“What’s that ye say?” the old man asked as if he had hardly heard the question. Then, as its import
29
“Turn around! Quick!” the stranger growled
THE FIRST TEST 31
struck him, he added, “You’re talkin’ foolish, just to find out somethin’.”
Tom said no more and started walking up the path. Bud, sensing his friend’s strategy, winked at him and trudged along in silence beside him. The trio had moved only a hundred feet when the caretaker exclaimed: “Hold on there!”
The file halted. The old man stepped in front of the boys.
“What’s the matter with Mr. Gray?” he asked, peering at Tom.
“He narrowly escaped death,” Tom replied. “That is, if we’re talking about the same Arthur Gray. What’s your boss look like?”
“Medium height, dark, has a gold-capped tooth in the front o” his mouth. He has the biggest hands I ever saw on a man his size, considerin’ I never see him usin’ them to do any work.”
“He’s the same Arthur Gray, all right,” Tom said, as he and Bud tried not to show their elation at the easy identification. “He’s in a hospital right now with a heart attack.”
“You won’t see him for a long time,” Bud spoke up, hoping this bit of news might elicit even more information from the man.
“We thought by coming here we might find out about his family or friends-”
Tom suggested, leaving the sentence unfinished and smiling at the caretaker.
After a moment’s thought the old man set his
32 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ROCKET SHIP
shotgun on the ground. Losing his look and tone of authority, he asked: “Who be ye?”
“A couple of airmen,” Tom replied. “Arthur Gray-bailed out of a seaplane near an island where we were staying and we took him to the hospital. To tell you the truth, we wonder whether he’s on the up and up.”