No one was
to be seen.
"He can't be very far ahead." thought Tom. "I ought to catch him
before he gets to the woods. If he reaches there he has a good
chance of getting away."
There was a little patch of trees just back of the inventor's house,
not much of a woods, perhaps, but that is what they were called.
"I wonder if he was some ordinary tramp, looking for what he could
steal, or if he was one of the gang after dad's invention?" thought
Tom as he sprinted ahead.
By this time the youth was clear of the group of buildings and in
sight of a tall, board fence, which surrounded the Swift estate on
three sides. Here and there, along the barrier, were piled old
packing-cases, so that it would be easy for a fugitive to leap upon
one of them and so get over the fence. Tom thought of this
possibility in a moment.
"I guess he got over ahead of me," the lad exclaimed, and he peered
sharply about. "I'll catch him on the other side!"
At that instant Tom tripped over a plank and went down full length,
making quite a racket. When he picked himself up he was surprised to
see the man he was after dart from inside a big box and start for
the fence, near a point where there were some packing-cases piled
up, making a good approach to the barrier.
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