As for our hero, he stood in the hut gazing at his rival, while Hank
Delby, in turn, stared at the young inventor. Then Hank dismounted
from his mule and approached Tom's hut.
"Bless my railroad ticket!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "This is a curious
state of affairs! What in the world are we to do, Tom?"
"I don't know, I'm sure. We'll have to wait until we see what HE
does. He's been following us all along. He was that fake minister on
the boat. It's a wonder we didn't get on to him. I believe he's been
trying to learn our secret ever since Mr. Preston warned us about
him. Now he's here and he'll probably try to spoil our chances for
getting a giant so that he may get one for himself. Perhaps Andy
Foger gave him a tip about our plans."
"But can't we stop him?" asked Ned.
"I'm going to try!" exclaimed Tom grimly.
"Here he comes," spoke Mr. Damon quickly. "I wonder what he wants?"
Hank Delby had started toward the big hut that sheltered our
friends, while the gathered crowd of curious giants looked on and
wondered what the arrival of two white parties so close together
could mean.
"Well, what do you want?" asked Tom, when, his rival had come within
speaking distance.
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