"Yes, for I don't want to sleep out of doors. I can settle for my supper now if you wish."
"No, you can wait till morning."
"Very well!"
Dean left the house, and walked some distance over the mountain road. Finally, being a little fatigued from his day's travel and the hearty supper he had eaten, he lay down under a tree, and enjoyed the luxury of rest on a full stomach.
In the stillness of the woods it was possible to hear even a sound ordinarily indistinct. Gradually Dean became sensible of a peculiar noise which seemed like the distant murmur of voices. He looked about him in all directions, but failed to understand from what the voices proceeded. It seemed almost as if the sounds came from below. Yet this seemed absurd.
"There can't be any mine about here," reflected Dean. "If there were, I could understand a little better about the sounds."
Certainly it was not a very likely place for a mine.
"I wonder if I am dreaming," thought Dean.
He rubbed his eyes, and satisfied himself that he was as much awake as he ever was in his life.
He got up and walked around, looking inquisitively about him, in the hope of localizing the sound. Suddenly it stopped, and all was complete silence. Then he was quite at a loss.