Tom Swift and His Air Scout; Or, Uncle Sam's Mastery of the Sky

by Victor Appleton

  CHAPTER X

  A BIG SPLASH

  There was no question in the mind of Tom Swift but that the man he wasrunning after was guilty of some wrong-doing. In the first place he wasa stranger, and had no right inside the big fence that surrounded theSwift machine plant. Then, too, the very fact that he ran away wassuspicious.

  And this, coupled with the confusion on the part of Bower, and hisproximity to the safe, made Tom fear that some of his plans had beenstolen. These he was very anxious to recover if this strange man hadthem, and so he raced after him with all speed.

  "Stop! Stop!" called Tom, but the on-racing stranger did not heed.

  The cries of the young inventor soon attracted the attention of hismen, and Jackson and some of the others came running from their variousshops to give whatever aid was needed. But they were all too far awayto give effective chase.

  "Bower might have come with me if he had wanted to help," thought Tom.But a backward glance over his shoulder did not show that the newhelper was engaging in the pursuit, and he could have started almost onthe same terms as Tom himself.

  The runaway, looking back to see how near the young inventor was tohim, suddenly changed his course, and, noting this, Tom Swift thought:

  "I've got him now! He'll be bogged if he runs that way," for the wayled to a piece of swampy land that, after the recent rains, was averitable bog which was dangerous for cattle at least; and more thanone man had been caught there.

  "He can't run across the swamp, that's sure," reflected Tom with somesatisfaction. "I'll get him all right!"

  But he wanted to capture the man, if possible, before he reached thebog, and, to this end, Tom increased his speed to such good end thatpresently, on the firm ground that bordered the swamp, Tom was almostwithin reaching distance of the stranger.

  But the latter kept up running, and dodged and turned so that Tom couldnot lay hands on him. Suddenly, turning around a clump of trees thefleeing man headed straight for a veritable mud hole that lay directlyin his path. It was part of the swamp--the most liquid part of the bogand a home of frogs and lizards.

  Too late, the man, who was evidently unaware of the proximity of theswamp, saw his danger. His further flight was cut off by the mud hole,but it was too late to turn back. Tom Swift was at his heels now, andseeing that it was impossible to grab the man, Tom did the next bestthing. He stuck out his foot and tripped him, and tripped him right onthe edge of the mud hole, so that the man fell in with a big splash,the muddy water flying all around, some even over the young inventor.

  For a moment the man disappeared completely beneath the surface, forthe mud hole was rather deep just where Tom had thrown him. Then therewas another violent agitation of the surface, and a very woebegone andmuddy face was raised from the slough, followed by the rest of thefigure of the man. Slowly he got to his feet, mud and water drippingfrom him. He cleared his face by rubbing his hands over it, not that itmade his countenance clean, but it removed masses of mud from his eyes,nose, and mouth, so that he could see and speak, though his firstoperation was to gasp for breath.

  "What--what are you doin'?" he demanded of Tom, and as the man openedhis mouth to speak Tom was aware of a glitter, which disclosed the'fact that the man had a large front tooth of gold.

  "What am I doing?" repeated Tom. "I think it's up to you to answer thatquestion, not me. What are you doing?"

  "You--you tripped me into this mud hole!" declared the man.

  "I did, yes; because you were trespassing on my property, and ran awayinstead of stopping when I told you to," went on Tom. "Who are you andwhat are you doing? What were you doing with Bower at my shop?"

  "Nothin'! I wasn't doin' nothin'!"

  "Well, we'll inquire into that. I want to see what you have in yourpockets before I believe you. Come on out!"

  "You haven't any right to go through my pockets!" blustered thestranger.

  "Oh, haven't I? Well, I'm going to take the right. Jackson--Koku--justsee that he doesn't get away. We'll take him back and search him," andTom motioned to his chief machinist and the giant, who had reached thescene, to take charge of the man. But Koku was sufficient for thispurpose, and the mud-bespattered stranger seemed to shrink as he sawthe big creature approach him. There was no question of running awayafter that.

  "Bring him along," ordered Tom, and Koku, taking a tight grip on theman by the slack of his garments behind, walked him along toward theoffice, the mud and water splashing and oozing from his shoes at everystep.

  "Now you look here!" the gold-toothed man cried, as he was forcedalong, "you ain't got any right to detain me. I ain't done nothin'!"And each time he spoke the bright tooth in his mouth glittered in thesun.

  "I don't know whether you've done anything or not," said Tom. "I'mgoing to take you back and see what you and Bower have to say. He mayknow something about this."

  "If he does I don't believe he'll tell," said Jackson.

  "Why not?" asked Tom, quickly.

  "Because he's gone."

  "Gone! Bower gone?"

  "Yes," answered Jackson. "I saw him running out of the experiment shopas we raced along to help you. I didn't think, at the time, that he wasdoing more than go for aid, perhaps. But I see the game now."

  "Oh, you mean--him?" and Tom pointed to the dripping figure.

  "Yes," said Jackson in a low voice, as Koku went on ahead with hisprisoner. "If, as you say, this man was in league with Bower, thelatter has smelled a rat and skipped. He has run away, and I only hopehe hasn't done any damage or got hold of any of your plans."

  "We'll soon know about that," said Tom. "I wonder who is at the bottomof this?"

  "Maybe those men you wouldn't work for," suggested the machinist.

  "You mean Gale and Ware of the Universal Flying Machine Company?"

  "Yes."

  "Oh, I don't believe they'd stoop to any such measures as this--sendingspies around," replied Tom. "But I can't be too careful. We'llinvestigate."

  The first result of the investigation was to disclose the fact thatBower was gone. He had taken his few possessions and left the Swiftplant while Tom was racing after the stranger. A hasty examination ofthe safe did not reveal anything missing, as Tom's plans and paperswere intact. But they showed evidences of having been looked over, forthey were out of the regular order in which the young inventor keptthem.

  "I begin to see it," said Tom, musingly. "Bower must have managed toopen the safe while I was gone, and he must have made a hasty copy ofsome of the drawings of the silent motor, and passed them out of thewindow to this gold-tooth man, who tried to make off with them. Did youfind anything on him?" he asked, as one of the men who had beeninstructed to search the stranger came into the office just then.

  "Not a thing, Mr. Swift! Not a thing!" was the answer. "We took offevery bit of his clothes and wrapped him in a blanket. He's in theengine room getting dry now. But there isn't a thing in any of hispockets."

  "But I saw him stuffing some papers in as he ran away from me," saidTom. "We must be sure about this. And don't let the fellow get awayuntil I question him."

  "Oh, he's safe enough," answered the man. "Koku is guarding him. Hewon't get away."

  "Then I'll have a look at his clothes," decided Tom. "He may have asecret pocket."

  But nothing like this was disclosed, and the most careful search didnot reveal anything incriminating in the man's garments.

  "He might have thrown away any papers Bower gave him," said Tom. "Maybethey're at the bottom of the mud hole! If they're there they're safeenough. But have a search made of the ground where this man ran."

  This was done, but without result. Some of the workmen even dragged themud hole without finding anything. Then Tom and his father had a talkwith the stranger, who refused to give his name. The man was sullen andangry. He talked loudly about his innocence and of "having the law on"Tom for having tripped him into the mud.

  "All right, if you want to make a complaint, go ahead," said the younginventor. "I'll make one
against you for trespass. Why did you come onmy grounds?"

  "I was going to ask for work. I'm a good machinist and I wanted a job."

  "How did you get in? Who admitted you at the gate?"

  "I--I jest walked in," said the man, but Tom knew this could not betrue, as no strangers were admitted without a permit and none had beenissued. The man denied knowing anything about Bower, but the latter'sflight was evidence enough that something was wrong.

  Not wishing to go to the trouble of having the man arrested merely as atrespasser, Tom let him go after his clothes had been dried on a boilerin one of the shops.

  "Take him to the gate, and tell him if he comes back he'll get anotherdose of the same kind of medicine," ordered Tom to one of the guards atthe plant, and when the latter had reported that this had been done, headded in an earnest tone:

  "He went off talking to himself and saying he'd get even with you, Mr.Swift."

  "All right," said Tom easily. "I'll be on the watch."

  The young inventor made a thorough examination of his experiment shopand the test motor. No damage seemed to have been done, and Tom beganto think he had been too quick for the conspirators, if such they were.His plans and drawings were intact, and though Bower might have given acopy to the stranger with the gold tooth, the latter did not take anyaway with him. That he had some papers he wished to conceal and escapewith, seemed certain, but the splash into the mud hole had ended this.

  No trace was found of Bower, and an effort Tom made to ascertain if theman was a spy in the employ of Gale and Ware came to naught. Themachinist had come well recommended, and the firm where he was lastemployed had nothing but good to say of him.

  "Well, it's a mystery," decided Tom. "However, I got out of it prettywell. Only if that gold-tooth individual shows up again he won't getoff so easily."