A perfect setup for espionage and sabotage agents!”
“With Swift Enterprises as their target!” Bud added.
Suddenly Ames switched off the flashlight, plunging them into darkness.
“Listen!” he hissed. “Someone’s coming!”
Bud tensed. “And there’s no place to hide!”
CHAPTER 7
A BOLD OFFER
THE NOISE they had heard was that of a boat bumping against the concrete wall near the entrance to the passageway. Judging from the sounds that followed, whoever was aboard was now debarking.
Tom reached out and grabbed Ames and Bud by the arm.
“Listen!” he whispered. “Just before the light went out, I noticed a recess in the left-hand side of the passage. Let’s see if it’s big enough to hide in!”
Quickly turning to the left, they began groping blindly.
“Here it is!” Tom exclaimed softly. The other two joined him in squeezing into the narrow space.
They could hear footsteps now, coming up the stairway. Holding their breath, the three friends flattened themselves against the wall.
61
62 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER
The newcomer was a man. He was carrying a flashlight, but fortunately he aimed it downward at the steps to avoid stumbling. Without seeing Tom and his companions, he reached for the trap door.
Tom gave a faint sigh of relief as the man rapped on it several times. A moment later it opened, and a ray of light penetrated the darkness. A voice said, “Oh, it’s you, Podski.”
The newcomer asked, “Is Bronich here?”
“No. He phoned to say that he’s not coming tonight. He has some business to attend to-about Tom Swift.”