“Wolves?” asked Dave, guessing quickly.
“That’s what; I know them. Saw lots of them when I was out West. Come ahead. We’re going to find somebody right away, I’m sure.”
The boys now noticed a little knoll. The bleating sounds seemed to echo from behind it. As they started up the incline, Hiram grabbed his companion in some affright and dismay, and both fell back startled.
A sudden flash split the air. It started a sweep in a perfect circle, like a revolving searchlight. Its bright rays sent out a glare a hundred yards from its base. Then, the circle complete, as suddenly it died out.
“Now what do you think of that?” gasped the bewildered Hiram. “Worse, and more of it!”
Bang!
From the same spot, just as abruptly, some gun or cannon belched out a sheet of flame, followed by a report that awoke the echoes for miles in every direction.
Facing a mystery they could not explain, the two young aviators stood staring mutely towards the spot from which flash and report had so unaccountably come.
CHAPTER XV
“THE TERRIBLE MACGUFFINS”
“Now what do you think of that?” challenged Hiram, after a long spell of wondering silence.