“Yes,” answered Mr. Swift. “I questioned her about that before you got here. The fellow surely had red hair cut close to his head.”
“Did he get away with anything?” asked Tom quickly. “I mean any of our plans? What papers did you have out on the desk when he burst in on you. Dad?”
“They were the plans of both the tidal engine and the mill machinery that I was glancing over, you asked me to verify your figures, you know,” was the answer. “But he didn’t get any.”
The excitement was extreme while it lasted, but it was over now. Inquiries developed the fact that none of the employees in the office had seen the mysterious red-haired stranger enter or leave.
He had been evolved out of thin air, it seemed, and had vanished into the same element. That he had had his trouble for his pains was evident, for a careful check-up showed that none of the tidal engine papers was missing, nor had any of the mill machinery plans been taken from Mr. Swift.
“How about my chest of stuff?” asked Tom anxiously.
“It’s all right,” his father informed him. “I looked at that as soon as I felt able. It’s locked and still in place.”
“Good!” cried Tom. “And now we must get busy and solve this mystery.”
Making sure that his father, Rad and Mrs. Baggert were really in no danger, Tom took a bath to remove some of the grime of his recent experiences and then sent a couple of his men over to the pine tree in which the Hummer had lodged.
“I’m afraid the plane’s a goner,” Tom said. “But maybe you can save part of her. The engine ought to be good, anyhow.”