“I imagine a burglar might say the same thing,” replied Tom, and his tone was so like steel that Hankinshaw visibly winced. “Now listen to me, Hankinshaw. I don’t believe a word of what you’ve been saying. It’s a falsehood from beginning to end. You deliberately committed a crime to-night, and you know as well as I do what chance you’d have if you told a fairy tale like this to a judge or jury. All I’d have to do would be to telephone to police headquarters and you’d be under lock and key in a hurry. But I’m not going to do that.”
An expression of immense relief came into the rascal’s face.
“Oh, it’s not out of any consideration for you,” Tom assured him. “It’s partly because I don’t want any scandal that would worry my father; in his present feeble state of health. Then, too, I’m too busy just now to take the time to prosecute you and send you where you belong. But don’t think for a moment that this ridiculous story of yours has imposed on me. You came to this plant to-night with one of two purposes in view.”
Hankinshaw started to protest, but Tom cut him short.
“Don’t add any more lies to those you’ve already told,” he said. “You may have had revenge in mind for what happened the other night down in the town. You may have thought that you’d be able to cripple the machinery here and put me to a lot of expense and trouble. That’s one possibility, and knowing you as I do I wouldn’t put it past you.
“On the other hand, you may have had it in mind to steal some invention I might be trying out here. You know that invention is my line, and you may have thought that I had discovered some improvement or new device to be used in oil digging that you could get hold of and turn to your profit. That would explain why you were so carefully handling and examining the tools here when we came upon you.
“One of these two things, perhaps both, was in your mind to-night when you stole in here like a thief. I don’t know which and I don’t care. But just let me tell you one thing, Hankinshaw. If I ever catch you hanging around this place again either by day or night, may heaven have mercy on you, for I won’t. There’ll be a guard here after this during every one of the twenty-four hours. He’ll be armed, and he’ll have his orders what to do to any vermin that may be trying to worm its way into this enclosure.
“Now, that’ll be about all. Stand up and get out of here and get out quick. Koku, you go down with him till he reaches the road. Don’t hurt him, but keep close behind him. Now, Hankinshaw, pick up that revolver of yours and go. And don’t forget a single word of what I’ve said to you, for I mean every syllable.”
The baffled miscreant got up, muttering things that he was careful to say under his breath. Koku, menacing as fate, stood hovering over him. The giant had not understood much of what had been said, but he knew that this man was his master’s enemy and nothing would have given him greater pleasure than to wring the rascal’s neck. Hankinshaw was fully conscious of this, and he sullenly pocketed the now useless revolver and moved toward the gate, with Koku stalking close behind him. As he passed Tom, he favored him with a glance that was malignity itself. Then he passed out into the darkness.
“Him bad man—so bad man,” grunted the giant, as he came back to Tom’s side.