men working with you to defraud my
father of his rights?" asked Tom somewhat bitterly.

"I'll never tell you," answered the burglar. "I was hired to do
certain work, and that's all there is to it. I'm not going to peach
on my pals."

"We'll see about that!" burst out Tom. Then he noticed that a
dining-room window behind where the burglar was kneeling was open.
Doubtless the intruder had entered that way, and intended to escape
in the same manner.

"I'm going to shoot," announced Tom, and, aiming his rifle at the
open window, where the bullet would do no damage, he pressed the
trigger. He noticed that the burglar was crouching low down on the
floor, but Tom thought nothing of this at the time. He imagined that
Happy Harry--or whatever his name was--might be afraid of getting
hit.

There was a flash of fire and a deafening report as Tom fired. The
cloud of smoke obscured his vision for a moment, and as the echoes
died away Tom could hear Mrs. Baggert screaming in her room.

"It's all right!" cried the young inventor reassuringly. "No one is
hurt, Mrs. Baggert!" Then he flashed his light on the spot where the
burglar had crouched. As the smoke rolled away Tom peered in vain
for a sight of the intruder.

Happy Harry was gone!

Holding his rifle in readiness, in case he should be attacked from
some unexpected quarter, Tom strode forward. He flashed his light in
every direction. There was no doubt about it. The intruder had fled.
Taking advantage of the noise when the gun was fired, and under
cover of the smoke, the burglar had leaped from the open window. Tom
guessed as much. He hurried to the casement and peered out, at the
same time noticing the cut wire of the burglar alarm. It was quite
dark, and he fancied he could hear the noise of some one running
rapidly. Aiming his rifle into the air, he fired again, at the same
time crying out:

"Hold on!"

"All right, Master Tom, I'm coming!" called the voice of the
engineer from his shack. "Are you hurt? Is Mrs. Baggert murdered? I
hear her screaming."

"That's pretty good evidence that she isn't murdered," said Tom with
a grim smile.

"Are you hurt?" again called Mr. Jackson.

"No, I'm all right," answered Tom. "Did you see any one running away
as you came up?"

"No, Master Tom, I didn't. What happened?"

"A burglar got in, and I had him cornered, but he got away when I
fired to arouse you."

By this time the engineer was at the stoop, on which the window