are."

"Don't be too sure o' thet, Larry. The best on us make mistakes
sometimes," answered the Yankee, with a grave shake of his head. But
General Lawton made no mistake, as we shall speedily see.

As has been said, the right wing had become detached from the main
body of the expedition during the fight on the hill back of Santa
Cruz. The firing line of this wing had not yet united with the centre,
consequently there was a gap of over a quarter of a mile in the front.
Had the Tagalogs known of this they might have divided the expedition
and surrounded the right wing completely, but they did not know, so
the temporary separation did no damage to the soldiers. But that gap
brought a good bit of trouble to Larry and his friend.

On and on went the pair, down a narrow road lined on either side with
palms and plantains and sweet-smelling shrubs. From the hollows the
frogs croaked dismally, and here and there a night bird uttered its
lonely cry, but otherwise all was silent.

"Humph, they've pushed the firing line ahead further than I thought,"
remarked Luke, after half a mile had been covered. "Here's a small
river. Do ye reckon as how they went over thet, lad?"

"It must be so," answered the boy. "Certainly, we haven't been
challenged."

Crossing the rude bridge, they found that the road made a sharp turn
to the southward. Beyond was a nipa hut, back of which burnt a small
camp-fire. Both hut and fire seemed deserted.

"They have cleaned the rebels out from there," said Larry. "Come
ahead," and they continued on their way, little dreaming of the trap
into which they were walking.

The nipa hut passed, they came to a tall fence built of bamboo stalks,
sharpened at the tops and bound with native rope-vine. Farther on
still were a dozen shelters, and here could be seen several women and
children sitting in the doorways.

"Perhaps they can give us some information," said Larry, as they
approached the natives. As soon as they saw the Americans the children
shrieked dismally and rushed out of sight. But the women held their
ground, feeling that they would not be molested.

"See anything of our soldiers?" demanded Luke of the women, but one
and all shook their heads. "No Englees talk," mumbled one, meaning
they did not understand or speak our tongue.

The natives' manner made Larry suspicious, and he glanced around
hurriedly. As he did so there was a click of a trigger from behind
the bamboo fence.

"_Americanos_