“Of course those men whom we buried were dead,” he said to himself, “and if I waken the fellows they’ll insist I’m afraid of my own shadow.”
He was about to lie down again when the unearthly sound floated on the night air once more, and this time he fancied it came from some point nearer the tent than before.
There was no longer any fear in his mind that Ned and Roy would think him cowardly.
Anything was better than listening to such noises while his companions were unconscious in slumber, and he shook Ned, who chanced to be nearest him, violently.
“What’s the matter?” the sleepy boy asked as he rubbed his eyes.
“Hush! Don’t speak so loud! I’ve been hearing the queerest kind of a noise. It sounds as if some one was on the island.”
Ned’s eyes had closed again while Vance was talking, and the latter shook him yet more violently than before.
“Wake up and listen. It may be that men have landed, and we must look out for the treasure!”
This was sufficient to render Ned very wide awake, and he raised himself on his elbow as he said:
It was not necessary for Ned to listen many seconds; Vance had hardly ceased speaking when the noise was heard again, and one would have failed to decide which boy was the most frightened.
Ned was unable to form any idea as to the cause of such a doleful sound.
He knew, or thought he did, that there was no one on the key when they lay down, and yet there could be no mistaking the fact that something unusual was going on.
The most natural course appeared to be the awakening of Roy, but this was not accomplished without considerable difficulty, for the cook was a very sound sleeper, and on this particular night it seemed as if his eyelids were glued together.
It might have been really impossible to arouse him if, just at the moment when he was more nearly awake than at any time since Ned began operations, the groan had not been heard.
This time it was of a most doleful kind, and so loud that one might have heard it half a mile away.
Roy was wide awake in an instant, asking wildly as he scrambled to his feet:
“We’ve been trying to find out,” Ned replied. “I can’t think of anything around here that could make such a noise. It’s horrible!”
“If any one attempts to get in here we shall be able to see what is going on,” Roy whispered.