one, almost as good, in some respects, as ours.
I bid you good night," and with a bow the man
left the room and hurried away from the house.




Chapter Four

Tom is Imprisoned


"Well, I must say he's a cool one," remarked Tom, as the
echoes of Mr. Berg's steps died away. "The idea of thinking
his boat better than ours! I don't like that man, dad. I'm
suspicious of him. Do you think he came here to steal some
of our ideas?"

"No, I hardly believe so, my son. But how did you discover
him?"

"Just as you saw, dad. I heard a noise and went back there
to investigate. I found him sneaking around, looking at the
electric propeller plates. I went to grab him just as he
stumbled over a hoard. At first I thought it was one of the
old gang. I'm almost sure he was trying to discover
something."

"No, Tom. The firm he works for are good business men, and
they would not countenance anything like that. They are