“Worried United States State Department officials admit that the surprise coup poses a new and dangerous threat to free-world security.  Further news reports will be broadcast as soon as they reach this station,” the announcer ended.

For a moment Tom and Bud were too stunned to speak.  Sandy was wide-eyed with the realization that the news spelled trouble for Swift Enterprises and all America.

“Looks as though that CIA man who briefed us wasn’t kidding, eh, skipper?” Bud muttered at last.

“It came sooner than he expected!” Tom said.

Jumping up from the table, Tom switched off the radio and hurried to the hall telephone.  In a few moments he managed to get a long-distance call through to Wes Norris of the FBI.

“Is the news on this Brungarian coup as bad as it sounds, Wes?” Tom inquired.

“Worse!  That rebel bunch really has it in for us, as you know, Tom,” Norris replied.  “They envy America and they’ll move heaven and earth to steal our scientific secrets.  This could touch off a whole epidemic of sabotage and other spy activity!”

Tom’s jaw clenched grimly.  He then asked the FBI man his opinion about the discovery of the secret arms cache in Pete Latty’s basement.

Norris admitted he was puzzled.  “It doesn’t add up, Tom,” the FBI agent said thoughtfully.  “If our enemies were planning to destroy Shopton by a quake, why would anyone be needing a gun?”

“I can’t figure it myself, Wes—­unless they were planning to raid and loot Enterprises after the place was thrown into disorder,” Tom deduced.  “What about Narko himself?  Has he talked yet?”

Norris replied that although he had not interviewed Narko himself, FBI agents who had grilled the spy had failed to elicit any information.

“Here’s something else, though, which might interest you,” Norris went on.  “We now have reports that at the time of the Harkness and Medfield disasters, seismographs recorded simultaneous quakes off the coast of Alaska near the Aleutian chain.  Tremors were also felt off the southwest coast of South America.”

A new factor to consider!  Tom frowned in puzzlement as he hung up the telephone after completing his talk with the FBI man.

After Tom had repeated the conversation to his companions, Bud said, “You mean the H-bomb idea goes out the window?”

Tom shrugged.  “Wes says they’ve found no evidence to support the theory of man-produced underground blasts.  It just doesn’t jibe with those other remote tremors.  They’d be too much of a coincidence, happening at the same time!”

“Then the quakes at Harkness and Medfield were real earthquakes!” Sandy put in.

“Looks that way,” Tom admitted.  “Those other tremors Wes mentioned follow a natural circum-Pacific belt which is well known to seismologists.  I’m no expert, but perhaps they could have set off chain reactions below the earth’s crust which triggered the two quakes in this part of the country.”