big fellow. "You are forbidden to kill anybody, or
chase anybody away from here, until I have a talk with them. Enemy or
not--understand?"

"Me understand," said Koku in his deep voice. "Master say--me do."

"Just the same," Tom said, aside to Mr. Damon, "there has been somebody
around here. I guess Mr. Bartholomew was right. He is being spied upon.
And now that we Swifts are going to try to do something for him, we are
likely to be spied upon too."

"Bless my statue of Nathan Hale!" murmured the eccentric gentleman. "I
believe you. And you've been already attacked twice by some thug! You
are positively in danger, Tom."

"I don't know about that. Save that the fellow who robbed me was sore
because I fooled him. Naturally he might like to get square about those
shorthand notes. He knows no more now about Mr. Bartholomew's business
with us than he did before he held me up."

"That is a fact," agreed Mr. Damon.

"And that brings me to another warning, Mr. Damon," added Tom
earnestly, as his friend climbed into the motor car again. "Keep all
that has happened, and all that I told you and Ned about the H. & P. A.
railroad, to yourself."

"Surely! Surely!"

"If Mr. Bartholomew's rivals continue to keep their spies hanging
around the works here, we'll handle them properly. Trust Koku for
that," and Tom chuckled.

"And don't forget my barbed wire entanglements," put in Mr. Damon,
starting his engine. "I want to fix those chicken thieves.''

"All right. I'll be over tomorrow," promised Tom Swift.

Then he stood a minute on the curb and looked after the disappearing
lights of Mr. Damon's car. The latter's problem dovetailed, after all,
into this discovery of possible marauders lurking about the Swift
premises. Koku had made no mistake in bringing his attention to the
matter of the footprints. Tom had seen somebody dodging into the
darkness outside the house when he had come out on his way to visit
Mary Nestor.

"And sure as taxes," muttered Tom, as he finally turned toward the
front door again, "the fellow who twice attacked me this evening wore
the boots the prints of which Koku found.

"Those fellows, whoever they are, whether Montagne Lewis and his
associates, or not, have bitten off several mouthfuls that they may be
unable to chew. Anyhow, before they get through they may learn
something about the Swifts that they never knew before."

Chapter VI

The Contract Signed

Tom Swift went to bed that n