Ned in the meantime had been having troubles on the accounting end. At the expiration of the two weeks when it was stipulated that the second five thousand dollar payment should be made, the check was not forthcoming. Ned telegraphed to Thompson and hunted up Hankinshaw. Both of them put the blame on Bragden, who at the time, they stated, was on a short vacation from which he would return in a few days, when the matter would be promptly adjusted. This, however, did not satisfy Ned, who recognized the familiar tricks of “shoestring” concerns, and he proceeded at once to “put on the screws.” But it was only when he threatened immediate stoppage of work on the contract that the draft he had sent through was finally honored.
“I told you they were as slippery as eels,” Ned reminded Tom, as they looked at the cashier’s check whose delay had been so annoying.
“Yes, and perhaps you wouldn’t have been so far wrong if you had added that they were as crooked as corkscrews,” replied Tom.
“Bless my premonitions! I’m afraid you’re right,” exclaimed a voice behind them.
CHAPTER IX
THE MIDNIGHT PROWLER
Tom and Ned looked up, a little startled, and saw their eccentric friend, Mr. Wakefield Damon.
“Bless my gum shoes!” exclaimed Mr. Damon, wiping his glasses and settling into the chair that Tom pulled over for him. “I came in on you like a thief in the night, and by a coincidence I hear you talking about thieves.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to put it as strongly as that,” said Tom, with a laugh. “But all the same the actions of that oil crowd don’t seem to be those of responsible business men. We’ve been having no end of trouble with them, one way and another.”
“I’m afraid perhaps I made a mistake in introducing them to you,” said Mr. Damon, with a slightly worried look. “Thompson was the only one of them I knew, and even with him my acquaintance was slight. By the way, did you get that second payment? Ned, here, was telling me that they seemed to be trying to sidestep it.”
“It came in to-day,” replied Tom. “But we had a heap of trouble in getting it. Here it is,” and he handed it over for his friend’s inspection.