't strong enough," grinned Hal ruefully, as he "swatted" at mosquitoes three times in quick succession. "I don't mind the Moros," continued Bender, "and I try to be a good soldier, but I'm afraid I'd surrender to the 'skeets' if they had intelligence enough to recognize the white flag." "We get only two years of this at a time," laughed Sergeant Hal. "Then we can go back to the United States for a vacation." "I used to think, back in God's country, that a soldier's day and night were full of work," remarked Bender wistfully; "but I'd rather go back there and go to work than have to stand these 'skeets.'" "They're not so bad in barracks," Hal answered. "It's only in the field that the pests can torment us like this."