CHAPTER XXIII.
TOM IS PURSUED
Tom was so excited that he hardly knew what to do. His first thoughtwas to keep out of sight of the man in the boat, for the younginventor did not want the criminals to suspect that he was on theirtrail. To that end he ran back until he knew he could not be seenfrom the lake. There he paused and peered through the bushes. Hecaught a glimpse of the man in the motor-boat. The craft was makingfast time across the water.
"He didn't see me," murmured Tom. "Lucky I saw him first. Now whathad I better do?"
It was a hard question to answer. If he only had some one with whomto consult he would have felt better, but he knew he had to rely onhimself. Tom was a resourceful lad, and he had often before beenobliged to depend on his wits. But this time very much was at stake,and a false move might ruin everything.
"This is certainly the house," went on Tom, "and that man in theboat is one of the fellows who helped rob me. Now the next thing todo is to find out if the others of the gang are in the old mansion,and, if they are, to see if dad's model and papers are there. Thenthe next thing to do will be to get our things away, and I fancyI'll have no easy job."
Well might Tom think this, for the men with whom he had to deal weredesperate characters, who had already dared much to accomplish theirends, and who would do more before they would suffer defeat. Still,they under-estimated the pluck of the lad who was pitted againstthem.
"I might as well proceed on a certain plan, and have some systemabout this affair," reasoned the lad. "Dad is a great believer insystem, so I'll lay out a plan and see how nearly I can follow it.Let's see--what is the first thing to do?"
Tom considered a moment, going over the whole situation in his mind.Then he went on, talking to himself alone there in the woods:
"It seems to me the first thing to do is to find out if the men arein the house. To do that I've got to get closer and look in througha window. Now, how to get closer?"
He considered that problem from all sides.
"It will hardly do to approach from the lake shore," he reasoned,"for if they have a motor-boat and a dock, there must be a path fromthe house to the water. If there is a path people are likely to walkup or down it at any minute. The man in the boat might come backunexpectedly and catch me. No, I can't risk approaching from thelake shore. I've got to work my way up to the house by going throughthe woods. That much is settled. Now to approach the house, and whenI get within seeing distance I'll settle the next point. One thingat a time is a good rule, as dad used to say. Poor dad! I do hope Ican get his model and papers back for him."
Tom, who had been sitting on a log under a bush, staring at thelake, arose. He was feeling rather weak and faint, and was at a lossto account for it, until he remembered that he had had no dinner.
"And I'm not likely to get any," he remarked. "I'm not going to eatuntil I see who's in that house. Maybe I won't then, and wheresupper is coming from I don't know. But this is too important to beconsidered in the same breath with a meal. Here goes."
Cautiously Tom made his way forward, taking care not to make toomuch disturbance in the bushes. He had been on hunting trips, andknew the value of silence in the woods. He had no paths to follow,but he had noted the position of the sun, and though that luminarywas now sinking lower and lower in the west, he could see the gleamof it through the trees, and knew in which direction from it lay thedeserted mansion.
Tom moved slowly, and stopped every now and then to listen. All thesounds he heard were those made by the creatures of the woods--birds,squirrels and rabbits. He went forward for half an hour, thoughin that time he did not cover much ground, and he was just beginningto think that the house must be near at hand when through a fringeof bushes he saw the old mansion. It stood in the midst of whathad once been a fine park, but which was now overgrown with weedsand tangled briars. The paths that led to the house were almostout of sight, and the once beautiful home was partly in ruins.
"I guess I can sneak up there and take a look in one of thewindows," thought the young inventor. He was about to advance, whenhe suddenly stopped. He heard some one or some thing coming aroundthe corner of the mansion. A moment later a man came into view, andTom easily recognized him as one of those who had been in theautomobile. The heart of the young inventor beat so hard that he wasafraid the man would hear it, and Tom crouched down in the bushes tokeep out of sight. The man evidently did not suspect the presence ofa stranger, for, though he cast sharp glances into the tangledundergrowth that fringed the house like a hedge, he did not seek toinvestigate further. He walked slowly on, making a circuit of thegrounds. Tom remained hidden for several minutes, and was about toproceed again, when the man reappeared. Then Tom saw the reason forit.
"He's on guard!" the lad said to himself. "He's doing sentry duty. Ican't approach the house when he's there."
For an instant Tom felt a bitter disappointment. He had hoped to beable to carry out his plan as he had mapped it. Now he would have tomake a change.
"I'll have to wait until night," he thought. "Then I can sneak upand look in. The guard won't see me after dark. But it's going to beno fun to stay here, without anything to eat. Still, I've got to doit."
He remained where he was in the bushes. Several times, before thesun set, the man doing sentry duty made the circuit of the house,and Tom noted that occasionally he was gone for a long period. Hereasoned that the man had gone into the mansion to confer with hisconfederates.
"If I only knew what was going on in there," thought Tom. "Maybe,after all, the men haven't got the model and papers here. Yet, ifthey haven't, why are they staying in the old house? I must get alook in and see what's going on. Lucky there are no shades to thewindows. I wish it would get dark."
It seemed that the sun would never go down and give place to dusk,but finally Tom, crouching in his hiding place, saw the shadows growlonger and longer, and finally the twilight of the woods gave placeto a density that was hard to penetrate. Tom waited some time to seeif the guard kept up the circuit, but with the approach of night theman seemed to have gone into the house. Tom saw a light gleam outfrom the lonely mansion. It came from a window on the ground floor.
"There's my chance!" exclaimed the lad, and, crawling from hishiding place, he advanced cautiously toward it.
Tom went forward only a few feet at a time, pausing almost everyother step to listen. He heard no sounds, and was reassured. Nearerand nearer he came to the old house. The gleam of the light fellupon his face, and fearful that some one might be looking from thewindow, he shifted his course, so as to come up from one side.Slowly, very slowly he advanced, until he was right under thewindow. Then he found that it was too high up to admit of hislooking in. He felt about until he had a stone to stand on.
Softly he drew himself up inch by inch. He could hear the murmur ofvoices in the room. Now the top of his head was on a level with thesill. A few more inches and his eyes could take in the room and theoccupants. He was scarcely breathing. Up, up he raised himself untilhe could look into the apartment, and the sight which met his eyesnearly caused him to lose his hold and topple backward. For groupedaround a table in a big room were the three men whom he had seen inthe automobile. But what attracted his attention more than the sightof the men was an object on the table. It was the stolen model! Themen were inspecting it, and operating it, as he could see. One ofthe trio had a bundle of papers in his hand, and Tom was sure theywere the ones stolen from him. But there could be no doubt about themodel of the turbine motor. There it was in plain sight. He hadtracked the thieves to their hiding place.
Then, as he watched, Tom saw one of the men produce from under thetable a box, into which the model was placed. The papers were nextput in, and a cover was nailed on. Then the men appeared to consultamong themselves.
By their gestures Tom concluded that they were debating where tohide the box. One man pointed toward the lake, and another towardthe forest. Tom was edging himself up farther, in order to seebetter, and, if possible, catch thei
r words, when his foot slipped,and he made a slight noise. Instantly the men turned toward thewindow, but Tom had stooped down out of sight, just in time.
A moment later, however, he heard some one approaching through thewoods behind him, and a voice called out:
"What are you doing? Get away from there!"
Rapid footsteps sounded, and Tom, in a panic, turned and fled, withan unknown pursuer after him.