Another hour passed and still nothing happened. Ken lay with his ear to the ground and occupied himself with listening to the hissing sound that came out of the earth. Jack watched and waited but not a thing stirred. He became restless and chafed with impatience. Finally he wiggled over to Ken and also put his ear to the ground. Still that hissing sound and the trembling of the earth. Ken whispered, “They must be working hard down there.”
Jack nodded and kept silent. Together they lay flat on the ground and listened. Again it was Ken who whispered, “What do you say, you think we ought to go? There is nothing doing here.”
“No, let’s wait a short while more. I wonder what Paul is doing.”
“Same here. I hope at least he has found something interesting to do. This doing nothing is killing me.”
Jack felt the same way about it. As a matter of fact, Jack was of more impatient nature than Ken, but he felt it upon himself to urge his friend on. “Take it easy and don’t lose your patience,” he whispered back. “A thing like this takes time you know; plenty of time.”
Again they fixed their ears to the ground. They remained like that for a short time. Suddenly they pushed their ears deeper into the ground. In the darkness, they looked at each other. “Do you hear what I hear?” whispered Ken.
“Yes, nothing.”
“That’s right. They must have stopped the printing press.”
“Yes. Now what?”