"I suppose you heard about the affair by sneaking around under our
windows, and listening," said Tom.

"Never mind how I know it, but I do," retorted the bully.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing," said Tom calmly. "If you come around
again it won't be healthy for you. Look out for live wires, if you try
to do the listening act any more, Andy!" And with that ominous warning
Tom turned away.

"What do you suppose he means, Andy?" asked Pete Bailey, one of Andy's
cronies.

"It means he's got electrical wires strung around his place," declared
Sam Snedecker, "and that we'll be shocked if we go up there. I'm not
going!"

"Me, either," added Pete, and Andy laughed uneasily.

Tom heard what they said, and in the next few days he made himself busy
by putting some heavy wires in and about the grounds where they would
show best. But the wires carried no current, and were only displayed to
impress a sense of fear on Andy and his cronies, which purpose they
served well.

But it was like locking the stable door after the horse had been stolen,
for with all the precautions he could take Tom could not get back his
plans, and he spent many anxious days seeking them. They seemed to have
completely disappeared, however, and the young inventor decided there
was nothing else to do but to draw new ones.