Adolph Tuessig shrank back. Evidently he was a coward at heart.
“Yes, I have it here, so there is no need of your doing me any more bodily harm,” he cried and gave a deep groan. “I’m bruised all over as it is, and may have received my death blow from this smash-up you drove me into.”
“The paper first,” Tom continued sternly. “After I have it in my hands I’ll take a look at your hurts, and do anything I can to relieve your pain. Make haste, for we have yet far to go to get back home safely.”
The man commenced to fumble at a secret inside pocket. Tom watched him closely, and kept his automatic pistol always in sight, lest the treacherous Tuessig think to get the better of him. Tom had a poor opinion of the man, it must be remembered. He believed that any one who would do the work of a German spy in a neutral country, and who could steal into a private house and rob a safe, would not be above any rank treachery.
“There is the paper I took from your father, boy!” said the groaning man, as he held something out to Tom.
One look convinced the youth he had actually succeeded in securing the important part of his father’s precious invention. He sighed with happiness as his fingers closed over the paper, which he instantly transferred to a safe pocket.
“It was never any good to me, as it proved,” continued Adolph Tuessig. “In the interest of the Fatherland I hoped to get my hands on the rest of the design, sooner or later, and on that account kept carrying this around with me, for it was useless to give it over to my superiors, only to be reprimanded for failure. I am glad to be rid of it, for ever since that night I have run into hard luck.”
His continued groans made Tom fear the other might be injured more seriously than up to that moment he had believed was the case.
“Jack, see if you can find some way to transfer that gas to our tank,” he said at his chum. “I’ll take a look at this man’s hurts. Just at present there seems to be nothing in the way of danger around us, and we can spare a few minutes in the cause of humanity.”
“You’re treating him a hundred times better than he deserves,” mumbled Jack. “If the tables were turned, and it was Tuessig who had you down, he’d never lift a finger to give you first-aid. But that’s you, Tom, every time! I’ll manage somehow to get this stuff aboard our plane, never fear.”