g? Yes!" spoke Blake, in a low, tense voice. "And I can
guess what they're experimenting for."

"What?"

Blake was about to answer, when one of the men, looking in the direction
where the boys were concealed, uttered an exclamation.

"Hark!" he cried. "I think I heard something."

"It was the wind," declared one.

"A bird in the bushes," said another.

"I'm going to see!" declared the man. And he came straight toward their
hiding place.

CHAPTER XVI

JOE SUSPECTS SOMETHING

"What'll we do, Blake?" was the whispered question.

"Stay here, I guess. If we run they'll see us or hear us. Besides, we
haven't done anything to run for."

"I know it, but those men look like ugly customers. I wonder what they
can be up to?"

"They are--" began Blake, and then he pulled Joe down beside him in the
bushes.

"He's turned off to one side," Blake went on. "He hasn't seen us, and he
doesn't know just where to look. He may pass us by. Keep still!"

Together they crouched down. The man looked around as though to trace
the noise which had been made when Joe accidentally stepped on a stick,
which broke under his weight.

"Don't breathe," whispered Blake, with his lips close to Joe's ear. "I
think he's going to pass us by."

The man paused, seemed as if about to come directly for them again, and
then dashed off to one side. He made a leap into the bushes, only to
discover nothing, as his chagrined exclamation showed.

"I told you so!" growled one of his companions. "It was only the wind."

"The wind doesn't break sticks," was the snappish reply.

"Then it was a bird--maybe a fishhawk."

"Maybe," assented the man who had started to make the search. "But I
thought some one was spying on us, and if they were----" He did not
finish, but glared angrily around. He was so close to the boys that they
could hear his rapid breathing, but the leafy screen effectively hid
them from view. "If I catch any one," he went on, "he'll wish he never
ran across Hemp Danforth!" and he shook a big fist.

"Oh, come on!" called some of his companions. "There's lots to be done
yet before we get this lantern finished. And if we want any rich
pickings we'll have to hustle for 'em. The weather looks like it was
going to break, and that will be just what we want. Come on, Hemp."

"All right, I will, only don't talk so bold and free."

"Why not?"

"Because some one might be spying and listening to us."

"He's got that on his mind y