"Whew! that seems queer, doesn't it?" faltered Bud.
"And it must be almost down to freezing, into the bargain," added the patrol leader. "I've seen lightning before, in February even, but always during a thaw. Fact is, boys, I can't believe that it was either lightning or thunder we saw and heard."
"But, Hugh, what could it have been then?" demanded Ralph.
"If we were nearer the granite quarries, I'd say they had set off an extra big blast. You know we sometimes hear a faraway boom over home. Sound travels many miles when there's a sub-strata of rock like a ledge to act as a conductor."
"Yes, but then I understood work had stopped there for the season the Saturday before Thanksgiving," volunteered Bud. "Still, they may be doing some blasting, just to keep things moving as long as the snow holds off. If that was a blast of dynamite, it must have been a stunner to make the earth quiver so much."
Hugh made no reply. Plainly he was deeply impressed with the mysterious nature of the unannounced explosion. And when once Hugh started to find out what things meant, he seldom let the matter drop until he had accomplished his purpose.
Bud also went to the door and looked out, his curiosity having been duly aroused. Hence he did not hear Ralph make a significant admission.
"Now that I come to think of it," the other remarked, "for the last two nights I can remember hearing a distant, dull sound that I thought was a heavy blast off in this quarter. I chanced to be outdoors each night about ten o'clock. It's come much earlier this time, it seems; but, anyhow, that is getting to be a regular nightly performance I wonder if they are working over in the granite quarries? I'm something of a sticker when anything bothers me like this, and for three cents I'd take a turn over that way to-morrow just to satisfy my mind."
"I was wondering whether those two men you saw could have had anything to do with that queer crash and flash?" suggested Hugh slowly.
"Ginger! I wonder now!" exclaimed Ralph, who apparently had not thought to connect the pair of strangers with the mysterious goings-on. "But they didn't seem to have anything along with them at that time. I remember seeing the taller man take something out of his pocket and examine it, Hugh; and at the time it struck me the shiny object looked mighty like one of these modern automatic pistols."