Page:Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers.djvu/56

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CHAPTER V


A MYSTERIOUS MAN


For several minutes Andy Foger did not arise. He remained prostrate in the dust, and Tom, observing him, thought perhaps the bully might have been seriously injured. But, a little later, Andy cautiously raised his head, and inquired in a frightened voice:

"Is it—is it gone?"

"Is what gone?" asked Tom, grimly.

At the sound of his voice, Andy looked up.

"Was that you, Tom Swift?" he demanded. "Did you knock me off my wheel?"

"My monoplane and I together did," was the reply; "or, rather, we didn't. It was the nervous reaction caused by your fright, and the knowledge that you had done wrong, that made you jump over the handlebars. That's the scientific explanation."

"You—you did it!" stammered Andy, getting to his feet. He wasn't hurt much, Tom thought.

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