er them.

"There's Larry!" cried Luke, after a while. And he pointed to one side
of the camp. The guards were just taking the lad to the general to be
sentenced.

"Yes, yes!" answered Ben. He handled his pistol nervously. He could
hardly restrain himself from rushing forward and embracing the long
lost. Boxer saw what was in his mind and held him back.

"Don't be rash, cap'n," whispered the scout. "If you are, it may cost
all of us our lives."

"I will try to be careful," was the answer, with an effort. "But what
are they going to do with him?"

"They are taking him over to yonder tent."

Soon Larry disappeared inside the tent, and they crouched behind the
bushes to await developments. While waiting, Ben made a mental
calculation of the number of the enemy.

"A battalion, or more," he said to Boxer. "I wonder what they are
doing so far from the main body of the troops?"

"Oh, their army is becoming badly scattered, cap'n. General Lawton has
'em on the run, and there won't be any of 'em left when he gets
through with 'em."

As we know, the scene in the tent was a short one, and soon they saw
Larry come out again, and saw him tied to the tree. The two soldiers
detailed to guard him sat on either side of their prisoner, on rocks
about six or eight yards from the tree.

"He seems to be the only prisoner in the camp," whispered Ben. "I
wonder if I can't crawl up and cut him loose. I did that once for
Gilbert Pennington."

"No, no!" interposed Boxer. "Those guards are wide awake and will
shoot you in a minute. Wait till it gets darker--we may get a chance
to do something then."

Slowly the minutes drifted by, Ben watching Larry every instant. He
saw that his younger brother was exceedingly tired and held one foot
up as if in pain. The young sailor had asked if he might not lie down,
but this comfort had been denied him.

Both of the guards were puffing vigorously on their cigarettes, when
one chanced to throw down a lighted match close to the rock upon which
he was sitting. It set fire to some dry grass, but instead of putting
it out, the guard watched the tiny conflagration grow stronger.

"Playing with fire, eh?" said his mate, lightly.

"Yes," was the slow answer. "How I would like to see Manila go up like
that!"

"Yes, I would like to see that, too, Carlos, and the Americans in the
flames. Ah, but the day when we are to take the capital seems a long
way off now."

"Never mind; Aguinaldo says he is