The boys crouched, breathless.  A moment later, two other figures loomed through the darkness, coming down the slope.  They came straight up to the first two.

‘By Eblis, but thou hast not hurried thyself Ali!’ said one of the latter, speaking in Turkish.  ‘Hassan and I were about to come and seek thee.’

One of the others gave a laugh.

‘I am sorry, brother.  We slept and no one awaked us.  Is all well?’

’All is well.  What else should it be?  Who but a dog of an unbelieving German would waste men’s time in guarding such a place as this?’

‘Of a truth it is foolishness,’ said the man named Ali.  ’The British are far enough away, Allah knows.’

‘A good watch to thee,’ said Hassan in rather a surly tone.  Then he and his companion tramped away uphill, and Ali and the other sank down into what was evidently a trench.

Hastily Ken translated what he had heard for Roy.

‘They are sentries,’ he said, ’and I suppose there is some underground work here which they have been set to guard.’

‘And by the looks of it, they are the only men there,’ Roy replied eagerly.  ‘Ken, I think I see those coats materialising.’

‘It might be done,’ said Ken.  ’As you say, they are probably the only men in the place, whatever it is.  And clearly they take their job pretty easily.  If we can catch them napping we ought to be able to polish them off.’

‘We will catch them napping, and we will polish them off,’ Roy said grimly.  ‘Mind you, Ken, they mustn’t shoot.’

He began to creep forward on hands and knees.  Ken kept abreast.  A minute later, they found themselves at the sloping entrance of what was evidently a communication trench.

‘We’d best keep on top,’ whispered Roy.  ’You go one side, I’ll take the other.  When we get above them, we must both drop together.  Jump right on them, and put ’em out before they know what’s up.’

There was no doubt about this being the best plan, and they started at once.  Roy went off with his usual confidence, but Ken, more highly strung, felt his heart thumping as he crawled along the rough edge of the deep, dark ditch.

It seemed to him that they went a very long way before he saw Roy stop and lift one hand.  He himself peered over cautiously.  The stars gave just enough light to see the two Turkish sentries.

They were leaning carelessly against the wall of the trench.  One was smoking, the other apparently rolling a cigarette.  They were chatting in low voices, and so far as Ken could make out, neither held his rifle.

Roy pointed to the one nearest Ken.  Ken nodded, and rose very quietly to his feet.

The Turk firmly believes that certain places, bare hill-sides especially, are haunted by unpleasant bogies which he calls Djinns and Afrits.  If ever any Turk was fully convinced that a Djinn had him, it must have been the sentry that Ken jumped on.