The person, whoever it was, had landed on his head and shoulders, and he was thrown down in an instant.
"Hello! who is that?" he exclaimed, as he felt himself lying on the bare and rather damp ground.
Some one was struggling to his feet with a startled exclamation, and Billy snatched quickly at him, and caught a leg or an arm, he could not be certain which.
"I've got you now!" he cried, "and you've got to give an account of yourself, my man!"
The stranger, whoever he was, certainly did give an account of himself, but not in the manner which Billy meant.
There was a sudden shooting out of a brawny fist, and Billy was taken between the eyes, and for a moment saw stars.
"Ouch!" he ejaculated, letting go of the person he had seized,
Then somebody rolled him over with a quick move of the foot, and by the time the unfortunate joker arose his nocturnal combatant was out of sight, as well as hearing.
"H'm! that's too bad!" sputtered Billy. "I don't know now whether it was a burglar, a nightmare, or what it was. I think I'd better go back to bed. Being out in the air may have done me a lot of good, but I guess I've had enough of it."
With this conclusion he set out upon his return, but when he reached the line of tents was not certain whether he was in the right one or not, and began studying the appearance of things as much as he could by the very uncertain light.