For several seconds the young inventor remained bending over the queer marks in that little sandy path of the lonely field in the midst of the silent woods.Jackson watched him curiously, and then Tom straightened up, exclaiming as he did so:
"I have it! Now I know where it was! I saw marks like these the night Mr.Nestor disappeared.Mr.Damon and I noticed the marks in the dust on the road the time we made the forced landing the first night we tried out the silent motor.That's it! They are the same marks! I'm sure of it!""I wouldn't go so far as to say that," said Jackson slowly.He was more deliberate than Tom Swift, a fact for which the young inventor was often glad, as it saved him from impulsive mistakes.
"This may not be the same auto," went on the mechanician."I'll admit I never saw square tire marks like those before.Most of the usual ones are circular, diamond-shape or oblong.Some tire manufacturer must have tried a new stunt.But as for saying these marks were made by the same machine you saw evidences of the night Mr.Nestor disappeared, why, that's going a little too far, Tom.""Yes, I suppose it is," admitted the young inventor."But it's a clew worth following.Maybe Mr.Nestor has been brought to some lonely place like this, and is being held.""Why would any one want to do that?" asked Jackson."He had no enemies.
"Well, perhaps those who ran him down and injured him are afraid to let him go for fear he will prosecute them and ask for heavy damages," suggested Tom."They may be holding him a captive until he gets well, and aim on treating him so nicely that he won't bring suit.""That's a pretty far-fetched theory," said the mechanician as he carefully looked at the tracks."But of course it may be true.Anyhow, these tire marks are rather recent, I should say, and they are made by a new tire.Do you think we can follow them?""I'm going to try !" declared Tom."The only trouble is we can't tell whether it was going or coming--that is we don't know which way to go.""That's so," agreed his companion."And so the only thing to do is to travel a bit both ways.The path, or road, or whatever you call it, is plainly enough marked here, though you can't always pick out the tire marks.They show only on bare ground.The grass doesn't leave any tracks that we can see, though doubtless they are there.
"But as for thinking this car is the same one the marks of which you saw on the lonely moor, the night you heard the call for help--that's going too far, Tom Swift.""Yes, I realize that.Of course there must be more than one car with tires which have square protuberances.But it's worth taking a chance on-- following this clew.""Oh, sure!" agreed Jackson.
"The only question is, then, which way to go," returned Tom.
They settled that, arbitrarily enough, by going on in the direction they had started after leaving the stranded airship.They followed a half-defined path, and were rewarded by getting occasional glimpses on bare ground of the odd tire marks.
Through a devious winding way, now hidden amid a lane of trees, and again cutting across an open space, the path led.They saw the marks often enough to make sure they were on the right trail, and in one place they saw several different patches of the odd marks.
They went on perhaps half a mile more.when they came to a lonely road and saw where the car had turned from that into the wood-lot, as Tom called the place where his craft had settled down.
"Look!" cried the young inventor to Jackson."They've been here more than once, and have gone along the road in both directions.They seem to have used this turning into the lot as a sort of stopping place."This was plain enough from an examination of the marks in the sandy soil of the road, which was one not often used.The automobile with the queer, square marks on the tires had turned into the lot, coming and going in both directions.
"This settles it!" cried Tom, when he finished making an examination.
