Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers | Page 7

to it.
When this story opens, Tom was more interested in Mr. Barcoe Jenks
than in any one else, and was wondering what he wanted to see him
about. The young inventor could not quite understand how Mr. Track,
the jeweler, could come back with a lad he suspected of being a thief,
when the person who had acted so suspiciously, and who had knocked
on the glass, was the queer man, Mr. Jenks.
"Yes, Tom I caught him," the jeweler went on. "I chased after him, and
nabbed him. It was hard work, too, for I'm not a good runner. Now, you
little rascal, tell me why you tried to rob my store?" and the diamond
merchant shook the lad roughly.
"I--I didn't try to rob your store," was the timid answer.
"Well, perhaps you didn't, exactly, but your confederates did. Why did
you rap on the glass, and why were you staring in so intently?"
"I wasn't lookin' in."
"Well, if it wasn't you, it was some one just like you. But why did you
run when I raced down the street?"
"I--I don't know," and the lad began to snivel. "I--I jest ran- -that's
all--'cause I see everybody else runnin', an' I thought there was a fire."

"Ha! That's a likely story! You ran because you are guilty! I'm going to
hand you over to the police."
"Did he get anything, Mr. Track?" asked one of the men who had
joined the jeweler in the chase.
"No, I can't say that he did. He didn't get a chance. Tom Swift was in
here at the time. But this fellow was only waiting for a chance to steal,
or else to aid his confederates."
"But, if he didn't take anything, I don't see how you can have him
arrested," went on the man.
"On suspicion; that's how!" asserted Mr. Track. "Will some one get me
a constable?"
"I wouldn't call a constable," said Tom, quietly.
"Why not?"
"Because that isn't the person who looked in your window."
"How do you know, Tom?"
"Because that person came back while you were out. I saw him."
"You saw him? Did he try to steal any of my diamonds, Tom?"
"No, I guess he doesn't need any."
"Why not?" There was wonder in the jeweler's tone.
"Why, he claims he can make all he wants."
"Make diamonds?"
"So he says."
"Why, he must be crazy!" and Mr. Track laughed.

"Perhaps he is," admitted Tom, "I'm only telling you what he says. He's
the person who acted so suspiciously. He came back here, I'm telling
you, while you were running down the street, and spoke to me."
"Oh, then you know him?" The jeweler's voice was suspicious.
"I didn't at first," admitted Tom. "But when he said he was Mr. Barcoe
Jenks, I remembered that I had met him when I was cast away on
Earthquake Island."
"And he says he can make diamonds?" asked Mr. Track.
"What did he want of you?" and the jeweler looked at Tom, quizzically.
"He wanted to have a talk with me," replied the lad, "and when he saw
me in your store, he tried to attract my attention by knocking on the
glass."
"That's a queer way to do," declared Mr. Track. "What did he want?"
"I don't know exactly," answered Tom, not caring to go into details just
then. "But I'm sure, Mr. Track, that you've got the wrong person there.
That lad never looked in the window, nor knocked on the glass."
"That's right--I didn't," asserted the captive.
The jeweler looked doubtful.
"Why did you run?" he asked.
"I told you, I thought there was a fire."
"That's right, I don't believe he's the fellow you want," put in another
man. "I was standing on the corner, near White's grocery store, and I
noticed this lad. That was before I heard you yelling, and saw you
coming, and then I joined in the chase. I guess the man you were after
got away, Track."
"He did," asserted Tom. "He came back here, a little while ago, and he

ran away just now, as he heard you coming."
"Where did he go?" asked the jeweler, eagerly.
"I don't know," answered Tom. "Only you've got the wrong lad here."
"Well, perhaps I have," admitted the diamond merchant. "You can go,
youngster, but next time, don't run if you're not guilty."
"I thought there was a fire," repeated the lad, as he hurriedly slipped
through the crowd in the store, and disappeared down the dark street.
"Well, I guess the excitement's all over, and, anyhow, you weren't
robbed, Track," said a stout man, as he left the store. The others soon
followed, and Tom and the jeweler were once more alone in the shop.
"Can you tell me something