“I sure don’t know what I picked up,” Chow said, shaking his head.
“This,” Tom explained to him, “is a frogman costume of extremely advanced design. If we look in the water out there, I believe we’ll find a propeller-driven underwater craft that this fellow used to get here.”
“You don’t suppose he’s got a bomb with him, do you, Tom?” Chow asked excitedly. “I remember readin’ about rigs like this bein’ used to blow up ships.”
“He may have,” Tom answered, “although I doubt it. But I’ll bet that when we search him, we’ll find something a good deal more interesting.”
144 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ROCKET SHIP
By this time the intruder had removed his helmet. Tom said to the stocky dark-haired frogman:
“What’s your name? And what are you doing here?”
“My name’s Will Ward, and you can see for yourself what I was doing. I came out from the mainland farther than I thought. I was getting pretty tired, so I decided to land and rest for a while. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?
Now if you’re finished, I’ll leave.”
“I’m afraid you can’t leave until we’ve had a better look at you, and you’ve answered a few more questions,” interjected Mr. Swift. “This is a restricted area and you have been trespassing. You’d better come along with us.”
Will Ward stood defiantly where he was for a few seconds. Then, realizing that escape was impossible under the circumstances, he fell in with his captors and marched up to the security office. They were met by Harlan Ames, whose eyes widened at the sight of the interloper. As Ames took the man in tow to supply him with other clothes, Tom’s father quietly asked his son: “What do you make of this, Tom?”