CHAPTER XI
THE VAMPIRES
Tom Swift looked deliberately around. It
was characteristic of him that, though by nature
he was prompt in action, he never acted so hurriedly
as to obscure his judgment. So, though
now Ned showed a trace of strange excitement,
Tom was cool.
"What is it?" asked the young inventor.
"What's the matter? What did you think you saw,
Ned; another alligator?"
"Alligator? Nonsense! Up on shore? I saw
a black shadow, and I didn't THINK I saw it,
either. I really did."
Tom laughed quietly.
"A shadow!" he exclaimed. "Since when
were you afraid of shadows, Ned?"
"I'm not afraid of ordinary shadows," answered
Ned, and in his voice there was an uncertain
tone. "I'm not afraid of my shadow or
yours, Tom, or anybody's that I can see. But
this wasn't any human shadow. It was as if a
great big blob of wet darkness had been waved
over your head."
"That's a queer explanation," Tom said in a
low voice. "A great big blob of wet darkness!"
"But that just describes it," went on Ned,
looking up and around. "It was just as if you were in
some dark room, and some one waved a wet
velvet cloak over your head--spooky like! It
didn't make a sound, but there was a smell as
if a den of some wild beast was near here. I
remember that odor from the time we went
hunting with your electric rifle in the jungle, and
got near the den in the rocks where the tigers
lived."
"Well, there is a wild beast smell all around
here," admitted Tom, sniffing the air.
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