"
"We can ask the telephone girl, and tell her to keep quiet
about it," decided Ned; and this they did.
But the answer that came back over the wire was
discouraging. For Tom had not returned, and there was no
word from him. There was an urgent message for him, too,
from government officials regarding the tank, the girl
reported.
"Well, we've just got to find him--that's all!" declared
Ned. "I guess we'll have to make a regular search of it. I
did hope we'd find him out at the Kanker farm. But since he
isn't there, nor anywhere about, as far as we can tell,
we've got to try some other plan."
"You mean notify the authorities?"--asked Mr. Damon.
"Hardly that--yet. But I'll get some of Tom's friends who
have machines, and we'll start them out on the trail. In
that way we can cover a lot of ground."
Late that afternoon, and far into the night, a number of
the friends of Tom and Ned went about the country in
automobiles, seeking news of the young inventor. Mr. Swift
became very anxious over the non-return of his son, and felt
the authorities should be notified; but as all agreed that
the local police could not handle the matter and that it
would have to be put into the hands of the United States
Secret Service, he consented to wait for a while before
doing this.
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