Somewhat reassured by Tom’s confident manner, the girls and their parents felt better, though they could not shake off the fear that something would happen. Nor was Tom as easy in his mind as he seemed.
There were refreshments after the demonstration, which had been a success in spite of the excitement preceding it, and then Tom and Ned took the girls home, their parents having gone on ahead.
“Well, Tom,” remarked Ned when the two young men were on their way back to the laboratory to make sure it was carefully locked and guarded for the night, “I thought, once, that Mary was going to prevail on you to give it up.”
“Not in a hundred years! I’m going through with it. Why, I’ve got to or face ruin of another sort.”
“You mean financially?”
“Yes. You know how much money I’ve got tied up in this machine. It’s all we could beg or borrow or spare from my other ventures. If I scrapped it now, all that cash would be lost. As it is, if I go on and put the machine on the market, I stand a chance to get it back with a profit.”
“Yes, I suppose so. The banks have begun to ask questions. I guess it’s sink or swim from now on.”
“But we’re going to swim!” declared Tom Swift, with a confident smile. “Give me an even break, and I’ll beat those fellows at their own game!”
“I hope you do, Tom. But what sort of trap are you going to set?”
“Tell you in the morning. I want to sleep over it,” and with that Tom turned into the house.