"Casualties from yesterday's disastrous earthquake now total thirty-one
injured," the announcer reported. "Most of these are employees of the
Faber Electronics plant and four are in critical condition. There is one
note of cheer, however. At last report, Mark Faber, the brilliant
president of the company, is now expected to recover." Tom gave a
thankful sigh of relief.

The announcer continued, "The nearby town of Harkness was only lightly
damaged, but the plant itself was almost totally demolished. No estimate
of the losses has been released, but will certainly run into millions of
dollars, including some highly secret defense items which were being
developed at the plant. Scientists are puzzled by the severity of the
quake in what had been considered a 'dead' area."

For the first time Tom, too, was struck by this curious aspect of the
disaster. So far as he knew, no serious tremors had ever before been
reported within hundreds of miles of the region.

He was mulling over the matter as he drove along a lonely wooded area,
not far from Lake Carlopa. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as a
man stepped out from among the trees ahead and gestured with his thumb
for a ride.

"Sorry, mister," Tom reflected, "but I've had trouble with hitchhikers
before!" He shook his head to let the man know that he did not intend to
stop.

To the young inventor's amazement, the pedestrian deliberately stepped
onto the road--squarely in the path of Tom's oncoming car!