oes, yo' great, big, overgrown lummox,
Ah'll--Ah'll--" began the colored man, stammeringly.

"There. That will do now!" interrupted Tom. "Don't quarrel in here.
Koku, get back to that engine and lift out the motor. Eradicate, didn't
father tell you to whitewash the chicken coops to-day?"

"Dat's what he done, Massa Tom."

"Well, go and see about that. I'll stay here for a while, and when I
leave I'll call one of you, or some one else, to be on guard. Skip now!"

Having thus disposed of the warring factions, Tom turned to the
stranger and after apologizing for the little interruption, asked:

"You wished to see me?"

"If you're Tom Swift; yes."

"Well, I'm Tom Swift," and the young owner of the name smiled.

"I hope you will pardon a stranger for calling on you," resumed the
man, "but I'm in a lot of trouble, and I think you are the only one who
can help me out."

"What sort of trouble?" Tom inquired.

"Contracting trouble--tunnel blasting, to be exact. But if you have a
few minutes to spare perhaps you will listen to my story. You will then
be better able to understand my difficulty."

Tom Swift considered a moment. He was used to having appeals for help
made to him, and usually they were of a begging nature. He was often
asked for money to help some struggling inventor complete his machine.

In many cases the machines would have been of absolutely no use if
perfected. In other cases the inventions were of the utterly hopeless
class, incapable of perfection, like some perpetual motion apparatus.
In these cases Tom turned a deaf ear, though if the inventor were in
want our hero relieved him.

But this case did not seem to be like anything Tom had ever met with
before.

"Contracting trouble--blasting," repeated the youth, as he mused over
what he had heard.

"That's it," the man went on. "Permit me to introduce myself" and he
held out a card, on which was the name

MR. JOB TITUS

Down in the lower left-hand corner was a line:

"Titus Brothers, Contractors."

"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Titus," Tom said warmly, offering his hand.
"I don't know anything about the contracting business, but if you do
blasting I suppose you use explosives, and I know a little about them."

"So I have heard, and that's why I came to you," the contractor went
on. "Now if you'll give me a few minutes of your time--"

"You had better come up to the house," interrupted Tom. "We can talk
more quietly there."

Calling