“I’ll give you the manager,” went on the bored operator.
But the manager could give no more satisfaction than his helper. He promised to trace the call and let Ned know what success he had.
“But I know what the answer is already,” Ned remarked in disgusted tones as he gave up vainly rattling the hook. “We won’t hear another word from Tom until he calls us himself. But we are sure of one thing—he’s alive.”
“Did he give you any particulars?” asked Mr. Swift.
“Bless my telephone book, who’s been treating him this way?” demanded Mr. Damon.
Ned repeated the message as it came to him:
“Just escaped! Watch the plant! Get Father to safety! Look out for bombs! I’ll try——”
Then the voice had died away.
“It’s as we suspected,” commented Ned. “He has been captured by some of his enemies and held a captive up to a little while ago. Then he got away. Good old Tom! You can depend on him for that!”
“But it seems to me we should do something,” declared Mary, very much in earnest.