“Do you know,” he said, “that speaking of that rascal has reminded me of something? When that road hog nearly crashed into us just now, I thought there was something familiar in his face, but I couldn’t just place him. Now I think I know. I’ll bet it was Hankinshaw.”
“I shouldn’t wonder,” replied Mary. “I was so frightened that I couldn’t be sure, but in the glimpse I got of that repulsive face there seemed to be something I had seen before. I believe you’re right. He’s just the type of man to do that sort of thing.”
“Another thing added to his account,” said Tom grimly. “Something tells me that some day Mr. Hankinshaw and I will have a reckoning. And it won’t be exactly a pleasant day for him either.”
“Oh, well, let’s talk of something more pleasant,” said Mary, trying to get the young inventor out of his angry mood. “Do you know, Tom, I was greatly interested when you spoke about oil? It seems to me to be about the most important thing in the world.”
“Funny,” replied Tom. “That’s just what Ned Newton was saying to-day. I’ve been so busy with my inventions that I haven’t paid much attention to it myself.”
“I shouldn’t wonder if you would find that one of the most profitable things to devote your inventive genius to,” was the answer. “Father was saying the other day that there wasn’t a thing hardly with which oil wasn’t connected in some way or other. This car in which we are riding couldn’t run without oil and couldn’t be driven without gasoline. The same is true of the airplane in which you were flying this afternoon. Even on the farm the tractors are being driven by it. We women wouldn’t know what to do without naphtha and gasoline to remove spots. It’s in everything from the smallest to the biggest.”
“Almost thou persuadest me,” laughed Tom. “At any rate, I’m going to make a thorough study of the subject, and perhaps I may hit on something that will be worth while in the way of invention.”
“I’m sure you will,” replied Mary warmly. “You never yet have gone at a thing with all your heart but what you have succeeded in it.”
They had a delightful ride, despite the unpleasant feature that had intruded upon it at the start, and Tom had to let out his car to the fullest speed to get Mary back home at the time he had promised.
The next day was a busy one at the Swift Construction works. Tom was buried deep in the technical details of the machinery, and his father helped greatly with his assistance and advice. Already ideas of improvements were thronging in Tom’s active mind and he grew more and more interested as his study progressed.