CHAPTER X
SENSATIONAL NEWS
IN SPITE of himself, Tom felt a chill of fear at the eerie drum message.
“I say”-Macklin hesitated-“are you quite sure you want to take on this highway project?”
“Certainly. Why not?” Tom’s voice sounded more confident than he felt at that moment.
Macklin frowned and fingered his mustache. “You may be taking on a more troublesome project than you realize. Perhaps even-dangerous.”
He gave the young inventor a look of concern.
“Somebody has already tried pretty hard to stop me,” Tom said. He told his host about the mysterious events that had taken place before he had left Shopton. Tom added bluntly, “Any idea who might be behind the trouble, sir?”
“East Ngombia is full of political hotheads,” Macklin said worriedly. “Many of the local tribesmen would like to break away from the central government at Princetown and make this a separate country. Since your highway would bind the 86
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two provinces closer together, they may feel it’s a threat to their plans.”
“So they’ll go all out to stop me?”
“Exactly. Now, perhaps, you can understand why I say this project may be dangerous.”
Later that night, aboard the Sky Queen, Tom reported his conversation with Macklin to Bud.
“The drum business sure sounds weird,” Bud said uneasily.
“It does, provided Macklin translated the message right.”
Bud shot a glance at the young inventor. “Do you think he was lying?”
Tom shrugged. “He might have been trying to scare me off.”
At that moment Darcy Creel walked into the bunk compartment. Tom turned to him casually and asked, “Did you understand what those jungle tom-toms were signaling tonight?”