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"Then this is where the trail divides," said Ned, as they went back over the road, coming to a point where the highway branched off. "If he went this way, he went to Kanker's place, or he would be in the way of going. He isn't there, it seems, and didn't go there." "If he took the other road, where would he go?" asked Mr. Damon. "Any one of a dozen places.
It may be that we are needlessly alarmed, or they may mean bad business. At any rate, it's up to us to find Tom." In Ned's runabout, which was a speedier car than that of the eccentric man, the two set off for Kanker's farm. On the way they stopped at various places in town, where Tom was in the habit of doing business, to inquire if he had been seen. But there was no trace of him.
"Well, out to Kanker's we'll go!" decided Ned. "And if anything has happened to Tom there well, we'll make whoever is responsible wish it hadn't!" "Bless my fountain pen, but that's what we will!" chimed in Mr. Damon. And so the two began the search for the missing youth. A Prisoner Amos Kanker came to the door of his farmhouse as Ned and Mr. Damon drove up in the runabout.
'There! said Oscar, thrusting it into Kanker's hands. 'It is open: now look for yourself! Then he turned away, and hid his face in his hands. All of a sudden he heard again Kanker's hateful spluttering laugh. He looked up in astonishment. Kanker was pointing contemptuously to the page. 'No pictures here! he was saying. 'Show me your pictures!
Accordingly they made enough inquiries to establish the fact that Tom had started for the farm of the rascally Kanker, who had been so insistent in the matter of his almost worthless barn. A number of people who knew Tom well had seen him pass in the direction of Kanker's place, and some had spoken to him, for the young inventor was well known in the vicinity of Shopton and the neighboring towns.
Damon. "Is Tom Swift over with you?" inquired the eccentric man. "No. Why?" Ned answered. "Well, I'm at his shop, and he isn't here. His father says he received a message from you a little while ago, saying to come over in a hurry, and he went. Says you told him to meet you out at that farmer Kanker's place. I thought maybe " "At Kanker's place!" cried Ned. "Say, something's wrong, Mr. Damon!
Now Oscar knew that the mystic words which undid the clasp were a secret which he had no right to disclose. But he wanted so much to show Kanker the inside of the book, and make him acknowledge that he was wrong, that everything else seemed of little account in comparison. He took the book from Kanker's hands. As he did so, a strange feeling came over him.
Damon agreed that this was a wise plan, and, after a casual look around the farmhouse and other buildings on Kanker's place and finding nothing to arouse their suspicions, the two left in Ned's speedy little machine. "It is mighty queer!" remarked the young bank clerk, as they shot along the country road. "It isn't like Tom to get caught this way." "Maybe he isn't caught," suggested the other.
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