"
"It turns out as well, perhaps," agreed Ned. "We'll look
after Tom now."
"And I'll come along and help," said the farmer. "If
there's a gang of tramps in that factory, you may need some
reinforcements. I've got a couple of new axe handles in my
machine, and they'll come in mighty handy as clubs."
"That's so," said Mr. Damon. "But I fancy Tom is simply
locked in the deserted factory office, with no one on guard.
We can get him out once we get there, and we'll be glad to
have you come with us. So if you won't take any reward,
maybe your boy will, as he found the note," and Mr. Damon
pressed some bills into the hands of the boy, who, it is
needless to say, was glad to get them.
It was a run of several miles hack to the deserted
factory, and though they passed houses on the way, it was
decided that no addition to their force was necessary,
though they did stop at a blacksmith shop, where they
borrowed a heavy sledge to batter down a door if such action
should be needed.
The farmer's rattletrap of a car, in spite of its
appearance, was not far behind Ned's runabout, and in a
comparatively short time all were within sight of the ruined
place--a ruin made more complete by the passage through it
of Tom Swift's war tank.
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