than
other people.

His raised voice now cut through the rumble of machinery and all the
other noises of the shop. Even Rad Sampson's delirious cry was dwarfed
by Mr. Swift's sharp tone:

"Tom! The ticking of that watch! That means danger!"

The declaration seemed to rip away a curtain from Tom's thoughts.
Perhaps Rad's cry about "de bomb" aided the young inventor to
understand the peril that threatened.

The faint ticking sound that had begun to annoy him during the past few
minutes betrayed the nature of the threatening peril. Tom swung back
from the open doorway of the locomotive cab, reached in to the space
between the motors, and seized the bundle of overall stuff that he had
previously spied.

He knew instantly that the rapid ticking came from that bundle. It
could be nothing but a time bomb. He had heard of such things and,
indeed, had seen one before, an infernal machine which, set like an
alarm clock, would go off at a certain time. That indicated time might
be an hour hence, or might be within a few seconds! Ned Newton, almost
at the spot, shouted to Tom when the latter reappeared with the bundle
in his hands:

"Get down out of that, Tom Swift! Quick! For your life!"

But Tom was cool enough now. He saw his father's white, strained face
at one side and the young inventor could even smile at him. Behind the
foreman was set a barrel of water in which tools were cooled and
tempered.

"Stoop, McAvoy!" Tom shouted, and tossed the bundle from him.

Had the infernal machine exploded in midair Tom would not have been
surprised. But McAvoy dodged, Rad clapped his hands over his ears, and,
even Ned Newton halted like a bird-dog at point.

The bundle splashed into the barrel of water. It sank to the bottom.
There was no explosion. When a few seconds had passed the group of
excited men began to relax. The barrel was carried carefully to a
neighboring field.

"Fo' de lawsy sake!" gasped Rad, and got a full breath again.

"That was touch and go, sure enough," muttered Ned Newton.

"Those overalls sure went to the wash, Boss," declared the foreman.
"What was in 'em? And who put 'em in the cab up there?"

But Tom dropped down the ladder and went to his father. Their hands
sought each other and gripped, hard.

"Better not tell Mary about this," whispered Tom. "She's worried enough
as it is."

"Right, Tom," agreed the old inventor. "From this time on we cannot be
too careful. If there proves to be an inf