"Dat big el'phant ought to be livin' in a barn," declared Rad.
"Look at dat spear he come near runnin' me t'rough wid! If he
had, yo' could ha' driv a tipcart full o' rubbish in after it.
Lawsy me!"

But an hour later when Tom and his father started for the
offices of the Swift Construction Company down the street, Rad
and Koku were sitting before an enormous breakfast in the back
kitchen and chatting together as companionably as ever.

The old inventor and his son arrived at the offices of the
Swift Construction Company not long ahead of Mr. Richard
Bartholomew. Tom had merely found time to read over the contract
that had been jointly prepared by Ned Newton and the firm's legal
advisers, before the railroad man came.

"No getting out of the provisions of that paper, Tom," Ned had
whispered, when he saw Mr. Bartholomew coming into the outer
office. "Is this your man

"Yes."

"A sharp looking little fellow," commented Ned. "But even if he
were bent on tricking us, this contract would hold him. He is
solvent and so is his road--as yet. If it has a bad name in the
market that is more because of slander by the Montagne Lewis
crowd than from any real cause. I've found that out this
morning."

"Faithful Nero!" chuckled Tom. "Aren't going to let the Swifts