“Well, I guess that will do for now,” said Tom, as he stopped the mechanism.  “I’ve just thought of something,” he added.  “If I leave the light burning, it will scare away, before they got in front of the lens, any one who might come along.  I’ll have to change that part of it.”

“How can you fix it?” asked Ned.

“Easily.  I’ll rig up some flash lights, just ordinary photographing flashlights, you know.  I’ll time them to go off one after the other, and connect them with an electric wire to the door of my shop.”

“Then your idea is—­” began Ned.

“That some rascals may try to enter my shop at night.  Not this particular night, but any night.  If they come to-night we’ll be ready for them.”

“An’ can’t yo’-all take a picture ob de chicken coop?” asked Eradicate.  “Dat feller may come back t’ rob mah hens.”

“With the lens pointing toward the shop,” spoke Tom, “it will also take snap shots of any one who tries to enter the coop.  So, if the chicken thief does come, Rad, we’ll have a picture of him.”

Tom and Ned soon had the flashlights in place, and then they went to bed, listening, at times, for the puff that would indicate that the camera was working.  But the night passed without incident, rather to Tom’s disappointment.  However, in the morning, he developed the film of the first pictures taken in the evening.  Soon they were dry enough to be used in the moving picture machine, which Tom had bought, and set up in a dark room.

“There we are!” he cried, as the first images were thrown on the white screen.  “As natural as life, Ned!  My camera works all right!”

“That’s so.  Look!  There’s where I hit you with a snowball!” cried his chum, as the skylarking scene was reached.

“Mah goodness!” cried Eradicate, when he saw himself walking about on the screen, as large as life.  “Dat shorely am wonderful.”

“It is spirits!” cried Koku, as he saw himself depicted.

“I wish we had some of the other pictures to show,” spoke Tom.  “I mean some unexpected midnight visitors.”

For several nights in succession the camera was set to “snap” any one who might try to enter the shop.  The flashlights were also in place.  Tom and Ned, the latter staying at his chum’s house that week, were beginning to think they would have their trouble for their pains.  But one night something happened.

It was very dark, but the snow on the ground made a sort of glow that relieved the blackness.  The camera had been set as usual, and Tom and Ned went to bed.

It must have been about midnight when they were both awakened by hearing the burglar alarm go off.  At the same time there were several flashes of fire from the garden.

“There she goes!” cried Ned.

“Yes, they’re trying to get into the shed,” added Tom, as a glance at the burglar-alarm indicator on the wall of the room, showed that the shop door was being tried.  “Come on!”