第20章

There was no question in the mind of Tom Swift but that the man he was running after was guilty of some wrong-doing.In the first place he was a stranger, and had no right inside the big fence that surrounded the Swift machine plant.Then, too, the very fact that he ran away was suspicious.

And this, coupled with the confusion on the part of Bower, and his proximity to the safe, made Tom fear that some of his plans had been stolen.These he was very anxious to recover if this strange man had them, and so he raced after him with all speed.

"Stop! Stop!" called Tom, but the on-racing stranger did not heed.

The cries of the young inventor soon attracted the attention of his men, and Jackson and some of the others came running from their various shops to give whatever aid was needed.But they were all too far away to give effective chase.

"Bower might have come with me if he had wanted to help," thought Tom.But a backward glance over his shoulder did not show that the new helper was engaging in the pursuit, and he could have started almost on the same terms as Tom himself.

The runaway, looking back to see how near the young inventor was to him, suddenly changed his course, and, noting this, Tom Swift thought:

"I've got him now! He'll be bogged if he runs that way," for the way led to a piece of swampy land that, after the recent rains, was a veritable bog which was dangerous for cattle at least; and more than one man had been caught there.

"He can't run across the swamp, that's sure," reflected Tom with some satisfaction."I'll get him all right!"But he wanted to capture the man, if possible, before he reached the bog, and, to this end, Tom increased his speed to such good end that presently, on the firm ground that bordered the swamp, Tom was almost within reaching distance of the stranger.

But the latter kept up running, and dodged and turned so that Tom could not lay hands on him.Suddenly, turning around a clump of trees thefleeing man headed straight for a veritable mud hole that lay directly in his path.It was part of the swamp--the most liquid part of the bog and a home of frogs and lizards.

Too late, the man, who was evidently unaware of the proximity of the swamp, saw his danger.His further flight was cut off by the mud hole, but it was too late to turn back.Tom Swift was at his heels now, and seeing that it was impossible to grab the man, Tom did the next best thing.He stuck out his foot and tripped him, and tripped him right on the edge of the mud hole, so that the man fell in with a big splash, the muddy water flying all around, some even over the young inventor.For a moment the man disappeared completely beneath the surface, for the mud hole was rather deep just where Tom had thrown him.Then there was another violent agitation of the surface, and a very woebegone and muddy face was raised from the slough, followed by the rest of the figure of the man.Slowly he got to his feet, mud and water dripping from him.He cleared his face by rubbing his hands over it, not that it made his countenance clean, but it removed masses of mud from his eyes, nose, and mouth, so that he could see and speak, though his first operation was to gasp for breath.

"What--what are you doin'?" he demanded of Tom, and as the man opened his mouth to speak Tom was aware of a glitter, which disclosed the 'fact that the man had a large front tooth of gold.

"What am I doing?" repeated Tom."I think it's up to you to answer that question, not me.What are you doing?""You--you tripped me into this mud hole!" declared the man.

"I did, yes; because you were trespassing on my property, and ran away instead of stopping when I told you to," went on Tom."Who are you and what are you doing? What were you doing with Bower at my shop?""Nothin'! I wasn't doin' nothin'!"

"Well, we'll inquire into that.I want to see what you have in your pockets before I believe you.Come on out!""You haven't any right to go through my pockets!" blustered the stranger.

"Oh, haven't I? Well, I'm going to take the right.Jackson-- Koku--just see that he doesn't get away.We'll take him back and search him," andTom motioned to his chief machinist and the giant, who had reached the scene, to take charge of the man.But Koku was sufficient for this purpose, and the mud-bespattered stranger seemed to shrink as he saw the big creature approach him.There was no question of running away after that.

"Bring him along," ordered Tom, and Koku, taking a tight grip on the man by the slack of his garments behind, walked him along toward the office, the mud and water splashing and oozing from his shoes at every step.

"Now you look here!" the gold-toothed man cried, as he was forced along, "you ain't got any right to detain me.I ain't done nothin'!" And each time he spoke the bright tooth in his mouth glittered in the sun.