"What do you want around here, Tom Swift?" demanded Andy.

"You know very well what I want," said the young inventor, calmly. "I
want to know what you did with the aeroplane plans you took from my
house."

"I never took any!" declared Andy vigorously

"Well, there's no use discussing that," went on Tom. "What I came here
to find out, and I don't mind telling you, is whether or not you are
building a monoplane to compete against me, and building it on a model
invented by me; and what's more, Andy Foger, I intend to find this out,
too!"

Tom started toward the big shed, which loomed up in the moonlight.

"Stand back!" cried Andy, getting in Tom's way. "I can build any kind of
an aeroplane I like, and you can't stop me!"

"We'll see about that," declared the young inventor, as he kept on. "I'm
not going to allow my plans to be stolen, and a monoplane made after
them, and do nothing about it."

"You keep away!" snarled Andy, and he grabbed Tom by the shoulder and
struck him a blow in the chest. He must have been very much excited, or
otherwise he never would have come to hostilities this way with Tom,
whom he well knew could easily beat him.

The blow, together with the many things he had suffered at Andy's hands,