A CLOSE SHAVE
THE BIG machine came thundering along at a reckless pace, not attempting
to keep to the right, but holding to the middle of the road. At the same
time Tom and Mary could hear the sound of boisterous singing from the
people in the car. It was evidently a party out for a “joy ride” and
totally careless of the rights of others.
There was a cry of fright from Mary as the car kept on its course as if
determined to ride them down. Tom turned the wheel sharply, so sharply
in fact that his car went into a little ditch at the side of the road.
At the same instant the bigger machine whizzed past, the driver grinning
at the way he had crowded the other car off.
Tom was boiling over with indignation. If he had not had Mary with him,
he would have turned and pursued the other car and never stopped until
he had thrashed the driver or landed him in jail.
“The scoundrel!” he cried. “That fellow was little better than a
murderer. If I could lay my hands on him I’d make him sorry that he’d
ever been born.”
“There, there, Tom,” said Mary soothingly, though she was still
trembling. “Let’s be thankful we’re alive. If you hadn’t been as quick
as you were we would both have been killed.”
It took a few minutes and considerable maneuvering to get the car out of
the ditch, but at last they were on the road again, and under the
influence of Mary’s presence, Tom’s wrath finally simmered down. After
all, they were, safe and together and nothing else mattered.
“You don’t know what a change has taken place in our home since father
came back from that foreign trip,” remarked Mary. “It’s like a different
place. He is so much improved and more cheerful that it seems as if a
ton’s weight had been removed from our hearts. Mother goes about her
work singing, and as for myself I’m happy beyond words.”
“That cranky old doctor knew his business, though it was like drawing
teeth to get him to examine your father,” replied Tom. “It was an
inspiration to send him abroad.”
“It might have been inspiration that sent him, but it took a young
inventor named Tom Swift to bring him back,” said Mary. “I shudder yet
to think of what might have happened if it hadn’t been for your courage
and daring.”
“Oh, that was nothing,” answered Tom. “Any one else could have done the
same if they’d had my facilities. I just happened to own an airplane
that could do anything one asked of it. And the old bus certainly did
herself proud.”
“The old bus, as you call it, wouldn’t have done anything if it hadn’t
been for its pilot,” asserted Mary. “Everybody knows that. But you’re so
painfully modest that I suppose you’d never own up to it, any more than
you’d own up to what you did to-day.”
“What did I do to-day?” parried Tom.
“Oh, nothing,” laughed Mary. “Only saved a man from dying. Only set a
broken leg as skillfully as a surgeon could do it. Apart from little
trifles like that you didn’t do anything. I’d like to know what you
would call a really good day’s work.”
“Ned Newton and Garret Jackson had as much to do with that as I did,
Mary. But how did you come to hear about it, anyway?”
“Dr. Sherwood dropped in to see father early this evening,” was the
answer. “You know they’re old friends. He thinks you ought to be a
doctor.”
“I guess I’ll stick to invention and manufacturing for a while yet,”
answered Tom, grinning. “Especially as I’m up to my neck in business.
Everything’s humming down at the works. New contract came in to-day. At
least I think it will be a contract if we can come to terms on prices.
Going to give my answer to-morrow.”
“Tell me about it,” urged Mary.
“Oh, it’s for the making of some oil-well machinery,” answered Tom.
“It’s something new for us, but we’ve got the facilities and can manage
it all right. Mr. Damon brought the men to us, and I think it may result
in a pretty big deal.”
“I wonder if they were the men I saw in Mr. Damon’s car when they passed
our house to-day,” said Mary, with heightened interest.
“Likely enough,” answered Tom carelessly. “There were three of them.”
“Two tall ones and one fat stodgy one?” asked Mary.
“That’s right,” replied Tom. “But why the sudden interest? Do you happen
to know any of them?”
Mary did not answer.
Tom looked at her in some surprise.
“Did you hear my question?” he asked.
“I don’t know any of them,” answered Mary.
There was something in her tone that piqued Tom’s curiosity.
“Come, Mary, out with it,” he urged. “You’re concealing something. Let
me know what it is.”
“I’m sorry I spoke,” said Mary reluctantly, “I was right when I said
that I didn’t know any of them. But one of them spoke to me in town
to-day and tried to strike up an acquaintance. Of course, I froze him
and got away from him as fast as I could.”
“The hound!” cried Tom furiously. “Which one of them was it? I’ll have
his hide!”
“It was the fat, coarse one,” replied Mary. “I don’t know his name.”
“Hankinshaw!” cried Tom. “The low brute! Just wait till I can lay my
hands on him!”
“Now, Tom, you must promise me not to do anything rash,” pleaded Mary,
laying her hand on his arm. “There’s been no real harm done, and I
squelched him so hard that I guess he’ll never annoy me again. It would
only give me unpleasant publicity if you attempted to punish him. And
then, too, I don’t want anything to be done that may interfere with your
business deal.”
“What do you suppose I care for the business deal?” exclaimed Tom. “If
that were the only thing concerned, I’d go to him and thrash him within
an inch of his life. I disliked the fellow from the minute I saw him,
anyway, and if I’d known what I know now I’d have bundled him out of the
house neck and heels.”
“I wish I’d held my tongue,” sighed the girl. “But don’t you see, Tom,
that if you did anything now it would hurt me more than any one else?”
Tom did see, and reluctantly relinquished his desire to inflict summary
punishment on the fellow, though he fumed inwardly and vowed to himself
that he would keep a close watch on the cad during the rest of his stay
in Shopton.
Suddenly a thought struck him.
“Do you know,” he said, “that speaking of that rascal has reminded me of
something? When that road hog nearly crashed into us just now, I thought
there was something familiar in his face, but I couldn’t just place him.
Now I think I know. I’ll bet it was Hankinshaw.”
“I shouldn’t wonder,” replied Mary. “I was so frightened that I couldn’t
be sure, but in the glimpse I got of that repulsive face there seemed to
be something I had seen before. I believe you’re right. He’s just the
type of man to do that sort of thing.”
“Another thing added to his account,” said Tom grimly. “Something tells
me that some day Mr. Hankinshaw and I will have a reckoning. And it
won’t be exactly a pleasant day for him either.”
“Oh, well, let’s talk of something more pleasant,” said Mary, trying to
get the young inventor out of his angry mood. “Do you know, Tom, I was
greatly interested when you spoke about oil? It seems to me to be about
the most important thing in the world.”
“Funny,” replied Tom. “That’s just what Ned Newton was saying to-day.
I’ve been so busy with my inventions that I haven’t paid much attention
to it myself.”
“I shouldn’t wonder if you would find that one of the most profitable
things to devote your inventive genius to,” was the answer. “Father was
saying the other day that there wasn’t a thing hardly with which oil
wasn’t connected in some way or other. This car in which we are riding
couldn’t run without oil and couldn’t be driven without gasoline. The
same is true of the airplane in which you were flying this afternoon.
Even on the farm the tractors are being driven by it. We women wouldn’t
know what to do without naphtha and gasoline to remove spots. It’s in
everything from the smallest to the biggest.”
“Almost thou persuadest me,” laughed Tom. “At any rate, I’m going to
make a thorough study of the subject, and perhaps I may hit on something
that will be worth while in the way of invention.”
“I’m sure you will,” replied Mary warmly. “You never yet have gone at a
thing with all your heart but what you have succeeded in it.”
They had a delightful ride, despite the unpleasant feature that had
intruded upon it at the start, and Tom had to let out his car to the
fullest speed to get Mary back home at the time he had promised.
The next day was a busy one at the Swift Construction works. Tom was
buried deep in the technical details of the machinery, and his father
helped greatly with his assistance and advice. Already ideas of
improvements were thronging in Tom’s active mind and he grew more and
more interested as his study progressed.
Ned, too, was active in preparing his figures and estimates. He had been
busy with the telegraph inquiring into the financial standing and
responsibility of the oil men, and while these were not absolutely
satisfactory, they were sufficiently good to warrant taking a reasonable
chance, though they indicated the need of caution.
Late in the afternoon Tom and Ned came together for a preliminary
conference.
“Well, how goes the battle, Ned?” asked Tom, as he settled into his
office chair.
“I’ve got everything ready,” replied Ned, as he pointed to a mass of
papers on his desk.
“Good!” was the reply. “As regards the time limit,” went on Tom, “I’ve
consulted with Jackson and we figure that we can complete the job in six
weeks. Of course, we could do it sooner, if we put the whole force on
it, but we’ve got to take care of the contracts we have on hand.”
“As regards the price, we can do it at a fair profit for twenty-six
thousand dollars,” said the financial man.
“Do you think they’re good for it?” asked Tom thoughtfully.
“I think we can take a chance,” answered Ned. “The references weren’t
exactly what you could tall gilt-edged, but as regards Thompson and
Bragden, they were fairly good. As to Hankinshaw——”
“The skunk!” muttered Tom.
“What’s that?” asked Ned, looking up.
“Nothing,” answered Tom. “I was just thinking out loud. Go ahead.”
“As to Hankinshaw,” Ned went on, “replies weren’t so good. He seems to
have been mixed up in some shady deals. Went bankrupt once under
suspicious circumstances. But he seems to be a minor figure in the deal.
Thompson seems to be the king pin. To make things safer, however, we’ll
demand a substantial cash payment on the signing of the contract and
other payments while the work is in progress. That will cover us as we
go along, and we can’t be stung to any extent. Take it altogether, my
advice is that we conclude the deal, if they agree to our stipulations.
And I think they will, for they’ve doubtless figured the matter out and
they’ll know that our figures are right. Of course, they’ll try to
reduce them, but we’ll stand pat. That is, of course, if you agree.”
“I’ll leave that all to you, Ned,” replied Tom. “Anything that you say
goes. They can take it or leave it at our figures.”