“Besides, there was that other fellow—the man with the Vandyke beard. Might be a shyster lawyer, or something of the kind. He wasn’t spotted, either.”
“To tell the truth, I didn’t bother to give the Detective Agency the description of that fellow, although you gave it to me,” and Tom laughed. “I must confess that I depend more upon my man-trap electric wires to protect the invention than I do on the private inquiry agent.”
“It’s funny, just the same. If I had another job for a detective I should not submit it to the Blatz Agency,” grumbled Ned.
“I fancy Montagne Lewis and his crowd called off their Wild West gunman,” said Tom. “In any case, every attempt he made to bother us turned out a fizzle. I am not, however, forgetting precautions, my boy.”
Ned Newton realized that his chum had determined to make this night test of the electric locomotive the pivotal trial of the whole affair. He came back to the works after dinner and was let in by the office watchman at about nine o’clock.
“Mr. Tom here yet?” he asked the man.
“Yes, Mr. Newton. The young boss didn’t go home to supper, even. That colored man brought something down for him, and he’s in the shed yet.”
“Rad is here, you mean?”
“Yes, sir. At least, he didn’t go out this way, and we watchmen have instructions to let nobody in or out by the yard gates at night.”
“I’ll say Tom is being careful,” thought Ned, as he stepped out through the runway toward the erection shed.
Before he reached the entrance to the huge shed, however, Ned chanced to look down the enclosure. There were several arc lights burning, but even these only furnished a dim illumination for the whole yard.
He supposed that four watchmen were tramping their several beats along the inside of the stockade and close to the trolley-track. But when he saw an instant gleam of light down there, close to the ground, Ned did not believe that it was the flash of a torch in the hand of any sentry.
“Funny,” he muttered. “That’s outside the fence, or I’m much mistaken. I wonder now—”
He turned from the door of the shed, left the runway, and began walking toward the distant point at which he had seen the mysterious flash of light.
CHAPTER XV
THE ENEMY STILL ACTIVE
Ned was dressed in a dark business suit, so he was not likely to be observed from a distance, for it was a starless night. Half way to the end of the great yard he began to wonder if the light he had seen might not have been an hallucination.
He doubted very much if anybody was creeping about outside the fence. The boards were close together, with scarcely a crack half an inch wide anywhere. A light out there—
It flashed again. He was positive of it this time, and of its locality as well. It could be nobody who had any honest business about the Swift Construction Company’s premises. It was not Koku, for ordinarily the giant would not use an electric torch.
Ned did not know where any of the watchmen were who were acting as sentinels. In fact, as it appeared later, three of them had been called off their beats by Tom himself to help in some necessary task inside the shed. The young inventor was getting ready to run the huge locomotive out upon the yard-track.
Remembering vividly the attempt which had been made some weeks before to blow up the Hercules 0001, it was only natural that Ned should suspect that the flash of light he had seen revealed the presence of some ill-conditioned person lurking just beyond the fence.
A man might be crouching there prepared to hurl an explosive bomb over the fence when the locomotive was brought around as far as that spot. Or was the villain foolish enough to attempt to enter the enclosure by surmounting the fence?
Ned, keeping close to the ground, crossed the rails in the fortunate shadow of one of the posts. There he found a place where, with his back to a pole-prop right at this curve in the trolley system, the shadow enfolded him completely.
Had his movements been marked by the person outside the fence? Ned waited several long and anxious minutes for some move from out there. Then something rather unexpected occurred. For the past ten minutes he had forgotten about the test of the Hercules 0001 which Tom had promised.
With a blast of its siren the huge electric locomotive burst out of the shed and thundered around the track. It smote Ned Newton’s mind suddenly that the inventor was going to “take a chance” on this evening and try to get some speed out of the huge machine.
The electric headlight cast a broad cone of white and dazzling light across the yard. It suddenly struck full upon the spot where Ned Newton crouched; but the upright against which he leaned was broad enough to hide him completely.
Looking up at the top of the stockade at that moment of illumination, the young financial manager of the Swift Construction Company beheld a crawling figure nearing the wire entanglements on the summit of the fence.
The unknown man was climbing by means of a notched pole. Ned could not see that he bore any bulky object in his hands; indeed, he needed both of them to aid him to climb. But the man’s right hand was reaching upward, above his head.
The Hercules 0001 came roaring on. Its cone of light passed beyond Ned’s station. In a few seconds it reached the spot, and roared on. Ned had not made a move. It seemed to him that he could not move or speak.
The onrush of the electric locomotive all but swept the young fellow from his feet. It had come and gone in an instant!
“He’s making more than fifteen or twenty miles an hour, all right,” muttered Ned.
Then he flashed another glance up at the figure outside the fence. The man’s cap showed above the top of the boards. He seemed to be dragging something up to him from below—something that hung and swung around and around a few feet from the ground.
Ned was about to dart out of concealment and hail the fellow. He was not armed, nor could he get out of the stockade near this point. He feared what the marauder intended, and he felt that he must frighten him away.
“Suppose that is a bomb and he means to fling it in front of Tom’s locomotive?” thought the anxious Ned.
He again saw the stranger’s right hand reach up above his head. But he had no bomb in his hand. Ned suddenly shrieked a word of warning! It had come to him what the man was doing and what the result of his act would be.
The wire-cutters bit on one of the copper wires. There followed a flash of blue flame, and the man screamed. He dropped the thing swinging below him and involuntarily grabbed at the wires with his left hand.
He was caught, then! The crackling intermittent shocks of electric fluid passed through his body in fiery sequence. His limbs writhed. He mouthed horribly, and croaking gasps came from between his wide open jaws.
The Hercules 0001 had rounded the enclosure and was coming down upon its second lap. The cone of white radiance from the headlight fell upon the writhing body of the victim on the wires. The locomotive siren emitted a blast that almost deafened Ned.
The monster ground to a stop. Tom swung himself half out of the cab window beside the controller.
“Who’s that?” he yelled. Then he saw Ned below him. “Who is that fellow?”
“No friend of yours, Tom, I believe,” returned his financial manager in a shaking voice.
“Where’s Rad? Rad!” Tom shouted at the top of his voice.
“I’s comm’, Massa Tom,” rejoined the colored man.
“Never mind coming here! Get a move on, and get to the switchboard. Turn the current out of the fence wires.
“Yis, sir, I’ll go Massa Tom,” declared the old man.
“Is he a spotter, Ned?” demanded the inventor.
“He’s no friend. I am going out by the gate. He’s got something there that means harm, I believe. Do you think he’s killed, Tom?”
“Only ought to be. Not enough current to kill him. But he’s badly burned and—and—well! I bet he won’t care to fool around the works again.”
Ned dashed away to an entrance. A watchman cam
e running, opened the small gate, and followed Ned into the open.
Before they arrived at the vicinity of the accident Rad had got to the switchboard. The electricity was shut out of the stockade wires.
Ned uttered another shout. He saw the writhing body of the shocked man fall from the stockade. When he and the watchman got to the spot the fellow lay upon his back, groaning and sobbing; but Ned saw at once that he was more frightened than hurt.
“Well, you did it that time!” exclaimed the young financial manager. “And I hope you got enough.”
“You—you demons!” gasped the man. “I’ll have the law on you—”
“Sure you will,” cackled the watchman. “You had every right in the world to try to cut those wires, of course, and get into the yard of the works. Sure! The judge will believe you all right.”
Ned was, meanwhile, staring closely at the fallen man. Tom had come down from the locomotive and was close to the fence.
“Who is he?” demanded the inventor. “Not O’Malley?”
Ned stepped to the fence and whispered:
“It’s the other fellow. The little chap with the Vandyke. He’s dressed like a tramp, but it’s the same man.”
“Is he badly hurt?” demanded Tom.
“His temper is, Boss,” said the watchman callously. “And say! I know this fellow. He works for the Blatz Detective Agency. I used to work for those folks myself. His name is Myrick—Joe Myrick.”
“Ned,” said Tom sternly, “go to the office and call the police. I’ll make him tell why he was here. And I’ll make the Blatz people explain, too. Hullo! what’s that?”
Ned had seized the rope he had seen in Myrick’s hand, and from a patch of weeds drew a two-gallon oil-can.
“What you got there, Ned?” repeated the young inventor.
“Whatever it is, I am going to be mighty easy with it. I think this scoundrel was trying to get it over the fence and into the way of the locomotive.”
“You can’t hang anything on me,” said Myrick, suddenly. “I was just climbing up to the top of the fence to get a squint at that contraption you’ve built. You can’t hang anything on me.”
“He’s evidently feeling better,” said Tom, scornfully. “Nugent, don’t let him get away from you. Go call the police, Ned. And take care of that can until we can find out what’s in it.”
Later, when the police had removed Joe Myrick and the mysterious can had been deposited in a tub of water in the open lot until its contents could be examined, Tom said to his chum:
“I was just working up some speed on the locomotive. The speedometer indicated fifty-five when I saw that fellow sprawling up there on the fence. I would not have dared go much faster in any case.”
“Why, you weren’t half trying, Tom!” cried the delighted Ned.
“She did slide around easy, didn’t she? Fifty-five on an almost circular track is a good showing. I am not so scared as I was, my boy.”
“You think that on a straight track you might accomplish what you set out to do?”
“It looks like it. At any rate, I shall risk a trial on the H. & P. A. tracks. I’m going to take her West. Be ready on Monday, Ned, for I shall want you with me,” declared Tom Swift.
CHAPTER XVI
OFF FOR THE WEST
Of course, as Tom supposed they would, the Blatz Detective Agency denied that Joe Myrick, their one-time operative, had been engaged through their bureau either to spy upon the Swift Construction Company or to injure Tom’s invention of the electric locomotive.
Nevertheless, three points were indisputable: Myrick had been caught spying; in his possession was a can of explosive which could be set off by concussion; and it was a fact that to Myrick had been first entrusted the matter of hunting for Andy O’Malley when Tom had put the search for the Westerner up to the Blatz people.
“He played traitor both to you, Mr. Swift, and to our agency,” declared Blatz to Tom. “I wash my hands of him. I hope the police send him away for life!”
“He’ll go to prison all right,” said Tom, confidently. “But the main point is that one of your operatives fell down on a simple job. I wanted that Andy O’Malley traced. He’s out of the way, now, of course. If you had put an honest man to work for me, O’Malley would be behind the bars himself.”
“Some doubt of that, Mr. Swift,” grumbled Blatz.
“Why?”
“Where’s your evidence that this O’Malley was connected with the attempt to blow up your locomotive the first time? Mr. Newton’s testimony would need corroboration.”
“Never mind that,” rejoined the young inventor, with a smile. “I’d have him for highway robbery. I recognized him. He robbed me of a wallet. Guess we could put O’Malley away for awhile on that charge. And by the time he got out again my job for that Western railroad would be completed.”
“Humph! Nothing personal in your going after the fellow, then?” queried the head of the detective agency.
“No. But I frankly confess that I am afraid of O’Malley. He is undoubtedly in the employ of men who will pay him well if he wrecks my invention. But there really is no personal grudge between O’Malley and me. At least, I feel no particular enmity against the fellow.”
There was a pause.
“If you say so we will give you a couple of good men as bodyguards on your trip West,” suggested Blatz, licking his lips hungrily.
“As good men as Myrick?” retorted Tom, rather scornfully. “No, thank you. Just make your bill out to the Swift Construction Company to date, and a check will be sent you the first of the month. I will take my own precautions hereafter.”
And those precautions Tom considered sufficient. When the Hercules 0001 was towed out of the enclosure belonging to the Swift Construction Company early on Monday morning, each door and window of the huge cab was barred and locked. Inside the cab rode Koku, the giant.
Koku had his orders to allow nobody to enter the Hercules 0001 until Tom or Ned Newton came to relieve him of his responsibility as guard. The giant had a swinging cot to sleep on and sufficient food—of a kind—to last him for a fortnight if necessary.
He was not armed, for Tom did not often trust him with weapons. The young inventor, however, did not expect that any armed force would attack the electric locomotive.
If Montagne Lewis desired to wreck the new invention which might mean so much to Mr. Bartholomew and the H. & P. A., he surely would not allow his hirelings to attack openly the locomotive while it was en route.
On the other hand, Tom did not really believe that Andy O’Malley would attempt any reprisal against him personally. Of course, the Western desperado might feel himself abused by Tom, especially in the matter of Tom’s use of his ammonia pistol.
But that had happened months ago. O’Malley had undoubtedly been hired by Mr. Bartholomew’s enemies to obtain knowledge of the contract signed between the young inventor and the railroad president; and later it was certain that the spy had tried his best to wreck the electric locomotive.
As for any personal assault so many weeks after O’Malley had clashed with him Tom Swift did not expect it. With Ned in his company on this journey to Hendrickton, the young inventor had good reason to consider that he was perfectly safe.
Mary Nestor and Mr. Swift came to the station to see the two young men off on Monday evening. Mary had heard about the second attempt made to blow up the Hercules 0001 and she begged Tom to take every precaution while he was in the West.
“You will be in the enemy’s country out there, Tom dear,” she warned him. “You won’t be careless?”
“I know I shall be mighty busy,” he told her, laughing. “I’ll let Ned play watch-dog. And you know, his is a cautious soul, Mary.”
“I’ve every confidence in Ned’s faithfulness,” the girl said, still with anxious tone. “But those men who are trying to ruin Mr. Bartholomew’s road will stop at nothing. I must hear from you frequently, Tom, or I shall worry myself ill.”
“Don’t lose your
courage, Mary,” rejoined the inventor, more gravely. “I do not think they will attack me personally again. Remember that Koku is on the job, as well as Ned. And Mr. Damon declares he will follow us West very shortly,” and again Tom chuckled.
“Even Mr. Damon may be a help to you, Tom,” declared Mary, warmly. “At least, he is completely devoted to you.”
“So is Rad Sampson,” said Tom, with a little grimace. “I certainly had my hands full convincing him that father needed him here at home. At that, Rad is pretty warm over the fact that I sent Koku on with the locomotive. If anything should chance to happen to my invention, Eradicate Sampson is going to shout ‘I told you so!’ all over the shop.”
Mary dabbed her eyes a little with her handkerchief, and Tom patted her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Mary,” he said more cheerfully. “There won’t a thing happen to me out there at Hendrickton. I’ll keep the wires hot with telegrams. And I’ll write to both you and father, and give you the full particulars of how we get along. You’ll keep your eye on father, Mary, won’t you?”
“You may be sure of that,” said the girl. “I will not leave him entirely to the care of Rad,” and she tried hard to smile again. But it was a difficult matter.
Such a parting as this is always hard to endure. Tom wrung his father’s hand and warned him to be careful of his health. The train came along and the two young men boarded it with their personal luggage.
They had a flash of the two faces—that of Mr. Swift’s and Mary’s blooming countenance—as the express started again, and then the outlook from the Pullman coach showed them the fast-receding environs of Shopton.
“We’re on our way, my boy,” said Tom to his chum.
“We certainly are,” said Ned, thoughtfully. “I wonder what the outcome of the trip will be? It may not be all plain sailing.”
“Don’t croak,” rejoined the young inventor, with a grin.
“I don’t see how you can appear so cheerful., Why! you don’t even know if that electric locomotive is safe. Something may have already happened to it. The freight train might be wrecked. A dozen things might happen.”
The Tom Swift Megapack Page 319
