The hay scattered on the floor had deadened the sound of their footsteps, as they piled in, and, in the silence of the big barn, the only sound came from their own gaspings for breath.
“Oh!” Jim was beginning, when Fred lifted his hand and put his finger on his lips as a signal to keep still.
“S-sh,” he whispered. “I thought I heard some one speaking over there,” and he pointed to a distant corner of the barn where fodder for the cattle was stored.
“Who can it be?” whispered Teddy in return. “Do you think it can be Sam? If it is, we’re done for.”
“No, it isn’t Sam,” was Fred’s guarded reply. “If it were, he’d come to see what Tiger’s barking about. Let’s creep over there and take a look.”
As silently as Indians, the boys wormed their way across the floor. The only light came from the cracks in the side of the barn, and they had to use great care not to bump into anything that might betray their presence.
Suddenly, Fred, who was leading, stopped.
“Wait,” he breathed. “I just got a look at them. There are two of them there, and they look to me like tramps. Stay here a minute.”
They halted, while he crept on a little farther, until, through a small opening in a stall, he could get a better view.
He glued his eye to the opening and studied more closely the two strangers.