ells
complete, he attached the motor for an efficiency trial.

"We'll see how many miles that will make," he remarked to his father.

"Have you thought anything of the type of car you are going to build?"
asked the aged inventor of his son.

"Yes, somewhat. It will be almost of the regulation style, but with two
removable seats at the rear, with curtains for protection, and a place
in front for two persons. This can also be protected with curtains when
desired."

"But what about the motors and the battery?"

"They will be located under the middle of the car. There will be one
set of batteries there, together with the motor, and another set of
batteries will be placed under the removable seats in what I call the
tonneau, though, of course, it isn't really that. A smaller set will
also be placed forward, and there will be ample room for carrying tools
and such things."

"About how far do you expect your car will go with one charging of the
battery?"

"Well, if I can make it do three hundred miles I'll be satisfied, but
I'm going to try for four hundred."

"What will you do when your battery runs out?"

"Recharge it."

"Suppose you're not near a charging station?"

"Well, Dad, of course those are some of the details I've got to work
out. I'm planning a register gauge now, that will give warning about
fifty miles before the battery is run down. That will leave me a margin
to work on. And I'm going to have it fixed so I can take current from
any trolley line, as well as from a regular charging station. My battery
will be capable of being recharged very quickly, or, in case of need, I
can take out the old cells and put in new ones.

"That's a very good idea. Well, I hope you succeed."

A few evenings after this, when Tom was busy in his machine shop, he
heard some one enter. He looked up from the gauge of the motor, which
he was studying, and, for a moment, he could make out nothing in the
dark interior of the shop, for he was working in a brilliant light.

"Who's there?" he called sharply, for, more than once unscrupulous men
had endeavored to sneak into the Swift shops to steal ideas of
inventions; if not the actual apparatus itself.

"It's me--Ned Newton," was the cheerful reply.

"Oh, hello, Ned! I was wondering what had become of you," responded
Tom. "Where have you been lately?"

"Oh, working overtime."

"What's the occasion?"

"We're trying out a new system to increase the bank business."

"W