CHAPTER XIX.
TOM ON A HUNT
Tom held his rifle in readiness, though he only intended it as ameans of intimidation, and would not have fired at the burglarexcept to save his own life. But the sight of the weapon was enoughfor the tramp. He crouched motionless. His own light had gone out,but by the gleam of the electric he carried Tom could see that theman had in his hand some tool with which he had been endeavoring toforce the safe.
"I guess you've got me!" exclaimed the intruder, and there was inhis tones no trace of the tramp dialect.
"It looks like it," agreed Tom grimly. "Are you a tramp now, or insome other disguise?"
"Can't you see?" asked the fellow sullenly, and then Tom did noticethat the man still had on his tramp make-up.
"What do you want?" asked Tom.
"Hard to tell," replied the burglar calmly. "I hadn't got the safeopen before you came down and disturbed me. I'm after money,naturally."
"No, you're not!" exclaimed Tom.
"What's that?" and the man seemed surprised.
"No, you're not!" went on Tom, and he held his rifle in readiness."You're after the patent papers and the model of the turbine motor.But it's gone. Your confederates got it away from me. They probablyhaven't told you yet, and you're still on the hunt for it. You'llnot get it, but I've got you."
"So I see," admitted Happy Harry, and he spoke with some culture."If you don't mind," he went on, "would you just as soon move thatgun a little? It's pointing right at my head, and it might go off."
"It is going off--very soon!" exclaimed Tom grimly, and the trampstarted in alarm. "Oh, I'm not going to shoot you," continued theyoung inventor. "I'm going to fire this as an alarm, and theengineer will come in here and tie you up. Then I'm going to handyou over to the police. This rifle is a repeater, and I am a prettygood shot. I'm going to fire once now, to summon assistance, and ifyou try to get away I'll be ready to fire a second time, and thatwon't be so comfortable for you. I've caught you, and I'm going tohold on to you until I get that model and those papers back."
"Oh, you are, eh?" asked the burglar calmly. "Well, all I've got tosay is that you have grit. Go ahead. I'm caught good and proper. Iwas foolish to come in here, but I thought I'd take a chance."
"Who are you, anyhow? Who are the men working with you to defraud myfather of his rights?" asked Tom somewhat bitterly.
"I'll never tell you," answered the burglar. "I was hired to docertain work, and that's all there is to it. I'm not going to peachon my pals."
"We'll see about that!" burst out Tom. Then he noticed that adining-room window behind where the burglar was kneeling was open.Doubtless the intruder had entered that way, and intended to escapein the same manner.
"I'm going to shoot," announced Tom, and, aiming his rifle at theopen window, where the bullet would do no damage, he pressed thetrigger. He noticed that the burglar was crouching low down on thefloor, but Tom thought nothing of this at the time. He imagined thatHappy Harry--or whatever his name was--might be afraid of gettinghit.
There was a flash of fire and a deafening report as Tom fired. Thecloud of smoke obscured his vision for a moment, and as the echoesdied away Tom could hear Mrs. Baggert screaming in her room.
"It's all right!" cried the young inventor reassuringly. "No one ishurt, Mrs. Baggert!" Then he flashed his light on the spot where theburglar had crouched. As the smoke rolled away Tom peered in vainfor a sight of the intruder.
Happy Harry was gone!
Holding his rifle in readiness, in case he should be attacked fromsome unexpected quarter, Tom strode forward. He flashed his light inevery direction. There was no doubt about it. The intruder had fled.Taking advantage of the noise when the gun was fired, and undercover of the smoke, the burglar had leaped from the open window. Tomguessed as much. He hurried to the casement and peered out, at thesame time noticing the cut wire of the burglar alarm. It was quitedark, and he fancied he could hear the noise of some one runningrapidly. Aiming his rifle into the air, he fired again, at the sametime crying out:
"Hold on!"
"All right, Master Tom, I'm coming!" called the voice of theengineer from his shack. "Are you hurt? Is Mrs. Baggert murdered? Ihear her screaming."
"That's pretty good evidence that she isn't murdered," said Tom witha grim smile.
"Are you hurt?" again called Mr. Jackson.
"No, I'm all right," answered Tom. "Did you see any one running awayas you came up?"
"No, Master Tom, I didn't. What happened?"
"A burglar got in, and I had him cornered, but he got away when Ifired to arouse you."
By this time the engineer was at the stoop, on which the windowopened. Tom unlocked a side door and admitted Mr. Jackson, and then,the incandescent light having been turned on, the two looked aroundthe apartment. Nothing in it had been disturbed, and the safe hadnot been opened.
"I heard him just in time," commented Tom, telling the engineer whathad happened. "I wish I had thought to get between him and thewindow. Then he couldn't have gotten away."
"He might have injured you, though," said Mr. Jackson. "We'll gooutside now, and look--"
"Is any one killed? Are you both murdered?" cried Mrs. Baggert atthe dining-room door. "If any one is killed I'm not coming in there.I can't bear the sight of blood."
"No one is hurt," declared Tom with a laugh. "Come on in, Mrs.Baggert," and the housekeeper entered, her hair all done up in curlpapers.
"Oh, my goodness me!" she exclaimed. "When I heard that cannon gooff I was sure the house was coming down. How is it some one wasn'tkilled?"
"That wasn't a cannon; it was only my little rifle," said Tom, andthen he told again, for the benefit of the housekeeper, the story ofwhat had happened.
"We'd better hurry and look around the premises," suggested Mr.Jackson. "Maybe he is hiding, and will come back, or perhaps he hassome confederates on the watch."
"Not much danger of that," declared Tom. "Happy Harry is far enoughaway from here now, and so are his confederates, if he had any,which I doubt. Still, it will do no harm to take a look around."
A search resulted in nothing, however, and the Swift household hadsoon settled down again, though no one slept soundly during theremainder of the night.
In the morning Tom sent word of what had happened to the police ofShopton. Some officers came out to the house, but, beyond lookingwisely at the window by which the burglar had entered and at somefootprints in the garden, they could do nothing. Tom wanted to gooff on his motor-cycle on a tour of the surrounding neighborhood tosee if he could get any clues, but he did not think it would be wisein the absence of his father. He thought it would be better toremain at home, in case any further efforts were made to getpossession of valuable models or papers.
"There's not much likelihood of that, though," said Tom to the oldengineer. "Those fellows have what they want, and are not going tobother us again. I would like to get that model back for dad,though. If they file it and take out a patent, even if he can provethat it is his, it will mean a long lawsuit and he may be defraudedof his rights, after all. Possession is nine points of the law, andpart of the tenth, too, I guess."
So Tom remained at home and busied himself as well as he could oversome new machines he was constructing. He got a telegram from hisfather that afternoon, stating that Mr. Swift had safely arrived inAlbany, and would return the following day.
"Did you have any luck, dad?" asked the young inventor, when hisfather, tired and worn from the unaccustomed traveling, reached homein the evening.
"Not much, Tom," was the reply. "Mr. Crawford has gone back toWashington, and he is going to do what he can to prevent those mentaking advantage of me."
"Did you get any trace of the thieves? Does Mr. Crawford think hecan?"
"No to both questions. His idea is that the men will remain inhiding for a while, and then, when the matter has quieted down, theywill proceed to get a patent on the motor that I invented."
"But, in the meanwhile, can't you ma
ke another model and get apatent yourself?"
"No; there are certain legal difficulties in the way. Besides, thosemen have the original papers I need. As for the model, it will takeme nearly a year to build a new one that will work properly, as itis very complicated. I am afraid, Tom, that all my labor on theturbine motor is thrown away. Those scoundrels will reap the benefitof it."
"Oh, I hope not, dad! I'm sure those fellows will be caught. Nowthat you are back home again, I'm going out on a hunt on my ownaccount. I don't put much faith in the police. It was through me,dad, that you lost your model and the papers, and I'll get themback!"
"No, you must not think it was your fault, Tom," said his father."You could not help it, though I appreciate your desire to recoverthe missing model."
"And I'll do it, too, dad. I'll start to-morrow, and I'll make acomplete circuit of the country for a hundred miles around. I caneasily do it on my motor-cycle. If I can't get on the trail of thethree men who robbed me, maybe I can find Happy Harry."
"I doubt it, my son. Still, you may try. Now I must write to Mr.Crawford and tell him about the attempted burglary while I was away.It may give him a clue to work on. I'm afraid you ran quite a risk,Tom."
"I didn't think about that, dad. I only wish I had managed to keepthat rascal a prisoner."
The next day Tom started off on a hunt. He planned to be goneovernight, as he intended to go first to Dunkirk, where Mr.Blackford lived, and begin his search from there.