CHAPTER III
THE MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSION
"Wow! that was a stunner all right!" exclaimed Bud. "Why, honest,I could feel the ground shake under me when that thunder clap came!And as I happened to be looking over there where the opening lies,the flash nearly blinded me."
"Lightning and thunder in November is something you don't often meet,"was the comment of Ralph, turning a perplexed face toward Hugh, asthough depending on the leader of the Wolf patrol to solve the puzzle.
Without saying a word, Hugh jumped to his feet and went outside totake a look around. He came back almost immediately, and his facetold them that his investigation instead of clearing up the mysteryhad only added to it.
"What did you find out, Hugh?" questioned Bud.
"Not a single cloud to be seen in all the sky!" said the otherimpressively.
"Whew! that seems queer, doesn't it?" faltered Bud.
"And it must be almost down to freezing, into the bargain," addedthe patrol leader. "I've seen lightning before, in February even,but always during a thaw. Fact is, boys, I can't believe that it waseither lightning or thunder we saw and heard."
"But, Hugh, what could it have been then?" demanded Ralph.
"If we were nearer the granite quarries, I'd say they had set off anextra big blast. You know we sometimes hear a faraway boom over home.Sound travels many miles when there's a sub-strata of rock like aledge to act as a conductor."
"Yes, but then I understood work had stopped there for the seasonthe Saturday before Thanksgiving," volunteered Bud. "Still, theymay be doing some blasting, just to keep things moving as longas the snow holds off. If that was a blast of dynamite, it musthave been a stunner to make the earth quiver so much."
Hugh made no reply. Plainly he was deeply impressed with themysterious nature of the unannounced explosion. And when once Hughstarted to find out what things meant, he seldom let the matterdrop until he had accomplished his purpose.
Bud also went to the door and looked out, his curiosity having beenduly aroused. Hence he did not hear Ralph make a significantadmission.
"Now that I come to think of it," the other remarked, "for the lasttwo nights I can remember hearing a distant, dull sound that Ithought was a heavy blast off in this quarter. I chanced to beoutdoors each night about ten o'clock. It's come much earlierthis time, it seems; but, anyhow, that is getting to be a regularnightly performance I wonder if they are working over in the granitequarries? I'm something of a sticker when anything bothers me likethis, and for three cents I'd take a turn over that way to-morrowjust to satisfy my mind."
"I was wondering whether those two men you saw could have hadanything to do with that queer crash and flash?" suggested Hughslowly.
"Ginger! I wonder now!" exclaimed Ralph, who apparently had notthought to connect the pair of strangers with the mysterious goings-on."But they didn't seem to have anything along with them at thattime. I remember seeing the taller man take something out of hispocket and examine it, Hugh; and at the time it struck me the shinyobject looked mighty like one of these modern automatic pistols."
Hugh shook his head as though, try as he would, as yet he could seeno way of solving the puzzle. Just then Bud came back, having fixedthe door the same way he had found it, with the loose board used asa prop to keep it in position.
"Just as you said, Hugh," he announced, "it's clear as a bell, witha young moon hanging low in the western sky and the stars shininglike all get-out. No siree, thunder never yet was heard on a nightlike this. So I guess it must have been a blast. They do saydynamite shakes the ground a heap more than powder, because itsforce is always directed downward. If you put a cartridge on topof a big rock and fire it, the boulder is shattered to pieces.Powder you've got to put underneath every time."
"Correct, Bud, you go up to the head of the class," laughed Hugh.
"I wanted to ask Ralph if when he used to camp around here lastwinter he ever knew the air to be clear enough to hear the noiseof the mill over at town?"
"Why, it's a good many miles away," returned Ralph, "and I don'tknow that I ever did hear what you say. But what makes you askthat, Bud?"
"Oh! the atmosphere must be doing its prettiest then, to-night,"came the answer. "While I was standing just outside the door Icould hear the plain rattle of the machinery, though it died awayquick enough. I understand that business is so good that they'rerunning a night shift at the mills. And sounds can be heard along way off after sunset, can't they, Hugh?"
"That's all as true as anything, Bud, though if you'd asked me myopinion before you spoke, I would have said it was foolish to thinkwe could hear the mills so far away as this, no matter how clearthe frosty air might be."
"Well, that may be," remarked the other boy doggedly; "but I did hearmachinery pounding away at a right merry pace, give you my word onthat. I even stepped out further and looked around, but therewasn't a thing in sight, only the stars shining up there and thelittle horned moon dropping down close to the horizon."
"We came up here thinking we'd be all alone and could do what we'dplanned without being interrupted," observed Hugh, "but seems asthough we've dropped on the queerest sort of a mystery the veryfirst thing. And as scouts always stand to investigate what theydon't understand, I reckon we'll have our hands full prying intothis thing."
"But don't let it make my affairs take second place, Hugh," pleadedBud. "What if some fellow does happen to be using up explosives bythe cartload, that oughtn't to interfere with the trying out of thelittle invention which the brain of a Morgan has conjured up, andwhich, if successful, will be a blessing to science, as well as toaviators in particular."
Ralph pricked up his ears at hearing these last few words. No doubtthey set him to wondering what Bud had invented now; but the latterdid not take the time or trouble to let him into the secret, soRalph just had to possess his soul in patience.
"You needn't think that I'll let anything drag me away from the firstobject of our trip up here, Bud," soothed the patrol leader, who knewhow deeply in earnest his chum was. "But it may be that we'll findthe time to look into this other business, too. If more shocks comethat are as bad as that one was, we're not apt to get much sleepto-night, boys."
"Then here's hoping they'll stay away," wished Bud. "Why, a fewmore shocks like that would start all my joints loose, I do believe!Could that have been a meteor bursting, do you think, Hugh?"
"Well, that's a new idea," admitted the other, "and one that didn'tcome to me, I'll own up. A meteor can fall at any old time, dayor night, though we only see them shooting after dark sets in.When one of these fragments of fused metal and slag does rushtoward the earth and bury itself in the ground, it makes justsuch a brilliant flash. Some say there is a fearful crash whenit strikes. Stranger things have happened, I take it, Bud, thanto believe that was a falling meteor of a pretty good size."
"But don't shooting stars generally fall in the summer time, Hugh?"questioned Bud.
It had become a habit with most of the scouts to ask the Wolfleader any and all sorts of questions, as though he might be lookedupon as a walking encyclopedia or dictionary; and it kept Hughpretty busy accumulating information in order to be well posted forthese constant demands on his time and patience.
"Yes, I believe the earth does pass through the greatest showersof meteors in August, but then there are lots of them loose at anytime. I've read of some remarkable ones being dug out of the earthin various places. If this should prove to be a big meteor and wecould find where it struck, it would be a feather in the caps ofthe scouts. Some old professor would be hustling up this way assoon as we let them know at Yale or Harvard."
"Then we'll try to find where it struck!" declared Ralph.
"It would be as bad as hunting for a needle in a haystack in allthis big wilderness," ventured Bud; "though there'd be no harm inour trying,---that is, if I'm in any shape to go with you after I'vehad my little innings."
Again did Ralph wear a puzzled frown as he
heard Bud make thissignificant remark. He must have wondered more than ever what itcould possibly be that the other had conceived this time. On otheroccasions his efforts, while ambitious, had ended in smoke, and therest of the boys often quizzed poor Bud most unmercifully on accountof his shortcomings. But then, all great inventors must make abeginning. It is not expected that genius can take the saddle atone bound. Persistence counts more in such cases than anything else.
The fellow who has faith in himself is apt to get there in the end,no matter what grievous disappointments waylay him on his course;that is, if he really amounts to more than a flash in the pan. Budsometimes comforted himself with reflections along this order. Hewas not easily cast down, and that counted for a good deal.
The three scouts sat in the shack crosslegged, like so many Turks,and chatted busily as time passed on. Ralph was easily inducedto speak of his various experiences when he used to trap in thissame neighborhood during past winters. He had run across a numberof strange things that were well worth telling; and Hugh especiallyshowed the keenest kind of interest in all he had to say.
Bud, like most promising candidates among those destined to becometruly great, had a habit of forgetting that there were otherspresent besides himself. He would fall into a reflective mood andknit his brow as though wrestling with grave problems, upon thesolving of which the fate of nations depended.
Ralph knew all about the habits of foxes, mink, otter, weasels,muskrats, raccoons, 'possums and divers other small fur-bearinganimals such as give up their warm coats for the purpose of keepingladies' hands and necks comfortable during wintry blasts. He hadhad many amusing experiences with some of them, and as the scoutpatrol leader never wearied of learning interesting facts at firsthand, Ralph was kept busy talking and answering questions, untilconsiderable time had slipped by and there was Bud yawning asthough threatening to dislocate his jaws.
"Guess we'd better be thinking of bunking down for the night,"suggested Hugh. "Did you fetch a blanket along with you, Ralph?"
"Well, I'm too old a hand to be caught napping in the woods withoutthinking of the night that is coming," replied the other, laughingat the same time. "Over in the corner you'll see the bully redblanket that's hugged me tight on many a cold night when I wastending my line of traps. I feel that it is like an old friendwhen I get it tucked around me, and you'd think I was an Esquimolying there, or one of those mummies they get out of Mexican catacombs."
"That's all right," Hugh declared; "I thought you were too sensibleto come up here and spend a night at this time of year withoutsomething to keep you from freezing. Why, even on a summer nightthat starts in hot, it's apt to feel chilly along about three inthe morning. I've seen the time when I'd have given a heap to havemy blanket along; and the only thing I could do was to get up andstart the fire booming again."
The three boys started to pick out the best spots for making theirbeds, each one being governed by some idea of his own. It was luckythey did not all think alike, or they must have drawn straws forfirst choice.
Hugh was carefully laying his blanket down so that he could crawlinto it as if it were a bag, after he had taken his shoes and someof his outer clothing off, when he felt a gentle tug at his sleeve.
"Hugh!" said a soft voice in a whisper.
"What is it, Ralph?" questioned the other, going right along with whathe was doing in order not to show that there was anything amiss.
"Don't act as if I was saying anything out of the common, Hugh," saidthe other; "but first chance you get, peep out of the tail of youreye at the broken window, and you'll find that we're being watched!"