"I guess not. The old Foger homestead is closed up, though I did see
a man working around it to-day as I came past. But he was a
carpenter, making some repairs I think. No, I don't believe Andy is
here to stay."

"But if some one is fixing up the house, it looks as if the family
would come back," remarked Tom, as he thought of the lad who had so
long been his enemy, and who had done him many mean turns before
leaving Shopton, where our hero lived.

"I don't think so," was the opinion of Ned Newton, who was Tom
Swift's particular chum. "You know when Mr. Foger lost all his
money, the house was supposed to be sold. But I heard later that
there was some flaw in the title, and the sale fell through. It is
because he couldn't sell the place that Mr. Foger couldn't get money
to pay some of his debts. He has some claim on the house, I believe,
but I don't believe he'd come back to live in it."

"Why not?"

"Because it's too expensive a place for a poor man to keep up, and
Mr. Foger is now poor."

"Yes, he didn't get any of the gold, as we did when we went to the
underground city," remarked Tom. "Well, I don't wish anybody bad
luck but I certainly hope the Fogers keep poor enough to stay away
from Shopton. They bothered me enough. But where did you see Andy?"

"Oh, he was with his crony, Sam Snedecker. You know Sam said, some