Page:Bound to be an Electrician.djvu/158

140 "I would like to tell my relatives that I am going west."

"You may do that, but caution them to say nothing of it. There are spies here in Paterson, who, if they heard I had sent you to Chicago, would at once telegraph to certain parties there, and ruin my prospects of accomplishing what I desire."

"I will caution them, sir. But what is this work you wish me to do?"

"I am the owner of a medical battery, known as the Bliss Thermo-Galvanic, of which I purchased the rights some five years ago, from an inventor in Chicago—a clever fellow, but dissipated—for three thousand dollars. The battery is now manufactured by the H. Y. Smith Co. of Chicago, under royalty. When old Smith himself was alive, the royalty was promptly paid, but since he died, and his sons took hold of the business, matters have taken a different course. I have it pretty straight that they put out more batteries, yet my income from the royalty is smaller."

"You mean to say that they are cheating you out of part of the royalty?" questioned Franklin, with deep interest.

"That's the plain English of it, although I wouldn't dare say so until I could prove it."

"And what do you wish me to do?"

"I want you to go to Chicago, and watch