This invention, his ammonia gun, now came into play.
"Bless my failing eyesight!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, as he shot
the motor-car ahead again in a straight line.
The man who had accosted Tom so fiercely fell off the running
board and rolled into the gutter, screaming and choking from the
fumes from Tom's gun.
"Drive on!" commanded the young inventor. "If he keeps
bellowing like that the police will pick him up. I guess he will
let us alone here-after."
"Bless my short hairs and long ones!" chuckled Mr. Damon. "You
are the coolest young fellow, Tom, that I ever saw. That man must
have been a highwayman. And it is of some of those gentry that I
drove over to Shopton this evening to talk to you about."
Chapter IV
Much to Think About
Although it was now nearing ten o'clock on this eventful
evening, Tom knew that he would find Ned Newton at home. When Mr.
Damon's car stopped before the house there was a light in Ned's
room and the front door opened almost as soon as Tom rang. Mr.
Damon left the car and entered with the young inventor at his
invitation.
"What's up?" was Ned's greeting, looking at the two curiously
as he ushered them in. "I see this isn't entirely a social call,"
and he laughed as he shook the older man's hand.
"Bless my particular star!" exclaimed the latter excitedly. "Of
all the thrilling adventures that anybody ever got into, it is
this Tom Swift who cooks them up! Why, Newton! do you know that
we have been held up by a highwayman within two blocks of this
very house?"
"And that of course was Tom's fault?" suggested Ned, still
smiling.
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