"I wouldn"t be surprised if that man was a gambler, Ned," he said to his chum, one afternoon, as they were speeding along. The man in question was several seats away from Tom.
"He does look like one," agreed Ned.
"I needn"t advise you not to fall in with any of his invitations to play cards, I suppose," went on Tom, after a pause.
"No, indeed, it"s something I don"t do," answered Ned, with a laugh.
"But it might be a good thing to speak to Abe Abercrombie about him.
If that man"s a sharper perhaps Abe knows him, or has seen him, for Abe has traveled around in the West considerable."
"We"ll ask him," agreed Tom, but the miner, when his attention was called to the man, said he had never seen him before.
"He does look like a confidence man," agreed Abe, "but as long as he doesn"t approach us we can"t do anything, and don"t need to worry."
There was little need to call the attention of either Mr. Damon or Mr. Parker to the man, for Mr. Damon was busy watching the scenery, as this trip was a new one to him, and he was continually blessing something he saw or thought of. As for Mr. Parker, he was puzzling over some new theories he had in mind, and he said little to the others.
On the night of the same day on which Tom had called special attention to the man with the black mustache, our hero went to his berth rather late. He had sent some telegrams to his father and one to Miss Nestor, and, when he turned in he saw the "gambler," as he had come to call him, going into the smoking compartment of the coach. Though Tom thought of the man as a gambler, there was no evidence, as yet, that he was one, and he had made no effort to approach any of our friends, though he had observed them closely.
How long Tom had been asleep he did not know, but he was suddenly awakened by feeling his pillow move. At first he thought it was caused by the swaying of the train, and he was about to go to sleep again, when there came a movement that he knew could not have been caused by any unevenness of the roadbed.
Then, like a flash there came to Tom"s mind the thought that under his pillow, in a little leather case he had made for it, was the map, showing the location of the valley of gold.
He sat up suddenly, and made a lunge for the pillow. He felt a hand being hurriedly withdrawn. Tom made a grab for it, but the fingers slipped from his grasp.
"Here! Who are you!" cried Tom, endeavoring to peer through the darkness.
"It"s all right--mistake," murmured a voice.
Tom leaned suddenly forward and parted the curtains of his berth.
There was a dim light burning in the aisle of the car. By the gleam of it the young inventor caught sight of a man hurrying away, and he felt sure the fellow who had put his hand under his pillow was the man with the black mustache. He confirmed this suspicion a moment later, for the man half turned, as if to look back, and the youth saw the mustache.
"He--he was after my map!" thought Tom, with a gasp.
He sat bolt upright. What should he do? To raise an alarm now, he felt, would only bring a denial from the man if he accused him.
There might also be a scene, and the man might get very indignant.
Then, too, Tom and his friends did not want their object made known, as it would be in the event of Tom raising an outcry and stating what was under his pillow.
He felt for the map case, opened it and saw, in the gleam of the light, that it was safe.
"He didn"t get it anyhow," murmured our hero. "I guess I won"t say anything until morning, though he did come like a thief in the night to see if he could steal it."
Tom glanced to where his coat and other clothing hung in the little berth-hammock, and a hasty search showed that his money and ticket were safe.
"It was the map he was after all right," mused Tom. "I"ll have a talk with Mr. Damon in the morning about what"s best to do. That"s why the fellow has been keeping such a close watch on us. He wanted to see who had the map."
Then another thought came to Tom.
"If it was the map he was after," he whispered to himself, "he must know what it"s about. Therefore the Fogers must have told him. I"ll wager Andy or his father put this man up to steal the map. Andy"s afraid he hasn"t got a copy of the right one. This is getting more and more mysterious! We must be on our guard all the while. Well, I"ll see what I"ll do in the morning."
But in the morning the man with the black mustache was not aboard the train, and on inquiring of the conductor, Tom learned that the mysterious stranger had gotten off at a way station shortly after midnight.
CHAPTER IX
A VANDAL"S ACT
"Bless my penknife!" exclaimed Mr. Daman, the next morning, when he had been told of Tom"s experience in the night, "things are coming to a pretty pa.s.s when our enemies adopt such tactics as this! What can we do, Tom? Hadn"t you better let one of us carry the map?"
"Oh, I guess not," answered the young inventor. "They have had one try at me, and found that I wasn"t napping. I don"t believe they"ll try again. No, I"ll carry the map."
Tom concealed it in an old wallet, as he thought it was less likely to attract attention there than in the new case he formerly used.
Still he did not relax his vigilance, and his sleep for the next few nights was uneasy, as he awakened several times, thinking he felt a hand under his pillow.
At length Ned suggested that one of them sit up part of the night, and keep an eye on Tom"s berth. This was agreed to, and they divided the hours of darkness into watches, each one taking a turn at guarding the precious map. But they might have spared themselves the trouble, for no further attempt was made to get it.
"I"d just like to know what Andy Foger"s plans are?" said Tom one afternoon, as they were within a few miles of Seattle. "He certainly must have made up his mind quickly, after he saw the map, about going in search of the gold."
"Maybe his father proposed it," suggested Ned. "I heard, in our bank, that Mr. Foger has lost considerable money lately, and he may need more."
"I shouldn"t wonder. Well, if they are going to Sitka, Alaska, to a.s.semble their ship, I think they"ll have trouble, for supplies are harder to get there than in Seattle. But we"ll soon be on our way ourselves, if nothing happens. I hope all the parts of the RED CLOUD arrive safely."
They did, as Tom learned a few hours later, when they had taken up their quarters in a Seattle hotel, and he had made inquiries at the railroad office. In the freight depot were all the boxes and crates containing the parts of the big airship, and by comparison with a list he had made, the young inventor found that not a single part was missing.
"We"ll soon have her together again," he said to his friends, "and then we"ll start for Alaska."
"Where are you going to a.s.semble the airship?" asked Mr. Damon.
"I"ve got to hire some sort of a big shed," explained Tom. "I heard of one I think I can get. It"s out at the fair grounds, and was used some time ago when they had a balloon ascension here. It will be just what I need."
"How long before we can start for the gold valley?" asked the old miner anxiously.
"Oh, in about a week," answered the lad, "that is, if everything goes well."
Tom lost no time in getting to work. He had the different parts of his airship carted to the big shed which he hired. This building was on one edge of the fair grounds, and there was a large, level s.p.a.ce which was admirably adapted for trying the big craft, when once more it was put together.
The gold-seekers worked hard, and to such good purpose that in three days most of the ship was together once more, and the RED CLOUD looked like herself again. Tom hired a couple of machinists to aid him in a.s.sembling the motor, and some of the gas appliances and other apparatus.
"Ha! Bless my rubber shoes!" cried Mr. Damon in delight, as he looked at the big craft "This is like old times, Tom!"
"Yes, indeed," agreed our hero.
"Are you going to give it a preliminary tryout?" asked Ned.
"Oh, yes, I think we can do that to-morrow," replied Tom. "I want to know that everything is in good working shape before I trust the ship on the trip to the frozen north. There are several problems I want to work out, too, for I think I will need a different kind of gas up where the temperature is so low."
"It certainly is cold up here," agreed Ned, for they were now much farther north than when they were in Shopton, and, besides, winter was coming on. It was not the best time of the year to journey into Alaska, but they had no choice. To delay, especially now, might mean that their enemies would get ahead of them.