Tom Swift

---

Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers
Victor Appleton
Published: 1911
Categorie(s): Fiction, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction, Juvenile
Source: http://gutenberg.org

---

About Appleton:
Victor Appleton was a house pseudonym used by the
Stratemeyer Syndicate, most famous for being associated
with the Tom Swift series of books. Ghostwriters of these
books included Howard Roger Garis, John W. Duffield, W.
Bert Foster, Debra Doyle with James D. Macdonald, F.
Gwynplaine MacIntyre, Robert E. Vardeman, and Thomas
M. Mitchel . Source: Wikipedia
Also available on Feedbooks Appleton:
Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle (1910)
Tom Swift and His Airship (1910)
Tom Swift in the City of Gold (1912)
Tom Swift and His Undersea Search (1920)
Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone (1914)
Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive (1922)
Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders (1917)
Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle (1911)
Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat (1910)
Tom Swift in Captivity (1912)
Copyright: Please read the legal notice included in this e-
book and/or check the copyright status in your country.
Note: This book is brought to you by Feedbooks
http://www.feedbooks.com

---

Strictly for personal use, do not use this file for commercial
purposes.

---

---

1
Chapter
A SUSPICIOUS JEWELER
"Wel , Tom Swift, I don't believe you wil make any mistake
if you buy that diamond," said the jeweler to a young man
who was inspecting a tray of pins, set with the sparkling
stones. "It is of the first water, and without a flaw."
"It certainly seems so, Mr. Track. I don't know much about
diamonds, and I'm depending on you. But this one looks to
be al right."
"Is it for yourself, Tom?"
"Er--no--that is, not exactly," and Tom Swift, the young
inventor of airships and submarines, blushed slightly.
"Ah, I see. It's for your housekeeper, Mrs. Baggert. Wel , I
think she would like a pin of this sort. True, it's rather
expensive, but--"
"No, it isn't for Mrs. Baggert, Mr. Track," and Tom
seemed a bit embarrassed.
"No? Wel , then, Tom--of course it's none of my affair,
except to sel you a good stone, But if this brooch is for a
young lady, I can't recommend anything nicer. Do you think
you wil take this; or do you prefer to look at some others?"
"Oh, I think this wil do, Mr. Track. I guess I'l take--"

---

Tom's Words were interrupted by a sudden action on the
part of the jeweler. Mr. Track ran from behind the showcase
and hastened toward the front door.
"Did you see him, Tom?" he cried. "I wonder which way
he went?"
"Who?" asked the lad, fol owing the shopkeeper.
"That man. He's been walking up and down in front of my
place for the last ten minutes--ever since you've been in
here, in fact, and I don't like his looks."
"What did he do?"
"Nothing much, except to stare in here as if he was sizing
my place up."
"Sizing it up?"
"Yes. Getting the lay of the land, so he or some
confederate could commit a robbery, maybe."
"A robbery? Do you think that man was a thief?"
"I don't know that he was, Tom, and yet a jeweler has to
be always on the watch, and that isn't a joke, either, Tom
Swift. Swindlers and thieves are always on the alert for a
chance to rob a jewelry store, and they work many games."
"I didn't notice any particular man looking in here," said
Tom, who stil held the diamond brooch in his hand.
"Wel I did," went on the jeweler. "I happened to glance
out of the window when you were looking at the pins, and I
saw his eyes staring in here in a suspicious manner. He
may have a confederate with him, and, when you're gone,
one may come in, and pretend to want to look at some
diamonds. Then, when I'm showing him some, the other
man wil enter, engage my attention, and the first man wil

---

slip out with a diamond ring or pin. It's often done."
"You seem to have it al worked out, Mr. Track," observed
the lad, with a smile. "How do you know but what I'm in with
a gang of thieves, and that I'm only pretending to want to
buy a diamond pin?"
"Oh, I guess I haven't known you, Tom Swift, ever since
you were big enough to toddle, not to be sure about what
you're up to. But I certainly didn't like the looks of that man.
However, let's forget about him. He seems to have gone
down the street, and, after al , perhaps I was mistaken. Just
wait until I show you a few more styles before you decide.
The young lady may like one of these," and the jeweler went
to another showcase and took out some more trays of
brooches.
"What makes you think she's a young lady, Mr. Track?"
asked the lad.
"Oh, it's easy guessing, Tom. We jewelers are good
readers of character. I can size up a young fel ow coming in
here to buy an engagement or a wedding ring, as soon as
he enters the door. I suppose you'l soon be in the market
for one of those, Tom, if al the reports I hear about you are
true--you and a certain Mary Nestor."
"I--er--I think I don't care for any of these pins," spoke
Tom, quickly, with a blush. "I like the first lot best. I think I'l
take the one I had in my hand when that man alarmed you.
Ha! That's odd! What did I do with it?"
Tom looked about on the showcase, and glanced down
on the floor. He had mislaid the brooch, but the jeweler, with
a laugh, lifted it out of a tray a moment later.

---

"I saw you lay it down," he said. "We jewelers have to be
on the watch. Here it is. I'l just put it in a box, and--"
With an exclamation, Mr. Track gave a hasty glance
toward his big show window. Tom looked up, and saw a
man's face peering in. At the sight of it, he, too, uttered a
cry of surprise.
The next instant the man outside knocked on the glass,
apparently with a piece of metal, making a sharp sound. As
soon as he heard it, the jeweler once more sprang from
behind the showcase, and leaped for the door crying:
"There's the thief! He's trying to cut a hole through my
show window and reach in and get something! It's an old
trick. I'l get the police! Tom, you stay here on guard!" and
before the lad could utter a protest, the jeweler had opened
the door, and was speeding down the street in the
gathering darkness.
Tom stared about him in some bewilderment. He was left
alone in charge of a very valuable stock of jewelry, the
owner of which was racing after a supposed thief, crying:
"Police! Help! Thieves! Stop him, somebody!"
"This is a queer go," mused Tom. "I wonder who that
man was? He looked like somebody I know, and yet I can't
seem to place his face. I wonder if he was trying to rob the
placer Maybe there's another one--a confederate--around
here."
This thought rather alarmed Tom, so he went to the door,
and looked up and down the street. He could see no
suspicious characters, but in the direction in which the
jeweler was running there was a little throng of people,

---

fol owing Mr. Track after the man who had knocked on the
window.
"I wish I was there, instead of here," mused the lad. "Stil I
can't leave, or a thief might come in. Perhaps that was the
game, and one of the gang is hanging around, hoping the
store wil be deserted, so he can enter and take what he
likes."
Tom had read of such cases, and he at once resolved
that he would not only remain in the jewelry shop, but that he
would lock the door, which he at once proceeded to do.
Then he breathed easier.
The town of Shopton, in the outskirts of which Tom lived
with his father, and where the scene above narrated took
place, was none too wel lighted at night, and the lad had
his doubts about the jeweler catching the oddly-acting man,
especial y as the latter had a good start.
"But some one may head him off," reasoned Tom.
"Though if they do catch him, I don't see what they can
prove against him. Hel o, here I am carrying this diamond
pin around. I might lose it. Guess I'l put it back on the tray."
He replaced in the proper receptacle one of the pins he
bad been examining when the excitement occurred.
"I wonder if Mary wil like that?" he said, softly. "I hope
she does. Perhaps it would be better if she could come
here herself and pick out one--"
Tom's musing was suddenly interrupted by a sharp tattoo
on the glass door of the jewelry shop. With a start, he
looked up, to see staring in on him the face of the man who
had been there before--the man of whom the jeweler was

---