But it did. It was along about midnight when Ned felt a light touch on his arm.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, sitting up.
“Come on,” whispered Jerry. “I see something down by the lake, and I want to investigate. Be careful, don’t make any noise.”
Bob and the professor were both sleeping so soundly that they did not hear Jerry and Ned leave the shack.
“Where is it?” asked Ned.
“There,” replied Jerry, pointing to a spot about three hundred feet away, and on the shore of the lake. “It was there a minute ago, but it’s gone now. Watch, it will come back.”
He busied himself over the search-light, making ready to light it quickly and flash the beams on the ghost or hermit, or whatever it should prove to be.
“There it is!” called Ned, in a hoarse whisper. “Right by that big rock that runs out into the water.”
“I see!” said Jerry, softly.
There was a hissing sound as Jerry turned on the acetylene gas, a snapping sound as he lit the match, and then a slight puff as the vapor ignited. The next instant a glaring shaft of light shot down toward the lake, glint on a strange object.