Randy retired early, and was awakened about half past eleven o’clock. Then he dressed, got a cup of the hot chocolate that one of the cook’s helpers had ready for the sentries, and then went out to join the detail which was to go on guard from midnight until four o’clock in the morning.
The post which Ned Lowe had covered, and which was turned over to Randy, lay on the far side of the camp, not a great distance from where the cliffs overlooked the bay. It was a lonely spot, particularly on a night like this, when the sky was overcast and a rising wind was moaning through the branches of the trees.
“See any ghosts to-night, Ned?” said Randy to Ned Lowe jokingly, as he relieved that sentry.
“Well, I saw something, Randy,” was the unexpected reply. “I’ve been trying to make up my mind for the last half hour what it was.”
“Saw something! What do you mean?”
“I think I saw somebody sneaking through the woods over yonder,” said Ned Lowe, pointing into the forest. “I shouted out, but no one answered, and then the figure—or whatever it was—vanished.”
“Oh, say! you must be seeing things,” returned Randy lightly. “Just the same, I’ll keep my weather eye open,” he added. “Maybe some of the other cadets were out, and tried to play a trick on you.”
“No, I don’t think it was one of our cadets,” said Ned Lowe. “I think it was a stranger. But what he was doing around here at this time of night is a mystery to me.”
“Maybe he was a tramp, and thought he could get a chance to steal something,” ventured the fun-loving Rover, sobering down.
“Maybe. I guess you had better keep your eyes wide open,” said Ned Lowe, and then turned away and left Randy alone on the post.