After they had dyed their skin and hair with the juice of the boka the two Army boys next distributed a liberal amount of dirt on themselves, then drew on the borrowed clothing, consisting only of shirts and short trousers. Inside their clothing each tucked a sharp-edged creese, also a loaded service revolver. "You'll do, in the dark," nodded Captain Freeman, after looking them over keenly. "Of course, you won't show yourselves in a strong light, anyway. Now, you don't need instructions. You understand your errand." Captain Freeman himself took the two Army boys through the darkness to the trench. "I am turning these fellows loose, men," the captain announced. "But don't allow any of the others to go through the lines." To the captain's relief, the disguises appeared to "work" well in the dark, for the men on guard in the trench merely saluted. CHAPTER XXII PLAYING GOO-GOO IN A GRIM GAME Down the slope the Army boys walked boldly for a few hundred yards. The night was so dark that there was small possibility of being seen at a distance. "Now, we'd better go a little more cautiously," whispered Hal, checking his companion by a touch on the arm. "It's going to rain within a very few minutes," Noll whispered in return, as he looked up at the inky sky overhead. "The more rain the better. I hope there will be no lightning." "Where are you going to try to slip through the lines?" "Do you remember the gully that runs back through the woods below, somewhat to our left as we stand now?" queried Hal. "Yes; certainly." "That gully is a trap such as sane soldiers would hardly dare venture into. If they did, and were discovered, the Moros could annihilate them from above." "Surely," nodded Noll. "Therefore I have an idea that the Moros haven't attempted to guard that gully in force, though there may be men on either side above it. Noll, if we are careful not to make a sound I think we can steal through that gully without getting caught." "Or else we'll run into a hundred times as much trouble as we can handle," replied Noll thoughtfully. "It's worth taking a chance, isn't it?" "I think it's the best single chance I can see." "Come along, then," whispered Hal. "You might keep just a little behind me. I think I can find the mouth of the gully, even in this pitchy blackness. If you see me drop to my knees, do the same." Hal started forward again. The natural-born scout, once he has observed a place in the daylight, has some kind of an instinct that guides him to the same spot in the darkness. Sergeant Hal had not gone far when the rain began to descend. There were distant rumblings of thunder, but no lightning. For this he was thankful. He hoped to be behind the Moro lines before lightning began to flash. Two wanderers in front of the enemy's lines would be sure to excite suspicion, while two seeming natives behind the lines would attract little attention.