As they waited a sharp tick—tick, regular and prolonged, struck their hearing.
“It’s a clock,” declared Hiram. “Look there—seven or eight gun barrels. And wires running to that box. There’s clock works in it. See, the light is still burning, but shut in with a cover.”
“That’s so,” nodded Dave, surprised and still puzzled.
“Oh, say!” cried Hiram, suddenly, “I’ve guessed out the whole scheme.”
“Have you?”
“I think so.”
“What is it?” asked the young aviator.
“Why, this is a contrivance for scaring away wolves. It’s mighty cute, and it must be a smart fellow who got it up. Don’t you see, probably every hour the light flashes and one of those firearms goes off. That would scare wolves good and right.”
“I believe you have solved the problem,” said Dave.
He was certain of it as they made a closer inspection of the queer contrivance. Some backwood genius had spent time and some money in rigging up a wolf-scarer that kept up an alarm and illumination through the night, serving as a protection for the sheepfold.