making some changes in the motor. He was engaged at this work the
next day, when he noticed a shadow pass across an open window. He
looked up to see Ned.

"Hello, Tom!" cried his chum. "Have you heard the news?"

"No, what news? Has Andy Foger fallen out of his airship?"

"No, but there are a whole lot of Custom House detectives in town,
looking for clews to the smugglers."

"Still at it, eh? Shopton can't seem to keep out of the limelight.
Has anything new turned up?"

"Yes. I just met Mr. Whitford. He's back on the case and he has
several men with him. They received word that some smuggled goods
came to Shopton, and were shipped out of here again."

"How, by airship?"

"No, by horse and wagon. A lot of cases of valuable silks imported
from England to Canada, where the duty is light, were slipped over
the border somehow, in airships, it is thought. Then they came here
by freight, labeled as calico, and when they reached this town they
were taken away in a wagon."

"But how did they get here?"

"On the railroad, of course, but the freight people had no reason to
suspect them."