Tom paused, on his way to the house, to put the bomb in one of
his offices.
"No use letting dad know about this," he went on. "It would only
be something else for him to worry about."
"That's right," agreed Ned.
By this time nearly all evidences of the fire, except for the
blackened ruins of the shed, had been cleared away. High in the
air hung a cloud of black smoke, caused by some chemicals that
had burned harmlessly save for that pall. Tom Swift had indeed
had a lucky escape.
The young inventor, finding his father quieted down and
conversing easily with Mr. Damon, who was blessing everything he
could think of, motioned to Ned to follow him out of the house
again.
"We'll leave dad here," said Tom, "and do a little
investigating on our own account. We'll look for clues while
they're fresh."
But, it must be confessed, after Tom and Ned had spent the rest
of that day in and about the burned shed, they were little wiser
than when they started. They found the place where the fire bomb
had evidently been placed, right inside the main entrance to the
shed. Tom knew it had been there because there were peculiar
marks on the charred wood, and a certain queer smell of chemicals
that confirmed his belief.
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