“Down we go, and see who it is,” decided the captain, and they crept forward stealthily, careful to make as little noise as possible. But when they dipped down in the gully they found four cadets, one of whom was Rowen. These cadets were standing like statues, evidently a bit scared and waiting to see who it was that moved toward them.
“Didn’t you fellows hear my whistle?” Jordan demanded.
“We thought we heard someone whistle,” replied Cadet Motley. “But we weren’t sure.”
“Well, I whistled,” Jordan said. “Whenever you hear that you’ll know that friends are near by.” Jordan then repeated Don’s suggestion to use their special whistle for recognizing cadets.
“OK,” nodded Motley. “What time have you, Jordan? I’m not sure about my watch.”
Jordan drew out his watch. “I have just eleven o’clock, Motley,” he replied. “I guess——”
Jim gripped his arm. “Siss—s!” he hissed. “Look, on the top of the Ridge!”
With one accord they looked up the slope and their blood chilled. In a patch of moonlight a weird and terrible figure walked swiftly from one patch of darkness toward another. It looked to be the figure of a man, clothed entirely in white. It glanced neither to the right nor to the left, but strode swiftly along, to all intents and purposes unaware that anyone save itself was on the Ridge. Even the head was muffled in white and showed no trace of eyes, nose or mouth. Quiet and evil and sinister did it look as it glided past the dark background of the sky.
14
Disobedience Loses the Game
The cadets instinctively crouched down where they stood. It seemed to be the proper thing to do, although the ghostly figure had not looked in their direction.