Tom held his rifle in readiness, though he only intended it as ameans of intimidation, and would not have fired at the burglarexcept to save his own life. But the sight of the weapon was enoughfor the tramp. He crouched motionless. His own light had gone out,but by the gleam of the electric he carried Tom could see that theman had in his hand some tool with which he had been endeavoring toforce the safe.
"I guess you've got me!" exclaimed the intruder, and there was inhis tones no trace of the tramp dialect.
"It looks like it," agreed Tom grimly. "Are you a tramp now, or insome other disguise?"
"Can't you see?" asked the fellow sullenly, and then Tom did noticethat the man still had on his tramp make-up.
"What do you want?" asked Tom.
"Hard to tell." replied the burglar calmly. "I hadn't got the safeopen before you came down and disturbed me. I'm after money,naturally."
"No, you're not!" exclaimed Tom.
"What's that?" and the man seemed surprised.
"No, you're not!" went on Tom, and he held his rifle in readiness."You're after the patent papers and the model of the turbine motor.But it's gone. Your confederates got it away from me. They probablyhaven't told you yet, and you're still on the hunt for it. You'llnot get it, but I've got you."
"So I see," admitted Happy Harry, and he spoke with some culture."If you don't mind," he went on, "would you just as soon move thatgun a little? It's pointing right at my head, and it might go off."
"It is going off--very soon!" exclaimed Tom grimly, and the trampstarted in alarm. "Oh, I'm not going to shoot you," continued theyoung inventor. "I'm going to fire this as an alarm, and theengineer will come in here and tie you up. Then I'm going to handyou over to the police. This rifle is a repeater, and I am a prettygood shot. I'm going to fire once now, to summon assistance, and ifyou try to get away I'll be ready to fire a second time, and thatwon't be so comfortable for you. I've caught you, and I'm going tohold on to you until I get that model and those papers back."
"Oh, you are, eh?" asked the burglar calmly. "Well, all I've got tosay is that you have grit. Go ahead. I'm caught good and proper. Iwas foolish to come in here, but I thought I'd take a chance."
"Who are you, anyhow? Who are the men working with you to defraud myfather of his rights?" asked Tom somewhat bitterly.
"I'll never tell you," answered the burglar. "I was hired to docertain work, and that's all there is to it. I'm not going to peachon my pals."
"We'll see about that!" burst out Tom. Then he noticed that adining-room window behind where the burglar was kneeling was open.Doubtless the intruder had entered that way, and intended to escapein the same manner.
"I'm going to shoot," announced Tom, and, aiming his rifle at theopen window, where the bullet would do no damage, he pressed thetrigger. He noticed that the burglar was crouching low down on thefloor, but Tom thought nothing of this at the time. He imagined thatHappy Harry--or whatever his name was--might be afraid of gettinghit.
There was a flash of fire and a deafening report as Tom fired. Thecloud of smoke obscured his vision for a moment, and as the echoesdied away Tom could hear Mrs. Baggert screaming in her room.
"It's all right!" cried the young inventor reassuringly. "No one ishurt, Mrs. Baggert!" Then he flashed his light on the spot where theburglar had crouched. As the smoke rolled away Tom peered in vainfor a sight of the intruder.
Happy Harry was gone!
Holding his rifle in readiness, in case he should be attacked fromsome unexpected quarter, Tom strode forward. He flashed his light inevery direction. There was no doubt about it. The intruder had fled.Taking advantage of the noise when the gun was fired, and undercover of the smoke, the burglar had leaped from the open window. Tomguessed as much. He hurried to the casement and peered out, at thesame time noticing the cut wire of the burglar alarm. It was quitedark, and he fancied he could hear the noise of some one runningrapidly. Aiming his rifle into the air, he fired again, at the sametime crying out:
"Hold on!"
"All right, Master Tom, I'm coming!" called the voice of theengineer from his shack. "Are you hurt? Is Mrs. Baggert murdered? Ihear her screaming."
"That's pretty good evidence that she isn't murdered," said Tom witha grim smile.
"Are you hurt?" again called Mr. Jackson.
"No, I'm all right," answered Tom. "Did you see any one running awayas you came up?"
"No, Master Tom, I didn't. What happened?"
"A burglar got in, and I had him cornered, but he got away when Ifired to arouse you."
By this time the engineer was at the stoop, on which the windowopened. Tom unlocked a side door and admitted Mr. Jackson, and then,the incandescent light having been tu............