Chapter 12 Tom Swift and His Talking Pictures by Victor Appleton
GREENBAUM THREATENS
More than ever anxious, as much by what Mr. Jackson had left unsaid as by what had come to him over the wire before the interruption, Tom Swift hailed a taxicab and in it rode to his home, stopping, since it was on his way, to let Ned Newton off at the latter’s home.
“Don’t talk too much—outside your own family circle—of what happened, Ned,” was the warning Tom gave his chum as they parted.
“I won’t. But you aren’t going to let the matter drop here, are you?”
“I should say not! But I want to swoop down on those fellows before they know it.”
Tom found his father excited by the sudden news over his son’s safety, but it was a joyous reaction after the dismal news brought back by Mr. Damon and Koku, following the episode of the motorboat chase.
“What happened after I left you?” Tom asked Mr. Damon, who had been pretty constantly at the Swift home following the kidnapping of the young inventor and his manager.
“After you left us?” repeated the eccentric man somewhat dazedly. “You mean——?”
“I mean after I fell overboard,” said Tom, with a smile.
“Oh, yes. Well, neither Koku nor I knew how to manage the Gull, and your friend Bill Tagg wasn’t any better off, bless my rudder!” said Mr. Damon. “So we just let her run, and she slued around so much and acted so queerly after you were taken aboard the other boat that some fellows in a sailboat came to our aid. We told them what had happened—without going too much into your private affairs, Tom—and one of the men got aboard the Gull and brought us back to the dock where we started from. Then I hurried here to tell your father.”
“Then I got in touch with the police,” said Mr. Swift, taking up the story, “for I guessed that those aboard that other boat were your enemies, Tom. But the police didn’t know where to look. So what with you gone and nothing heard of Ned, we were in a great stew.”
“I can imagine it,” Tom said. “Of course you had no way of really knowing Ned was aboard the other boat, though I suppose from what happened and the sight of the bound figure in the bottom of the Turtle, you might have guessed Ned was aboard.”
“I surmised it,” assented Mr. Damon. “But we had no idea where they were taking you.”
“No, you couldn’t know that,” said Tom. “Well, we got away from the scoundrels, and the next thing is to catch them.”
Having given his father and Mr. Damon a hasty description of what had happened to him and Ned, Tom Swift set about the work of running down the miscreants.
The police were notified of the return of the young inventor, and a squad of officers was sent to Rattlesnake Island. Tom did not go, for he felt the need of rest. Besides, there were things at home which needed his attention.
“What was it you started to tell me when we were cut off, Mr. Jackson?” Tom asked his superintendent after the police had departed for the island.
“You mean about Greenbaum?”
“Yes. Is he still here?”
“Well, he is, Mr. Swift; and I hope I’m not going against your wishes when I say I wish he wasn’t.”
“Not at all, Mr. Jackson. I have no desire to keep that man if he isn’t doing what is right, though I must admit that he is a good workman.”
“I agree with you there. But after what happened you must use your own judgment about keeping him on.”
“What happened?”
“Well, he and I quarreled.”
“What did Greenbaum do?” Tom asked. He knew he need not ask what his superintendent had done, for Garret Jackson was thoroughly dependable.
“I found him sneaking around your private room, Tom—the room where you have been doing those experiments of late. I don’t know what they are and I don’t want to know until the right time comes. But I felt pretty sure you didn’t want Greenbaum to be prying in there.”
“No more I do!”
“That’s what I thought. So when I saw him come out of that room the second time, after you had gone to find Ned, I called him to account for it.”
“What did he say?”
“That you told him to go in there to experiment.”
“That was untrue!” cried Tom.
“So I guessed. So I took the liberty of putting a new lock on the place—a lock that fellow couldn’t pick if he wanted to, and he came at me hot and heavy. We had a quarrel, and I’m glad you’re here to settle it.”
“And I’ll settle it mighty quick!” exclaimed Tom. He was in his private office now, in a part of the shop somewhat removed from his secret experimental laboratory. Pushing a button that summoned a messenger, Tom bade the boy send Greenbaum in. And when the man sauntered in, smiling and seeming very confident of himself, the young inventor said:
“Get your time from the cashier and pack your things.”
“What for?” demanded Greenbaum, with a quick change of countenance.
“Because you’re through here.”
“Through, Mr. Swift! Why, you gave me a contract and you can’t fire me off-hand this way without telling me why! It isn’t fair!”
“It’s fair enough, and you know it!” declared Tom. “The only contract you had was that I said I’d keep you as long as your work was satisfactory. Well, it isn’t. It’s far from satisfactory.”
“You mean on that magnetic gear shift? I can show you, Mr. Swift, that——”
“No, it isn’t the gear shift. I’m going to drop that. It’s your own private work of trying to sneak in and fathom my secrets. That’s all. You are through. Get your time and clear out! Mr. Jackson was right in his surmise.”
“Oh, so Jackson has been talking about me, has he?”
“I’m not answering any of your questions,” retorted Tom. “The sooner you leave the premises the better. And don’t come back!”
For a moment Greenbaum stood looking squarely at Tom Swift whose eyes never faltered under the gaze of the angry man. Then Greenbaum asked with great deliberation:
“Is that your last word, Mr. Swift?”
“Yes.”
“Well, all I’ve got to say is that maybe you’ll be sorry for this some day! Maybe you’ll be sorry!”
There was a distinct threat in Greenbaum’s words.
“What do you mean?” cried Tom in anger starting from his chair. “How dare you threaten me?”
Greenbaum made no answer, but turned and went out of the office. Tom was about to follow, for he did not want the fellow to think he could thus defy him, when the telephone on the desk rang out sharply.