CHAPTER XI
BARTON KEITH'S STORY
"What's this Mary tells me, Tom?" asked Mr. Nestor, as he followed hisdaughter back into the room.
"You mean about Dixwell Hardley?"
"Yes. Do you suppose he can be the same man who has so meanly treatedmy brother-in-law?"
"I wouldn't want to say, Mr. Nestor, until you describe to me the Mr.Hardley you know. Then I can better tell. But from what little I haveseen of the man to whom I was introduced by my friend Mr. Damon, I'dsay, off hand, that he was capable of such action."
"Does Mr. Damon know this Mr. Hardley well?" asked Mrs. Nestor, whoaccompanied her husband.
"I wouldn't say that he did," Tom replied. "I don't know just how Mr.Damon met this chap--I think it was in a financial way, though."
"Well, if it's the same Mr. Hardley, I'll say he has some queerfinancial ways," said Mr. Nestor. "Now let's see if we can make the twojibe. Describe him, Tom."
This the young inventor did, and when this description had beencompared with one given of the Mr. Hardley with whom Mr. Keith once wasassociated, Mrs. Nestor said:
"It surely is the same man! The Mr. Hardley who wants you to get wealthfrom the bottom of the ocean, Tom, is the same fellow who is keeping mybrother out of the oil well property! I'm sure of it!"
"It does seem so," Tom agreed. "Dixwell Hardley is not a usual name;but we must be careful. In spite of its unusualness there may be twovery different men who have that name. I think the only way to find outfor certain is to see Mr. Keith. He'd know a picture of the DixwellHardley who, he claims, cheated him, wouldn't he?"
"Indeed he would!" exclaimed Mrs. Nestor. "But where could we get apicture of your Mr. Hardley? I call him that, though I don't supposeyou own him, Tom," and she smiled at her future son-in-law.
"No, I don't own him, and I don't want to," was Tom's answer. "But Ihappen to have a picture of him. I made him furnish me with proofs thathe was on the Pandora at the time she foundered in a gale, and amongthe documents he gave was his passport. It has his picture on. I haveit here."
Tom drew the paper from his pocket. In one corner was pasted aphotograph of the man who had been introduced to Tom by Mr. Damon.
"It looks like the same man my brother described," said Mrs. Nestor,"but of course I couldn't be sure."
"There is only one way to be," Tom stated, "and that is to show thispicture to Mr. Keith. Where is he?"
"Ill at his home in Bedford," answered Mrs. Nestor.
"Then we'll go there and see him!" declared Tom.
"But it's a hundred miles from here!" exclaimed Mary. "And you areleaving on your submarine trip the first thing in the morning, Tom!"
"No, I'm not leaving until I settle this matter," declared the younginventor. "I'm not going on an undersea voyage with a man who may be acheater. I want this matter settled. I'll postpone this trip until Ifind out. A day's delay won't matter."
"But it will take longer than that," said Mr. Nestor. "Bedford is asmall place, and there's only one train a day there. You'll lose atleast three days Tom, if you go there."
"Not necessarily," was the quick answer. "I can go by airship, and makethe trip in a little over an hour. I can be back the same day, perhapsnot in time to start our submarine trip, as Mr. Keith may be too ill tosee me. But I won't lose much time in my Air Scout.
"Mary, will you go with me to see your uncle? We'll start the firstthing in the morning and I'll show him this picture. Will you go?"
"I will!" exclaimed the girl.
"Good!" cried Tom. "Then I'll make preparations. I don't want to formany rash judgment, so we'll make certain; but it wouldn't surprise me abit to have it turn out that the Dixwell Hardley who wants me to helphim recover the Pandora treasure is the same one who is trying to cheatMr. Keith."
Early the next morning, when Tom arose in his own home, he met Mr.Damon and Mr. Hardley, both of whom were guests at the Swift house,pending the beginning of the undersea trip.
"Well, Tom," began the eccentric man, "we have good weather for thestart. Bless my rubber boots! Not that it much matters, though, whatsort of weather we have when we're in the submarine. But I always liketo start in the sunshine."
"So do I," agreed Mr. Hardley. "I suppose we'll get off early thismorning," he added.
"We'll go to the dock in the auto, as usual, shall we not?" he asked.
"We aren't going to start this morning," said Tom, as he sat down tobreakfast.
"Not going to start this morning!" exclaimed Mr. Hardley. "Why--why--"
"Bless my alarm clock!" voiced Mr. Damon, "has anything happened, Tom?No accident to the M. N. 1 is there? You aren't backing out now, at thelast minute, are you?"
"Oh, no," was the easy answer. "We'll go, as arranged, but not today. Ihad some unexpected news last night which necessitates making a tripthis morning. I expect to be back tonight, if all goes well, and we'llstart tomorrow morning instead of this. It's a matter of importantbusiness."
"Well, I don't know that we can find fault with Mr. Swift for attendingto business," said Mr. Hardley, with a short laugh. "Business is whatkeeps the world moving. And we are a little ahead of our schedule, as amatter of fact. May I ask where you are going, Mr. Swift?"
"To Bedford, to call on a Mr. Barton Keith," answered Tom quickly,looking the adventurer straight in the eyes.
Mr. Hardley was a good actor, or else he was a perfectly innocent man,for he showed not the least sign of perturbation.
"Oh, Bedford," he remarked. "Don't know that I ever heard of the place."
"Or Mr. Keith, either?" asked Tom, a bit sharply.
"No, certainly not. Why should I?" he asked, boldly.
"I didn't know," Tom replied. "I'm sorry to postpone our trip, but it'snecessary," he added. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Everything is inreadiness, so there will be no delay."
Tom made a hurried meal, and then, giving Ned a hint of what was in thewind, but cautioning him to say nothing about it, Tom had the small AirScout brought out, and in that he flew over to Mary's home.
He found her waiting for him, and, after being duly cautioned by hermother to "be careful," though whether that was of any value or not ispossibly debatable, the small, speedy craft again took the air.
"You haven't heard anything from your uncle since last night, haveyou?" asked Tom, as they flew along.
"Yes," answered Mary, "mother had a letter. He is worse, if anything,and the doctor says the only thing that will save him is the knowledgethat the oil-well matter has turned out right and that my uncle willget his share of the wealth."
"That's too bad!" sympathized Tom. "I hope we can make it turn out thatway. If the two Dixwell Hardley chaps are the same it may be that I cando something for your uncle. If not--we'll have to wait and see."
It was not difficult for Tom and Mary to talk while in the aeroplane,as it was almost noiseless. In due time, Bedford was reached withoutmishap, and Tom and Mary were soon at the home of her uncle.
An explanation to the housekeeper and an inspection on the part of thenurse, brought forth permission for Tom to see the patient. Though hehad never known Mr. Keith he could see that the man's health was indeedfast waning.
Wasting little time in preliminaries, the object of the visit was toldand Tom showed the passport photograph of Dixwell Hardley.
"Is that the man who cheated you on the oil-well deal?" asked the younginventor.
"I won't admit he has yet cheated me, but he is trying to!" exclaimedMr. Keith, with something of a return of his former spirit. "If I everget off my back I'm going to fight him tooth and nail. But that's thesame scoundrel! He got me to locate the wells, and when they panned outbig--bigger than either of us dreamed--he turned me out cold. He deniedhe had ever offered to share with me, and said I was only working formonthly wages! Why, sometimes I didn't get even that!"
"How did he get the best of you?" asked Tom.
"By making away with or hiding the papers by which I could prove ourpartnership and my
right to half a share in all the wells," answeredMary's uncle. "Yes, that's the same man all right. I'd know his faceanywhere, and he has the same name."
"He isn't going under a false name, that's sure," agreed Tom. "He mustbe a bold chap."
"He is--bold and unscrupulous! That's what makes him so successful inhis own way!" declared Mr. Keith. "And so you are working with him!Well, I'm sorry for you."
"I'm not exactly working with him," replied Tom. "As a matter of fact,I'm sorry I ever agreed to look for this wreck."
He told the details of the pending treasure-trove expedition, andmentioned it as his belief that Mr. Damon had been mistaken in hisestimate of Mr. Hardley.
"But, so far, Mr. Damon is quite taken with him," Tom went on. "Now,Mr. Keith, if it isn't too much for you, I should like to hear all theparticulars."
Thereupon Mary's uncle told his story. It was a long one. After manyhardships in life, which Mr. Keith related in some detail to Tom, theoil-well prospector at last fell in with Dixwell Hardley. Then followedthe combination of interests.
"We are actually partners," declared Mr. Keith. "I agreed to do thework, and he agreed to furnish the money. I must say this for him, thathe kept to that end of the bargain. He supplied the money to locate anddrill the wells, but I got very little of it personally. And Ifulfilled my end of it. I discovered the wells. Then, when the breakcame, and I wanted to be rid of the man--for I caught him in somecrooked transactions--he surprised me by telling me to get out. I askedfor my share of the oil-well stock, and was told I was not entitled toany.
"I put up a fight, naturally, and took the matter to court. But when itcame to trial Dixwell Hardley did not appear, and, though I won atechnical victory over him, I never got any money."
"Where was he during the trial?" asked Tom.
"At sea, I believe."
"At sea?"
"Yes, he was mixed up in some South American revolution, I heard."
"A South American revolution!" exclaimed Tom, and a great light came tohim.
"Yes," went on Mary's uncle. "He was always that kind--mixing up inanything he thought would produce money. He didn't make out very wellin the revolution business, so I understood. The revolutionary partywas beaten, or they lost their shipment of arms, or something likethat. At any rate, Dixwell Hardley had a narrow escape with his lifewhen a ship went down, and from then on I've been trying to get him torestore my rights to me."
"Did he have the papers that would prove you were entitled to a halfshare in the oil wells?" asked Tom.
"He certainly did!" said the sick man, who was obviously being weakenedby this long and exhausting talk. "At first I was not sure of whathappened, but now I am positive he stole the papers and took them tosea with him. What happened to them after that I don't know. But if Ihad Dixwell Hardley here--now--I--I'd--"
Mr. Keith fell back in a faint on the bed, and, in great alarm, Tomsummoned the nurse.
Tom Swift and His Undersea Search; Or, the Treasure on the Floor of the Atlantic Page 11