But Eradicate did not finish what he intended to say. Once free
from the powerful current, the giant looked at his numb hands,
and then, seeming to think that Eradicate was the cause of it
all, he sprang at the colored man with a yell. But Eradicate did
not stay to see what would happen. With a howl of terror, he
raced out of the door, and, old and rheumatic as he was, he
managed to gain the stable of his mule, Boomerang, over which he
had his humble but comfortable quarters.

"Well, I guess he's safe for a while!" laughed Tom, as he saw
the giant turn away, shaking his fist at the closed door, for
Koku, big as he was, stood in mortal terror of the mule's heels.

Tom locked the door of the electrical shop and Went back to his
interrupted problem. From Jackson he learned that Koku and
Eradicate had merely happened to stroll into the forbidden place,
which had been left open by accident. There, it appeared, Koku
had handled some of the machinery, ending by switching on the
current of the machine the handles of which he later
unsuspectingly picked up. Then he received a shock he long
remembered, and for many days he believed Eradicate had been
responsible for it, and there was more than the usual hostile
feeling between the two. But Eradicate was innocent of that
trick, at all events.

"Though," said Tom, telling his father about it later, "Rad
would have turned on the current if he had known he could make
trouble for Koku by it. I never saw their like for having
disagreements!"