CHAPTER XVIII
THE LONE HOUSE BY THE ROADSIDE
"Listen, Tom!" hissed Jack.
The other had just sighed with relief on completing the work of replacing the spark-plug that had become fouled with oil.
"I, too, heard it plainly, Jack!" he breathed.
"Was it someone screaming or sobbing?" asked the other breathlessly.
"Sounded like it to me."
"And either a woman or a girl, at that!" hazarded his chum in bewildment.
"It might have been a boy," suggested Tom. "There it is again."
Both of them listened. Peculiar sensations crept over them as they stood and thus strained their ears to catch any further sounds. Sobbing at any time is enough to arouse the feelings of a sensitive nature; but heard in the dead of night, and under the conditions that surrounded the two young aviators, made it all the more thrilling.
Jack in particular was touched to the heart.
"Say, that's a queer thing, Tom!" he muttered. "Why should anybody be crying or screaming like that away off here, and at this time of night?"
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