Chapter Four

Anxious Days

Peering on all sides as he dashed along the gravel walk,

hoping to catch a glimpse of the unknown intruder in the

garden or shrubbery, Tom sprinted on at top speed. Now and

then he paused to listen, but no sound came to him to tell

of some one in retreat before him. There was only Silence.

"Mighty queer," mused the youth. "Whoever it was, he

couldn't have had more than a minute start of me--no, not

even half a minute--and yet they've disappeared as completely

as though the ground had opened and let them down;

and the worst of it is, that they've taken my plans with them!"

He turned about and retraced his steps, making a careful

search. He saw no one, until, turning a corner, a little

later, he met Eradicate Sampson.

"You haven't seen any strangers around here just now,

have you, Rad?" asked Tom anxiously.

"No, indeedy, I hasn't, Massa Tom.

What fo' kind ob a stranger was him?"

"That's just what I don't know. Rad. But some one sneaked

into the library lust now and took some of my plans while my

father dozed off. I jumped out after him as soon as I could,

but he has disappeared."

"Maybe it were th' man who done stowed hisself away on yo'

airship, de time yo' all went after de diamonds," suggested

the colored man.

"No, it couldn't have been him. If it was anybody, it was

Andy Foger, or some of his crowd. You didn't see Andy,

did you, Rad?"

"No, indeedy; but if I do, I suah will turn mah mule,

Boomerang, loose on him, an' he won't take any mo' plans--

not right off, Massa Tom."

"No, I guess not. Well, I must get back to dad, or he'll worry.

Keep your eyes open, Rad, and if you see Andy Foger,

or any one else, around here, let me know. Just sing out for

all you're worth."

"Shall I call out, Massa Tom, ef I sees dat blessin' man?"

"You mean Mr. Damon?"

"Dat's de one. De gen'man what's allers a-blessin' ob hisself

or his shoelaces, or suffin laik dat. Shall I sing out

ef I sees him?"

"Well, no; not exactly, Rad. Just show Mr. Damon up to the

house. I'd be glad to see him again, though I don't fancy

he'll call. He's off on a little trip, and won't be back for a week.

But watch out, Rad." And with that Tom turned toward

the house, shaking his head over the puzzle of the missing

plans.

"Did you find any one?" asked his father eagerly as the

young inventor entered the library.

"No," was the gloomy answer.

"There wasn't a sign of any one."

Tom went over to the window and looked about for clues.

There was none that he could see, and a further examination

of the ground under the window disclosed nothing. There was

gravel beneath the casement, and this was not the best

medium for retaining footprints. Nor were the gravel walks

any better.

"Not a sign of any one," murmured Tom. "Are you sure you

didn't hear any noise, dad, when you dozed off?"

"Not a sound, Tom. In fact, it's rather unusual for me to

go to sleep like that, but I suppose it's because of my

illness. But I couldn't have been asleep long--not more

than two minutes."

"That's what I think. Yet in that time someone, who must

have been on the watch, managed to get in here and take my

plans for the new sky racer. I don't see how they got the

wire screen open from the outside, though. It fastens with a

strong hook."

"And was the screen open?" asked Mr. Swift

"Yes, it was unhooked. Either they pushed a wire in

through the mesh, caught it under the hook, and pulled it up

from the outside, or else the screen was opened from the

inside."

"I don't believe they could get inside to open the screen

without some of us seeing them," spoke the older inventor.

"More likely, Tom, it wasn't hooked, and they found it an

easy matter to simply pull it open."

"That's possible. I'll ask Mrs. Baggert if the screen was

unhooked."

But the housekeeper could not be certain on that point,

and so that part of the investigation amounted to nothing.

"It's too bad!" exclaimed Mr. Swift. "It's my fault, for

dozing off that way."

"No, indeed, it isn't!" declared Tom stoutly.

"Is the loss a serious one?" asked his father. "Have you

no copy of the plans?"

"Yes, I have a rough draft from which I made the completed

drawings, and I can easily make another set. But that isn't

what worries me--the mere loss of the plans."

"What is it, then, Tom?"

"The fact that whoever took them must know what they are

the plans for a sky racer that is to take part in the big meet.

I have worked it out on a new principle, and it is not

yet patented. Whoever stole my plans can make the same kind

of a sky racer that I intended to construct, and so stand as good

a chance to win the prize of ten thousand dollars as I will."

"That certainly is too bad, Tom. I never thought of that.

Do you suspect any one?"

"No one, unless it's Andy Foger. He's mean enough to do a

thing like that, but I didn't think he'd have the nerve.

However, I'll see if I can learn anything about him. He may

have been sneaking around, and if he has my plans he'd ask

nothing better than to make a sky racer and beat me."

"Oh, Tom, I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Mr. Swift "I--I feel

very bad about it!"

"There, never mind!" spoke the lad, seeing that his father

was looking ill again. "Don't think any more about it, dad.

I'll get back those plans. Come, now. It's time for your

medicine, and then you must lie down." For the aged inventor

was looking tired and weak.

Wearily he let Tom lead him to his room, and after seeing

that the invalid was comfortable Tom called up Dr. Gladby,

to have him come and see Mr. Swift. The doctor said his

patient had been overdoing himself a little, and must rest

more if he was to completely recover.

Learning that his father was no worse, Tom set off to find

Andy Foger.

"I can't rest until I know whether or not he has my

plans," he said to himself. "I don't want to make a speedy

aeroplane, and find out at the last minute that Andy, or

some of his cronies, have duplicated it."

But Tom got little satisfaction from Andy Foger. When that

bully was accused of having been around Tom's house he

denied it, and though the young inventor did not actually

accuse him of taking the plans, he hinted at it. Andy

muttered many indignant negatives, and called on some of his

cronies to witness that at the time the plans were taken he

and they were some distance from the Swift home.

So Tom was baffled; and though he did not believe the

red-haired lad's denial, there was no way in which he could

prove to the contrary.

"If he didn't take the plans, who did?" mused Tom.

As the young inventor turned away after cross-questioning

Andy, the bully called out:

"You'll never win that ten thousand dollars!"

"What do you know about that?" demanded Tom quickly.

"Oh, I know," sneered Andy. "There'll be bigger and better

aeroplanes in that meet than you can make, and you'll never

win the prize."

"I suppose you heard about the affair by sneaking around

under our windows, and listening," said Tom.

"Never mind how I know it, but I do," retorted the bully.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing," said Tom calmly. "If you

come around again it won't be healthy for you. Look out for

live wires, if you try to do the listening act any more,

Andy!" And with that ominous warning Tom turned away.

"What do you suppose he means, Andy?" asked Pete Bailey,

one of Andy's cronies.

"It means he's got electrical wires strung around his place,"

declared Sam Snedecker, "and that we'll be shocked

if we go up there. I'm not going!"

"Me, either," added Pete, and Andy laughed uneasily.

Tom heard what they said, and in the next few days he made

himself busy by putting some heavy wires in and about the

grounds where they would show best. But the wires carried no

current, and were only displayed to impress a sense of fear

on Andy and his cronies, which purpose they served well.

But it was like locking the stable door after the horse

had been stolen, for with all the precautions he could take

Tom could not get back his plans, and he spent many anxious

days seeking them. They seemed to have completely

disappeared, however, and the young inventor decided there

was nothing else to do but to draw new ones.

He set to work on them, and in the meanwhile tried to

learn whether or not Andy had the missing plans. He sought

this information by stealth, and was aided by his chum, Ned

Newton. But all to no purpose. Not the slightest trace or

clue was discovered.

****

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