The latter held a revolver, and even without this weapon Tom would have been forced to submit, for the two masked men soon came to the aid of their companions. Tom felt that discretion was the better part of valor in this instance. Besides, he hoped, by submitting quietly now, to escape by strategy a little later. But he thought he would try a little bluff and bluster first, so he addressed the men with righteous indignation. “You fellows have nerve!” he exclaimed. “What do you mean by treating me this way? I’ll have you all arrested for this and sent up.” “Yes. Like you did Barsky, I suppose,” sneered one of the masked men. Tom started at the mention of that name. Barsky or Blodgett, for he used both names, had been concerned in the theft of Tom’s Chest of Secrets. Barsky had been arrested, together with Renwick Fawn, and had been sent to jail. “But maybe they have escaped,” thought Tom. “Maybe these two men are Fawn and Barsky.” He closely observed the actions of the men, but neither of them threw out his elbow in a jerky manner, which had been a characteristic of Fawn, nor were any of Barsky’s peculiarities observable in the other masked individual. “Cut out the talk,” advised Kenny to the man who had mentioned Barsky’s name. “What do you want of me?” boldly demanded Tom. “You’ll find out soon enough,” answered Schlump. But his intention of keeping secret the reason for their bold acts was not shared by the masked man who had spoken of the imprisoned Barsky. For approaching Tom and shaking his fist in the lad’s face the scoundrel exclaimed: “You’re trying to beat us out of our invention, but it can’t be done! We’ve got you now where we want you!” “Your invention—what do you mean?” asked Tom, genuinely puzzled. “The airline express car,” was the unexpected answer. “That’s our invention, and we’re going to get patents on it ahead of you! We don’t intend to let you cheat us out of it. You stole our ideas and models, but we’ll use your models if we have to and get the patents that way.” “You must be crazy!” exploded Tom. “Your invention! You don’t know what you’re talking about! That car is my own and my father’s idea! As soon as I get away from here I’ll make you sweat for what you’ve done to me!” One of the men laughed in a sinister manner. “It will be a long while before you get away from here!” he boasted. “You’ll stay a prisoner even if we have to ship you to the South Seas!” CHAPTER VII THE PLOT Closing in on Tom, the four men soon had him securely bound with ropes. He felt there was little use in struggling against such overwhelming odds. He must conserve his strength until he could use it to better advantage. For the young inventor did not intend to remain any longer than he could help a prisoner of these four men on this lonely island. For it was a lonely island.