"We'll find out about that," said Tom. "I'll open it."
"Better be careful," urged Mr. Titus.
"I will," the young inventor promised. "I beg your pardon," he went on to Professor Bumper. "We have been talking about something of which you know nothing. Briefly, there is a certain man who is trying to interfere in some work in which Mr. Titus and I are interested, and we think, if he were on board, he might have placed this bomb where it would injure us."
"Is he here?" asked the professor.
"No. And that is what makes it all the more strange," said Mr. Titus. "At one time I thought he was here, but I was mistaken."
Tom took the now harmless bomb to his stateroom, and there, after taking the infernal machine apart, he discovered that it was not as dangerous as he had at first believed.
The bomb contained no missiles, and though it held a quantity of explosive, it was of a slow burning kind. Had it gone off it would have sent out a sheet of flame that would have severely burned him and Mr. Titus, but unless complications had set in death would not have resulted.
"They just wanted to disable us," said the contractor. "That was their game. Tom, who did it?"
"I don't know. Did you ever see this Professor Bumper before?"
"I never did."