It was lucky that the accident had occurred at a time when most of the people of the town were at supper and the streets were almost deserted. Some had gathered, however, attracted by the crash, and more were coming, and to avoid questioning Tom went off quickly toward his home. Hankinshaw after a moment of hesitation started off for his hotel, not caring to have others see him in his awkward and humiliating position.
The first thing Tom did on reaching the house was to take up the telephone and call up Mary. There was a tremor in her musical voice as she answered.
“Oh, Tom,” she said, “I’m so glad to hear from you. I’ve been worried to death ever since I left you. Was the man badly hurt?”
“Only a few trifling scratches,” replied Tom. “The fellow got off better than he deserved. The last I saw of him he was hot-footing it for his hotel. What he’d like to do to me is a sin and a shame.”
“Do be careful, Tom,” urged Mary anxiously. “He had the look in his eyes of a sneak. I’m afraid that in some underhand way he may do you an injury. I’ve been worrying, too, for fear it may affect the business deal you have with him and his partners.”
“Not a chance,” laughed Tom. “He couldn’t back out now without being a loser, and he and his crowd are too canny for that. Not that I’d care a bit if he did. I’m half sorry we took the contract, anyway. If we hadn’t, this Hankinshaw wouldn’t be hanging around Shopton. But thank goodness the work is getting pretty well along now, and in a few weeks the contract will be completed. Then he’ll be nothing but a bad dream—perhaps I ought to say a nightmare. Don’t worry your pretty head any more about it.”
“But keep away from him all you can, won’t you?” pleaded Mary.
“I guess he’ll keep away from me,” laughed Tom. “But I’ll promise you, if that will make you feel better.”
Tom’s prediction proved correct. For several days Hankinshaw did not appear at all at the works. And even when he resumed his visits they were brief and less frequent than usual, and he avoided meeting Tom as much as possible.
In the meantime, the high board fence around a section of the grounds of the plant had been completed. Material of various kinds had been carried in and set up by a group of chosen workmen under the close supervision of Jackson. Gradually a structure arose that would have seemed strange to the eyes of the people of Shopton, though familiar enough to dwellers in the oil fields of California, Oklahoma and Texas.