第26章

"DiD you hear that?" asked Tom Swift of his companion.

"Hear it? Bless my ear drums, I should say I did hear it! Some one is in trouble, Tom.Caught in a bog, most likely, the same as that spy chap who was at your place.That's it--caught in a bog!""There isn't any bog or swamp around here, Mr.Damon.If there was I shouldn't have tried a landing.No, it's something else besides that.Hark!"Again the cry sounded, seeming to come from a point behind the landing place of the silent airship.It was clear and distinct:

"Help! Help! They are--"

The voice seemed to die away in a gurgle, as though the person's mouth had been covered quickly.

"He's sinking, Tom! He's sinking!" cried Mr.Damon."I once heard a man who almost drowned cry out, and it sounded exactly like that!""But there isn't any water around here for any one to drown in," declared Tom."It's a big, dry meadow.I know where we are.""Then what is it?"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out.Some one attacked by some one else--or something, I should say," ventured the young inventor.

"Something! do you mean a wild beast, Tom?""No, for there aren't any of those here any more than there is water.Though it may be that some farmer's bull or a savage dog has got loose and has attacked some traveler.But, in that case I think we would hear bellows or barks, and all I heard was a cry for help.""The same with me, Tom.Let's investigate;""That's what I intend doing.Come on.The airship will be all right until we come back.""Better take a light--hadn't you? It's dark, even if the moon does show now and then," suggested Mr.Damon.

"Guess you are right," agreed Tom.Aboard his airship there were several small but powerful portable electric lights, and after securing oneof these Tom and Mr.Damon started for the spot whence the call for help had come.As they walked along, their feet making no noise on the soft turf, they listened intently for a repetition of the call for aid.

"I don't hear anything," said Tom, after a bit.

"Nor I," added Mr.Damon."We don't know exactly which way to go, Tom.""That's right.Guess we'd better give him a hail; whoever it is." Tom came to a halt, and raising his voice to a shout called:

"Hello there! What's the matter? We'll help you if you can tell us which way to come!"They both listened intently, but no voice answered them.At the same time, however, they were aware of a sound as of hurrying feet, and there seemed to be muttered imprecations not far away.Tom and Mr.Damon looked in the direction of the sound, and the young inventor flashed his light.But there was a clump of bushes and trees at that point and the electrical rays did not penetrate very far.

"Some one's over there!" exclaimed Tom in a whisper."We'd better go and see what it is.""All right," agreed Mr.Damon, and he, too, spoke in a low voice.

Why they did this when their previous talk had been in ordinary tones, and when Tom had shouted so loudly, they did not stop to reason about or explain just then.But later they both admitted that they whispered because they thought there was something wrong on foot--because they feared a crime was being committed and they wanted to surprise the perpetrators if they could.

And it was this fact of their whispering that enabled the two to hear something that, otherwise, they might not have heard.And this was the sound of some vehicle hurrying away--an automobile, if Tom was any judge.The cries for help had been succeeded by stifled vocal sounds, and these, in turn, by the noise of wheels on the ground.

"What does it all mean?" asked Mr.Damon in a whisper.