Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers | Page 8

about this man, Tom?" asked Mr. Track,
eagerly. "So he really makes diamonds. Who is he?"
"I'd rather not tell--just now," replied the young inventor. "I don't take
much stock in him, myself. I think he's visionary. He may think he has
made diamonds, and he may have made some stones that look like
them. I'm very skeptical."
"If you could bring me some, Tom, I could soon tell whether they were
real or not. Can you?"
The lad shook his head.
"I don't expect to see Mr. Jenks again," he said. "He talked rather
wildly about waiting to meet me, but that man is odd-- crazy,
perhaps--and I don't imagine I'll see him. He's harmless, but he's
eccentric. Well, there was quite some excitement for a time."
"I should say there was. I thought it was a plan to rob me," and the
jeweler began putting away the diamond pins. In fact, the excitement so
filled the minds of himself and Tom that neither of them thought any
more of the object of the lad's visit, and the young inventor departed
without purchasing the pin he had come after.

It was not until he was out on the street, walking toward his home, that
the matter came back to his mind.
"I declare!" he exclaimed. "I didn't get that pin for Mary, after all! Well,
never mind, I have a week until her birthday, and I can get it
toÄmorrow."
He walked rapidly toward home, for the weather looked threatening,
and Tom had no umbrella. He was musing on the happenings of the
evening when he reached his house. His father was out, as was Garret
Jackson, the engineer; and Mrs. Baggert, the housekeeper, was
entertaining a lady in the sitting-room, so, as Tom was rather tired, he
went directly to his own room, and, a little later got into bed.
It was shortly after midnight when he was awakened by hearing a
rattling on the window of his room. The reason he was able to fix the
time so accurately was because as soon as he awakened he pressed a
little electric button, and it illuminated the face of a small clock on his
bureau. The hands pointed to five minutes past twelve.
"Humph! That sounds like hail!" exclaimed Tom, as he arose, and
looked out of the casement. "I wonder if any of the skylights of the
airship shed are open? There might be some damage. Guess I'd better
go out and take a look."
He had mentally reasoned this far before he had looked out, and when
he saw that the moon was brightly shining in a clear sky, he was a bit
surprised.
"Why-Äthat wasn't hail," he murmured. "It isn't even raining. I wonder
what it was?"
He was answered a moment later, for a shower of fine gravel from the
walk flew up and clattered against the glass. With a start, Tom looked
down, and saw a dark figure standing under an apple tree.
"Hello! Who's there?" called the lad, after he had raised the sash.

"It's I--Mr. Jenks," was the surprising answer.
"Mr. Jenks?" repeated Tom.
"Yes--Barcoe Jenks, of Earthquake Island."
"You here? What do you want?"
"Can you come down?"
"What for?"
"Tom Swift, I've something very important to tell you," was the answer
in a low voice, yet which carried to Tom's ears perfectly. "Do you want
to make a fortune for yourself--and for me?"
"How?" Tom was beginning to think more and more that Mr. Jenks was
crazy.
"How? By helping me to discover the secret of Phantom Mountain,
where the diamonds are made! Will you?"
"Wait a minute--I'll come down," answered Tom, and he began to
grope for his clothes in the dim light of the little electric lamp.
What was the secret of Phantom Mountain? What did Mr. Jenks really
want? Could he make diamonds? Tom asked himself these questions as
he hastily dressed to go down to his midnight visitor.
CHAPTER III
- A STRANGE STORY
"Well, Mr. Jenks," began Tom, when he had descended to the garden,
and greeted the man who had acted so strangely on Earthquake Island,
"this is rather an odd time for a visit."
"I realize that, Tom Swift," was the answer, and the lad noticed that the
man spoke much more calmly than he had that evening at the jewelry

shop. "I realize that, but I have to be cautious in my movements."
"Why?"
"Because there are enemies on my track. If they thought I was seeking
aid to discover the secret of Phantom Mountain, my life might pay the
forfeit."
"Are you in earnest, Mr. Jenks?"
"I certainly am, and, while I must apologize for awakening you at this
unseemly hour, and for the mysterious nature of my visit, if you will let