MIDNIGHT VISITORS
Ned Newton never knew exactly how he got out of the telephone
booth. He seemed to give but one jump, tearing the clamped
receiver from his ear, and almost upsetting the photo apparatus in
his mad rush to help Tom. Certain it is, however, that he did get
out, and a few seconds later he was speeding toward the shop where
Tom had taken his position in a booth.
Ned burst in, crying out:
"Tom! What is it? What happened? What's the matter?"
There was no answer. Fearing the worst, Ned hurried to the small
booth, in one corner of the big, dimly lighted shop. He could see
Tom's lamp burning in the telephone compartment.
"Tom! Tom!" called the young banker.
Still there was no answer, and Ned, springing forward, threw open
the double, sound-proof door of the booth. Then he saw Tom lying
unconscious, with his head and arms on the table in front of him,
while the low buzzing of the electrical apparatus in the
transmitting box told that the current had not been shut off.
"Tom! Tom!" cried Ned in his chum's ear. He shook him by the
shoulder.
"Are you hurt? What is the matter?"
The young inventor seemed unconscious, and for a moment Ned had a
wild idea that Tom had been shocked to death, possibly by some
crossed live wire coming in contact with the telephone circuit.
"But that couldn't have happened, or I'd have been shocked
myself," mused Ned.
Then he became aware of a curious, sweet, sickish odor in the
booth. It was overpowering. Ned felt himself growing dizzy.
"I have it--chloroform!" he gasped. "In some way Tom has been
overcome by chloroform. I've got to get him to the fresh air."
Once he had solved the puzzle of Tom's unconsciousness, Ned was
quick to act. He caught Tom under the arms, and dragged him out of
the booth, and to the outer door of the shop. Almost before Ned
had reached there with his limp burden, Tom began to revive, and
soon the fresh, cool night air completed the work.
"I--I," began the young inventor. "Ned, I--I--"
"Now take it easy, Tom," advised his chum. "You'll be all right in
a few minutes. What happened? Shall I call your father, or Koku?"
"No--don't. It would only--only alarm dad," faltered Tom. "I'm
getting all right now. But he--he nearly had me, Ned!"
"He had you? What do you mean, Tom? Who had you?"
"I don't know who it was, but when I was talking to you over the
wire, all of a sudden I felt a hand behind me. It slipped over my
mouth and nose, and I smelled chloroform. I knew right away
something was wrong, and I called to you. That's all I remember. I
guess I must have gone off."
"You did," spoke Ned. "You were unconscious when I got to you. I
couldn't imagine what had happened. First I thought it was an
electrical shock. Then I smelled that chloroform. But who could it
have been, Tom?"
"Give it up, Ned! I haven't the slightest idea."
"Could they have been going to rob you?"
"I haven't a thing but a nickel watch on me," went on Tom. "I left
all my cash in the house. If it was robbery, it wasn't me,
personally, they were after."
"What then? Some of your inventions?"
"That's my idea now, Ned. You remember some years ago Jake Burke
and his gang held me up and took one of dad's patents away from
me?"
"Yes, I've heard you mention that. It was when you first got your
motor cycle; wasn't it?"
"That's right. Well, what I was going to say was that they used
chloroform on me then, and--"
"You think this is the same crowd? Why, I thought they were
captured."
"No, they got away, but I haven't heard anything of them in years.
Now it may be they have come back for revenge, for you know we got
back the stolen property."
"That's right. Say, Tom, it might be so. What are you going to do
about it?"
"I hardly know. If it was Jake Burke, alias Happy Harry, and his
crowd, including Appleson, Morse and Featherton, they're a bad
lot. I wouldn't want father to know they were around, for he'd be
sure to worry himself sick. He never really got over the time they
attacked me, and got the patent away. Dad sure thought he was
ruined then."
"Now if I tell him I was chloroformed again to-night, and that I
think it was Burke and his crowd, he'd be sure to get ill over it.
So I'm just going to keep mum."
"Well, perhaps it's the best plan. But you ought to do something."
"Oh, I will, Ned, don't worry about that. I feel much better now."
"How did it happen?" asked Ned, his curiosity not yet satisfied.
"I don't know, exactly. I was in the booth, talking to you, and
not paying much attention to anything else. I was adjusting and
readjusting the current, trying to get that image to appear on the
plate. All at once, I felt someone back of me, and, before I could
turn, that hand, with the chloroform sponge, was over my mouth and
nose. I struggled, and called out, but it wasn't much use."
"But they didn't do anything else--they didn't take anything; did
they, Tom?"
"I don't know, Ned. We'll have to look around. They must have
sneaked into the shop. I left the door open, you see. It would
have been easy enough."
"How many were there?"
"I couldn't tell. I only felt one fellow at me; but he may have
had others with him."
"What particular invention were they after, Tom?"
"I'm sure I don't know. There are several models in here that
would be valuable. I know one thing, though, they couldn't have
been after my photo telephone," and Tom laughed grimly.
"Why not?" Ned wanted to know.
"Because it's a failure--that's what! It's a dead, sure failure,
Ned, and I'm going to give it up!" and Tom spoke bitterly.
"Oh, don't say that!" urged his chum. "You may be right on the
verge of perfecting it, Tom. Didn't you see any image at all on
the plate?"
"Not a shadow. I must be on the wrong track. Well, never mind
about that now. I'm going to look around, and see if those fellows
took anything."
Tom was feeling more like himself again, the effects of the
chloroform having passed away. He had breathed the fumes of it for
only a little while, so no harm had been done. He and Ned made an
examination of the shop, but found nothing missing.
There were no traces of the intruders, however, though the two
chums looked carefully about outside the building.
"You were too quick for them, Ned," said Tom. "You came as soon as
I called. They heard me speaking, and must have known that I had
given the alarm."
"Yes, I didn't lose any time," admitted Ned, "but I didn't see a
sign of anyone as I ran up."
"They must have been pretty quick at getting away. Well, now to
decide what's best to do to-night."
After some consultation and consideration it was decided to set
the burglar alarms in every building of the Swift plant. Some time
previous, when he had been working on a number of valuable
inventions, unscrupulous men had tried to steal his ideas and
models. To prevent this Tom had arranged a system of burglar
alarms, and had also fitted up a wizard camera that would take
moving pictures of anyone coming within its focus. The camera
could be set to work at night, in connection with the burglar
alarms.
The apparatus was effective, and thus an end was put to the
efforts of the criminals. But now it seemed Tom would have to take
new precautionary measures. His camera, however, was not
available, as he had loaned it to a scientific society for
exhibition.
"But we'll attach the burglar wires," decided Tom, "and see what
happens."
"It might be a good plan to have Koku on guard," said Tom's chum.
"That giant could handle four or five of the chaps as easily as
you and I could tackle one."
"That's right," agreed Tom. "I'll put him on guard. Whew! That
chloroform is giving me a headache. Guess I'll go to bed. I wish
you'd stay over to-night, Ned, if you haven't anything else to do.
I may need you."
"Then of course I'll stay, Tom. I'll telephone home that I won't
be in."
A little later Tom had put away his new photo telephone apparatus,
and had prepared for the warm reception of any unbidden callers.
"I wish I hadn't started on this new invention," said Tom, half
bitterly, as he locked up the main parts of his machine, "I know
it will never work."
"Oh, yes it will," spoke Ned, cheerfully. "You never failed yet,
Tom Swift, in anything you undertook, and you're not going to
now."
"Well, that's good of you to say, Ned, but I think you're wrong
this time. But I'm not going to think any more about it to-night,
anyhow. Now to find Koku and put him on watch."
The giant listened carefully to Tom's simple instructions.
"If any bad men come in the night, Koku," said the young inventor,
"you catch them!"
"Yes, master, me catch!" said Koku, grimly. "Me catch!" and he
stretched out his powerful arms, and clenched his big hands in a
way that boded no good to evildoers.
Nothing was said to Mr. Swift, to Mrs. Baggert, or to Eradicate
about what had happened, for Tom did not want to worry them. The
burglar alarms were set, Koku took his place where he could watch
the signals, and at the same time be ready to rush out, for,
somehow, Tom had an idea that the men who had attacked him would
come back.
Tom and Ned occupied adjoining rooms, and soon were ready for bed.
But, somehow, Tom could not sleep. He lay awake, tossing from side
to side, and, in spite of his resolution not to think about his
photo telephone invention, his mind ran on nothing but that.
"I can't see what next to do to make it work," he told himself,
over and over again. "Something is wrong--but what?"
At length he fell into a fitful doze, and he had a wild dream that
he was sliding down hill on a big mirror in which all sorts of
reflections were seen--reflections that he could not get to show
in the selenium plates.
Then Tom felt the mirror bobbing up and down like a motor boat in
a storm. He felt the vibration, and he heard a voice calling in
his ear:
"Get up, Tom! Get up!"
"Yes! What is it?" he sleepily exclaimed,
"Hush!" was the caution he heard, and then he realized that his
dream had been caused by Ned shaking him.
"Well?" whispered Tom, in tense tones.
"Midnight visitors!" answered his chum "The burglar alarm has just
gone off! The airship hangar drop fell. Koku has gone out. Come
on!"