Fortunately, Frank was well braced at
the moment and was able to stop him. After a rest to regain their
breath and calm their shaking nerves, they resumed the climb.
At length Frank's feet were on level ground and ahead he saw the
outlines of two latticed towers of familiar construction, and between
them overheard the strands of the antenna. The Germans, Stone earlier
had explained, had built the towers in such fashion that the crest of
the hill hid them from the plain on one side while they were so far
back from the edge of the flat plateau crowning the hill as to be also
hidden from view from the valley.
Whispering an injunction to Frank to follow close at his heels, Stone
crawled on hands and knees to the fissure in the rocks down which led
the wires of the hook-up. It was not a straight descent into the cave,
and no light came from it. But the two knelt in the darkness and put
their heads close to the black opening to listen.
A murmur of speech could be heard distinctly, coming up through the
hole. Frank could not distinguish the words, but with his limited
knowledge of Spanish he was able to decipher that language was being
employed.
"What is it?" he whispered to Stone. "Can you hear? Are they speaking
in Spanish?"
"Silence.
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