Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 20 – And His Megascope Space Prober

Bud scowled. “Guess you’re right, Al. We’ve been following the wrong trail.”

Without explaining his last remark, Bud hurried off to talk to Tom. The two boys discussed the problem over trays of lunch brought in by a nurse. Tom had already bathed and changed his clothes.

16 MEGASCOPE SPACE PROBER

“You know, Bud, I’ve been thinking,” he mused. “Some kind of ray could have been used on my car-a ray which temporarily froze the steering.”

“I’ve been doing some thinking myself, pal,” Bud said. “If the car was sabotaged by remote control, I think I spotted the guy who did it.”

Tom eyed his friend in surprise. “When was this?”

“Right after you went in the ditch,” Bud replied, and told Tom about the furtive figure he had seen darting off into the woods. “I yelled at him-mostly because it seemed suspicious that he was running away from the accident. He wouldn’t stop.”

“I think we’d better tell Harlan,” Tom said grimly.

They hurriedly finished eating and went to the office of the security chief. He became alarmed upon hearing the boys’ story. Picking up the telephone, Ames called Shopton police headquarters. Chief Slater, an old friend of the Swifts, promised to meet them immediately at the scene of the accident.

Shortly after Tom and his two companions arrived, a police car pulled up alongside. Chief Slater listened to an account of what had happened, then turned to Bud.

“What did this fellow you saw running away look like?”

RAY-GUN SNIPER 17

“I caught only a brief glimpse of him,” Bud said. “He was very thin and dressed in rough clothes. I’m not sure how tall he was because he was sort of crouched over as he plunged into the brush. My impression is he’s dark-haired.”