About midnight
In the evening Randy entertained the country lads with a mouth organ performance , and at ten o'clock the visitors went to their camp on the other side of the brook . It had been a long day , and the Jolly Rovers were glad to get to bed . They were too drowsy to think about the possibility of another visit from the mysterious boat , and in a very few minutes all were sound asleep . About midnight -- as nearly as he could judge afterward -- Ned sat up with a start , firmly convinced that some danger was at hand . As he listened with a wildly throbbing heart , soft footsteps cracked on the pine needles outside , and then the tent flap was torn open , revealing against the lingering embers of the campfire the semblance of a human form . `` Hi ! you chaps in thar ! ''