Tom was so excited that he hardly knew what to do. His first thoughtwas to keep out of sight of the man in the boat, for the younginventor did not want the criminals to suspect that he was on theirtrail. To that end he ran back until he knew he could not be seenfrom the lake. There he paused and peered through the bushes. Hecaught a glimpse of the man in the motor-boat. The craft was makingfast time across the water.
"He didn't see me," murmured Tom. "Lucky I saw him first. Now whathad I better do?"
It was a hard question to answer. If he only had some one with whomto consult he would have felt better, but he knew he had to rely onhimself. Tom was a resourceful lad, and he had often before beenobliged to depend on his wits. But this time very much was at stake,and a false move might ruin everything.
"This is certainly the house," went on Tom, "and that man in theboat is one of the fellows who helped rob me. Now the next thing todo is to find out if the others of the gang are in the old mansion,and, if they are, to see if dad's model and papers are there. Thenthe next thing to do will he to get our things away, and I fancyI'll have no easy job."
Well might Tom think this, for the men with whom he had to deal weredesperate characters, who had already dared much to accomplish theirends, and who would do more before they would suffer defeat. Still,they under-estimated the pluck of the lad who was pitted againstthem.
"I might as well proceed on a certain plan, and have some systemabout this affair," reasoned the lad. "Dad is a great believer insystem, so I'll lay out a plan and see how nearly I can follow it.Let's see--what is the first thing to do?"
Tom considered a moment, going over the whole situation in his mind.Then he went on, talking to himself alone there in the woods:
"It seems to me the first thing to do is to find out if the men arein the house. To do that I've got to get closer and look in througha window. Now, how to get closer?"
He considered that problem from all sides.
"It will hardly do to approach from the lake shore," he reasoned."for if they have a motor-boat and a dock, there must be a path fromthe house to the water. If there is a path people are likely to walkup or down it at any minute. The man in the boat might come backunexpectedly and catch me. No, I can't risk approaching from thelake shore. I've got to work my way up to the house by going throughthe woods. That much is settled. Now to approach the house, and whenI get within seeing distance I'll settle the next point. One thingat a time is a good rule, as dad used to say. Poor dad! I do hope Ican get his model and papers back for him."
Tom, who had been sitting on a log under a bush, staring at thelake, arose. He was feeling rather weak and faint, and was at a lossto account for it, until he remembered that he had had no dinner.
"And I'm not likely to get any," he remarked. "I'm not going to eatuntil I see who's in that house. Maybe I won't then, and wheresupper is coming from I don't know. But this is too important to beconsidered in the same breath with a meal. Here goes."
Cautiously Tom made his way forward, taking care not to make toomuch disturbance in the bushes. He had been on hunting trips, andknew the value of silence in the woods. He had no paths to follow,but he had noted the position of the sun, and though that luminarywas now sinking lower and lower in the west, he could see the gleamof it through the trees, and knew in which direction from it lay thedeserted mansion.
Tom moved slowly, and stopped every now and then to listen. All thesounds he heard were those made by the creatures of the woods--birds, squirrels and rabbits. He went forward for half an hour,though in that time he did not cover much ground, and he was justbeginning to think that the house must be near at hand when througha fringe of bushes he saw the old mansion. It stood in the midst ofwhat had once been a fine park, but which was now overgrown withweeds and tangled briars. The paths that led to the house werealmost out of sight, and the once beautiful home was partly inruins.
"I guess I can sneak up there and take a look in one of thewindows," thought the young inventor. He was about to advance, whenhe suddenly stopped. He heard some one or some thing coming aroundthe corner of the mansion. A moment later a man came into view, andTom easily recognized him as one of thos............