“So do I. I say, let’s see if we can find a couple of blankets and sleep out here,” Jim proposed.
“Suits me,” Bob agreed. They had no trouble finding bedding and soon they were ready to turn in. Before they did, they stood staring off across the black water of Lake Champlain.
“I say, isn’t that a light over there on Fisher’s?”
“Was just watching it. Perhaps it’s Corso’s fire. Gosh, that means they’re all right and I’m glad of that.” They watched the tiny streak of red that burned cheerily in the darkness, but finally they stretched out and were soon asleep.
XI
THE CRY FOR HELP
Neither of the boys slept soundly that night. Their dreams were troubled by a conglomeration of their experiences since their arrival at North Hero, the weird boom of the waves as Champlain rose steadily, and a confusion of people going by in search of places of safety. Several times men stopped to inquire for lodgings or routes, and it seemed as if a dozen dogs howled gloomily. But above it all, toward morning, there was one sound that came to their subconscious minds and they stirred fitfully as if trying to shake off a nightmare. Then suddenly they awoke and sat up. It was still dark, that pitch darkness that is so thick just before the first streaks of dawn brush the sky.
“I say, Buddy, did you hear anyone call?” Jim whispered.
“I was just going to ask you the same question,” Bob answered. “I thought I heard a cry for help.” They sat listening tensely, straining their ears to distinguish the call that had broken into their sleep, but could make out nothing more than the sighing of the wind through the bowing trees and the noises they had been hearing before. Jim started to slip into his shoes and Bob followed his example.
“Let’s get some clothes on, I can’t sleep any more, can you?”
“No. Gosh, Jim, this is spooky.” They slipped their trousers and sweaters on over their pajamas, without stopping to don shirts. In two minutes they were dressed and made their way carefully to the rim of the water. “We’d better have a flashlight or we’ll be stepping into it.”