sinking lower and lower in the west, he could see the gleam
of it through the trees, and knew in which direction from it lay the
deserted mansion.

Tom moved slowly, and stopped every now and then to listen. All the
sounds he heard were those made by the creatures of the woods--birds,
squirrels and rabbits. He went forward for half an hour, though
in that time he did not cover much ground, and he was just beginning
to think that the house must be near at hand when through a fringe
of bushes he saw the old mansion. It stood in the midst of what
had once been a fine park, but which was now overgrown with weeds
and tangled briars. The paths that led to the house were almost
out of sight, and the once beautiful home was partly in ruins.

"I guess I can sneak up there and take a look in one of the
windows," thought the young inventor. He was about to advance, when
he suddenly stopped. He heard some one or some thing coming around
the corner of the mansion. A moment later a man came into view, and
Tom easily recognized him as one of those who had been in the
automobile. The heart of the young inventor beat so hard that he was
afraid the man would hear it, and Tom crouched down in the bushes to
keep out of sight. The man evidently did not suspect the presence of
a stranger, for, though he cast sharp glances into the tangled
undergrowth that fringed the house like a hedge, he did not seek to
investigate further. He walked slowly on, making a circuit of the
grounds. Tom remained hidden for several minutes, and was about to
proceed again, when the man reappeared. Then Tom saw the reason for
it.

"He's on guard!" the lad said to himself. "He's doing sentry duty. I
can't approach the house when he's there."

For an instant Tom felt a bitter disappointment. He had hoped to be
able to carry out his plan as he had mapped it. Now he would have to
make a change.

"I'll have to wait until night," he thought. "Then I can sneak up
and look in. The guard won't see me after dark. But it's going to be
no fun to stay here, without anything to eat. Still, I've got to do
it."

He remained where he was in the bushes. Several times, before the
sun set, the man doing sentry duty made the circuit of the house,
and Tom noted that occasionally he was gone for a long period. He
reasoned that the man had gone into the mansion to confer with his
confederates.

"If I only knew what was going on in there," thought Tom. "Maybe,
after all, the me