There was no doubt but that it had
been filed in several places to weaken the structure of the
metal.
"When did you last see that it was in perfect condition?" asked
Jackson.
Tom named a certain date.
"That was just before Gale called," observed the mechanician.
"He might have known of it."
"I wish I'd known of it at the time," said Tom savagely. "He
wouldn't have gotten away as easily as he did. Well, there's no
use standing here talking about it. Let's get back to
civilization and we'll send back one of the trucks. Luckily I
have another silencer I can put on for the government test. This
one will never be of any more use, though I may be able to save
some of the valves and baffle plates."
Slowly they turned from the disabled aeroplane and started to
look for a path that would lead them out of the lonely place. Tom
as the first to strike what seemed to be a cow path, or perhaps
what had been a road into the wood lot in the early days.
As he tramped along it, followed by Jackson, the young inventor
suddenly stopped, as he came to a sandy place, and, stooping
over, looked intently at some queer marks in the soil.
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