Tom started, and Mr. Merton noticed it.

"Do you know him?" he asked.

"No," replied Tom, "but I saw--" Then he stopped. He recalled the
man he had seen in the post-office. He answered this description,
but it was too vague to be certain.

"Did you say you'd seen him?" asked Mr. Merton, regarding Tom
curiously.

"No--yes--that is--well, I'll tell my father about it," stammered
Tom, who concluded that it would be best to say nothing of his
suspicions. "I'll be back right after dinner, Mr. Merton. Please
have the bolts ready for me, if you can."

"I will. Is your father going to use them in a new machine?"

"Yes; dad is always making new machines," answered the youth, as the
most polite way of not giving the proprietor of the shop any
information. "I'll be back right after dinner," he called as he went
out to get on his wheel.

Tom was much puzzled. He felt certain that the man in the post-
office and the one who had questioned Mr. Merton were the same.

"There is something going on, that dad should know about," reflected
Tom. "I must tell him. I don't believe it will be wise to send any
more of his patent work over to Merton. We must do it in the shops