The two airmen felt certain now that Hans had really seen the mysterious aeroplane, and they plied him with a dozen further questions as to the noise it made in passing, and the speed at which it travelled, and whether anyone else had seen or heard of it. To some of their questions Hans could give no coherent answer. He said, however, that very few people lived in this part of the forest, and parts of it were seldom or never trodden by human foot. He had spoken to one or two about it, and they also had either seen or heard of it from someone else, and the general opinion amongst the Schwarzwalders in that part, was, that it was one of the dead German airmen, whose spirit came to visit the spot in a ghost-aeroplane.
"Which of the German aces is it, then, that revisits this place, do they think?" asked Keane.
"Some say that it is the ghost of Immelmann, who used to come here before the war to hunt the wild boar; others say that it is the spirit of Richthofen, but I cannot say," replied Hans.
On the question of speed and noise, however, the peasant declared that he was certain.
"It must have been a ghost-aeroplane," he said, "because it was silent, and its speed was like the passing of a spirit when it leaves the body."
A deep silence followed these words, but at the end of a few minutes Hans, pointing to the east, said:--
"Look, friends, the moon is rising already. It is getting lighter, and I must go."
Then, untethering his pack-horse, he thanked the strangers for their hospitality, gave them the direction and situation of his cottage, where they would be welcome, should they care to visit him during their stay in the Schwarzwald, and, bidding them adieu, started off on his journey through the forest.
CHAPTER XVII
THE WATCHERS