Eradicate’s eyes grew round and his jaw dropped.
“No,” said Tom glancing warningly at Ned, “what I think happened was that when Rad was looking at the note and trying to adjust himself to the life or death twist the fellow gave to it, the scoundrel jumped back over the fence before Rad saw him.”
“He’d have to be a pretty good jumper to get over this fence,” Ned commented.
“Yes, but it could be done,” said Tom. “But from now on the electric current will be on duty twenty-four hours a day. I’ll put a stop to this nonsense!”
“What are you going to do?” asked Ned.
“Well, I’m going to take no chances, for one thing,” was the reply. “I don’t know whether this message is genuine or a hoax. But I can’t afford to take any chances. There are too many men in this plant to risk having even one of the smaller buildings blown up. If only my own laboratory were involved I wouldn’t think so much of it. Though of course a lot of damage could be done to my new invention now that it’s practically finished. However, we’ll have the most thorough investigation possible. I’ll shut down work for the rest of the day and turn the force into an investigating body.”
“I think it’s a wise thing to do,” agreed Ned.
A little later the big factory whistle sounded the signal of alarm. Men dropped their tools, shut down their machines, and gathered at the appointed places. It was as if, on a ship, the signal had been given for boat drill. Tom had organized his men this way to respond to the alarm in case of emergency.
In a short time several hundred indignant employees of the Swift Construction Company were listening to Tom tell of the latest outrage. He did not need to go into details of his secret invention which, until it was perfected, he would not give to the world. It was enough to state that enemies were trying to intimidate the head of the firm in an endeavor to steal some of the valuable secrets.
“There may be a spy and traitor among us,” declared Tom. “I doubt that. But there is some way for my enemies to gain entrance to the plant that I can’t discover. Now I want you to go over the place. Look for a secret means of entering. Look for hidden wires that may connect with planted mines. In short, go over the plant with a fine toothed comb and let me know what you find.”