"Yes. I cannot explain it, but there is some hidden danger right ahead of us; of that I am as certain as that we are in the Schwarzwald. We had better lie down a while and await developments quietly."
Nothing loath, Sharpe unfastened his shoulder straps, slid his equipment quietly to the ground, and laid himself down beside his companion.
For the moment all was quiet. The moon was hidden behind a bank of clouds, and it was therefore very dark, but sounds travel far in the night air of the forest, and when they conversed, they spoke only in whispers.
"It may be," remarked Keane, "that the spot we seek is just in front of us, though I cannot see any glade or clearing as yet; it is too dark."
"Is it likely that there are any booby-traps hereabouts, set by this wily professor?" asked his companion.
"I cannot say; he may have some outer system of defence."
"Or even a system of ground signals to announce the approach of strangers, whose presence might be undesirable to him," added Sharpe.
"It is possible," whispered Keane, whose mind was actively engaged in preparation for eventualities, in view of his inexplicable premonitions. Suddenly he started and touched his comrade lightly with his raised forefinger.
"Hist!" he said, in a voice which could not have carried further than a couple of yards Then he carefully raised his head, and, turning his eyes towards the thicket through which they had come, he tried to read the secret which it contained. His alarm was justified, yet was he mystified not a little, for the more immediate danger seemed to come from behind.
"Can you hear it, Sharpe?"