Fortunately the breeze started up just then, and rustled the leaves of the trees overhead. It came from a quarter that also bore the sounds of the fretting river, where rocky reefs impeded the progress of the current; so that a combination of sounds helped to deaden any little rustling noise the four watchers might make in rising to their feet and moving forward.
Every detail had been arranged, and they made immediately for the darker side of the tent. This was to avoid having their shadows appear on the canvas, and arousing the suspicions of the thief.
Having taken up their positions here, they waited for what was to follow, confident that the guilty one could not possibly escape them.
He could be heard moving around inside the tent. Once he upset some object that fell to the ground with a soft thud, and they even heard his low muttered exclamation of annoyance. After that all was still for an interval, as doubtless he strained his hearing to learn whether the sound had aroused any curiosity in the mind of a sentry.
Then the movements started again, proving that renewed confidence was making the marauder bolder.
Dick and Roger had their guns ready, according to orders. If the man attempted to escape after being ordered to surrender their duty would be to shoot, although the endeavor would be to wound instead of to kill.
The movements within the tent had now ceased, and it was probable that the man had secured all he sought to acquire. That meant his next act would be to make his exit. Dick had not overlooked the chance of his creeping under the canvas at the rear of the tent, and, if they failed to see anything of him by the time another minute passed, he meant to creep around and ascertain whether this had been attempted.
Roger, giving a faint gasp, warned his chum that some one was coming. Then all of them caught sight of a dusky figure bending low as it crept out of the tent.
“Stand still and surrender, or you are a dead man!” suddenly exclaimed Captain Lewis, as, with his three companions, he stepped forward.
The thief made no attempt to run, for he knew what the result must be when he saw those rifles in the hands of the two boys. So they pushed up until they could make sure of his identity; and somehow neither Roger nor Dick felt any great surprise when they discovered that the man they had captured was Andrew Waller.