"Poor old dad!" mused the young inventor. "I hope he is well enough to come and see me try for the ten—thousand—dollar prize—and win it! I hope I do; but if some one builds, from my stolen plans, a machine on this model, I'll have my work cut out for me." And he gazed with pride on the Humming-Bird.
For the past two weeks Tom had seen nothing of Andy Foger. The red-haired bully seemed to have dropped out of sight, and even his cronies, Sam Snedecker and Pete Bailey, did not know where he had gone.
"I hope he has gone for good," said Ned Newton, who lived near Andy. "He's an infernal nuisance. I wish he'd never come back to Shopton."
But Andy was destined to come back.
One day, when Tom was busy installing a wireless apparatus on his new aeroplane, he heard Eradicate hurrying up the path that led to the shop.
"I wonder if dad is worse?" thought Tom, that always being his first idea when he knew a summons was coming for him. Quickly he opened the door.
"Some one's comin' out to see you, Massa Tom," said the colored man.
