--I done fo'got. No, it were yist'day I done gib him de
carrot, I 'member now, 'case--"

"Oh, never mind the carrot, or Boomerang, either, Rad!" broke in Tom,
"I'm asking you about the fire."

"An' I'se tellin' yo', Massa Tom," declared Eradicate, with a rather
reproachful look at his master. "But I wanted t' do it right an'
proper. I were comin' from Boomerang's stable, an' I see suffin' red
spoutin' up at one corner ob de red shed. I knowed it were fire right
away, an' I yelled."

"Yes, I heard you yell," Tom said. "But what I wanted to know is, did
you see anyone near the red shed at the time?"

"No, Massa Tom, I done didn't."

"I wonder if Mr. Damon did? I must ask him," went on the young
inventor. "Come, on, Ned, we'll go up to the house. Everything is all
right here, I think. Whew! But that was some excitement. And I didn't
show you my aerial warship after all! Nor have you settled that recoil
problem for me."

"Time enough, I guess," responded Ned. "You sure did have a lucky
escape, Tom."

"That's right. Well, Koku, what is it?" for the giant had approached,
holding out something in his hand.

"Koku found this in red shed," went on the giant, holding out a round,
blackened object. "Maybe him powder; go bang-bang!"

"Oh, you think it's something explosive, eh?" asked Tom, as he took the
object from the giant.

"Koku no think much," was the answer. "Him look funny."

Tom did not speak for a moment. Then he cried:

"Look funny! I should say it did! See here, Ned, if this isn't
suspicious I'll eat my hat!" and Tom beckoned excitedly to his chum,
who had walked on a little in advance.

CHAPTER V

A QUEER STRANGER

What Tom Swift held in his hand looked like a small cannon ball, but it
could not have been solid or the young aviator would not so easily have
held it out at arm's length for his friend Ned Newton to look at.

"This puts a different face on it, Ned," Tom went on, as he turned the
object over.

"Is that likely to go off?" the bank clerk asked, as he came to a halt
a little distance from his friend.

"Go off? No, it's done all the damage it could, I guess."

"Damage? It looks to me as though it had suffered the most damage
itself. What is it, one of your models? Looks like a bomb to me."

"And that's what it is, Ned."

"Not one of those you're going to use on your aerial warship, is it,
Tom?"

"Not exactly. I never saw this before, but it's what started the fire
in the