*CHAPTER XVII*
*THE WATCHERS*
They watched the Schwarzwalder and his beast of burden disappear intothe forest, then for some minutes the two Englishmen, buried in thought,sat by the embers of the fire. Neither spake to his companion for awhile, as, deep in contemplation, each endeavoured to fathom in his ownmind this secret of the phantom aeroplane, this riddle of the sphinx.At last Keane addressed his colleague.
"This travelling clock-maker has confirmed our theory, Sharpe," he said.
"Yes, the simple fellow has helped us not a little," replied the other.
"We must continue our search without further delay, lest this talkativepeasant should himself encounter this genius, and unwittingly announcethe presence of two strangers in the forest. That is my great fearnow."
"You don't think this fellow misled us, Keane?"
"Why do you ask? He was too dull-witted to be anything in the nature ofan accomplice," replied the captain.
"Quite so, but he might have been a tool in the hands of this mysteryman," added Sharpe, as a sudden feeling of suspicion shot across hismind.
"In that case we ought to have followed him, but I scarcely think itworth while. A dull-witted man of that type would have been toodangerous to his employer, even when used merely as a tool. The onlydanger I anticipate from that quarter, unless I am utterly mistaken, isthat the fellow may encounter someone in the forest who is engaged inthe plot, and thus reveal our presence, as I stated previously,"observed Keane, as he began to get his traps together, ready for themarch.
"Anyhow, we have learned something from the Schwarzwalder."
"By the way, Sharpe, you might tune up your little wireless pocket'phone, and ascertain if there are any messages floating around."
"So I will; we might pick up something," replied the junior airman, andthe next moment he climbed into a straggling, low-branched tree,uncoiled a small aerial, and, starting his little battery, listenedattentively for any stray message that might be floating through theether.
"Anything?" asked Keane, coming to the foot of the tree.
"Nothing," remarked the other.
"Then we'll push off."
Five minutes later, having adjusted their packs, collected their nets,and having stamped out the remains of the fire, they were ready tostart.
"Which path shall we take?" asked Sharpe, for there were twoill-defined, grass-grown tracks which led away from the clearing. Oneled past Jacob Stendahl's cottage, and had been followed by theSchwarzwalder, and the other, the lesser trodden of the two, led theyknew not where.
"Let us take the one on the right," said Keane, indicating the latter."It is more likely to yield us something," and the next moment they werehidden from sight amid the dense undergrowth of this part of the forest.
Scarcely had they disappeared from view when one of the upper branchesof a tree near to the edge of the clearing suddenly appeared to move,then to swing loosely for a second, and drop to the ground. Then for amoment there was silence, save for the call of a nightjar which had beendisturbed, but a moment later a dark shadow debouched from the edge ofthe forest and crossed quietly but quickly to where the fire had beenburning a few minutes previously.
A low whistle, repeated twice, brought a similar shadow from theopposite side of the clearing, and the two indistinct, but human shapes,met each other face to face.
"Who were they, Professor?" asked the second arrival of the first.
"Himmel! Ich weiss nicht, Strauss," replied his companion, who was noneother than the renowned Professor Rudolf Weissmann, "but I fear thatthey portend us no good."
"Let us examine the ground to see if they have left any clue behind."
So for the next few minutes the professor and his mechanic searched theground carefully for any little souvenir which the travellers might haveleft behind them. And whilst they searched, they talked in low, buteager whispers.
"Did you hear that half-witted Schwarzwalder talking aloud about the_Scorpion_?" asked the professor.
"Yes. He called it a phantom-bird, did he not?" replied Strauss. "Iheard nearly all he said, he spoke so loudly and coarsely."
"Could you hear what the others said?"
"Not a word; they spoke so quietly, save once or twice when they spoketo the clock-maker."
"Nor could I, and that is what makes me so suspicious," returnedWeissmann.
"They spoke good German, though," ventured the mechanic.
"Bah! Of course they would. Nevertheless, it's my firm opinion thatthey're foreigners, and that they're here for some special reason."
"And that reason is?"
"To find out about the _Scorpion_," snarled the mathematician.
"Ach!" exclaimed the other; "the _Scorpion_ is two thousand miles away."
"Then their next business is to find the aerodrome," said the professor.
"Blitz! that they'll never do except by accident. Think of those livewires waiting for them if they get within a hundred yards of it. Wehave found six dead men there already; I don't want to dig any moregraves," returned Strauss.
They had continued the search for fully ten minutes, and the professor,occasionally flashing his pocket torch, was carefully examining the longgrass within a radius of some twelve of fifteen feet of the spot wherethe fire had been. Wise man that he was, he carried out his finalinvestigation to the leeward of the fire, trusting that the breeze mighthave carried some paper fragment, used in lighting a pipe or startingthe fire, in that direction. Nor was he disappointed. He was just aboutto conclude his search, however, when his sharp eyes caught sight of apiece of half burnt and twisted paper hidden away amongst the longergrass.
"Donnerwetter!" he exclaimed under his breath, as he flashed his torchupon the paper for a second. "I thought so; here is evidence enough foran execution."
"What is it, mein herr?" asked the mechanic, hastening to his side.
"Do you see that?" said his companion, untwisting the paper once againand flashing a light upon it.
"Ja! ja!" replied the other as he strained his eyes in the attempt todecipher the handwriting on the half-burnt sheet. "But I cannotunderstand it, for it is in a foreign language."
"It is part of a small fragment of an envelope, and the writing, whichis in English, is certainly almost undecipherable, but I can distinguishthe letters '...eane'."
"Ach, Himmel! That is Keane!" replied Strauss. "He is one of theaerial police, is he not?"
"You are right, Fritz. This letter was addressed through the Englishpost to Captain Keane, one of Tempest's best men, if not indeed his mostbrilliant 'brain-wave,'" hissed the professor.
"Donner und blitzen! Then he has come here to search for the_Scorpion_, and the aerodrome."
"Yes, but look, he only left London a few hours ago, for here is theLondon postmark in the corner, bearing yesterday's date."
"And his companion? Who is he?" asked the mechanic.
"It must be that other scout pilot, Sharpe; they work together. But,mark my word, Friedrich Strauss, they are mistaken if they think to findan easy victim in Professor Rudolf Weissmann. I'll teach them to trackme like a murderer through the Schwarzwald. They have come to the BlackForest, and here they shall stay." And for once, the quiet,mild-mannered professor jerked out his words with unusual vehemence.
The mechanic saw that his chief was deeply agitated by this suddendiscovery, which confirmed all his recent fears, and to allay hisfeelings, he said,
"But they will never find the aerodrome, Professor, or, if indeed theyfind it, they will never enter it alive; think of the preparations youhave made for all uninvited guests," and the speaker shuddered, for heknew something of the terrors of that "death-circle" in the lonelyforest.
"Bah! it is my secret they want, the secret of that mysterious powerwhich drives the _Scorpion_."
"Uranis?" ventured the other.
The professor nodded, for he regarded it as the greater succes
s of thetwo. Without it the _Scorpion_ would be useless; with it a dozen_Scorpions_ could be built, once the facilities were provided.Unfortunately the discovery had been effected too late to win the warfor the Fatherland. Besides, he had not received the encouragement fromthe government that he had deserved, and his soul was consequentlyembittered.
"Come," he said at last, "we must get back to the aerodrome and watchfor these half-witted Englishmen. Once there we can afford to laugh atthem. They will soon be held in a vice. But I must send a furthermessage to the _Scorpion_ out on the Hamadian plains, hinting howmatters stand. After that communications may have to cease for a while.As for these death-hunters, they will find out presently that they areup against something far more terrible than anything which old JacobStendahl or the wood-cutter have ever imagined in their wildest fancy.The secret of the Schwarzwald is not for them. I hold the master-key,Fritz, and when I die that master-key will be broken."
And the two men, who had been aware of the presence of the Englishmenever since they entered the forest, and had watched them accordingly,now moved off in the same direction which the latter had taken half anhour before.