"That will give me almost time to reach Bayliss before the big noise comes.

The noise will bring them all out of the tent.

Then the remainder of our programme will do the rest." But, even as Bert reached for the match with which to touch off the fuse he heard Dalzell call in a voice audible at the distance: "Look at those things up in the air, Tom!" "He has sighted our 'ghosts,'" laughed Bert to himself.
"They must be some sort of signal kites, flown by the moonshiners," answered Reade in an interested tone.
"Kites! Is that what he takes our ghosts for ?" wondered Bert Dodge in deep disgust.
But the mention of the word "moonshiners" gave the listener a start.

In a general way he knew that "moonshiner" is the term applied to men who try to cheat the United States Revenue Service by distilling liquors on which they pay no tax.

Bert had heard that moonshiners are deadly men, indeed, and that they make little of shooting down the government officers who are sent to ferret out their hiding places and arrest them.
"I wish we hadn't run into those moonshiners," said Danny, rather dolefully.