With a hand that trembled so he could scarcely hold the receiver of the
telephone, Mr. Swift placed it to his ear.

"Hello! Hello!" he cried into the transmitter. "Yes, this is Mr.
Swift--yes, Garret. What is it?"

Then came a series of clicks, which Tom and Ned listened to. The
inventor spoke again.

"What's that? The same men? Broke in early this evening? Oh, that's
too bad! Of course, I'll come at once."

There followed more meaningless clicks, which Tom wished he could
translate. His father hung up the receiver, turned to him and
exclaimed:

"I've been robbed again!"

"Robbed again! How, dad?"

"By that same rascally gang, Garret thinks. This evening, when he and
Mrs. Baggert were in the house the burglar alarm went off. The
indicator showed that the electrical shop had been entered, and the
engineer hurried there. He saw a light inside and the shadows of
persons on the windows. Before he could reach the shop, however, the
thieves heard him coming and escaped. Oh, Tom, I should never have
come away!"

"But did they take anything, dad? Perhaps Garret frightened them away
before they had a chance to steal any of your things. Did you ask him
that?"

"I didn't need to. He said he made a hasty exanimation before he
called me up, and he is sure a number of my electrical inventions are
missing. Some of them are devices I never have had patented, and if I
lose them I will have no recovery."

"But just what ones are they? Perhaps we can send out a police alarm
to-night."

"Garret couldn't tell that," answered Mr. Swift as he paced to and fro
in the hotel office. "He doesn't know all the tools and machinery I
had in there. But it is certain that some of my most valuable things
have been taken."

"Never mind. Don't worry, dad," and Tom tried to speak soothingly, for
he saw that his father was much excited. "We may be able to get them
back. How does Garret know the same men who stole the turbine model
broke in the shop this evening?"

"He saw them. One was Happy Harry, he is positive. The others he did
not know, but he recognized the tramp from our description of him."

"Then we must tell the police at once."

"Yes, Tom, I wish you would telephone. I'll give you a description of
the things. No, I can't do that either, for I don't know what was
stolen. I must go home at once to find out. It's a good thing the
motor-boat is here. Come, let's start at once. What is my bill h