Guess we'd better give him a hail; whoever it is."

Tom came to a halt, and raising his voice to a shout called:

"Hello there! What's the matter? We'll help you if you can tell us
which way to come!"

They both listened intently, but no voice answered them. At the same
time, however, they were aware of a sound as of hurrying feet, and
there seemed to be muttered imprecations not far away. Tom and Mr.
Damon looked in the direction of the sound, and the young inventor
flashed his light. But there was a clump of bushes and trees at that
point and the electrical rays did not penetrate very far.

"Some one's over there!" exclaimed Tom in a whisper. "We'd better go
and see what it is."

"All right," agreed Mr. Damon, and he, too, spoke in a low voice.

Why they did this when their previous talk had been in ordinary tones,
and when Tom had shouted so loudly, they did not stop to reason about
or explain just then. But later they both admitted that they whispered
because they thought there was something wrong on foot--because they
feared a crime was being committed and they wanted to surprise the
perpetrators if they could.

And it was this fact of their whispering that enabled the two to hear
something that, otherwise, they might not have heard. And this was the
sound of some vehicle hurrying away--an automobile, if Tom was any
judge. The cries for help had been succeeded by stifled vocal sounds,
and these, in turn, by the noise of wheels on the ground.

"What does it all mean?" asked Mr. Damon in a whisper.

"I don't know," answered Tom, resolutely, "but we've got to find out.
Come on."

They advanced toward the dark clump of trees and low bushes. There was
no need to be especially cautious in regard to being silent, as their
feet made little, if any, sound on the deep grass. And, as Tom walked
in advance, now and then flashing his light, Mr. Damon suddenly caught
him by the coat.

"What is it?" asked the young inventor.

"Look! Just over the top of that hill, where the moon shines. Don't
you see an automobile outlined?"

Tom looked quickly.

"I do," he answered. "There's a road from here, just the other side of
those trees, to that hill. The auto must have gone that way. Well,
there's no use in trying to follow it now. Whoever it was has gotten
away."

"But they may have left some one behind, Tom. We'd better look in and
around those trees."

"I suppose we had, but I don't believe we'll find anything.