"Perhaps he'll tell on us," suggested Larry, but Frank shook his head.
"He hasn't got backbone enough to do it. He's a worse coward than
Mumps was."
Soon it came time for Sam to do his turn at guarding, and stuffing a big bit of candy in his mouth, the youngest Rover stepped out into the dimly lit hallway and sat down on a low stool which one of the guards had placed there.
For ten or fifteen minutes nothing occurred to disturb Sam, and he was just beginning to think that watching was all nonsense when he saw a dark figure creeping along the wall at the extreme lower end of the hallway, where it made a turn toward the back stairs.
"Hullo, who's that?" he muttered. "It doesn't look much like Mr.
Strong."
He continued to watch the figure, and now saw that it was dressed in a black suit and had what looked like a shawl over its head.
"That's queer," went on the boy. "What can that man or boy be up to?"
Presently the figure turned and entered one of the lower dormitories, closing the door gently behind it. Then it came out again and made swiftly for the rear of the upper hallway. By this time Sam was more curious than ever, and as the figure disappeared around the bend by the back stairs he followed on tiptoes.
But as what light there was came from the front, the rear was very dark, and the youth could see little or nothing. He heard a door close and the lock click, but whether or not it was upstairs or down he could not tell.
For several minutes he remained in the rear hallway, and then he went back to his post. Soon Tom came out to relieve him, and Sam re-entered the dormitory and told his story to the others.