you, Mr. Bartholomew?" asked Tom Swift
earnestly, and staring at the big-little man before the fire.

Mr. Richard Bartholomew was just that--a "big-little man." In the
railroad world, both in construction and management, he had made an
enviable name for himself.

He had actually built up the Hendrickton and Pas Alos from a
narrow-gauge, "jerkwater" road into a part of a great cross-continent
system that tapped a wonderfully rich territory on both sides of the
Pas Alos Range.

For some years the H. & P. A. had a monopoly of that territory. Now,
as Mr. Bartholomew intimated, it was threatened with such rivalry from
another railroad and other capitalists, that the H. & P. A. was being
looked upon in the financial market as a shaky investment.

But Tom Swift repeated:

"You do not mean just that, do you, Mr. Bartholomew?"

Mr. Bartholomew, who was a little man physically, rolled around in his
chair to face the young fellow more directly. His own eyes sparkled in
the firelight. His olive face was flushed.

"That is much nearer the truth, young man," he said, somewhat harshly
because of his suppressed emotion, "than I want people at large to
suspect. As I have told your father, I came here to put all my cards on
the table; but I expect the Swift Construction Company to take anything
I may say as said in confidence."

"We quite understand that, Mr. Bartholomew," said the elder Swift,
softly. "You can speak freely. Whether we do business or not, these
walls are soundproof, and Tom and I can forget, or remember, as we
wish. Of course if we take up any work for you, we must confide to a
certain extent in our close associates and trusted mechanics."

"Humph!" grunted the visitor, turning restlessly again in his chair.
Then he said: "I agree as the necessity of that last statement; but I
can only hope that these walls are soundproof."

"What's that?" demanded Tom, rather sharply. He was a bright looking
young fellow with an alert air and a rather humorous smile. His father
was a semi-invalid; but Tom possessed all the mental vigor and muscular
energy that a young man should have. He had not neglected his Athletic
development while he made the best use of his mental powers.

"Believe me," said the visitor, quite as harshly as before, "I begin to
doubt the solidity of all walls. I know that I have been watched, and
spied upon, and that eavesdroppers have played hob with our affairs.

"Of late, there has been little pl