The night was fine and clear. Stars shone out brilliantly again in the sky. The children said good night to Mr. Luffy at ten o’clock and got into their sleeping-bags. Julian and Dick did not mean to go exploring till midnight, so they lay and talked quietly.

About eleven o’clock they heard somebody moving cautiously outside. They wondered if it was Jock, but he did not call out to them. Who could it be?

Then Julian saw a familiar head outlined against the starlit sky. It was George. But what in the world was she doing? He couldn’t make it out at all. Whatever it was, she wasn’t making any noise over it, and she obviously thought the boys were asleep. Julian gave a nice little snore or two just to let her go on thinking so.

At last she disappeared. Julian waited a few minutes and then put his head cautiously out of the tent opening. He felt about, and his fingers brushed against some string. He grinned to himself and got back into the tent.

“I’ve found out what George was doing,” he whispered. “She’s put string across the entrance of our tent, and I bet it runs to her tent — and she’s tied it to her big toe or something, so that if we go out without her she’ll feel the pull of the string when we go through it — and wake up and follow us!”

“Good old George,” chuckled Dick. “Well, she’ll be unlucky. We’ll squeeze out under the sides of the tent!”

Which was what they did do at about a minute past twelve! They didn’t disturb George’s string at all. They were out on the heather and away down the slope whilst George was sleeping soundly in her tent beside Anne, waiting for the pull on her toe which didn’t come. Poor George!

The boys arrived at the deserted railway yard and looked to see if Wooden-Leg Sam’s candle was alight. It was. So the spook-train hadn’t come along that night, yet.

They were just scrambling down to the yard when they heard the train coming. There was the same rumbling noise as before, muffled by the tunnel — and then out of the tunnel, again with no lamps, came the spook-train, clanking on its way to the yard!

“Quick, Dick! You sprint off to the tunnel opening and watch for the train to go back in again. And I’ll find my way across the moor to the other end of the tunnel. There was a path marked on that old map, and I’ll follow that!” Julian’s words tumbled over each other in his excitement. “I’ll jolly well watch for the spook-train to complete its journey, and see if it vanishes into thin air, or what!”

And off he went to find the path that led over the moors to the other end of the tunnel. He meant to see what happened the other end if he had to run all the way!