He tried both the doors; they were locked. He looked at the lower windows; they were all closed. He went down to the pier; the Argo was there and the Red Rover; there was nothing to tell him what these night-time prowlers had been doing.
He went back by the beach to the camp. As he stepped up on to the bank Ben opened his eyes and sat up. “Hello,” he said sleepily. “Why, Tom, what are you doing?”
“Sh-ssh,” murmured Tom.
Ben rubbed his eyes, crawled out of his bed, caught Tom’s arm, and pulled him down to the beach. “What were you doing?” he demanded in an insistent whisper.
“Well, I saw a light, and I went to find out what it was.”
“Yes? And you saw them, did you?”
“Saw whom, Benjie?”
“Saw the pirates, did you?”
“The pirates! You’re half-asleep. What are you talking about?”
Ben nodded his head. “Oh, I know something about them.”