CROSSED WIRES
More surprised than hurt, and with a feeling of chagrin and anger at
the trick which had been played on him, Tom managed to scramble out of
the brook. The water was not deep, but he had splashed in with such
force that he was wet all over. And, as he got up, the water dripping
from his clothes, the lad was conscious of a pain in his head. He put
up his hand, and found that contact with a stone had raised a large
lump on his forehead. It was as big as a hen's egg.
"Humph! I'll be a pretty sight to-morrow," murmured Tom. "I wonder who
that fellow was, anyhow, and what he wanted? He tripped me neatly
enough, whoever he was. I've a good notion to keep on after him."
Then, as he realized what a start the fleeing one had, the young
inventor knew that it would be fruitless to renew the chase. Slowly he
ascended the sloping bank, and started for home. As he did so he
realized that he had, clasped in his fingers, something he had grabbed
from the person he was pursuing just before his unlucky tumble.
"It's part of his watch chain!" exclaimed Tom, as he felt of the
article. "I must have ripped it loose when I fell. Wonder what it is?
Evidently some sort of a charm. Maybe it will be a clue." He tried to
discern of what style it was, but in the dark woods this was
impossible. Then the lad tried to strike a match, but those in his
pocket had become wet from his unexpected bath. "I'll have to wait
until I get home," he went on, and he hastened his steps, for he was
anxious to see what he had torn loose from the person who appeared to
be spying on him.
"Why Tom, what's the matter?" exclaimed Mrs. Baggert, when he entered
the kitchen, dripping water at every step. "Is it raining outside? I
didn't hear any storm."
"It was raining where I was," replied Tom angrily. "I fell in the
brook. It was so hot I thought I'd cool off."
"With your best suit on!" ejaculated the housekeeper.
"It isn't my best," retorted the lad. "But I went in before I thought.
It was an accident; I fell," he added, lest Mrs. Baggert take his
joking remarks seriously. He did not want to tell her of the chase.
The chief concern of the lad now was to look at the charm and, as soon
as Mrs. Baggert's attention was attracted elsewhere, Tom glanced at the
object he still held tightly clenched in his hand. As the light from
the kitchen fell upon it he could hardly repress an exclamation of
astonishment.
For the charm that he held in his hand was one he had seen before
dangling from the watch chain of Addison Berg, the agent for Bentley &
Eagert, submarine boat builders, which firm had, as told in "Tom Swift
and His Submarine," tried unsuccessfully to secure the gold treasure
from the sunken wreck. Berg and his associates had even gone so far as
to try to disable the Advance, the boat of Tom and his father, by
ramming her when deep down under the ocean, but Mr. Swift's use of an
electric cannon had broken the steering gear of the Wonder, the rival
craft, and from that time on Tom and his friends had a clear field to
search for the bullion held fast in the hold of the Boldero. "Addison
Berg," murmured Tom, as he looked at the watch charm. "What can he be
doing in this neighborhood? Hiding, too, as if he wanted to overhear
something. That's the way he did when we were building our submarine,
and now he's up to the same trick when I'm constructing my electric
car. I'm sure this charm is his. It is such a peculiar design that I'm
positive I can't be mistaken. I thought, when I was chasing after him,
that it would turn out to be Andy Foger, or some of the boys, but it
was too big for them. Addison Berg, eh? What can he be doing around
here? I must not tell Dad, or he'd worry himself sick. But I must be on
my guard."
Tom examined the charm closely. It was a compass, but made in an odd
form, and was much ornamented.
The young inventor had noticed it on several occasions when he had been
in conversation with Mr. Berg previous to the attempt on the part of
the owners of the rival submarine to wreck Tom's boat. He felt that he
could not be mistaken in identifying the charm.
"Berg was afraid I'd catch him, and ask for an explanation that would
have been awkward to make," thought the lad, as he turned the charm
over in his hand. "That's why he tripped me up. But I'll get at the
bottom of this yet. Maybe he wants to steal my ideas for an electric
car."
Tom's musings were suddenly interrupted by Mrs. Baggert.
"I hope you're not going to stand there all night," she said, with a
laugh. "You're in the middle of a puddle now, but when you get over
dreaming I'd like to mop it up."
"All right," agreed the young inventor, coming to himself suddenly.
"Guess I'd better go get some dry clothes on."
"You'd better go to bed," advised Mrs. Baggert. "That's where your
father and Mr. Sharp are. It's late."
The more Tom thought over the strange occurrence the more it puzzled
him. He mused over the presence of Berg as he went about his work the
next day, for that it was the agent whom he had pursued he felt
positive.
"But I can't figure out why he was hanging around here," mused Tom.
Then, as he found that his thoughts over the matter were interfering
with his work, he resolutely put them from him, and threw himself
energetically into the labor of completing his electric car. The new
batteries, he found, were working well, and in the next two days he had
constructed several more, joining them so as to get the combined effect.
It was the afternoon of the third day from Tom's unexpected fall into
the brook that the young inventor decided on the first important test
of his new device. He was going to try the motor, running it with his
storage battery. Some of the connections were already in place, the
wires being fastened to the side of the shop, where they were attached
to switches. Tom did not go over these, taking it for granted that they
were all right. He soon had the motor, which he was to install in his
car, wired to the battery, and then he attached a gauge, to ascertain,
by comparison, how many miles he could hope to travel on one charging
of the storage battery.
"Guess I'll call Dad and Mr. Sharp in to see how it works, before I
turn on the current," he said to himself. He was about to summon his
parent and the aeronaut from an adjoining shop, where they were working
over a new form of dynamo, when the lad caught sight of the watch charm
he had left on his desk, in plain sight.
"Better put that away," he remarked. "Dad or Mr. Sharp might see it,
and ask questions. Then I'd have to explain, and I don't want to, not
until I get further toward the bottom of this thing."
He put the charm away, and then summoned his father and the balloonist.
"You're going to see a fine experiment," declared Tom. "I'm going to
turn on the full strength of my battery."
"Are you sure it's all right, Tom?" asked his father. "You can't be too
careful when you're dealing with electricity of high voltage, and great
ampere strength.
"Oh, it's all right, Dad," his son assured him "Now watch my motor hum."
He walked over to a big copper switch, and grasped the black rubber
handle to pull it over which would send the current from the storage
battery into the combination of wheels and gears that he hoped,
ultimately, would propel his electric automobile along the highways, or
on a track, at the rate of a hundred miles an hour.
"Here she goes!" cried Tom. For an instant he hesitated and then pulled
the switch. At the same time his hand rested on another wire, stretched
across a bench.
No sooner had the switch closed than there was a blinding flash, a
report as of a gun being fired, and Tom's body seemed to straighten
out. Then a blue flame appeared to encircle him and he dropped to the
floor of the shop, an inert mass.
"He's killed!" cried Mr. Swift, springing forward.
"Careful!" cautioned the balloonist. "He's been shocked! Don't touch
him until I turn off the current!" As he pulled out the switch, the
aeronaut gave a glance at the apparatus.
"There's something wrong here!" he cried. "The wires have been crossed!
That's what shocked Tom, but he never made the wrong connections! He's
too good an electrician! There's been some one in this shop, changing
the wires!"