"It's an ordinary chicken thief this time I guess," said Tom. "But
this light--this great searchlight--"

Then a sudden thought came to him.

"By Jove!" he cried. "If I can find out the secret of how I happened
to project such a beam, it will be the very thing to focus on the
smugglers from my noiseless airship! That's what I need--a
searchlight such as never before has been made--a terrifically
powerful one. And I've got it, if I can only find out just how it
happened. I've got to look before the current dies out."

Leaving the brilliant beams on in full blast, Tom ran down the
stairs to get to his shop, from which the electrical power came.




CHAPTER VIII

TOM'S NEWEST INVENTION


"I got him, Mr. Tom!"

"Oh, please, good Massa Swift! Make him leggo me! He suah am
squeezin' de liber outer me!"

"Shall I conflict the club upon him, Mr. Tom?"