great danger, even in his airship. Especially was this so at the erupting volcano.
But our hero came safely back to Shopton, and there, all Winter and Spring, he busied himself perfecting a new motor for an airship—a motor that would make no noise. He perfected it early that Summer, and now was about to try it, when the incident of the torn newspaper happened.
"Have you got all the pieces, Tom?" asked Ned, as he passed his chum several scraps, which were gathered up from the floor.
"I think so. Now we'll paste them together, and see what it says. We may be on the trail of a big mystery, Ned."
"Maybe. Go ahead and see what you can make of it."
Tom fitted together, as best he could, the ragged pieces, and then pasted them on a blank sheet of paper.
"I guess I've got it all here now," he said finally. "I'll skip the first part. You read me most of that, Ned. Just as you told me, it relates how the government agents, having tried in vain to get a clew to the smugglers, came to the conclusion that they must be using airships to slip contraband goods over the border at night.
"Now where's that mention cf Shopton? Oh, here it is," and he read:
