The very ground shivered under them. It seemed as though some
subterranean mine must have been exploded, causing the rockribbed
earth to quiver in a sickening fashion.
When they dared look up again, the queer bat-like object had vanished
entirely from sight. Voices were heard, however, close at hand.
They told of more or less excitement; and coming with them was the
sound of one or more persons pushing recklessly through the thickets
that grew in many places as a second growth.
Presently even these noises died away and a dead silence reigned. By
then, Bud managed to regain possession of his voice.
"Oh, another terrible meteor! Why, we must be right in the middle
of a shower of shooting stars! And let me tell you, that one hit the
earth not a great way off, too! I'm going to take a look in the
morning and see if I can find it. They say that college professors
often pay big sums for being set on the track of these meteors that
bury themselves in the ground. What if she had dropped right down
on top of this shanty, boys? I'm glad we got off as well as we did,
aren't you, Hugh?"
Hugh did not answer. Evidently he was thinking deeply at that
particular moment. There was indeed plenty to concern him in
connection with the mysterious aeroplane that nightly circled the
region, always accompanied by that strange explosion.
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