"You mean the twelve-cylinder engine for my House on Wheels?" the young inventor inquired.
"That's the one."
"Why, no. Koku informed me only a little while ago that it had come. But I couldn't come out to look at it because that Cunningham chap was in the office. Why, is it being unpacked? And by whom?"
"It is, and by a couple of strange young men who say you just put them on the pay roll yesterday to help with your new invention. They went at the work as though they knew what they were about, but I thought I'd speak to you."
"I'm glad you did!" exclaimed Tom. "I've hired no new hands, young or old, for a long time. I wouldn't without consulting you."
"That's what I thought. But these fellows seemed to know what they were about, and I didn't like to tell them to lay off."
"There's something crooked here!" exclaimed Tom. "This must be looked into. Come on!" he called to Ned Newton.
As the three walked along a corridor that led to one of the main shops where Tom's latest achievement in a mechanical way was in process of construction, the young inventor closely questioned Mr. Jackson.
"Had they got the motor out of the packing case when you left them?" Tom was anxious to know.
"Not yet. It's a pretty big piece of machinery and won't be unpacked in a hurry."