"Now then, turn on your switch--the one I showed you--and look
right at the sensitized plate. Then turn out your light, and
slowly turn it on. It's a new kind, and the light comes up
gradually, like gas or an oil lamp. Turn it on easily."
"I get you, Tom."
Ned did as requested. Slowly the illumination in the booth
increased.
"Do you get anything, Tom?" asked Ned, over the wire.
"Not yet," was the somewhat discouraged answer. "Go ahead, turn on
more light, and keep your face close to the plate."
Ned did so.
"How about it now?" he asked, a moment later.
"Nothing--yet," was the answer. And then suddenly Tom's voice rose
to a scream over the wire.
"Ned--Ned! Quick!" he called. "Come here--I--I--"
The voice died off into a meaningless gurgle.
CHAPTER X
MIDNIGHT VISITORS
Ned Newton never knew exactly how he got out of the telephone
booth. He seemed to give but one jump, tearing the clamped
receiver from his ear, and almost upsetting the photo apparatus in
his mad rush to help Tom. Certain it is, however, that he did get
out, and a few seconds later he was speeding toward the shop where
Tom had taken his position in a booth.
Ned burst in, crying out:
"Tom! What is it? What happened? What's the matter?"
There was no answer. Fearing the worst, Ned hurried to the small
booth, in one corner of the big, dimly lighted shop.
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