第15章

It must have been about midnight when they were both awakened byhearing the burglar alarm go off.At the same time there were several flashes of fire from the garden.

"There she goes!" cried Ned.

"Yes, they're trying to get into the shed," added Tom, as a glance at the burglar-alarm indicator on the wall of the room, showed that the shop door was being tried."Come on!""I'm with you!" yelled Ned.

They lost little time getting into their clothes, for they had laid them out in readiness for putting on quickly.Down the stairs they raced, but ere they reached the garden they heard footsteps running along the wall toward the road.

"Who's there?" cried Tom, but there was no answer."Koku! Eradicate!" yelled Ned.

"Yais, sah, I'se comm'!" answered the colored man, and the voice of the giant was also heard.The flashlights had ceased popping before this, and when the two lads and their helpers had reached the shop, there was no one in sight.

"The camera's there all right!" cried Tom in relief as he picked it up from the box."Now to see what it caught.Did you see anything of the fellows, Koku, or Eradicate?" Both said they had not, but Eradicate, after examining the chicken house door by the aid of a lighted match, cried out: "Somebody's been tryin' t' git in heah, Massa Tom.I kin see where dedo's been scratched."

"Well, maybe we'll have the picture for you to look at in the morning," said Tom.

The films were developed in the usual way in the morning, but the pictures were so small that Tom could not make out the features or forms of the men.And it was plain that at least three men had been around the coop and shop.

By the use of alcohol and an electric fan Tom soon had the films dry enough to use.Then the moving picture machine was set up in a dark room, and all gathered to see what would be thrown on the screen, greatly enlarged.

First came several brilliant flashes of light, and then, as the entrance tothe shop loomed into view, a dark figure seemed to walk across the canvas.But it did not stop at the shop door.Instead it went to the chicken coop, and, as the man reached that door, he began working to get it open.Of course it had all taken place in a few seconds, for, as soon as the flashlights went off, the intruders had run away.But they had been there long enough to have their pictures taken.

The man at the chicken coop turned around as the lights flashed, and he was looking squarely at the camera.Of course this made his face very plain to the audience, as Tom turned the crank of the reproducing machine.

"Why, it's a colored man!" cried Ned in surprise.

"Yes, I guess it's only an ordinary chicken thief, after all," remarked Tom.

There was a gasp from Eradicate.

"Fo' de land sakes!" he cried."De raskil! Ef dat ain't mah own second cousin, what libs down by de ribber! An' to t'ink dat Samuel 'Rastus Washington Jackson Johnson, mah own second cousin, should try t' rob mah chicken coop! Oh, won't I gib it t' him!""Are you sure, Rad?" asked Tom.

"Suah? Sartin I'se suah, Massa Tom," was the answer as the startled colored man on the screen stared at the small audience."I'd know.dat face ob his'n anywhere.""Well, I guess he's the only one we caught last night," said Tom, as the disappointed chicken thief ran away, and so out of focus But the next instant there came another series of flashlight explosions on the screen, and there, almost as plainly as if our friends were looking at them, they saw two men stealthily approaching the shop.They, too, as the chicken thief had done, tried the door, and then, they also, startled by the flashes, turned around.

"Look!" cried Ned.

"Great Scott !" exclaimed Tom."Those are the two rivals of Mr.Period! They are Mr.Turbot and Mr.Eckert!""Same men I pushed out!" cried Koku, much excited.

There was no doubt of it, and, as the images faded from the screen, caused by the men running away, Tom and Ned realized that their rivalshad tried to put their threat into execution--the threat of making Tom wish he had taken their offer.

"I guess they came to take my camera,--but, instead the camera took them," said the young inventor grimly.