"Yes; pretty soon now too, I think."
"Do you know where it runs here?" asked Leon. "If it should follow the top of some of these mountains we'd have to ascend much higher than we are now to be out of range, wouldn't we?"
"We certainly would. Keep your eyes open and see if you can see any signs of trenches; we ought to be pretty close now."
The foothills were below them now. The wooded slopes were cut and gashed by gullies and ravines and now and then a fertile valley appeared. The hills grew in size rapidly, however, and it was not long before the mountains themselves were underneath them. Once or twice a cloud wrapped them in its damp folds and it was with a feeling of relief when they emerged into the sunlight again.
"Whew, it's cold," exclaimed Leon slapping his hands together.
"My hands are cold too," said Jacques. "You have the best of me though for I can't warm them the way you are doing."
"Please don't try," laughed Earl. "I'd rather that you should have cold hands than we should all go spinning down to earth."
"Well I'll—" Jacques began when Leon suddenly interrupted him.
"There are the trenches," he exclaimed. "See them? They run right across that valley."
"That's right," agreed Jacques. "Let's see; we must be fairly close to our destination by now." He consulted his map.