In the kitchen he found the pail empty and, knowing that he would probably wake the whole family if he used the pump, he determined to go out to the pump near the barn. The night was very warm and he did not fear taking cold even though he was clad only in his pajamas. He had gotten his drink and was about to start back when something down by the corral caught his eye. It was bright moonlight and he could see for a long distance.
"Wonder what that is," he thought.
Then he quickly slipped behind a tree, for he had seen that it was a man. The distance was too great for him to be able to identify him but he did note that it was a man of average height. For some moments the man stood perfectly still and, happening to raise his eyes, Bob saw far out on the prairie the flash of light. Three times it flashed and then stopped. Then he glanced toward the man by the corral and his heart gave a great bound as he saw the signal returned.
"I knew it," he thought. "But I've got to be sure that it's he."
But that was easier thought than done. There was nothing between the tree and the corral behind which he could hide and the man would not come much nearer him than he now was if he waited until he returned to the house. While he was trying to devise some plan the signal from the prairie came again and this time it flashed for a longer time before waiting for the answer. At first Bob thought they might be using the Morse code. He could read it easily but when he tried to translate the flashes into words he was unable to get a single letter and was forced to conclude that they were using an arbitrary code.
He thought of making a wide detour behind the barn and up the other side of the corral but decided that it would take so much time that the chances were that the man would be gone before he could get there. Then suddenly a plan struck him which he believed gave a fair promise of success, provided only that the man did not see him too soon.
Stretching both arms out in front he stepped boldly out from behind the tree and started to walk directly toward the man who was still flashing his light. If only he would keep it up until he got near enough to see him plainly, he thought, and walked as rapidly as he dared. Closer and closer he came and still the man did not once turn around. Not until he was within twenty feet of him did he become aware of his presence, then he turned and saw him.
"What are you—" the man began and then stopped for Bob was walking straight past seemingly not paying him the slightest attention. "He's sleep walkin'," he heard him mutter as he passed within three feet of him.
It was Los Varney, Bob got a good look at his face just as he turned and he also had no trouble in recognizing his voice. He walked straight past him and did not change his course until he was all of a hundred yards away. Then he turned in such a way as to bring him back in a wide circle to the front of the house. What Los was doing he did not know as he did not dare to turn his head in the slightest degree. The man might be following him and he feared that the least false move would give him away. So he reached the house and got to his room without another sight of the man.
"Whew, but I believe it worked," he thought as he crept into bed.