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Page 74
"Well, this is a good night's work!" exclaimed Tom, when the
two rogues had been sent to jail and Mr. Nestor taken to the
Bloise farmhouse, to be refreshed before he went home. Word of
his rescue was telephoned to Mary and her mother, and it can be
imagined how they regarded Tom Swift for his part in the affair.
Little the worse for his experience, save that he was very
nervous, Mr. Nestor was taken home. He gave the details of his
being waylaid, and told how the men, for many days, were at their
wits' ends to keep him concealed when they found what a stir his
disappearance had created. The conspirators were well supplied
with money, and in the automobile they took their prisoner from
one place to another. They had usurped the use of the cabin and
had lived there nearly a week in hiding, leaving just before the
first visit of Tom and Jackson. The rifled wallet had been
dropped by accident.
And it did not take much delving to disclose the fact that,
Lydane, "Gold Tooth," as he was called, and his crony, were spies
in the pay of the Universal Flying Machine Company. As the men
went under several aliases there is no need of giving their
names. It is to be doubted if they ever used their real ones--or
if they had any.
Of course, there was quite a sensation when Mr. Nestor was
found, and a greater one when it became known the part the
Universal Flying Machine people had in his disappearance in
mistake for Tom. The officials of the company were indicted, and
several of the minor ones sent to jail but Gale and Ware escaped
by remaining abroad.
It came out that they both knew of the acts of Lydane and his
companion in crime, and that the two officials realized the
mistake that had been made by their clumsy operatives. It was
believed that this knowledge led to the visit of Gale to Tom, the
time the latter's suspicions were first aroused. Gale made a
clumsy attempt to clear his own skirts of the conspiracy, but in
vain, though he did escape his just punishment.
What had happened, in brief, was this. Gale and Ware, unable to
secure Tom's services, even by the offer of a large sum of money,
had stooped to the sending of spies to his shop, to get
possession of information about his silent motor. This was after
Gale had, by accident, heard Tom speaking of it to Mr. Damon.
But, thanks to Tom's vigilance, Bower was discovered. The man
tripped into the mud hole lost in the muck the plans Bower passed
to him. They were never recovered. Then Lydane tried again. He
managed, through bribery, to gain access to the hangar where the
new silent machine was kept, and, unable to get the silencer
apart, tried to file it. In doing so he weakened it so that it
burst.
The attempt to waylay Tom, and so get the plans from him, had
been tried before this, only a mistake had been made, and Mr.
Nestor was caught instead. Finding out their error, Lydane and
his companions did not tell the Universal people of their
mistake, though Gale and Ware knew the attempt was to be made
against Tom Swift.
Later, hearing that the young inventor was still at work on his
invention, Gale was much surprised, and paid his queer visit, in
an attempt to repudiate the actions of Lydane. At this time it
was assumed that Gale and his partner did not know that it was
Mr. Nestor who had been kidnapped by mistake or they might have
insisted on his release. As it was, Lydane had Mary's father, and
was afraid to let him go, though really their prisoner became a
white elephant on the hands of the conspirators and kidnappers.
And it was after all this was cleared up, and Mr. Nestor
restored to his family and friends, that one day, Tom Swift
received another visit from Mr. Terrill, the government agent.
"Well, Mr. Swift," was the genial greeting, "I have come to
tell you that the favorable report made by my friends and myself
as to the performance of your noiseless motor, has been accepted
by the War Department, and I have come to ask what your terms
are. For how much will you sell your patent to the United
States?"
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