"That's just like him," murmured Tom. "Well, Dad, if you lose the ten thousand dollars I guess I'll have to make it up to you, for it was on my account that you made the investment."
"Well, you're worth it, Tom," replied his father, with a smile.
CHAPTER XII
A POWERFUL BLAST
"Look out with that box, Koku! Handle it as though it contained a dozen eggs of the extinct great auk, worth about a thousand dollars apiece.
"Eradicate! Don't you dare stumble while you're carrying that tube. If you do, you'll never do it again!"
"By golly, Massa Tom! I—I's gwine t' walk on mah tiptoes all de way!"
Thus Eradicate answered the young inventor, while the giant, Koku, who was carrying a heavy case, nodded his head to show that he understood the danger of his task.
"So you think you've got the right stuff this time, Tom?" asked Ned Newton.