To say that the balloonist was astonished is putting it mildly. He was even more excited than was Mr. Damon.
"Wait until I get hold of that Andy Foger!" he cried. "I'll make him sweat for this! I see he's already laid claim to the reward," he added, reading further along in the article. "He thinks he has put the police on our trail."
"So he seems to have done," added Tom. "The whole country has been notified to look out for us," the paper says. "We're likely to be fired upon whenever we pass over a city or a town."
"Then we'll have to avoid them," declared the balloonist.
"But we must go back," declared Tom.
"Of course. Back to be vindicated. We'll have to give up our trip. My, my! But this is a surprise!"
"I don't see what makes Andy say he saw me with burglar tools," commented Tom, with a puzzled air.
Mr. Sharp thought for a moment. Then he exclaimed "It was that bag of tools I sent you after—the long wrenches, the pliers, and the brace and bits. You—"
"Of course!" cried Tom. "I remember now. The bag dropped and opened, and Andy and Sam saw the tools. But the idea of taking them for burglar tools!"
"Well, I suppose the burglars, whoever they were, did use tools similar to those to break open the vault," put in Mr. Damon. "Andy probably thought he was a smart lad to put the police on our track."