taken in identifying the charm.

"Berg was afraid I'd catch him, and ask for an explanation that would
have been awkward to make," thought the lad, as he turned the charm
over in his hand. "That's why he tripped me up. But I'll get at the
bottom of this yet. Maybe he wants to steal my ideas for an electric
car."

Tom's musings were suddenly interrupted by Mrs. Baggert.

"I hope you're not going to stand there all night," she said, with a
laugh. "You're in the middle of a puddle now, but when you get over
dreaming I'd like to mop it up."

"All right," agreed the young inventor, coming to himself suddenly.
"Guess I'd better go get some dry clothes on."

"You'd better go to bed," advised Mrs. Baggert. "That's where your
father and Mr. Sharp are. It's late."

The more Tom thought over the strange occurrence the more it puzzled
him. He mused over the presence of Berg as he went about his work the
next day, for that it was the agent whom he had pursued he felt
positive.

"But I can't figure out why he was hanging around here," mused Tom.

Then, as he found that his thoughts over the matter were interfering
with his work, he resolutely put them from him, and threw himself
energetically into the labor of completing his electric car. The new
batteries, he found, were working well, and in the next two days he had
constructed several more, joining them so as to get the combined effect.

It was the afternoon of the third day from Tom's unexpected fall into
the brook that the young inventor decided on the first important test
of his new device. He was going to try the motor, running it with his
storage battery. Some of the connections were already in place, the
wires being fastened to the side of the shop, where they were attached
to switches. Tom did not go over these, taking it for granted that they
were all right. He soon had the motor, which he was to install in his
car, wired to the battery, and then he attached a gauge, to ascertain,
by comparison, how many miles he could hope to travel on one charging
of the storage battery.

"Guess I'll call Dad and Mr. Sharp in to see how it works, before I
turn on the current," he said to himself. He was about to summon his
parent and the aeronaut from an adjoining shop, where they were working
over a new form of dynamo, when the lad caught sight of the watch charm
he had left on his desk, in plain sight.

"Better put that away," he remarked. "Dad or Mr. Sharp might see it,
a