CHAPTER I
A BAD PLACE FOR A FIRE
"IMPOSSIBLE, Ned! It can\'t be as much as that!"
"Well, you can prove the additions yourself, Tom, on one of the adding
machines. I\'ve been over \'em twice, and get the same result each time.
There are the figures. They say figures don\'t lie, though it doesn\'t follow
that the opposite is true, for those who do not stick closely to the truth do,
sometimes, figure. But there you have it; your financial statement for the
year," and Ned Newton, business manager for Tom Swift, the talented
young inventor, shoved a mass of papers across the table to his friend and
chum, as well as employer.
"It doesn\'t seem possible, Ned, that we have made as much as that this
past year. And this, as I understand it, doesn\'t include what was taken from
the wreck of the Pandora?"
Tom Swift looked question