His heart beating wildly, Dick dropped to the ground and wormed his way forward on his hands and knees. A few yards farther on, he sprang to his feet again and bolted away in the direction of the house. Suddenly there appeared immediately ahead the shadowy figure of a man. Dick stopped short in his tracks, shaking in every limb.
His retreat was cut off!
CHAPTER VI
MURKY TAKES A HAND
“Is that you, Dick?”
The voice was Corporal Rand’s. Dick’s sigh of relief was more like an explosive gasp. He tottered forward a few steps and grasped the sleeve of the policeman’s coat, clinging there like a person who had found a friendly haven in the center of a whirlpool. Gradually he recovered his self-possession.
“Did you see them too?” he asked.
“See whom?” demanded the corporal, whispering. “What do you mean? What are you doing out here? I thought I’d left you in bed.”
“I’ll explain,” answered Dick, “but first we’d better go to my room. We’re not safe here.”
Entering the house a few moments later, they made their way in silence along the hallway and entered Dick’s room. Here the light from the oil lamp, which stood on the table, seemed very bright and cheerful to their eyes, which had become accustomed to the intense darkness outside. Rand started forward in surprise.
“Good Heavens, my boy, you’re as white as a ghost! What’s happened? What were you doing outside?”