“Shh,” whispered Tom.
Far down the side of the long fence he could see a little glint bobbing in the darkness.
“Shh,” he whispered. “I don’t know which way he’s going. Keep your feet still.”
For a few seconds more he waited, his heart in his mouth and every nerve tense.
The tiny bobbing glint disappeared.
“Is he there?” Archer whispered.
“Shh! No, he’s gone around the end.”
“He won’t go all the way round; he’ll turn back when he gets to the gate. Go on, make a break——”
“Shh!” said Tom, straining his eyes in all directions.
For one moment of awful suspense he waited, his thumping heart almost choking him. Then he moved silently out into the night, and paused again, holding a deterring hand up to keep his companion back until he knew the way was clear.