They were soon on guard, the one on the doorstep and the other near the lean-to, on a stump. Thus an hour dragged by. To both it was an unusually long while.
"I don't see a thing," said Darry, coming to where his cousin rested.
"Nor I, and I'm getting sleepy. I hardly think Leeson will be back until morning."
"Just what I was thinking. Let us take turns at watching. The one on duty can walk around the cabin now and then, and that will give each of us some sleep."
This was agreed upon, and they tossed up to see who should go on guard first. It fell to Darry's lot, and Joe, hardly able to keep his eyes open, quickly retired, without undressing.
Darry's vigil was certainly a lonely one, doubly so because it was new to him. As he tramped slowly around the cabin, he could not help but contrast this situation with the one he was used to at home.
"I don't know as I'd like to be a night policeman or a night-watchman," he reasoned. "They must be awfully tiresome jobs. And the city isn't near as lonely as this, either, even in the middle of the night." He drew a long breath and looked at his watch. "Gracious, only three-quarters of an hour gone, and I've got an hour and a quarter still to serve! How awfully slow it is! If Leeson——What's that?"
He broke off short and came to a halt, with his rifle in his hands and his gaze fixed on some brushwood a hundred feet to the rear of the stable. He had seen some dark object moving, but whether it was man or beast he could not tell.
"It was something, I'm sure of that," he told himself, after the object had disappeared from view. "If it was a man he must have been crawling on hands and knees."
He wondered if he had better awaken Joe, but hesitated, knowing how sleepy his cousin was. Perhaps the object would go away—if it was a wild beast.