Chapter 10 Tom Swift and His Great Oil Gusher by Victor Appleton
CAUGHT IN THE ACT
Despite his great size, Koku was as light on his feet as a cat, and he made no sound as he followed in Tom’s footsteps. As silently as panthers they approached the fence.
Tom had slipped a revolver into his pocket as he left the office, as a matter of precaution, though he hardly thought he would have occasion to use it, and would only do so in the last extremity. Ordinarily his sinewy arms and powerful fists were a sufficient reliance. But there was no telling whether he would have to face an individual or a gang, and it was well to be prepared for any emergency.
One thing was certain. Whoever was there had no right to be there and could only have come for some evil purpose.
They had caught one more glance of a flash of light, but only one. Now everything was in absolute darkness. There was no moon and the ordinary blackness of the night was deepened by heavy clouds that presaged a storm. Tom could scarcely see his hand before his face, and it was only by reaching out occasionally and touching Koku that he knew the latter was close on his heels.
Tom had a powerful flashlight with him, but it was unnecessary to use it just then, for he was so familiar with every foot of the yard that he could have gone to the fence blindfolded. Besides, it was essential that the prowler or prowlers be kept in ignorance that their unlawful visit had been discovered.
Soon they were near the fence, and Tom caught one of Koku’s hands and drew him to him.
“Now, Koku,” he whispered, “I’ll go around one side of the fence and you go round the other until we meet. If you come across any one, grab him and hold him fast. But don’t call out, as that may warn others who may be with him. Hold him till I come up to you. No rough stuff. Don’t hurt him. Just hang on to him.”
Koku nodded and started round one side while Tom went in the opposite direction. There was not a sound to break the stillness. If there was any one about, he was acting with extreme caution.
Before long they had together completed the circuit and met.
“Did you see any one, Koku?” queried Tom, in a whisper.
“No,” was the reply. “But there is ladder against fence. Come.” And, turning, the giant, followed by Tom, went back to where a ladder was propped against the wall of the enclosure.
As Tom’s eye ran along its length, a flare of light stabbed the air but was quickly extinguished. At first it seemed to him like a faint gleam of lightning, but there was no thunder, and he realized that it had probably come from a flashlight.
Motioning to Koku to remain where he was, Tom went up the ladder. When he reached the top, he slowly and cautiously raised his head above the fence.
At first he could see nothing except the bulky derrick, which stood out as a formless blot against the blackness. But while he listened intently, he heard the clink of metal as though a hand were fumbling among tools, and an instant later there came another flash that revealed the figure of a man bending down with his back toward him.
Like a ghost, Tom slipped down the ladder. Then he laid the ladder flat on the ground, and, telling Koku to follow, went rapidly around to the gate of the enclosure.
He inserted his key in the lock, opened the gate slowly so that no grinding of the hinges should betray his presence, and then like two shadows the pair moved toward the derrick.
Again the clink of metal guided them, and soon they were within a few feet of the intruder, whose form was dimly visible.
Tom drew his flashlight from his pocket and touched Koku as a signal to be in readiness.
“Now!” cried Tom, and flashed his powerful light full in the face of Hankinshaw.
With a startled exclamation the latter started back, while at the same time his hand reached toward his hip pocket. But in that instant the giant Koku had leaped upon him and pinioned his arms behind his back.
Hankinshaw was a heavily built man and he struggled violently to free himself. But in Koku’s hands he was as helpless as an infant.
“Hold him, Koku,” commanded Tom, and went to the derrick. He took a lantern off a peg, lighted it and returned. He set the lantern on the ground and pocketed his flashlight. Then he passed his hands lightly over Hankinshaw’s clothes and drew from the latter’s pocket a revolver, fully loaded. He broke the stock, took out the cartridges and threw the now useless weapon on the ground.
During this process, Hankinshaw fumed and frothed and burst out in imprecations, to all of which Tom paid not the slightest attention.
“Now put him down on the ground, Koku,” directed Tom.
The giant obeyed, and Hankinshaw found himself sitting on the ground with startling suddenness. He started to get up, but Koku’s hands on his shoulders put him back with a force that jarred him and made his teeth chatter.
“Better stay put,” warned Tom. “That man of mine doesn’t know how strong he really is, and if he grabs you again you’re apt to get hurt. It will be healthier for you to stay right where you are until I tell you to get up. Get me?”
Hankinshaw evidently did “get” him, and sat still, his face black with rage.
“This is an infernal outrage,” he shouted. “I’ll get even with you, and don’t you forget it. What do you mean by assaulting me in this way, you and your man? I’ll——”
A long string of threats and expletives followed. Tom let him rave, looking steadily at him the while until beneath the blistering contempt in his eyes Hankinshaw faltered, sputtered and tapered off into a confused and incoherent snarl.
“Are you through now?” asked Tom.
“Not through with you, by a long shot,” snarled Hankinshaw.
“Whether you are or not, you’re going to listen to me now,” said Tom. “Unless,” he added, as though by an afterthought, “you’d rather have the police and the district attorney do the talking?”
At the word “police” Hankinshaw’s face blanched and his bluster dropped away.
“Because, you know,” went on Tom, “this is a police matter. I find you in the dead of night on my property after scaling a locked enclosure, handling my implements, and for all I know getting ready to carry them away. It’s as though I woke up in my room at night and found a burglar rifling my bureau drawers. The fact that he didn’t have time to get anything before I nabbed him wouldn’t prevent his being tried and convicted for burglary. I imagine that if I chose to hand you over they’d put you where the dogs couldn’t bite you for a while.”
Hankinshaw moistened his parched lips with his tongue.
“There’s no use talking that way,” he said, and there was unmistakable fear in his voice. “Why should I want to take anything away? And how could I if I did want to? They’re too heavy to handle. Do you think I’d walk off with your derrick?”
“Stop your stalling, Hankinshaw, and tell me the truth—that is, if you can,” commanded Tom sharply. “What were you doing in this enclosure at this time of night?”
“Why—why, I was restless and—and couldn’t sleep,” stammered Hankinshaw. “So I dressed and went out——”
“For a nice little moonlight stroll, I suppose,” interrupted Tom sarcastically, looking up at the lowering sky.