ms of illumination came from the searchlight Tom had fixed
outside his window, but never before had the lantern given such a
glow.

"That's wonderful!" cried Tom, as he ran to examine it. "What has
happened? I never had such a powerful beam before. There must be
something that I have stumbled on by accident. Say, that is a light
all right! Why it goes for miles and miles, and I never projected a
beam as far as this before."

As Tom looked into a circle of violet-colored glass set in the side
cf the small searchlight, to see what had caused the extraordinary
glow, he could observe nothing out of the ordinary. The violet glass
was to protect the eyes from the glare.

"It must be that, by accident, I made some new connection at the
dynamo," murmured Tom.

"Hi! Lemme go! Lemme go, Massa giant! I ain't done nuffin'!" yelled
a voice.

"I got you!" cried Koku.

"It's an ordinary chicken thief this time I guess," said Tom. "But
this light--this great searchlight--"

Then a sudden thought came to him.

"By Jove!" he cried. "If I can find out the secret of how I happened
to project such a beam, it will be the very thing to focus on the
smugglers from my noiseless airship! That's what I need--a
searchlight such as never before has been made--a terrifically
powerful one. And I've got it, if I can only find out just how it
happened. I've got to look before the current dies out."

Leaving the brilliant beams on in full blast, Tom ran down the
stairs to get to his shop, from which the electrical power came.

CHAPTER VIII

TOM'S NEWEST INVENTION

"I got him, Mr. Tom!"

"Oh, please, good Massa Swift! Make him leggo me! He suah am
squeezin' de liber outer me!"

"Shall I conflict the club upon him, Mr. Tom?"

It was Koku who asked this last question, as Tom came running toward
the giant. In the strange glare from the searchlight, the young
inventor saw his big servant holding tightly to a rather small,
colored man, while the camera, which was focused full on them, was
clicking away at a great rate, taking picture after picture on the
roll of films.

"No, don't INFLICT nor CONFLICT the club on him, Koku," advised Tom.
"Who is he?"

"I don't know, Mr. Tom. I was in hiding, in the darkness, waiting
for him to come back. He had been here once before in the evening,
Eradicate says. Well, he came while I was waiting and I detained
him. Then the lights went up. They are very bright lights, Mr. Tom."

"Yes, brig