He sat motionless for a long time, but not a sound broke the stillness of the night.
"I know I heard something," he said to himself as he dropped back on the bed again. He could not sleep, however, for the sense that he had been awakened by a strange sound, and the mental effort that he had made to catch a repetition of it, had completely aroused him. He lay on his back looking up into the darkness when he heard a sound like a smothered sigh.
"Bert," he whispered, as he sprang up and sat on the edge of his bed, "was that you?"
"What's that? What's the matter, old man?" asked Bert, aroused from his sleep.
"Was that you?"
"Was what me—what's the matter with you, Hal?"
"Have you been awake?"
"No, not until you called me."
"Then you didn't sigh?"
"Not unless it was in my sleep."