Mr. Swift knew only too well that this was the case. It was not the girl’s fault—it was the fault of the system, and not so much the fault as the limitation.
“If I had only had Tom’s photo-telephone attachment hitched on here I could have seen who it was I was talking with,” lamented Mr. Swift. “How about it, Mr. Newton, did you succeed in getting any information?” he asked, as the latter came away from the second instrument.
“The manager said he would try to trace the call for you,” was the reply. “But I didn’t have much time. Whoever it was got suspicious too quickly.”
“Yes,” agreed the inventor. “He must have heard me giving you the paper and he jumped to the conclusion that there was a second person in the room. Well, we’ll have to wait and see what they can do for us in the central telephone office. I wish Tom were here!”
“I suppose he and Ned are on the trail of the robbers,” remarked Mr. Newton.
“Yes, but this would be a good clew for them. However, it’s too late now. It shows, though, that our chest is still safe. They probably realize that they cannot make as much use of our plans, designs and patents as they thought at first.”
“It’s as if they stole a lot of non-negotiable securities,” commented Mr. Newton. “They’ll have trouble in disposing of your stuff, and they probably think that they will get more out of it by giving it back to you for a consideration than by peddling the plans about the country. In fact, no reputable manufacturer would deal with the scoundrels.”
“That’s true, Mr. Newton! They are scoundrels. I hope Tom catches them. As soon as he calls up, as he will sooner or later, we must tell him what has happened.”
But Tom, with Ned and Koku, taking off about that same time for a further search after the mysterious blue machine, had no present intention of calling up his home, though he realized that it would be wise to get in communication with his father before very long.
“I want to have something to tell him first,” said Tom to Ned. “I want to give him news that we have at least sighted the robbers.”