knowing that ammunition was nightly being carried over, fired an
occasional shot in that direction. The party halted under shelter of a
house until a shot flew past, and then hurried forward across the exposed
spot. As they did so, the Warreners and their guide placed the shells they
were carrying on the ground, turned off from the road, climbed a garden
wall, and in a minute were close to the river.

"Go silently," the guide said; "there are some more sentries here."

Stealing quietly along, for they were all shoeless, they could see
crouching figures between them and the water, every twenty yards apart.

"We shall have to run the gantlet, Ned," Dick said. "Our best chance will
be to shove one of these fellows suddenly into the water, jump in and dive
for it. You and I can dive across that river, and we shall come up under
the shadow of the opposite bank."

Ned spoke to the guide.

"The water is shallow for the first few yards, sahib, but we shall get
across that into two feet, which is deep enough for us, before the
sentries have recovered from their surprise. They are sure to fire at
random, and we shall be out of the water on the other side before they
have loaded again."

The plan agreed to, they stripped off their uniforms, and crept quietly
along until they were close to a sentry. Then with a bound they sprang
upon him, rolled him over the bank into the shallow water, and dashed
forward themselves at the top of their speed.