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116. On all sides were warehouses, and the only opening to the narrow highway was that by which we had entered.

"The soldiers are coming!" I whispered, after listening. "Can't you hear their footsteps?"

"I can, Oliver. Hang me if I know what to do. I wish I had that gun," Dan went on, for he had thrown the Mauser rifle away.

I ran up to the warehouse and felt of the boards. Soon I came to the casement of an upper doorway, an opening used for hoisting goods in and out of the warehouse. I snatched at the lower edge, pulled myself up, and soon stood in the frame, which was five or six inches deep.

"Come up here," I whispered to Dan, and helped him to a position beside me. Once we were in the doorway, we pressed as far back as possible and waited.

Soon three soldiers came up, one carrying a lantern and all armed with rifles. All talked excitedly in Spanish, but it was in a Luzon dialect and even Dan could not understand them.

The soldiers searched around the alleyway for fully ten minutes, and once almost flashed the lantern rays up into our faces. But we remained undiscovered, and presently they ran out of the cul-de-sac, thinking they had not tracked us aright.