A NIGHT WATCH
TOM SWIFT made up his mind quickly. He generally did so in an emergency,
and this was one of those times. While he still held the powerful
glasses focused on that clump of trees amid the green of which he had
spotted that glimpse of blue, he called to Ned:
“Put her about five points to the south!”
“The south?” cried Ned. “What’s the idea!”
“I want to throw those fellows—if they’re down there, as I think they
are—off the track,” explained Tom. “It’s just a trick which may work
and may not. They’ll either see us or hear our motor down where they
are. And if they see us sheer off to the south they may take us for a
mail plane. At any rate, they may not suspect that we’re after them.”
“I guess that’s good reasoning,” murmured Ned.
Accordingly, he shifted the steering wheel until the _Blackbird_ did as
many of her namesakes do when winter approaches—she headed for the
south.
“How far on this course?” asked Ned as his chum continued to gaze down
through the glasses.
“Just far enough to take us out of their sight. Then we’ll go down.”
“Go down?” cried Ned, in some surprise.
“Yes. We’ll make a landing and then come back by auto. I’ve got it all
planned out. If we try to make a landing near those fellows they’ll spot
us and light out, taking my chest with them. But if we go down in some
spot a few miles off and then come back by auto, we can get pretty close
to them before they suspect anything.”
“More good dope,” decided Ned, after thinking it over. “Do you think
they’re the fellows you want, Tom?”
“It’s hard to say. That’s a blue aeroplane down there, I’m sure. But
whether it’s the same one the robbers used isn’t so sure. However, I’m
taking no chances.”
It did not take long for the _Blackbird_ to put enough distance between
her and the place where the blue aeroplane had been sighted to make it
safe to descend. Now that he could no longer hold the glasses focused on
the clump of trees, Tom put them aside and took charge of his craft.
“Do you think you can get back to this same place in an auto?” Ned
questioned, as they looked about for a good field in which to land.
“I think so,” was the answer. “I picked out a few prominent objects by
which to plot a return course.”
This was all that could be done under the circumstances, and a few
minutes later, noting a broad and level field below them, Tom began to
guide the _Blackbird_ downward.
“I hope we meet as good a chap as our farmer friend, Kimball, was,”
remarked Ned, as they lightly struck the grass-covered earth and taxied
across it.
“I hope so,” echoed Tom. “But we’ll buy our way if we have to. It’s
important to get back as soon as we can to where those fellows are.”
This landing of the _Blackbird_ attracted more attention than on the
occasion when the travelers landed in Mr. Kimball’s field. No sooner was
the machine at rest, and while Tom, Ned and Koku were alighting, than a
crowd of men, women, boys and girls began to flock toward it.
“Guess they think we’re giving an exhibition,” laughed Ned.
“Shouldn’t wonder,” agreed Tom. “But the first thing we’ve got to do is
to make sure our machine will be all right if we leave it here. Then
we’ve got to hire a car to get back to the place where those scoundrels
are.”
“A lot of work ahead of us,” commented Ned.
There was little time to say more, for by this time the advance crowd of
the curious ones was at the _Blackbird_. The boys, especially, would
have overrun the craft and climbed up on her in their eagerness, but Tom
told Koku to act as a guard. Even the sight of the giant was enough to
drive back the most venturesome of the lads, while Koku’s actions, in
parading around the craft with a big stick he picked up served as a
further effective deterrent. Curiosity, too, was about equally divided
between Koku and the machine.
Among those who came rushing to the field to see why the aeroplane had
landed, was the owner of the property. At first he seemed a bit
belligerent, and it looked as if he would make trouble. But Tom knew
just how to handle his kind.
“We want to rent this field for a while, just to store our machine
here,” said the young inventor in a business-like way. “I’m willing to
pay well for the accommodation. And I’d like to engage you or some of
your men to act as caretakers while we are away. No one must meddle with
this machine!”
“I’ll see to that all right,” answered the farmer, who changed his
manner when he learned that he was to make money out of the affair. “Now
you fellows get away from here!” he cried. “This is private property and
you can’t trespass on it or I’ll have the law on you! Move off!”
“You can’t order us off, Jason Stern, unless you’ve got signs up saying
‘no trespass,’” declared one man. “I know the law as well as you do!”
“I’ll have the signs up before you can say Jack Robinson!” was the
answer. “Tume,” he called to a tall, lanky youth, evidently one of his
hired men, “you go back to the barn and get that trespass sign I put up
in my orchard when apples are ripe. Then you and Ben and Jake stand
guard here. Bring my shotgun and a pitchfork or two. We’ll see who’s
boss here!”
The farmer was evidently no favorite with his neighbors, for there were
boos and hisses at this. But on the present occasion Tom Swift was just
suited with this sort of man. It insured his craft being well looked
after. And a little later, the crowd having been driven from the field,
the hired men went on guard.
“Now, where can I hire a good automobile?” asked Tom of the farmer, who
had been called Jason Stern.
“Do you mean a tin Lizzie?” asked the man. “We call them pretty good
cars around here.”
“They are good,” conceded the young inventor. “But I’m afraid I’ll need
a bigger one. I’ve got to take him along,” and he pointed to Koku who
was indulging in his favorite pastime of tossing big rocks in the air
and catching them to the no small astonishment of the hired men.
“Say, he is a big fellow!” exclaimed Mr. Stern. “Well, the best thing
you can do is to go to Nathan’s garage. Tell him I sent you and he won’t
gouge you on the price. He’s dealt with me before,” and Jason Stern said
this with an air that boded no good for Mr. Nathan should the latter try
any unfair tactics.
Arranging to have some one on guard over his _Blackbird_ night and day
until he should return, Tom and his friends set off to the village. They
found Nathan’s garage and quickly arranged to hire a big touring car,
with room in it for Koku.
“We’ll put in something to eat and take some blankets along,” decided
Tom. “No telling how long we may be on the road, and I don’t want to
have to stop and put up at a hotel. We’ll either camp out in the open or
sleep in the car. The nights are warm.”
“Suits me,” agreed Ned.
Of course saying nothing of their object, the travelers started off in
the machine, Tom heading it to the north and as near as he could judge
in the general direction of the bandits and where the blue machine had
last been observed.
Tom Swift’s training had made him a careful observer, and it was not
idly that he had told Ned he had marked the place where the trees
sheltered the blue aeroplane. After one or two false turns, the young
inventor got on the right road, and as evening was falling he guided the
machine along a country thoroughfare in a sparsely settled neighborhood.
Coming upon a lonely cabin where an aged man and his wife lived, Tom
inquired whether they had heard of an aeroplane landing in that vicinity
lately.
“Yep,” replied the old man. “A big blue flyin’ machine come down in a
lot over by the river early this morning. I went over to see it. Say, I
didn’t ever believe there was such things. I’d never seen one before
except in pictures. Hattie here, she won’t believe I saw it.”
“You can’t tell me!” declared the man’s wife. “Nobody can fly in the
air! I never believed it and I never will. It’s agin nature!”
Leaving the queer couple, but satisfied that they were on the right
track, Tom and his companions rode on until further inquiries gave them
the information that they were within half a mile of the place where the
aeroplane, for some reason, had come down.
“We’d better not take the auto very close,” said Tom. “They might
suspect something, though I suppose they have been as overwhelmed with
curious ones as we were back there.”
“It will be better to go up easy, I think,” agreed Ned.
Accordingly, the auto was parked in a secluded place, and, taking Koku
with them to identify the robbers should the men prove to be those under
suspicion, the chums cautiously approached the clump of trees.
As they drew near they could see that a sort of camp had been
established about the aeroplane which was painted blue. It was a large
machine, as Koku had said.
Several men were observed moving about a small tent that had been set
up, and in the light of lanterns Tom and Ned counted five separate
figures. They crept near enough to overhear some of the talk.
“Well, Blodgett, what’s the next move?” some one asked.
Tom nudged Ned.
“That’s the man Mary heard spoken of,” he whispered. “He’s the one who
was going to ‘fix things.’”
“He seems to have done so,” murmured Ned grimly. “Listen!”
“Well, we might as well divide the stuff and separate,” came the answer
to the one who had asked Blodgett the question. And at the sound of this
voice Tom whispered:
“That’s Barsky. I’m sure of it!”
“Sounds like him!” agreed Ned. “The plot is thickening!”
They listened further.
“Yes,” went on the man who had suggested dividing the loot, “I tried the
old man on the telephone, but he got wise and tried to catch me by
sending some one to another telephone to trace the call. I don’t think
he succeeded, however. If we could sell him the stuff back we might make
more than by separating it. But since he won’t deal with us we’ll have
to do something else.”
“We want our shares!” exclaimed another voice, and at the sound of it
Ned started.
“What’s the matter?” asked Tom.
“I should know who that is,” was the answer. “The voice is familiar. I’m
trying to think where I’ve heard it before.”
There was some further talk among the thieves.
“What are we going to do, Tom?” asked Ned, after a while.
“Stay here on night watch for a while,” was the answer. “If we get a
chance we’ll slip in and take away the chest. I want to get it back
before they start dividing the papers. If that happens I may lose some
of them forever. Those fellows will likely get careless and not keep
guard all night. That will give us the chance we want. Koku can pick up
the chest and carry it away for us. We’ll stay here and watch for a
while.”
It was about an hour later, while still keeping watch, that Ned caught a
glimpse of a figure moving about the bandit camp. The man limped
slightly, and as he was carrying a lantern Ned saw his elbow thrown out
in a peculiar way.
“Renwick Fawn!” he exclaimed. “Now I know whose voice that was! It was
that of the man who unjustly accused my father of taking the Liberty
Bonds! Renwick Fawn is among those who robbed you, Tom!”
“Whew!” whistled the young inventor. “I should say the plot is
thickening!”