CHAPTER XX
NEWS OF A ROBBERY
With a hand that trembled so he could scarcely hold the receiver of thetelephone, Mr. Swift placed it to his ear.
"Hello! Hello!" he cried into the transmitter. "Yes, this is Mr.Swift--yes, Garret. What is it?"
Then came a series of clicks, which Tom and Ned listened to. Theinventor spoke again.
"What's that? The same men? Broke in early this evening? Oh, that'stoo bad! Of course, I'll come at once."
There followed more meaningless clicks, which Tom wished he couldtranslate. His father hung up the receiver, turned to him andexclaimed:
"I've been robbed again!"
"Robbed again! How, dad?"
"By that same rascally gang, Garret thinks. This evening, when he andMrs. Baggert were in the house the burglar alarm went off. Theindicator showed that the electrical shop had been entered, and theengineer hurried there. He saw a light inside and the shadows ofpersons on the windows. Before he could reach the shop, however, thethieves heard him coming and escaped. Oh, Tom, I should never havecome away!"
"But did they take anything, dad? Perhaps Garret frightened them awaybefore they had a chance to steal any of your things. Did you ask himthat?"
"I didn't need to. He said he made a hasty exanimation before hecalled me up, and he is sure a number of my electrical inventions aremissing. Some of them are devices I never have had patented, and if Ilose them I will have no recovery."
"But just what ones are they? Perhaps we can send out a police alarmto-night."
"Garret couldn't tell that," answered Mr. Swift as he paced to and froin the hotel office. "He doesn't know all the tools and machinery Ihad in there. But it is certain that some of my most valuable thingshave been taken."
"Never mind. Don't worry, dad," and Tom tried to speak soothingly, forhe saw that his father was much excited. "We may be able to get themback. How does Garret know the same men who stole the turbine modelbroke in the shop this evening?"
"He saw them. One was Happy Harry, he is positive. The others he didnot know, but he recognized the tramp from our description of him."
"Then we must tell the police at once."
"Yes, Tom, I wish you would telephone. I'll give you a description ofthe things. No, I can't do that either, for I don't know what wasstolen. I must go home at once to find out. It's a good thing themotor-boat is here. Come, let's start at once. What is my bill here?"and the inventor turned to the hotel proprietor, who had come into theoffice. "I have suffered a severe loss and must leave at once."
"I am very sorry, sir. I'll have it ready for you in a few minutes."
"All right. Tom, is your boat ready for a quick trip?"
"Yes, dad, but I don't like to make it at night with three in. Ofcourse it might be perfectly safe, but there's a risk, and I don't liketo take it."
"Don't worry about the risk on my account, Tom. I'm not afraid. Imust get home and see of what I have been robbed."
The young inventor was in a quandary. He wanted to do as his fatherrequested and to aid him all he could, yet he knew that an all-nighttrip in the boat down the lake would be dangerous, not only from thechance of running on an unknown shore or into a hidden rock, butbecause Mr. Swift was not physically fitted to stand the journey.
"Come, Tom," exclaimed the aged inventor impatiently, "we must start atonce!"
"Won't morning do as well, dad?"
"No, I must start now. I could not sleep worrying over what hashappened. We will start--"
At that instant there came a low, rumbling peal of thunder. Mr. Swiftstarted and peered from a window. There came a flash of lightning andanother vibrant report from the storm-charged clouds.
"There is your bill, Mr. Swift," remarked the proprietor, coming up,"but I would not advise you to start to-night. There is a bad storm inthe west, and it will reach here in a few minutes. Storms on LakeCarlopa, especially at this open and exposed end, are not to bedespised, I assure you."
"But I must get home!" insisted Tom's father.
The lace curtain over the window blew almost straight out with a suddenbreeze, and a flash of lightning so bright that it reflected even inthe room where the incandescent electrics were glowing made severalothers jump. Then came a mighty crash, and with that the flood-gatesof the storm were opened, and the rain came down in torrents. Tomactually breathed a sigh of relief. The problem was solved for him.It would be impossible to start to-night, and he was glad of it, muchas he wanted to get on the trail of the thieves.
There was a scurrying on the part of the hotel attendants to close thewindows, and the guests who had been enjoying the air out on theporches came running in. With a rush, a roar and a muttering, as pealafter peal of thunder sounded, the deluge continued.
"It's a good thing we didn't start," observed Ned.
"I should say so," agreed Tom. "But we'll get off the first thing inthe morning, dad."
Mr. Swift did not reply, but his nervous pacing to and fro in the hoteloffice showed how anxious he was to be at home again. There was nohelp for it, however, and, after a time, finding that to think ofreaching his house that night was out of the question, the inventorcalmed down somewhat.
The storm continued nearly all night, as Tom could bear witness, for hedid not sleep well, nor did his father. And when he came down tobreakfast in the morning Mr. Swift plainly showed the effects of thebad news. His face was haggard and drawn and his eyes smarted andburned from lack of sleep.
"Well, Tom, we must start early," he said nervously. "I am glad it hascleared off. Is the boat all ready?"
"Yes, and it's a good thing it was under shelter last night or we'dhave to bail it out now, and that would delay us."
An hour later they were under way, having telephoned to the engineer atthe Swift home that they were coming. Garret Jackson reported over thewire that he had notified the Shopton police of the robbery, but thatlittle could be done until the inventor arrived to give a descriptionof the stolen articles.
"And that will do little good, I fear," remarked Tom. "Those fellowshave evidently been planning this for some time and will cover theirtracks well. I'd like to catch them, not only to recover your things,dad, but to find out the mystery of my boat and why the man took thetank braces."