Tom Swift and His Giant Telescope

by Victor Appleton

"Koku, Stay on Guard Here."

"If I catchum fella I breakum in little bits!" cried Koku fiercely. He shook the rolling-pin vigorously. "Better him stay 'way fum me!"

Tom awoke the next morning little the worse for his experience. Thanks to a rugged constitution, he had been able to throw off the ill effects of the poisonous fumes which had overcome him.

"Better Him Stay 'Way Fum Me!"

"I can't make it out, Ned," he said as the boys stood watching the mechanics warm up the engines of the big seaplane. "Nothing is missing. Whoever did the job didn't even rob me, and I had a good deal of cash in my wallet."

"Maybe nobody made an attempt on you or your property at all, Tom," Ned remarked slowly.

"What d'you mean? I certainly was knocked out!"

"Oh, I know that. But couldn't some sort of gas have seeped into your office from your adjoining laboratory? A bottle of acid might have cracked, or—"