Page:Tom Swift and His Great Searchlight.djvu/169

Rh them that you have come here," suggested Ned.

"He won't get much chance to communicate with his friends, while my men have him," said Mr. Whitford significantly. "I guess we'll take a chance here, Tom."

So it was arranged. Everything on the airship was gotten ready for a quick flight, and then Tom set his great searchlight aglow once more, Its powerful beams cut upward to the clouds, making a wonderful illumination.

"Now all we have to do is to wait and watch," remarked Tom, as he came back from a last inspection of the apparatus in the motor room.

"And that is sometimes the hardest kind of work," said Mr. Whitford. "Many a time I have been watching for smugglers for days and nights at a stretch, and it was very wearying. When I got through, and caught my man, I was more tired than if I had traveled hundreds of miles. Just sitting around, and waiting is tiresome work."

The others agreed with him, and then the custom officer told many stories of his experiences, of the odd places smugglers would hit upon to conceal the contrabrand goods, and of fights he had taken part in.

"Diamonds and jewels, from their smallness, and from the great value, and the high duty on