So they started forth, and coming to the gate first of all surprised the two khaki-clad Tommies there. How eagerly they in turn quaffed the contents of that common tin cup can be imagined, for the night air was growing cold, and a dismal prospect stared them in the face.
Frank carried the lantern in one hand; it was in the dark of the moon, and he meant that none of the guards should make a mistake and fire upon them for unwelcome prowlers.
News of their coming was sent on ahead, each sentinel calling out to the next one; and in this way the boys made the complete rounds, neglecting none.
When they finally returned to the building it was with an empty pot, and the satisfaction of knowing they had done something to cheer up the brave fellows who were protecting their property.
Frank himself went the rounds of the hangar once more to make sure that everything was as it should be. There was a sense of responsibility resting on him that the others did not feel in the same degree, for Billy was one of those care-free individuals, and as for Pudge, did you ever know of a fat, good-natured boy worrying?
“I hope we don’t have any trouble between now and dawn,” Billy was heard to say as they began to get things ready for sleeping, each having a blanket, as well as some cushions with which to form a rude bed.
“Yes, because to-morrow ought to be a big day for the Sea Eagle Company, Limited,” added Pudge, swelling a little with pride as he pronounced that name. “In fact, it promises to eclipse anything we’ve ever stacked up against before in all our travels.”
“It was all very fine,” commented Billy, “to knock around the Moon Mountains in Africa, meeting up with wild beasts and wilder men; it was thrilling to be away down there in the frozen regions of the Antarctic; but let me tell you all those happenings rolled into one couldn’t equal a trip over the fighting lines of two great armies in a death grapple along the trenches.”
“I’m not going to get one wink of sleep this whole night, thinking about it,” asserted Pudge, shaking his head in a sad fashion; but somehow his threat did not seem to give either of his chums the slightest degree of anxiety, for they knew what an enormous propensity Pudge had for sleep.
It may have been about ten o’clock when they all lay down and tried to lose themselves in slumber. The lantern had been extinguished, but Frank had things fixed so that if any sudden necessity arose he could press a button that was close by his hand and illuminate the interior of the hangar with the searchlight connected with the seaplane.