A moment later he returned with the rope. Tom was shoved back against the tree and lashed tightly to the trunk. As one of the men knotted the rope, the other gagged the young inventor with a bandanna handkerchief.
“Good! Now let’s get out of here!” said the man with the foreign accent.
With his two henchmen at his heels, he ran back to the truck.
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGERS 13
As Tom watched in helpless fury, they climbed aboard. One of the strong-arm men took the wheel and gunned the engine into life.
Then, with a clashing of gears, they roared away from the scene, taking Tom’s amazing, new atomic earth blaster with them!
CHAPTER 2
ATOMIC SPY
TOM WRITHED and twisted to free himself from his bonds. But instead of loosening the ropes, his desperate efforts only made them cut more painfully into his arms.
Failing in this attempt, Tom concentrated on working the gag out of his mouth. By pushing the bandanna with his tongue, he tried to force it out from between his teeth. But again his efforts were futile.
Almost three-quarters of an hour after the young inventor had been taken prisoner, he heard voices shouting his name. Then came the sound of footsteps in the underbrush. A few moments later Tom’s heart pounded with relief as Bud Barclay sprinted toward him, followed by one of the repair crew.
“For the love of Mike!” Bud exclaimed, as he ripped away the bandanna.
“What happened to you?”
14
ATOMIC SPY 15
“Get these ropes off me first and I’ll tell you later!” said Tom, who was filling his lungs with deep breaths of fresh air.
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