ed off his machine and approached the colored man. Eradicate
Sampson did odd jobs in the neighborhood of Shopton, and more than once
Tom had done him favors in repairing his lawn mower or his wood-sawing
machine. In turn Eradicate had given Tom a valuable clue as to the
hiding place of the model thieves.

"How'd the log get across the road, Rad?" asked Tom.

"I dunno, Mistah Swift. I see it when I come along wid mah mule,
Boomerang, an' I tried t' git it outer de way, but I couldn't. Den I
left Boomerang an' mah wagon at de foot ob de hill an' I come up heah
t' git a long pole t' pry de log outer de way. I didn't t'ink nobody
would come along, case dis road ain't much trabeled."

"I took it for a short cut," said the lad. "Come on, let's take a look
at the log."

Leaving his machine at the top of the slope, the young inventor
accompanied the colored man 'down the hill. At the foot of it, well
hidden from sight of any one who might come riding down, was a big log.
It was all the way across the road.

"That never fell there," exclaimed Tom in some excitement. "That never
rolled off a load of logs, even if there had been one along, which
there wasn't. That log was put there!"

"Does yo' t'ink dat, Mistah Swift?" asked Eradicate, his eyes getting
big.

"I certainly do, and, if you hadn't warned me, I might have been
killed."

"Oh, I heard yo' lickity-split machine chug-chuggin' along when I were
in de bushes, lookin' for a pryin' pole, an' I hurried out to warn yo.
I knowed I could leave Boomerang safe, 'case he's asleep."

"I'm glad you did warn me," went on the youth solemnly. Then, as he
went closer to the log, he uttered an exclamation.

"That has been dragged here by an automobile!" he cried. "It's been
done on purpose to injure some one. Come on, Rad, let's see if we
can't find out who did it."

Something on the ground caught Tom's eye. He stooped and picked up a
nickle-plated wrench.

"This may come in handy as evidence," he murmured.

CHAPTER IV

TOM AND ANDY CLASH

Even a casual observer could have told that an auto had had some part
in dragging the log to the place where it blockaded the road. In the
dust were many marks of the big rubber tires and even the imprint of a
rope, which had been used to tow the tree trunk.

"What fo' yo' t'ink any one put dat log dere?" asked the colored man as
he followed Tom. Boomerang, the mule, so called because Eradicate said
you never