"It's time to explode in just five hours; then good-night to
that invention, whatever it is."

This statement might mean almost anything--or nothing.
Ordinarily Ned Newton might not have paid any consideration to
the words. But "invention" was a term that he could not over-
look. His mind then was fixed upon Tom's invention almost as
closely as the mind of the young inventor himself.

Ned turned around slowly, as though idly, indeed, and tried to
see the faces of the two men behind him. One was a small, neatly
dressed man of professional appearance. He wore a Vandyke beard
and eyeglasses. The other's face Ned could not see; but as they
both rose just then and strolled toward the door of the bank he
could observe that the fellow was big and burly.

Ned wheeled to his friend, the vice president, and asked:

"Who are those men, Mr. Stanley? Do you know them?"

The pair were just going out through the revolving door. The
vice president craned his neck for a look at them.

"Don't know the small man, Ned. But the other is named
O'Malley, I believe. Somebody introduced him here and he gets a
check cashed occasionally. Not a customer of the bank."

At that moment the name "O'Malley" did not mean anything to Ned
Newton. But he bade his friend good-bye and went out after the
two men. They had disappeared.