more or less excitement.

It was Thad who discovered it first. Perhaps he chanced to be looking
that way while Hugh was star-gazing. At any rate he gripped his chum
suddenly by the arm.

"Sh! Hugh, what's that yonder, a skulking dog, or a fellow half bent
over?" was what Thad whispered in the ear of his chum.

Both of them had come to a full stop, under the impulse of the moment;
and Thad was pointing a little to the right, which was where the
building erected on the athletic grounds stood, dimly seen in the
mysterious moonlight.

So Hugh, staring quickly, made out the object indicated by his companion.
Really, he could hardly blame Thad for asking such a question, because
at first it was next to impossible to determine whether it was a
four-footed creature, or a human being who, for some good reason, was
trying to make himself appear as small as possible.

But as Hugh continued to look he saw the other raise himself to his
full height, as though to take a cautious survey of his surroundings.
Then he knew that it was no canine prowling around to discover scraps
thrown aside by the carpenters working on the board fence, as they ate
their noon lunch.

"It's a human being all right, Thad," Hugh whispered, in such a low
tone that even the sharpest pair of ears going could never have caught
the sound ten feet away.