pse into unconsciousness you might as well let me
keep on sleeping until the end," said Mr. Baxter bitterly to Tom and
Ned, as they drove away from the scene of the fire with him.

"Oh, you'll feel better in the morning," cheerfully declared Ned.

The man did not answer, and the two chums did not feel much like
talking, for they were worn out and weary from their exertions at the
fire. The factory had been pretty well consumed, though by strenuous
labors the blaze had not extended to adjoining structures. The home of
Mary Nestor was saved, and for this Tom Swift was thankful.

Mrs. Baggert, the Swift's housekeeper, was indeed glad to have some one
to "fuss over," as Tom put it. She prepared a bed for Mr. Baxter, and
in this the weary and ill man sank with a sigh of relief.

"Can I do anything for you?" asked Tom, as he was about to go out and
close the door.

"No--thank you," was the halting reply. "I guess nothing can be done.
Field and Melling have me where they want me now--down and out."

"Do you mean Amos Field and Jason Melling of the fireworks firm?" asked
Tom, for the names were familiar to him in a business way.

"Yes, the--the scoundrels!" exclaimed Mr. Baxter, and from his voice
Tom judged that he was growing stronger. "They pretended to be my
friends, giving me a shop in which to work and experiment, and when the
time came they took my secret formulae. I believe that is what they
started the fire for--to conceal their crime!"

"You don't mean that!" cried Tom. "Deliberately to start a fire in a
factory where there was powder and other explosives! That would be a
terrible crime!"

"Field and Melling are capable of just such crimes as that!" said
Josephus Baxter, bitterly. "If they took my formulae they wouldn't stop
at arson."

"Were your formulae for the manufacture of fireworks?" asked Tom.

"Not altogether," was the reply. "I had several formulae for valuable
chemical combinations. They could be used in fireworks, and that is why
I could use the laboratory here. But the main use of my discoveries is
in the dye industry. I would have been a millionaire soon, with the
rise of the American dye industry following the shutting out of the
Germans after the war. But now, with my secret formulae gone, I am no
better than a beggar!"

"Perhaps it will not be as bad as you think," said Tom, recognizing the
fact that Mr. Baxter was in a nervous and excited state. "Matters may
look brighter in the morning