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diff --git a/old/69682-0.txt b/old/69682-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 628d93b..0000000 --- a/old/69682-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6163 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tom Swift circling the globe, by -Victor Appleton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Tom Swift circling the globe - The daring cruise of the Air Monarch - -Author: Victor Appleton - -Release Date: January 1, 2023 [eBook #69682] - -Most recently updated: January 5, 2023 - -Language: English - -Produced by: Delphine Lettau, Greg Weeks, Cindy Beyer, Mary Meehan and - the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at - http://www.pgdpcanada.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM SWIFT CIRCLING THE -GLOBE *** - - - - - - TOM SWIFT CIRCLING - THE GLOBE - OR - The Daring Cruise of the Air Monarch - - BY - VICTOR APPLETON - AUTHOR OF - “TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTORCYCLE” - “TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS” - “TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRLINE EXPRESS” - THE DON STURDY SERIES - ETC. - - _ILLUSTRATED_ - - NEW YORK - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS - - Made in the United States of America - - - - - * * * * * - - - - - BOOKS FOR BOYS - By VICTOR APPLETON - 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. - - THE TOM SWIFT SERIES - TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTORCYCLE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTORBOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP - TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE - TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS - TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE - TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER - TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON - TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP - TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL - TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH - TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER - TOM SWIFT AND HIS CHEST OF SECRETS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRLINE EXPRESS - TOM SWIFT CIRCLING THE GLOBE - - THE DON STURDY SERIES - DON STURDY ON THE DESERT OF MYSTERY - DON STURDY WITH THE BIG SNAKE HUNTERS - DON STURDY IN THE TOMBS OF GOLD - DON STURDY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE - DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF VOLCANOES - DON STURDY IN THE PORT OF LOST SHIPS - DON STURDY AMONG THE GORILLAS - - Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York. - - * * * * * - - Copyright, 1927, by - GROSSET & DUNLAP, Inc. - - _Tom Swift Circling the Globe_ - - - - - CONTENTS - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. A BLAST OF FIRE......................... 1 - II. TOM ACCEPTS............................. 10 - III. INTO A NOSE DIVE........................ 20 - IV. JUST IN TIME............................ 30 - V. THE AIR MONARCH......................... 37 - VI. KICKED OUT.............................. 46 - VII. STRUCK DOWN............................. 57 - VIII. MIDNIGHT PROWLERS....................... 67 - IX. THEY’RE OFF!............................ 80 - X. ACROSS THE OCEAN........................ 91 - XI. FORCED DOWN............................. 97 - XII. THE HURRICANE........................... 103 - XIII. A CLOSE CALL............................ 112 - XIV. WHIZZING BULLETS........................ 121 - XV. YELLOW GYPSIES.......................... 130 - XVI. TO THE RESCUE........................... 137 - XVII. KILBORN’S TRICK......................... 146 - XVIII. CHINESE BANDITS......................... 154 - XIX. THE TYPHOON............................. 162 - XX. MALAY PIRATES........................... 172 - XXI. AMONG THE HEAD-HUNTERS.................. 178 - XXII. THE RAFT................................ 188 - XXIII. THERE SHE BLOWS!........................ 196 - XXIV. THE LAST TRICK.......................... 201 - XXV. ACROSS THE CONTINENT.................... 208 - - - - -[Illustration: IT WAS A NARROW ESCAPE FROM THE WHALE.] - - - - - TOM SWIFT CIRCLING - THE GLOBE - - - - - CHAPTER I - A BLAST OF FIRE - - -TOM SWIFT’S father folded up the newspaper he had been reading, made a -sort of club with it, and banged it down on his desk with the report of -a gun. At the same time the aged inventor exclaimed: - -“I’ll wager ten thousand dollars my son Tom can do it! Yes, sir, Tom can -do it! I’ve got ten thousand dollars that says he can!” - -His face flushed because of the unusual excitement under which he was -laboring, but his eyes never flinched as he looked at Thornton Burch, a -retired manufacturer of automobiles, with whom Mr. Swift had just -engaged in some spirited conversation. - -“Do you want to take up that little wager, Thorn?” asked Mr. Swift, -friendly enough but very determined. - -“I’m not afraid to bet, Bart,” rejoined the other, with a tantalizing -smile; “but I don’t want to rob you. That would be like taking candy -from a baby!” - -“You’re right!” chimed in Medwell Trace, who was associated with Mr. -Burch in business. Both were old-time friends of Mr. Swift’s. “Better -save your money, Bart!” he added, with a chuckle. - -“Don’t worry about my money, Med!” snapped out Mr. Swift, who, in spite -of his age, seemed to have plenty of pep. He went on: “Ten thousand -dollars won’t break me if I lose it, but I’m not going to. I say Tom can -do it, but my saying so doesn’t seem to make you believe it. They say -money talks, so I’m going to let mine do a little conversing for me. I -say again, I’ll wager you ten thousand dollars that Tom can do it!” - -“Bless my fountain pen, but I agree with you, Bart!” exclaimed Wakefield -Damon, an eccentric friend of Tom and his father. “If anybody can turn -that trick it’s my friend Tom.” - -“But be reasonable,” suggested Mr. Trace. “Granting that Tom Swift has -some speedy machines and that he has made good with them in the past, he -hasn’t a piece of apparatus now capable of speed enough and varied -activities enough, to enable him to make that trip in the time you are -claiming he can do it in, Bart. It’s impossible!” - -“I say it isn’t impossible!” replied the aged Mr. Swift. “And to show -I’m in earnest I’ll wager a second ten thousand dollars with you, -Medwell Trace, that Tom can complete the journey inside of the time -mentioned.” - -“Better go slow, Bart,” advised Mr. Burch, with a smile. “I may hold you -to the wager you made with me. I didn’t turn it down. Why do you go to -betting with Med before you close with me?” - -“I thought I had closed with you,” stated Mr. Swift, in some surprise. -He had drawn some sheets of paper toward him on his desk and was taking -the top off his fountain pen ready to write out a memo of the wager. - -“What!” cried Mr. Burch. “Are you making a double bet? With Med and with -me?” - -“That’s what I’m doing!” - -“For ten thousand dollars each?” - -“That’s right!” and Mr. Swift seemed surprised that anybody should doubt -his word. - -“Twenty thousand dollars!” murmured Mr. Damon softly. “It’s a pile of -money, Bart!” - -“I know it is,” agreed Mr. Swift. “But I have more than twenty thousand -dollars worth of faith in Tom. I know he can do it!” - -“That’s right! He can!” burst out the eccentric visitor. “Bless my bald -spot, but I’m almost willing to do some betting myself!” - -“Leave this to me,” begged Mr. Swift. “You know Tom pretty well, for -you’ve been on enough queer trips with him—more than I have, as a -matter of fact. But I want to vindicate him and prove that I believe in -him, and I’m willing to do it to the extent of twenty thousand dollars.” - -“All right! All right!” exclaimed Mr. Trace, with a snapping of his -fingers. “If you feel that way about it, Bart, put me down for ten -thousand dollars. I can use that sum very nicely.” - -“If you get it—which you won’t!” chuckled Mr. Swift grimly. - -“Not if Tom can help it!” echoed Mr. Damon. “Bless my——” - -But he got no chance to complete one of his odd expressions, for Mr. -Swift interrupted with: - -“Tom doesn’t know anything about it yet. I’ll have to call him in and -tell him and urge him to get busy and invent a new aeroplane or -something, for, frankly, I don’t believe he has just the proper piece of -apparatus yet to do the trick!” - -“Whew!” whistled Mr. Burch. “And yet you’re willing to bet that Tom can -do it!” - -“I know my boy,” said the aged inventor quietly. - -“Now let’s get this straight,” suggested Mr. Trace, who had also taken -out pen and paper. “You say, Swift, that the hero of Jules Verne’s -story, who circled the globe in eighty days, was a piker. I agree with -you about that as far as the time consumed is concerned. With the -perfection of automobiles, oil burning steamers, and fast trains, the -journey can be accomplished in much less time than Verne ever dreamed -possible. But to say it can be done in twenty days flat is absurd!” - -“Then twenty thousand dollars is absurd,” retorted Mr. Swift. “And it’s -the first time I ever heard such a sum so designated.” - -“Oh, we don’t despise the money!” chuckled Mr. Trace. “We’ll take it -from you willingly enough, Bart, if you are mad enough to persist in -this wager. If you had said thirty days you might be within the bounds -of reason.” - -“Considerably nearer the truth,” agreed Mr. Burch. “The trip has been -made in about twenty-eight days, elapsed time, I believe. But twenty -days, Bart——” - -“I say Tom will circle the globe in twenty days _flat_—doing it -actually within twenty days!” interrupted Mr. Swift. “The only -stipulation I make is that he can use as many and as different means of -locomotion as he pleases—that is to say, aeroplanes, seaplanes, motor -boats, steamers, or trains.” - -“That’s fair enough,” stated Mr. Trace. “I’ll just make a note of that. -No use passing up ten thousand dollars,” he added with a smile at his -friend. “I’ll never earn that sum any easier.” - -“You mean I never shall,” said Mr. Swift. - -“Then this seems to be the state of the case,” went on Mr. Burch, who -had been busily writing. “I’ll just run over this and we can all sign it -if it strikes you as being the terms of the wagers.” - -The two friends, Mr. Burch and Mr. Trace, had called for a friendly -visit with Mr. Swift one day in the early summer. Some time before, Tom -and his father had turned out some machines for these two men in their -big shops, and in this way a firm friendship had been started. - -Mr. Damon, who lived in the neighboring town of Waterford, had been -passing the Swift works and had stopped off for a chat. In some way the -conversation had turned on a recent globe-circling event of some United -States Naval airmen, who had made what was considered good time. - -“But Tom can beat that!” Mr. Swift had said. “Tom can circle the globe -in twenty days flat!” - -“What in?” asked Mr. Burch incredulously. “There isn’t a machine made -than can do it.” - -“Tom’s working on a new machine now,” his father had said. “It’s a -secret, but I don’t mind mentioning it to you old friends. I haven’t -heard him say it is to be used in a globe-circling event, but from what -he has told me of it I’m sure it will make fast time, and I’m willing to -bet he can put a girdle around the earth, not quite as quickly as Puck, -but in twenty days.” - -“You mean that he will use the same machine all along the route?” asked -Mr. Trace. “Why, that’s impossible!” - -“Not impossible,” said Mr. Swift. “Tom’s new machine is going to be -capable of traveling in the air, on the land, or in the water. I mean on -the surface of the water, not a submarine. That would be a little too -much. But when I say I’ll wager ten thousand dollars that Tom can circle -the globe in twenty days, I don’t want to tie him down to this one -machine. Something might happen to it. If you gentlemen take my bet, it -is with the understanding that any machine or machines may be used. The -one condition is that Tom, himself, personally, shall complete the -girdle of the earth in twice ten days.” - -“It can’t be done!” declared Mr. Burch. - -“Never!” asserted his friend. - -“If anybody can do it, bless my key ring, Tom’s the boy!” voiced Mr. -Damon. - -So the wagers had come to be laid. Mr. Swift had spoken at first rather -rashly and in the heat of excitement. But he was not one to back down, -and he listened to the reading of the simple agreement which Mr. Burch -wrote out. - -“Item,” droned the retired manufacturer as he scanned his paper, “a -wager is entered into this third day of June to the effect that if Tom -Swift can circle the globe inside of twenty days, actual time, in any -machine or machines of his own or any make, then I, Thornton Burch, and -I, Medwell Trace, agree that we will each and severally pay to Barton -Swift the sum of ten thousand dollars. If, on the other hand, Tom Swift -fails to circle the globe inside of twenty days flat time, then the said -Barton Swift will pay each and severally to the said Burch and Trace the -sum of ten thousand dollars.” - -“Suits me!” exclaimed Mr. Trace, after a moment of thought. - -“That’s my understanding of the wagers,” assented Mr. Swift. - -“Then we’ll all sign this,” suggested Mr. Burch, “and Mr. Damon can put -his name down as a witness and also keep this agreement. There is no -need of putting up any money among gentlemen,” he added, and this was -assented to. - -“What about a time limit?” asked Mr. Damon. “I mean the trip ought to be -undertaken and finished within a stipulated time.” - -“We’ll say six months from now,” suggested Mr. Burch, and, there being -no objection, this was written in. - -One after another the four signed, Mr. Damon finally as a witness. - -Hardly had the last of the fountain pens ceased scratching than there -was reflected across Mr. Swift’s private office a flash of fire, -followed by a dull, booming sound that seemed to shake the whole -building. - -“An explosion!” cried Mr. Damon, and from without, while the men looked -anxiously at one another, a voice cried: - -“The works are on fire! They’ve been blown up! The works are on fire!” - - - - - CHAPTER II - TOM ACCEPTS - - -PAUSING only long enough to lay aside the pens they had been using to -sign the strange agreement, Mr. Swift and his friends rushed from the -private office of the aged inventor where the talk had been going on. - -Silence had settled over the great Swift plant following that booming -explosion. But the silence was quickly broken by voices calling: - -“Fire! Fire! Fire!” - -“Bless my insurance policy, something has happened!” gasped Mr. Damon. - -This was so obvious that no one took the trouble to agree with him. - -“I hope nothing has happened to Tom!” exclaimed Mr. Swift. - -As the four rushed out they were met by Eradicate, an old colored man, a -sort of family retainer, who was limping along, trying to forget his -rheumatism long enough to keep pace with a veritable giant of a man who, -with Eradicate, was rushing to tell Mr. Swift the news. - -“Master’s shop—him go boom!” roared Koku, the giant whom Tom had -captured during one of his strange trips. - -“I seen it same as he did!” cried Eradicate in his quavering cracked -voice. “Massa Tom’s office done cotch fire!” he added. - -“That’s bad!” Mr. Swift murmured, as he looked toward the part of the -works where his son had his own private place for experiments and tests. -A pall of smoke hung over it. - -While Tom’s father and his friends are rushing to do what they can to -rescue the young inventor, something about the hero of this story will -be told to new readers of this series. - -Tom Swift lived with his father in their beautiful home in Shopton, a -town in one of our Eastern states. Tom’s mother had been dead some -years, and Mrs. Baggert was the housekeeper, and a veritable second -mother to the young inventor. - -For Tom was an inventor, like his father, and in the first volume of -this series, entitled “Tom Swift and His Motorcycle,” it is related how -he bought Mr. Damon’s smashed machine, improved it, and turned it into -one of the speediest things on the road. - -Tom had many adventures while doing this, as he had while in his motor -boat, his sky racer and other machines by which he ate up time and -distance as set forth in the various volumes. It was on one of Tom’s -journeys to unknown lands in a machine of the air that he had brought -back Koku, one of a race of giants, and since then the big fellow had -faithfully served Tom Swift. - -Just before the present tale opens, Tom, as related in the volume just -preceding this, entitled “Tom Swift and His Airline Express,” had -perfected an aeroplane that could pick up a coach, something like a -Pullman car, and bear it quickly through space. Tom established an -airline service across the United States, dividing the journey into -several laps, picking up different coaches in Chicago, Denver, and San -Francisco. - -He succeeded after battling with unscrupulous men who sought to hamper -his efforts, and he also succeeded against a financial handicap. When -almost doomed to failure, however, Tom saved a millionaire, Jason Jacks, -from death in a runaway accident, and out of gratitude Mr. Jacks loaned -Tom the money to complete and perfect his Airline Express. - -The odd machine, an airship with a detachable car, met with favor, and -from the proceeds of it Tom and his father gained large sums. Then, -running true to form, the young inventor looked for a new world to -conquer and turned his attention to a machine he hoped would move -rapidly over the land, like a racing automobile, in the air, like an -aeroplane, and on the water, like a motor boat. - -Tom had practically completed his plans, and work on the new apparatus -was well under way when the visit of Mr. Burch and Mr. Trace occurred, -resulting in Mr. Swift’s rather rash wager. - -“I guess I’m likely to lose before Tom even has a chance to try,” mused -Mr. Swift as he hurried on toward his son’s private workshop. “If his -place is blown up, he may be blown up with it!” - -A pall of smoke hung over that part of the works, and it was impossible -to see what really had taken place. Men were running from other parts of -the plant, and the fire alarm was clanging. - -Tom and his father had mapped out a plan for their own private fire -company, since the city engine house in Shopton was too far away to be -depended on and the Swift plant covered a large space of ground. In this -plant many machines, not all of Tom’s invention or his father’s, were -turned out and scores of men were employed. - -Many of these, realizing the danger as soon as they heard the explosion -and listened to the clanging of the fire bell, realized what portended -and rushed to their stations. Some hurried toward Tom’s own particular -part of the shop with chemical apparatus, others dragged lines of hose -into which the water would soon be turned. - -“I hope this is nothing serious,” voiced Mr. Trace. - -“Bless my spectacles, it looks bad enough!” fairly shouted Mr. Damon, -pointing to the thick pall of black smoke. “The whole place is gone, I -guess!” - -However, it was not quite so serious as that, and a moment later, when a -puff of wind blew aside the dark vapor, it was seen that Tom’s small, -private experimental building was standing intact. Smoke was pouring -from several windows, however, and the shattered glass told its own -story. But the smoke was lessening, and this seemed to indicate that the -fire was not increasing. - -As several of the workmen, bearing portable chemical extinguishers, -hurried into the building, Mr. Damon pointed to a plot of grass beneath -one of the windows that, Mr. Swift well knew, was the place where Tom -had his desk. - -“There’s your boy, now!” said the odd character. - -Mr. Swift caught his breath sharply, for he beheld the prostrate form of -Tom stretched motionless on the sod. - -“That’s bad!” murmured Mr. Burch softly, and he had it in mind to tear -up the wager agreement as soon as possible. - -“Ho, Massa Tom!” yelled Eradicate in his high-pitched voice. “I save -yo’!” - -But Koku also had a desire to be of service to the master who had been -so kind to him, and he likewise pressed forward. - -There was a look of pain, grief, and anxiety on the face of Mr. Swift, -and his friends were about to murmur some words of sympathy, for it -looked as if Tom had been killed, when suddenly that young man stirred, -put his hand to his head in a dazed fashion, and then sat up. - -“Glory be!” shouted Eradicate. “He am alive!” - -There was no doubt of it. Tom Swift was not only alive, but he did not -seem to be hurt. There were black marks on his hands and face and his -clothing was torn, also he was mud-stained where he had fallen into a -soft spot on the turf. But he seemed not to be crippled or otherwise -seriously injured. - -His first glance, after he had looked toward his father and the -advancing friends, was to his shop, and when he saw smoke pouring from -several windows he leaped up with a cry of alarm. - -But a moment later Garret Jackson, the shop manager, who had been among -the first to enter the building, came running out to call: - -“Fire’s out! Not much damage done!” - -“Thank goodness for that!” murmured Mr. Burch. - -“What happened, Tom?” asked Mr. Damon, with the freedom of an old -friend. “Sounded as if the place went up.” - -“It pretty nearly did,” answered the young inventor, looking at his -smudged hands and then wiping his face, on one cheek of which appeared a -small trickle of blood. “Have you got the fire under control?” he asked -Mr. Jackson. - -“Yes,” was the answer. “Don’t turn on the water!” he shouted as those in -charge of a hose line were about to give a signal. “The chemicals are -all we needed. The blaze didn’t amount to much.” - -“I’m glad of that!” Tom was heard to say. - -“Are you sure you’re all right, my boy?” asked his father. - -“Positive!” was the quick answer. “Sound in wind and limb!” and Tom -jumped about and executed a few side steps to show that he had not -suffered. “I was mixing some chemicals,” he added, “when something went -wrong and I saw a smoulder of fire that I knew would turn into an -explosion in a few seconds more. So I stood not on the order of my -going, but jumped out of the window instead of running to the door.” - -“We were wondering why you were lying on that grass plot,” said Mr. -Damon. - -“I landed there when I jumped,” explained Tom. “And I wasn’t sure but -what some of my clothing had caught fire, so I rolled over and lay on my -face to protect myself. I couldn’t get up right away—sort of stunned I -guess.” - -“What were you working on, Tom—that new triple traveler?” asked his -father, giving the name temporarily assigned to the strange machine that -Tom hoped would go on land, in the air and in the water. - -“Well, not directly on that,” said the young inventor as he walked -toward his shop to ascertain the extent of the damage. “Yet it had to do -with it. I was experimenting on a mixture to make gasoline more -explosive. Not like ethyl gas, though,” he added, “for I want mine to be -more powerful but not dangerous.” - -“Not dangerous!” exclaimed Mr. Damon. “Bless my accident policy, don’t -you call a fire, an explosion, and having to jump through a window -dangerous enough, Tom Swift?” - -“Yes. But I haven’t got my new gasoline mixture perfected yet,” was the -answer. “When I do there won’t be any fires or explosions. Why did you -think I might be working on the triple traveler, Dad?” he asked his -father. - -By this time the fire in the young inventor’s private building was -practically out and most of the smoke had blown away. Tom and his father -and friends entered, and Tom pointed to the table where he had been -working. Some shattered retorts and glass tubes testified as to the -explosion’s power. Tom had been slightly cut by flying glass, but that -was the extent of his injuries. - -“Well, I had the triple traveler in mind, Tom,” said Mr. Swift, -“because, just before you tried to blow yourself up, my friends and I -were talking about round-the-world travel. And I guess I sort of made a -foolish boast, Tom.” - -“What was that, Dad?” - -“Why, I said, Tom, that you could circle the globe in twenty days actual -time—nothing taken out for stops or anything like that. In twenty days -flat, Tom.” - -“Well, I guess maybe it can be done when I get my new machine -perfected,” the young inventor said, calmly enough. - -“It’s got to be done, Tom, unless you want me to lose twenty thousand -dollars!” said his father. - -“Twenty thousand dollars! What do you mean?” - -“He wagered us ten thousand dollars apiece,” said Mr. Burch, indicating -his friend, “that you, Tom Swift, could circle the globe in twenty days. -We say it can’t be done!” - -For a moment Tom Swift did not answer. His eyes roved to the wall of his -office where a world map hung. Quickly Tom’s eyes glanced along the -fortieth parallel of latitude, the most logical course to follow on a -race of this sort. - -“It can be done,” said Tom quietly. “You may take on those bets, Dad! -I’ll see that you win!” and there was a determined air about him. “I’ll -circle the world in twenty days!” promised Tom. - -“Bless my alarm clock, that’s the stuff!” cried Mr. Damon. - -A moment later a girl’s voice out in the plant yard was heard excitedly -asking for Tom Swift. - - - - - CHAPTER III - INTO A NOSE DIVE - - -“WHAT happened? Is Tom hurt? Let me go to him at once!” the voice -exclaimed. - -A smile came over Tom’s face. - -“It’s Mary Nestor,” he murmured, and to the two visitors Mr. Damon -explained in an aside: - -“She and Tom are engaged.” - -“Lucky boy!” murmured Mr. Burch as he caught sight of a pretty girl -hurrying into the rather upset office. For the place was upset in spite -of the comparatively small damage caused by the explosion and fire. - -“Oh, Tom! are you hurt?” Mary cried, hastening toward him, totally -oblivious of all the others in the disordered room. “I heard a rumor -that your whole plant had burned and I came over as fast as I could.” - -“Well, Mary,” went on the young inventor, with a smile, “I’m glad to say -that, for once, rumor got ahead of itself. Nothing very much happened. -Just a few chemicals went off unexpectedly.” - -“But you’re cut!” Mary gasped, as she saw the blood on Tom’s cheek. -“Oh!” - -“Just a scratch from a broken test tube,” he explained. - -Then Mr. Burch, with a fine sense of what was fitting, said: - -“Mr. Trace, since we have concluded our business here and have made -arrangements for separating our friend Bart from twenty thousand -dollars, we might as well get out and——” - -He did not say it, but the inference was obvious that he wanted to leave -the two young people alone. Tom seemed to sense this for he said: - -“Just a moment, please. I want to understand a little more about this -wager.” - -“You’ll understand it better when your dad has to take some of his big -profits and hand over twenty thousand to us,” chimed in Mr. Trace. It -was true that the Swift Company had been very profitable of late, thanks -to some of Tom’s inventions. - -“But still I don’t like the idea of losing twenty thousand, or even -ten,” said Tom, with a smile. “And I don’t intend to lose it, either, -gentlemen!” he concluded. - -“I’m glad you are backing me up, Tom,” murmured his father. “How soon -will the triple traveler be done?” - -Tom looked at some plans on his desk, glanced at the world map and was -about to answer when Mary broke in with: - -“Is this a hold-up?” Her smile took any menace from the words. - -“It’s just a little bet among three old friends,” said Mr. Burch, with a -chuckle, “and our friend Tom is going to be the goat. I mean he is going -to lose the race!” he concluded. - -“Not much I’m not!” cried the young inventor, and when Mary looked a bit -mystified Mr. Trace explained: - -“We were discussing various means of travel, Miss Nestor, and the feat -of Jules Verne’s hero in girdling the earth in eighty days. That time -has been brought down to about thirty, but Tom’s father declared it -could be done within twenty days.” - -“That suits me!” cried Tom. “If you give me time to complete the making -of my new machine I’ll prove my father to be right.” - -“Good boy!” murmured the aged inventor. - -“Then you will have a part in this wager,” suggested Mr. Trace. - -“That suits me!” went on Tom. “Let me see—what can I do with my share -of twenty thousand dollars?” he asked musingly, and with a smile. But -the smile faded when he looked at Mary’s face and saw how distressed she -was. - -“Oh, Tom,” she murmured, “think how near death you were just now in the -explosion! And now you are going to risk your life again in one of your -strange machines!” - -She bit her lips to keep back her tears, it seemed, and the young -inventor, seeing that she was on the verge of a nervous alarm, quickly -said: - -“Don’t worry, Mary! There’s no danger at all. Wait until you take a look -at my new triple traveler. Come on out and I’ll show it to you.” - -Tom did not invite any of the others into that part of the works whither -he led Mary Nestor, and Mr. Damon and his friends had common sense -enough not to intrude where, obviously, they were not wanted. Tom did -not stop to wash his hands or face of the grime of the explosion, and he -only wiped away the blood, which had now almost ceased to flow from the -slight cut. - -He led the girl into a large building, the doors of which were carefully -locked, and when Mary’s eyes had become accustomed to the gloom she saw -a dim shape of something which seemed to have the elongated body of a -boat, beneath which were sturdy wheels and above which were stretched -big wings like those on an aeroplane, with two rear propellers. - -“This is really only a working model,” Tom explained. - -“A working model of what?” inquired Mary. - -“Well, the triple traveler is all we call it at present,” Tom answered. -“As you see——” - -“I can’t see anything much!” interrupted Mary. - -“Well you’ll see later,” went on Tom. “It’s a secret yet and I have the -windows shrouded. That’s also why I keep the doors locked. No telling -who of my enemies might try to sneak this new machine away from me. I’ve -got to be careful. But when it’s finished it will be one of the best -things I have ever made.” - -“And are you really going to circle the earth in it, Tom?” - -“I’m going to try. There’s no question but what I can do it. But whether -I can do it inside of twenty days is another question.” - -“You don’t mean to say you are going to try to win that foolish bet?” - -“I don’t see how I can help myself,” replied Tom. “It may have been a -bit rash of dad to make it, but, now that he has, I must do all I can to -help him win it. I owe it to my own reputation. It isn’t so much a -question of the money.” - -“Oh, dear!” sighed Mary. - -“What’s the matter?” - -“I wish you weren’t always chasing off on these wild trips, Tom!” - -“I don’t go very often. And they aren’t as wild as the ones I used to -take at first—like those to the bottom of the sea, for instance. I -haven’t been on any for a long while, either.” - -“No! Not since last fall when you inaugurated the Airline Express,” said -Mary, a bit sarcastically. “And look what a lot of danger you were in!” - -“But I came out all right and I made a lot of money,” said Tom, -defending himself. - -“And now you’re going around the world. Oh, dear!” and Mary sighed -dolefully. - -Tom looked at her sharply. He saw that she was laboring under the -reaction of fear after having heard the false report that his plant was -blown up. - -“Look here, Mary,” he said, “I’m afraid you’re losing your nerve! That -will never do!” - -“Losing my nerve?” - -“Yes. I’ll wager right now any flavor of ice-cream you care to name that -you don’t dare take an aeroplane ride with me!” - -“I’ll take you up!” cried Mary, and she smiled. “I’ll show you!” and she -tossed her head. - -She often accompanied Tom on his trips in one of his smaller and less -complicated aeroplanes, for Tom traveled this way on many occasions, to -transact some business or to conduct experiments having to do with other -machines. - -“Then you’ll take a sky trip with me, Mary?” - -“I surely will. I think it will do me good!” - -“I’m sure of it,” said Tom, smiling. - -They went out of the partially wrecked office, Tom giving orders to have -it cleaned up and his gasoline experimental apparatus put aside for -future use. - -Tom next gave orders to have one of his speedy double planes run into -the flying field while he went to the house to wash and get ready for -the trip with Mary. Then he added his name to the signatures on the bet -agreement, and said inside of six months from the present time he would -start to circle the globe. - -Mr. Swift, who had somewhat regretted his rash action, was all smiles -now, for he had great faith in Tom. - -“Of course twenty thousand dollars won’t break us, Tom,” he confided to -his son as the latter was putting on his leather flying helmet and -getting one ready for Mary, together with a leather jacket. “But, at the -same time, I’d like to win it.” - -“Same here, Dad,” echoed Tom. “And we will, too!” - -In a short time the little plane, which would carry only two, was in -readiness. The motor was tuned up and Tom and Mary took their places in -the double cockpit, where the girl sat beside her sweetheart. It was a -type of plane perfected by Tom. - -“Where to, Mary?” asked Tom, as he looked over the controls. - -“Oh, anywhere,” she answered. “I want to get away from everything for a -while.” - -“Then maybe you’d rather go up alone,” suggested the young man. - -“I said _everything_—not every_body_,” and Mary’s accent made the -meaning clear, at which Tom laughed. - -He turned on more gas, there was a roar from the motor, the plane taxied -across the field, and a few seconds later was soaring up toward the -blue. - -“I suppose you’ll be traveling like this when you start on that—I can’t -help saying it—foolish trip around the world, Tom,” said Mary. - -“A lot faster,” was his answer. “You see I’ve got to do twenty-five -thousand miles in twenty days. That’s twelve hundred miles a day. -Counting twelve hours to a day on the average, that’s a hundred miles an -hour. But of course there will have to be stops, forced or others, and -so practically I’ll have to double that rate and make it two hundred -miles or more of flying every hour.” - -“Can you go that fast, Tom?” - -“Faster, I hope. I just read of a navy seaplane that did two hundred and -fifty-six miles an hour. I’m going to better that record if I can. Just -wait until I get the new triple traveler finished.” - -“I hope it doesn’t finish you, Tom,” said Mary. - -He leaned over toward her. By a new muffler attachment on the engine the -roar of the exhaust was deadened and it was possible to talk without -shouting. Love making can never be carried on in shouts, as you know -well. - -On and on flew Tom and Mary, the little plane gaining speed and height -each minute. They were soon up above the clouds, flying fast. - -“You’re a good traveler, Mary,” said Tom. “How’d you like to come along -on the world-circling jaunt?” - -“In some ways I’d like it—I could make sure you were safe,” she said -with a smile. “But I’m afraid I can’t manage it,” she added, as Tom gave -her hand a squeeze. To do this he had to release one of the levers he -was manipulating, and when he again shifted it there was a peculiar -sound. - -“What’s that?” cried the girl. - -Tom Swift did not answer, but began frantically manipulating the -controls. The plane was acting in a peculiar manner—even Mary with her -inexperience realized that. - -“Is anything wrong?” she asked. - -“I’m afraid there is,” Tom answered with a grim tightening of his jaws. -“We seem to be going into a nose dive!” - -Hardly had he spoken than the plane tilted forward and plunged toward -the earth at frightful speed. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - JUST IN TIME - - -TOM SWIFT had been in dangerous situations before with aeroplanes and -other machines of his invention. He had more than once been close to -death, and he knew that the only way to get out of a tight corner was to -keep his head. Now he did not so much fear for himself as for Mary. - -“Is there any danger?” asked the girl, who had sense enough to sit -quietly in her seat and not grab Tom’s arms or interfere in any way. - -“Yes, there is danger,” the aviator answered quietly, as he kept at his -task of trying to straighten out the plane. “If I can’t bring her up -we’re likely to crash.” - -Beyond a gasp of her breath and a look of terror in her eyes, Mary -showed no signs of the fear that was within her. Yet she was terribly -frightened, for Tom as much as for herself. - -“Come up here!” cried the young inventor, speaking to the plane as he -might to a horse. He adjusted the levers, pulled back on the one that -tended to raise the forward edges of the plane to tilt her nose, and he -tried to get the elevation rudder up. But in the end he had to admit -that he was beaten. - -“She won’t come up!” he gasped. - -“Then we’ll have to crash!” murmured Mary. - -Tom nodded hopelessly. He reached over and began loosening the buckle of -the girl’s safety belt before unfastening his own. - -“The only thing to do is to jump when I give the word.” - -“Is there no chance of saving the plane, Tom?” - -“I don’t believe so, Mary. But I’m not worrying about the machine. I can -make another. It’s you!” - -Tom put his arm around her and she leaned close to him. The machine was -dashing downward now at terrific speed, and on a dangerous slant that -meant the nose would strike the earth first, driving the engine back -upon those in the cockpit. The motor had stopped, whether having been -cut off by Tom or because of some defect Mary did not inquire. - -“Leap clear when I tell you to,” said Tom, as he made one more fruitless -effort to straighten the plane out so he could pancake down instead of -hitting on the nose. “You go out on that side, Mary, and I’ll go on -this.” - -“If there was only some water for us to land in,” murmured the girl. “If -we were only over Lake Carlopa instead of having to jump on the hard -ground, it wouldn’t be so bad, Tom!” - -“I’m heading for Jamison’s cranberry bog,” the aviator answered, -pointing to a marshy place just ahead. “It will be a softer place to -jump on than the fields or in the woods. I hope we can make it!” - -Nearer and nearer the earth the plane was descending. In a few seconds -more it would be all over, and the machine would crash itself into a -mass of tangled wreckage, while the bodies of Tom and Mary—it was -terrible to think of. - -“Shall I jump now?” the girl asked as she leaned over the edge of the -cockpit and saw how perilously close the earth was. - -“Just a moment,” said Tom. “Wait!” - -He made one last attempt to straighten the plane out, pulling on the -lever with all his force. To his joy and surprise it yielded where -before it had held firm. Back it came to the last notch and, with a -suddenness that was like the quick stopping of a falling elevator, the -plane flattened out on a level keel just as it started over the big -cranberry bog, part of which was flooded with water. - -“I leveled her out!” cried the young man. “There’s a chance now that we -can make a three point landing and save ourselves.” - -The plane, however, had acquired terrific speed during her dive, and was -going much faster than would have been the case had she been driving -along under the power of the motor and on a level. In this latter case -Tom could have eased the machine down gently. - -As it was, they were going to strike the ground while going at terrific -speed. Though in their favor was the fact that they could now hit the -earth at a long slant instead of at an acute angle. - -“Shall I jump?” asked Mary, who was closely watching her lover. - -“No!” he cried. “Sit tight! Maybe we can do it!” - -He was making some adjustments to the wings and tail rudder. The -controls had jammed just when they were most needed, but they had now -suddenly loosened up in as strange a manner as they had tightened, and -this gave Tom Swift his chance. - -He looked down, picking out the best possible spot for a landing, since -he could now steer the plane somewhat. The spot he picked was where the -water was deepest over the cranberry bog. The plane was not fitted with -pontoons for landing on water, and doubtless the under carriage was -going to be greatly damaged in the fall. But, other things being equal, -a fall into water in an aeroplane is less harmful to the occupants than -a landing on the hard ground. - -With steady hands and clear eyes that sought for the most advantageous -spot, Tom guided the almost unruly craft. It was now within a few -hundred feet of the earth, and a couple of seconds more would tell the -tale. - -Aside from the rushing of the wind past them, causing a roaring noise in -spite of the helmets they wore over their ears, there was silence in the -plane, for the motor was still dead. Amid the silence Tom heard some -voices shouting below him. - -He wondered dimly who could be calling, but guessed it was some autoists -on the highway that bordered the cranberry bog. - -“They’re going to see something they didn’t count on!” thought Tom -grimly. - -“Stand up, Mary, when I give the word!” said Tom to her as he leaned -over the edge of the cockpit and looked down. His gaze took in a small -automobile racing along the highway toward that part of the bog where he -hoped to land. - -“Stand up! What for?” asked the girl. “Shall I have to jump after all?” - -“No, but by standing, instead of sitting, the shock of landing will be -less,” Tom said. “Get ready now!” - -His eyes were measuring the distance. In three seconds more, he -calculated, the plane would crash into the bog of mud and water. But it -would crash on a nearly level keel instead of on its nose, in which case -nothing, in all likelihood, could have saved the occupants from death. - -“Up!” cried Tom sharply, and he and Mary rose in their seats, clinging -to each other. - -An instant later the plane hit the ground with terrific force, but -fortunately in the middle of a soft spot of mud and water which greatly -reduced the shock. As it was, the jolt knocked Tom and Mary down, -stunning them as they were crushed back into their seats, so that for a -few seconds after the forced landing they did not realize what was -happening. - -Mary was the first to recover her senses. She struggled to a position -where she could look over the side of the cockpit and at once cried: - -“Tom! We’re sinking! We’re almost submerged!” - -By this time the young inventor had aroused and, pulling himself to the -edge of the cabin space, he glanced over. - -“We’re in a bad hole!” he exclaimed. - -He learned later that the plane had gone down in what was virtually a -quicksand in the cranberry bog—a place shunned by all who knew its -dangers. - -“What’s to be done, Tom?” cried Mary. “We got out of the nose dive just -in time, but if we’re going to sink in this bog it will be just as bad, -though not so quick!” - -She saw, in fancy, a slow, terrible death by suffocation in the mud and -water. - -“Let’s jump out and try to wade to solid ground!” she went on. - -“No! No! Don’t do that!” yelled Tom. “It would be sure death! The plane -will hold us up for a time—perhaps until help comes.” - -“Where will help come from?” asked Mary. “No one knows we are here, -Tom.” - -Before he could answer there came the sound of shouting voices and the -tooting of an automobile horn from somewhere in the distance. - -“Maybe that’s help now,” Tom said. “But they’ve got to hurry,” he added -grimly. “We’re sinking fast!” - - - - - CHAPTER V - THE AIR MONARCH - - -RAPIDLY the small plane settled in the mud and water. It was down almost -to the edge of the cockpit, and Tom was about to advise Mary to climb -out and up on the upper surface of the wings, which he, likewise was -going to do, when shouts over to the left attracted the attention of the -two. - -A couple of men—automobile mechanics to judge by their grease-soiled -garments—stood on the edge of the bog, waving their hands. - -“Hold fast!” the taller one urged. “We’ll get you in a minute!” - -“You can’t come out here!” Tom shouted back. “It’s a regular quicksand. -You’ll get in yourselves!” - -“There’s some sort of a boat here,” said the other man. “We’re coming -out in that!” - -“A boat! Then they’ll save us!” gasped Mary. - -“Maybe,” returned Tom grimly. He did not understand how a boat could be -propelled through that bog which was more like thick, slimy mud than it -was water. - -The two men disappeared behind a screen of bushes, and Mary cried: - -“Oh, they are leaving us!” - -But the reassuring shout came back: - -“We’ll be there with the boat in a minute!” - -By this time the thick, muddy water (quicksand in solution it was) began -seeping over the edge of the cockpit. Tom was helping Mary to climb up -to a dry place, back on the fuselage of the machine, when out of the -underbrush the two men emerged, pushing, by means of poles, a low, -broad, flat-bottomed punt, which was so broad of beam that it did not -sink in the swamp. - -“We’ll have you off in a minute!” called the shorter of the two men -encouragingly. - -By dint of hard pushing they worked the punt to the side of the stranded -and bogged aeroplane, and Tom and Mary lost little time in getting into -the safer, if less picturesque, craft. - -“Will it float with all four of us in it?” Tom asked anxiously. - -“I guess so,” the tall stranger said. “But it will be slow work poling -back to solid ground.” - -“Sorry we can’t save your bus, mister,” remarked the other. - -“Don’t worry about the plane,” was Tom’s answer. “There are more where -that came from. And I may be able to save it at that.” - -“It would take a tank to yank that bus out,” said the short man. - -“What do you know about tanks?” asked Tom, as he took up a pole from the -bottom of the punt and helped the two rescuers push the craft toward the -solid point of land whence the welcome hails had come. - -“I used to manicure one on the other side when we had the Big Fuss,” was -the answer, and Tom knew the man had been in one of the ponderous tank -machines of the World War. - -“I hate to leave that bus,” sighed the tall man, with a look back at the -now almost submerged plane. “She’s pretty, but you had some trouble, -didn’t you?” he asked. “Sounded to me like your motor died on you.” - -“It did,” admitted Tom. “And I couldn’t straighten out.” - -“She was nose diving when my buddy and me saw you as we were riding -along in our machine,” went on the tall man. - -“Nose diving is right,” conceded Tom. “But I got her straightened out -just in time.” - -“But not enough to zoom up,” went on the other, and Tom was sure the man -knew whereof he spoke. - -“You’ve run a bus?” asked Tom. - -“In France,” was the sufficient answer. - -By this time the punt had been poled through the mud, water, and -quicksand of the cranberry bog far enough so that all danger was past. -It was shoved against the point of land on which the two men had run out -as they leaped from their auto, which they said they had left back on -the highway. - -“Well, I guess you’ll be all right now,” remarked the tall man as Tom -and Mary got out of the punt. - -“Yes, thanks to you,” said the young inventor. - -“If we can drop you anywhere in our flivver,” went on the short man, -“we’ll do it.” - -“If you can take us to the Swift plant,” said Tom, “it will be a great -accommodation.” - -“We’ll do that,” said the short man, as his companion made the punt fast -to a stump. “That Tom Swift is the big inventor, isn’t he! Do you know -him?” - -“Slightly,” was the answer, with a smile. - -“This is Tom Swift!” exclaimed Mary, unable to resist the opportunity. -She indicated Tom. - -“You are?” gasped the short man. - -“Gee!” exclaimed his tall companion. - -“I happen to be,” replied Tom. “And if you will leave us at my plant and -come in so that I can thank you properly for what you did——” - -“Aw, forget it!” snapped out the short man. “We don’t want any thanks. -You’d do the same, wouldn’t you?” - -“Of course,” said Tom. “But——” - -“Forget it!” said the other again. - -“At least tell me who you are,” begged Tom, as the two led the way to -where they had left their small touring car. - -“I’m Joe Hartman,” said the tall man who had admitted he was an aviator -in the World War. - -“And when I hear anybody yell for Bill Brinkley then I come and get my -chow!” added the short chap whimsically. - -“This is my friend, Miss Mary Nestor,” introduced Tom, and the girl held -out a hand each to the two mechanics. - -“All oil and grease!” apologized Brinkley, putting his hand behind his -back. “We work in a garage at Waterford,” he went on in explanation. - -“And we’ll gum you all up if we shake hands!” added Joe Hartman -bashfully. - -“As if I cared!” exclaimed Mary, and she insisted on grasping their -oil-begrimed palms in a warm pressure. “I want to thank you, too,” she -said as she told where she lived, begging the two to call and see her -father and mother. - -“If you fellows work in Waterford, maybe you know Mr. Wakefield Damon?” -Tom added. - -“Guess not,” admitted the short man, while his companion shook his head -in negation. “We haven’t worked there very long,” he went on. “Just now -we had to deliver a repaired car in Shopton and we two went together. I -drove this flivver,” he added with a kick at one of the tires, “so I -could bring Joe back.” - -“Well, it’s a good thing you happened to be where you were,” said Tom. -“And I wish you’d come and see me some time,” he added as the little -auto was headed for his plant. - -“Maybe we will,” was all the two would promise when, a little later, -they let Tom and Mary out at the office entrance and then drove on. - -As the accident to the plane had happened several miles from Tom’s -plant, neither his father, Mr. Damon, nor the two wagering friends, -Medwell Trace and Thornton Burch, were aware of it. Not until Tom and -Mary came in, somewhat spattered by mud, and told of their experience -was anything known of it. - -Tom sent Mary home in an automobile and dispatched some of his workmen -with a big truck and long ropes to see if it was possible to get the -little plane out of the swamp. - -“And now,” said Tom, as he finished washing off some of the grime, “I’m -going to get seriously to work and help dad win that twenty thousand -dollars.” - -Tom Swift had made a start on his new machine some time before. He had -conceived the idea of a craft that was at once an automobile, a motor -boat, and an aeroplane, and though his father had at first been doubtful -and some of the mechanics who worked on it openly skeptical, Tom had -persisted and now the craft was well on in the process of manufacture. - -A model had been made, and though at first it would not work, Tom had -kept improving it until it was perfect. The only thing that disappointed -the young inventor was that it was not speedy enough, and he was looking -for fast performances, not only in the air but on land and water. - -“I’ve got to use a more powerful gasoline,” he decided and he was -experimenting on this fluid when the explosion came. Luckily, little -damage was done and three days after the fire Tom’s office had been -repaired and he was hard at work again. - -“What are you going to call it, Tom?” asked Ned Newton, the young former -bank cashier who was a close friend of the young inventor and, of late, -treasurer and one of the managing officials of the Swift Company. Ned -was in Tom’s private workshop looking at the strange device. - -“Well, I did think of calling it _Monarch_,” was the answer. “The _Air -Monarch_ might not be such a bad name, if it does what I think it will -do.” - -“When will you know?” Ned asked. - -“In a few weeks. I’m going to rush work on it, now that dad has made his -wagers. I’ve got to help him win that twenty thousand dollars.” - -“Do you think you can?” asked Ned. - -“I’m going to!” declared Tom, with conviction. “Take a look at the _Air -Monarch_, Ned, and see what you think of her as far as I’ve gone.” - -“Looks pretty good,” admitted the young treasurer. “What’s that for?” -and he pointed to a small door in the rear of the machine, a door under -the tail rudder. - -“That’s where the propeller is concealed,” was Tom’s answer. “Look and -you’ll see how it works!” - -He pulled a lever, the door slid back, and in a tunnel-shaped -compartment was a large, three-bladed, bronze propeller. - -“That’s for use when running on the water,” the inventor explained. - -“How does it run on land?” inquired Ned. “Like an automobile?” - -“Not exactly,” Tom said. “The same propeller that sends the craft -through the air sends it along on the ground. Just as an aeroplane -taxies across the field before mounting, you know. By keeping the tail -rudder depressed I prevent the machine from rising, and it moves over -the ground, though of course not as fast as in the air.” - -“There is no direct drive on these wheels then?” asked Ned, pointing to -four strong wheels on which the machine rested and on which it would -land after making a flight. - -“Oh, yes, I can drive the car on the ground by gearing the motor -directly to the wheels,” said Tom. “But I can’t get much speed that way, -though I do get a lot of power. And in front here——” - -But Tom suddenly stopped his explanations and looked toward the door of -his private shop. The knob was turning in a stealthy manner. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - KICKED OUT - - -“WHAT’S the matter?” asked Ned Newton, who was very much interested in -Tom’s new machine. Ned had gone on air trips with his chum before and, -having heard of the wager and now seeing the _Air Monarch_, it is not at -all unlikely that Ned had visions of another strange journey. “Anything -wrong?” went on Ned, as Tom did not answer, but continued to stare at -the door. - -“There may be—I’m not sure,” was the answer in a low voice. “Wait a -minute.” - -Tom tiptoed softly to the door, opened it suddenly, and then uttered an -exclamation of disappointment. - -“What’s the matter?” asked Ned again. - -“He skipped,” answered Tom. - -“Who?” - -“The fellow who was outside that door trying to overhear some of my -secrets and find out about the _Air Monarch_,” was Tom’s answer. - -“Spies?” exclaimed Ned. - -“That’s about it. Ever since I first started on this new idea and began -work on the model and the craft itself, I’ve had a sneaking idea that -I’m being spied upon. I am sure of it now. Somebody was listening at the -keyhole, but they heard me coming and skipped.” - -“Who is it?” asked Ned. - -“That’s what I’ve got to find out. Keep quiet about this, and I’ll set a -trap.” Then the two friends went to a far corner of the room, out of all -possible range of the door, and talked for a long time. - -The next few days were busy ones in the shop of Tom Swift. Now that his -father, by his rashness, had committed his son to the attempt to circle -the earth in twenty days, the older inventor was as enthusiastic over -the matter as was Tom himself. - -“I’ll help you get the _Air Monarch_ finished, Tom,” said the old man, -“and then you can start. I’m not going to have Burch and Trace crowing -over me!” - -“They won’t crow, Dad,” said Tom, with a smile. “I’ll win that money for -you!” - -In order to hasten the completion of the _Air Monarch_, men who were in -other shops controlled by Tom and his father were taken off their work -and put to finishing the triple traveler. All who were admitted into the -shop where the big new machine was housed were sworn to secrecy. - -The new machine was like a large aeroplane, but with an enclosed cabin -something like the European air line _de luxe_ expresses. Built like a -Pullman car, only lighter, the cabin of the _Air Monarch_ afforded -sleeping berths for five. When not in use the bunks folded up against -the wall, thus making an observation room. There was a combined dining -room and kitchen where meals could be served. - -The motor of the craft was abaft the living quarters, thus keeping the -sleeping compartment free of gasoline fumes. The _Air Monarch_ was of -the pusher and not the tractor type of plane. Extending over the cabin, -and out on either side was the big top plane. There was another plane -below this, and from the lower one extended the long tail which carried -the rudders, one for directing the craft up or down and the other to -impart a lateral motion. - -The body of the craft was something like a seaplane, staunchly built to -enable it to travel the surface of the ocean if need be. And, as already -explained, there were four sturdy wheels on which the _Air Monarch_ -could roll along the ground. These wheels could be geared directly to -the motor, as are the wheels of an automobile, or by using the air -propeller the craft could be sent along as an aeroplane taxies across -its starting field. The housed propeller for use in water has already -been mentioned. - -To such good advantage did Tom Swift set his men to work that four weeks -after the laying of the wager the _Air Monarch_ was completed except for -the fitting up of her cabin and the taking aboard of supplies. - -“The motor’s the main thing, and that’s completed and installed,” said -Tom to Ned one evening. - -“Does it work?” asked the financial representative of the firm. - -“It sure does!” was the enthusiastic answer. “Tried it on a brake test -this afternoon and she did a little better than two thousand seven -hundred R.P.M.” - -“Hope that doesn’t mean ‘Rest In Peace',” chuckled Ned, who was not -versed in mechanics. - -“R.P.M. stands for revolutions per minute,” Tom explained. “And when I -tell you my new motor did more than twenty-seven hundred it’s going -some. That motor will rate better than six hundred and ninety horse -power.” - -“Yes?” asked Ned, politely enough. - -“Yes, you big boob!” cried Tom with good-natured raillery. “Why, don’t -you understand that the best performance a naval seaplane ever did was -only twenty-seven hundred R.P.M., and they couldn’t get more than six -hundred and eighty-five rated horse power out of their V-type motor? But -at that they made two hundred and fifty-six miles an hour,” said Tom -with respect. - -“Who did?” asked Ned. - -“The United States naval flyers,” Tom replied. “I’m ashamed of your -ignorance,” he chuckled. “Think of it—two hundred and fifty-six miles -an hour! If I can equal that record, and I think I can, I’ll win the -twenty thousand dollars for dad with my hands down.” - -“Let’s see,” said Ned musingly, and he began doing some mental -arithmetic. He was good at this. “The distance around the earth, say at -the fortieth parallel of latitude, is, roughly, twenty-five thousand -miles. At the rate of two hundred and fifty-six miles an hour, or say -two hundred and fifty to make it round numbers, it would take about a -hundred hours, Tom. A hundred hours is, roughly, four days, and you’ve -got twenty! Why, say——” - -“Look here, you enthusiastic Indian!” yelled Tom, playfully mauling his -chum’s hair. “You can’t fly one of these high-powered machines for a -hundred hours straight! They’d burn up. You have to stop now and then to -cool off, take on gas and oil, make adjustments, and so on.” - -“I thought you were going to do continuous flying,” objected Ned. - -“I’m going to do it as continuously as possible,” was Tom’s reply. “But -I’ll need all of twenty days to circle the globe. There will be -accidents. Storms may force us down, and you may want to stop and -inquire into the financial system of the Malays.” - -“Me?” queried Ned. “Am I going?” - -“You sure are!” was the answer. “You’re going to be official score -keeper. Dad needs that twenty thousand dollars. Yes, sir, you’re going -and it’s about time we began to make serious preparations to start. You -won’t back out, will you?” - -“No, I guess not,” Ned said. “Who else is going? Mr. Damon?” - -“Well, he wants to go,” said Tom; “but he’s afraid his wife won’t let -him. Dad is too old, of course. But I’ll need three good mechanics, -besides myself. With you that will make five—just enough to fill the -cabin nicely. Come on out and take a look at the boat.” - -“Going to take along plenty to eat?” asked Ned, as he and his chum went -across the now dark shop yard toward the brick building that housed the -newest creation of the young inventor. - -“Oh, sure!” was the response. “But we won’t have to stock up very -heavily. You see we’ll make several stops on the way.” - -“Just what are your plans?” Ned wanted to know. - -“Well, I thought of starting from around here, or, possibly, from the -vicinity of New York,” Tom answered. “You see, there’s a possibility of -a race.” - -“A race to circle the earth?” - -“Yes. The papers have got hold of this wager of dad’s—I think Mr. -Damon, in his enthusiasm, spilled the beans—and there is some talk of a -national aero club taking the matter up. A paper or two has mentioned -that such a trip will greatly advance the science of flying, and there -may be a big prize offered for the winner of the race—the one who makes -the best actual time around the world.” - -“Then you’re likely to win considerable money,” suggested Ned. - -“If the plans are carried out, yes. But I’ll be satisfied to win that -twenty thousand dollars for dad. It will just about make me come out -with an even break.” - -“An even break?” - -“Yes. This machine will cost me around twenty thousand,” said Tom. “Of -course, I’ll be out my expenses, but then dad got me into this thing -unthinkingly and I’m going to see it through. But if some one offers a -prize and I can win it, I’ll have that much velvet.” - -“It’s a bigger thing than I thought,” Ned stated. “I hope you won’t be -disappointed in your craft, Tom. I mean I hope it will work.” - -“It will work—I’m sure of that,” said the young inventor. “Of course -whether I can eat up the miles and actually get around the world in -twenty days remains to be seen. But I’m going to try!” - -The two were at the workshop now. It was shrouded in darkness, for the -day’s labor was over. - -“Stand still a minute until I turn on the lights,” Tom said, as he -opened a little side door and stepped in, leaving Ned to follow. “It’s -as dark as a pocket in here.” - -Ned could hear Tom fumbling for the electric switch. Then, just as the -light was turned on, there came, from the other side of the big shop and -back of the _Air Monarch_, a clicking sound followed by a scream of -pain. - -“What’s that?” cried Ned. - -“I think it’s my sneak trap!” answered Tom. “I hope I’ve caught him!” - -In an instant the shop was flooded with light, and Ned followed Tom on -the run around the big _Air Monarch_, which occupied most of the space. -A moment later Ned saw Tom spring upon a man who was caught by one leg -in a curious wooden trap, the smooth jaws of which had clamped around -the intruder’s ankle. - -“Help! Help!” screamed the man, for such he was—a burly, ugly, lowering -chap dressed in the greasy clothes of a mechanic. - -“You aren’t hurt!” said Tom, pausing in front of the captive and eyeing -him. “I set that trap there to catch any one who came in here -unauthorized. It isn’t meant to hurt—just to hold you fast. And I’ve -got you, Cal Hussy! Got you good!” - -“Let me out of here!” snarled the man, trying, without success, to free -his foot. - -“I will in a minute. But first I’ll find out if you have taken -anything,” Tom said coolly. “Here, Ned, search him!” he called to his -chum. - -Then, while Tom deftly caught Hussy’s hands in a loop of rope drawn -tight, Ned went through the intruder’s pockets. Aside from some personal -effects, the search revealed nothing. - -“You let me go!” snarled the man, with an evil scowl. - -“I will if I make sure you haven’t damaged my machine,” went on Tom. - -A quick inspection showed nothing wrong. The motor compartment of the -_Air Monarch_ was locked, and Tom knew the fellow had not been in it. - -“Now I’ll let you go,” said the inventor to the fellow. “But I warn you -the next time you step into my trap it will have teeth!” - -Pulling on a lever, Tom opened the jaws of the trap and the man was free -to step out. He limped slightly as he walked toward the window by which -he had entered, for the spring of the trap was strong. - -“Who is he?” asked Ned as the man started to crawl out. He had cut a -pane of glass out of the window, sawed some of the iron protective bars, -and gotten in that way. But in walking across the floor in the dark he -had stepped into one of several traps Tom had set recently. - -“That is Cal Hussy,” explained Tom, watching every movement of the man. -“He works for the Red Arrow Aeroplane Company, one of my rivals. -Evidently they have heard something of my new invention and are trying -to find out its secret. But I’ve fooled them. I caught Hussy the first -crack out of the box.” - -“Yes, you caught me all right, Tom Swift!” snarled the man, turning when -he was half way through the window. He scowled and shook his fist at the -young inventor. “You caught me, but I’ll catch you next time!” - -This threat seemed to enrage Tom. He rushed at the fellow just as Hussy -cried again: - -“It will be my turn next time!” - -Tom raised his foot and planted a well directed and richly deserved kick -on Hussy where it would do the most good. Like a football dropping over -the crossbar, the intruder went tumbling over the window sill, to fall -heavily to the ground below. - -He grunted, uttered some strong language, and then, as he ran off down -the road in the darkness, he called back: - -“You’ll be sorry, some day, you did that, Tom Swift! You’ll be sorry!” - -“I’m sorry now that I didn’t kick you twice!” cried the angry inventor. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - STRUCK DOWN - - -“WHAT’S the idea, Tom?” asked Ned when his chum had returned to the -middle of the big, barnlike room where he stood in front of the _Air -Monarch_, contemplating the powerful machine. “What’s the game?” - -“A dirty game!” snapped out Tom Swift. “This Red Arrow gang has been -trying to sneak around and discover some of my secrets for a long time. -This is another attempt. Hussy has been here before. But I don’t think -he’ll come again,” added the young inventor grimly. - -“Are they trying to do you out of this new contrivance?” asked Ned. - -“I don’t know that they are specifically after this,” stated Tom. -“They’ll steal any new invention they can. But from the fact that Hussy -was in here I judge they must have heard something about the _Air -Monarch_ and they want to get an idea of how she’s made. I suspected -they might try something like this, and so I set several traps. Hussy -happened to step into one,” and taking Ned to the various windows Tom -showed other devices to nab intruders. - -Going over the machine and making an examination of the workshop in -company with Ned, convinced Tom that Hussy had been caught before he -could do any damage. - -“But from now on I’ll have to be doubly careful,” Tom declared. “And if -I see Hussy around here again——” he did not finish, but it could -easily be guessed what would happen. - -From then on it became increasingly difficult for strangers to get near -the Swift plant. Eradicate and Koku were kept on guard in the shop where -the _Air Monarch_ was housed and Mr. Swift, with a smile, said they at -times even looked on him with suspicion. - -But the days passed and the big machine was practically completed, and -then came a trial flight which was successful. The giant craft took the -air like a bird, and though its speed was not quite up to Tom’s -expectations, he said that with some adjustments he thought it would -beat any aircraft he had ever made. - -On land the progress was necessarily slower, and in the water it was -slower still. But even at that the _Air Monarch_ did well, and it could -do still better, Tom declared. - -The machine was taken back to the shop for some final adjustments, and -Tom was busy superintending these one day when Ned Newton burst into the -building, waving a paper over his head and exclaiming: - -“Look at this, Tom! Listen to this! You’ve got a chance to make a -fortune!” - -“I sure need it,” said the young inventor, with a smile. “This machine -is costing a lot more than we’d figured on. But what’s the idea? Has -some one left me a million?” - -“No,” answered Ned. “But this paper, the New York _Illustrated Star_, -offers a prize of one hundred thousand dollars for an international race -around the world in the shortest time—actual time. Why, Tom, those are -exactly the conditions under which your father wagered with Burch and -Trace! Why don’t you go in for this?” - -“Maybe I will,” said Tom. “Let’s have a look!” - -Eagerly he read the story in the paper, setting forth the terms of the -prize offer. They were simple enough. - -At a date about a month off, any person who wished to contest must start -from an aero field on Long Island. The first person to return to the -starting point, after actually circling the globe, would be given a -hundred thousand dollars. - -There were no conditions except that all contestants must prove by -documentary evidence, such as having signed statements from officials in -various countries, that they had passed through or over them on certain -dates. The world must be girdled on a circle of one of its great -circumferences, that is the equator, or a parallel not too far above or -below it. Or, if a contestant desired, he could circle around a -longitudinal line. But as this would mean flying over the north and -south poles, that was practically out of the question. It was assumed -that those who took part would travel along about the fortieth parallel, -as this would keep them over fairly civilized countries for the longest -period. - -Contestants could travel as they liked, in any sort of conveyance, motor -car, steamer, train, airship, or submarine. They could change -conveyances as often as they pleased. The sole requisite was that they -must come back to the starting point, after traveling completely around -the earth, and they must prove that they had done it. - -“This suits me!” exclaimed Tom, as he read the conditions. - -“Then you’ll enter for the hundred thousand dollars?” asked Ned. - -“I certainly will, and I hope to win it. Now this race is going to be -worth while. If I won the twenty thousand dollars for dad, I’d hardly -break even. But if I win the prize—oh, boy!” and Tom patted the big -machine into which his hopes were built. - -Keyed up to a high pitch by the prospect, Tom hurried his mechanics and -helpers to the limit. Not any too much time was left to enter the -_Illustrated Star’s_ contest, and within a few days Tom Swift’s entry -had been formally sent in and acknowledged. - -Each succeeding day’s issue of the paper gave Tom and Ned news of the -event, and one day Tom pointed to an item in the general story. - -“The Red Arrow people are going to try for the prize,” he said. “They’re -going to fight me. That’s why Hussy was sneaking in here, I guess. They -wanted to see if they could add anything to the aeroplane they are going -to enter.” - -“Are they going to try in an aeroplane?” asked Ned. - -“So it says here. It doesn’t mention any boat or automobile auxiliary.” - -Tom had been obliged to describe the method he proposed to follow in the -world race, and of course it was publicly known now that he would try in -a combined automobile, motor boat, and aeroplane. Aside from some -hydroplanes, which of course can skim along on the surface of the water, -as well as soar over land, Tom’s was the only machine of more than a -single ability. - -Many of the contestants, of which there seemed likely to be plenty, at -least at the start, were going to make the attempt by special steamers -or trains, for not a few wealthy globetrotters entered the contest for -the big purse. - -It lacked about a week of the time of the start of the international -race when one morning Tom Swift received a telegram. It was signed by a -name he did not at first recognize, that of Armenius Peltok, and read: - - “If you are going to enter international world race I shall be - honored if you will take me with you. I speak all civilized - languages and some uncivilized, and am also an aircraft - mechanic. Reference the National Aero club.” - -“Another crank,” murmured Ned. - -“I don’t know about that,” voiced Tom. “It’s worth looking up. See if -you can get the Aero Club on the wire.” - -When Ned had done so and had been told that Peltok, though little known -in America, had a great reputation in Europe and was thoroughly -reliable, a message was sent asking him to call at the Swift plant. -Peltok had wired from New York. A day later he telephoned that he would -be with Tom very shortly. - -“We need another good man,” Tom said to Ned. - -“How many are going?” - -“Five.” - -“Well, who are the other two besides you, Peltok, and me?” - -“I haven’t decided yet, but I have my eye on a couple of young fellows. -Now let’s see what we have next to do.” - -“There’s plenty,” stated Ned, with truth. - -The work went along. The _Air Monarch_ was fully equipped for the race, -and another trial flight showed big improvement as regarded her three -speeds, on land, water, and in the air. Night and day men were on guard -now, to keep Tom’s secret of his craft. Though in general its character -was known, there were many things about it that the inventor did not -want to reveal. - -Meanwhile, the plan of an international world race was meeting with -favor on all sides. Though one paper had offered the prize, the other -journals gave plenty of space to the event and excitement was at a high -pitch. Some wild and rash schemes were talked of, and not a few new and -queer machines, both for land, air and water travel were entered. One -man proposed to go in a motor car, hiring speedy, small steamers when -land failed him, to transport his machine. - -Peltok arrived and created a favorable impression on Tom and Ned. He was -a quiet, reserved man, of great muscular strength, and he knew travel -machines from end to end. - -“And he can speak anything!” declared Ned. “He even talked to Koku in -the giant’s own language.” - -“No!” cried Tom. - -“Fact! You ask Koku.” - -Tom confirmed Ned’s statement. Peltok was a great linguist, and it was -felt this accomplishment would be valuable should the _Air Monarch_ have -to land in uncivilized countries. - -A few days before the _Air Monarch_ was to leave for Long Island, Ned -came to Tom with rather a serious face. - -“We need more money, Tom, to complete the stocking of the ship and -arranging for carrying on the business here while you are gone,” said -the financial manager. - -“Get it from the bank,” said Tom. - -“We can’t. We’ve stretched our credit to the limit. We need ten thousand -dollars in cash.” - -For a moment Tom did not know what to do. Then he remembered his -millionaire friend Jason Jacks, who had helped him on the Airline -Express in a like emergency. - -“Call Jacks,” Tom decided. When Ned did this, explaining Tom’s -predicament, that eccentric, but kindly, character at once arranged the -matter, sending, not ten, but fifteen thousand dollars to the credit of -the Swift Company in the bank. - -“And if you want more you can have it,” added Mr. Jacks. But Ned said -that would do. - -“Well, I go to New York to-morrow,” said Tom to Ned one evening, “to -sign the final papers in the race contest. All contestants are to be -present in the _Illustrated Star_ office.” - -“Where are you going now?” asked Ned, for his chum had on his hat and -the electric runabout was at the door. - -“Over to see Mary,” was the answer. - -A little later Tom Swift was on his way. But for some reason or other, -when he was within a quarter of a mile of the girl’s house, the electric -machine suddenly went dead and stopped. - -“That’s queer!” mused Tom, as he got out of the stalled car to have a -look. “I thought the batteries were fully charged. Some one must have -been running it without telling me. Well, I can walk, I suppose. It -isn’t far.” - -He tested the storage batteries, found that his surmise was -correct—that they had exhausted themselves, though unaccountably—and -then he started to walk. - -But he had not gone far along the road, which was very lonely at this -point, when a dark figure sprang suddenly from the bushes, leaped toward -the young inventor, and uttered a smothered imprecation. There was a -dull, thudding blow, and Tom was stricken down, sinking unconscious in -the long grass at the side of the highway. Then the dark figure, with a -sinister chuckle, fled amid the shadows of the night. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - MIDNIGHT PROWLERS - - -“WELL, Mary,” remarked Mr. Nestor as he looked at the clock. “Tom is a -bit late, isn’t he?” - -“Oh, he’ll be here,” said the girl, with a smile. “He said he was coming -to take me for a little ride in the electric runabout before he has to -go to New York to-morrow to sign up in the world race. Tom will be -here.” - -“Yes, I never knew him to fail an engagement,” went on Mr. Nestor with -another look at the clock. “Yet he’s a bit late. I’m going out and smoke -a cigar. If I see him coming——” - -“Now, Daddy!” laughed Mary, “you don’t need to tell Tom to hurry. He -isn’t a child. What if he is late?” - -“Oh, well, nothing. But I just thought I’d mention it,” and with that -Mr. Nestor went out. - -Though Mary would not admit to her father that Tom was later than usual, -she was more honest with herself. And when nine o’clock came and Tom had -not appeared, she became uneasy. - -“If anything in the way of business had detained him he would have -telephoned,” said the girl. “I wonder if anything could have happened? -Highfield Lane is lonesome after dark, and he would come that way.” - -She waited a bit longer, growing more nervous all the while, and then -she came to a decision. - -“I’m going to walk along toward the Lane and see if he’s coming,” she -said. - -Mary expected to see her father out in front, also peering down through -the darkness for the approach of Tom’s headlights, for the young -inventor and Mr. Nestor were firm friends. But the glow of two cigars on -a side porch and the murmur of voices there told Mary that her father -had met Mr. Goodrich, from next door, and the two were visiting. - -“Where are you going, Mary?” her father called to her as he heard her go -out the front gate. - -“To look for Tom. He’ll be along pretty soon.” - -Though the girl peered sharply all along the quarter of a mile that lay -between her house and Highfield Lane, she did not see her lover. Then -she turned into the lane proper and caught sight of the glowing lights -of a car she knew, because of their peculiar position, to be on the -runabout. - -“Here he comes now!” Mary exclaimed. A moment later she was aware that -the lights were not moving. The car was standing still. “He must have -had a break down,” thought Mary. She knew, from often having ridden in -it, that the car lights were hooked up to a separate battery from the -powerful ones that operated the motor. - -When the girl, wondering what had happened, hurried toward the machine, -she stumbled over Tom’s body, prone on the ground. She recognized him by -the light from the car lamps. - -“Oh, Tom! what has happened?” she cried. - -There was no answer, and when Mary put her hands to his head she felt a -dampness that told of blood. But she was a girl of grit and spunk, and, -exerting all her strength, she managed to half drag, half lift Tom into -the machine. Mary knew how to operate the runabout, but when she turned -on the current there was no response and she realized that the batteries -were useless. - -She hardly knew what to do, but was about to shout and summon help. -Should this fail to bring assistance, she planned to hurry to the -nearest house. But just as she was about to call she became aware of an -approaching car. - -For a moment she feared that it was Tom’s assailant returning to finish -the cruel work, for that Tom had been attacked Mary at once guessed. But -the car proved to contain a man whom Mary knew, and when he had stopped -in response to her frantic hail he helped her lift the unconscious form -into his car and took Tom to the Nestor home. - -“Nothing but a nasty crack on the skull,” said Dr. Blake, who was -hastily summoned, and he soon restored Tom to consciousness, after which -the young inventor looked around him curiously and murmured a question -as to what had happened and how he got where he was. - -Mary told of having stumbled over his unconscious body, and then Tom -remembered. - -“It’s a plot!” he exclaimed. “They want to get me out of the world -race!” - -“Who would do such a thing, Tom?” asked Mr. Nestor. - -“There are several who would have an object in keeping the _Air Monarch_ -out of the contest. The Red Arrow people for one.” - -Tom did not mention the name of Hussy, but it was this scoundrel whom he -had in mind as the author of his misfortune. He had not seen, and had -only faintly heard the noise of the man emerging from the bushes, for -Tom had been struck down very suddenly. But he strongly suspected the -man who had been caught in the wooden trap. - -Tom’s strong constitution and his robust health enabled him to recover -quickly from the blow, which had been a glancing one, and by midnight he -was able to proceed back home. Mary insisted that she and her father -accompany him in a taxi, and Tom was glad of the company. - -Before he went to bed he sent Koku and a mechanic back to tow in the -stalled runabout, and the next day, though suffering from a severe -headache, the inventor examined the motors and batteries of his machine, -finding that both had been tampered with. - -“Hussy, or whoever it was, left just enough juice for me to get to the -lane,” reasoned Tom. “He knew I’d stall there and he was waiting for me. -But this means I am still being spied upon. I’ve got to take more -precautions.” - -As Tom was expected in New York that day to sign final papers in the -contest, he left Ned in charge of the works, with Eradicate and Koku to -help guard them. - -“Dey ain’t nobody gwine to git in even to smell dat _Air Monarch_ while -I’s heah!” declared the colored man. - -“Me—I sit on um when um come in!” stated Koku, in his own peculiar way. - -In due time Tom was in the _Illustrated Star_ office. There he met a -number of the other contestants. The young inventor knew some of them as -men who had made reputations piloting fast automobiles, aeroplanes, or -speed boats. - -“Well, Kimball, what’s your game?” asked Tom of a man with whom he had -several times raced at county fairs in autos. - -“Tom, I’ve got ’em all beat, including you!” declared Jed Kimball, with -a good-natured smile. “I’ve got an air hydroplane that’s a wonder. If I -don’t circle the globe in fifteen days I won’t take a cent of the -hundred thousand dollars.” - -“Yes, you won’t!” Tom chuckled. - -He turned to Bob Denman, a rich and sporty young fellow who had been in -several balloon and aeroplane accidents. He loved sport for the sport of -it. - -“Well, Bob,” asked Tom, as he shook hands with him, “are you going in -for it?” - -“I sure am.” - -“Balloon or skyplane?” - -“Neither, Tom. I’m going by special trains and steamers. I’ll be back on -the starting field waiting for the rest of you fellows to come and have -lunch with me after I win that hundred thousand. You can boast all you -like about fast motors, speed boats, and aeroplanes, but I’m going to go -by regular lanes of travel. I’ve chartered five steamers and ten special -trains to take me around the world. There won’t be a minute of delay, -and I’ll finish as fresh as a daisy.” - -“If you finish at all!” laughed Tom. “Who’s that?” he asked, pointing to -an eccentric man who was nervously pacing the office while waiting for -the newspaper officials to get the papers ready for final signing. - -“Some Professor Modby,” was the millionaire sport’s answer. “He’s going -in a new dirigible that uses a gas he claims he can make out of burning -weeds, rotten potatoes or apples and, on a pinch, from green grass.” - -“He must be crazy,” murmured Tom. - -“Well, he’s got a queer looking machine,” stated Bob. “He showed me some -photographs of it. Looks like a combination of one of your Airline -Expresses and the _Los Angeles_.” - -“Guess I haven’t much to fear from him,” thought Tom, for he knew how -the big dirigibles suffer in stormy weather. - -In a room opening out of the main one where the various contestants were -gathered a self-important sounding voice was saying: - -“Yes, I agreed to all your terms, and I want to add one of my own. That -part of the prize money be devoted to charity. The concern I represent -doesn’t need the cash. It is only going in to encourage others. So I -would stipulate that part of the prize, which we expect to win, must go -to charity.” - -“If you win the hundred thousand, Mr. Kilborn,” stated Mr. Elliot, the -managing editor of the _Illustrated Star_, “you may give it all to -charity if you wish. But we cannot now, at this late hour, stipulate -that. The prize will be paid in cash to the winner, and he may do as he -pleases with it. Now if you will come out with the others we will sign -the final papers.” - -“Kilborn!” muttered Tom to Bob Denman. “Is that Dan Kilborn of the Red -Arrow concern?” - -“That’s the bird,” assented Bob. “He’s been fussing around here all -morning, telling what a wonderful new hydroplane he has. Named after the -company—_Red Arrow_. He says he’s going to burn up distance with it.” - -“Let him try,” returned Tom, and then he caught a nod from the boastful -Kilborn, whom he knew slightly. - -“I’d like to ask him how much his tool Hussy told after his midnight -visit to my shop,” thought Tom. But he did not want to start any -unpleasant altercations in the newspaper office. - -Dan Kilborn was an ace of the World War and had done well in France and -had proved himself a brave man. After the end of the conflict he had -gone into air racing, and since affiliating himself with the Red Arrow -concern there were ugly stories going around that he was not fair to -other contestants in sky races. Several other pilots had more or less -openly accused Kilborn of banking so close to them as to endanger their -planes. But Kilborn only laughed this off. - -“If he tries any trick with me,” muttered Tom, “I’ll show him where he -can get off, and I won’t provide a parachute, either!” - -The terms of the contest were explained by Mr. Elliot, all present -agreed to them and the final signatures were affixed. The start was to -be made that day a week, from a large field in Long Island, whence all -must start at once. From that field the air machines would take off, and -those who were to cover the first leg of their journey in water craft -must leave the field in autos which would convey them to the docks where -their boats or hydroplanes were moored. - -“Time will be counted as soon as the cannon is fired on the starting -field,” said Mr. Elliot. “Contestants can travel in any way they choose, -and the one back on the field in the shortest actual time, with proof -that he has really circled the globe, will win. Now then, gentlemen, I -wish you all the best of luck.” - -Tom hurried back to Shopton. There were still some things to do on and -about his craft, but a few days later all would be in readiness for the -start. In order to get a chance to tune his craft up a day or so in -advance of the actual start from Long Island, Tom planned to fly there -and wait until the signal cannon was fired. - -“But who are going to be the others of your crew?” asked Ned the day -before the start for Long Island. “You said there would be five, but -you, Peltok and I are only three. Is Mr. Damon going?” - -“Bless my parachute, I wish I was!” exclaimed the eccentric man. “I’m -going to put a big bet down on you, Tom, but I can’t go with you.” - -“Why not?” asked Ned. - -“My wife won’t let me. She says it’s too dangerous for an old man. Good -night! I’m not old!” asserted Mr. Damon. He certainly was not, in spirit -at least. - -“I’ve got two young fellows who will form the others of the crew,” Tom -said as Mary Nestor came to where he and Ned were standing. For there -was to be a christening ceremony and Mary was to break a bottle of -ginger ale on the sharp nose of the _Air Monarch_. “There they are now,” -he added, as two figures approached. - -“Why, Tom!” exclaimed Mary as she saw them, “those look like the two men -who rescued you and me when the plane almost took a nose dive into the -cranberry bog.” - -“They not only _look_ like them but they _are_ those lads,” chuckled Tom -as he introduced Joe Hartman and Bill Brinkley to Ned. - -They nodded and smiled at Mary. After the rescue Tom had made some -inquiries about these automobile mechanics and, learning that Hartman -had been an efficient flying man in France while Brinkley had managed -one of the big tanks, Tom concluded they were just the men he wanted. - -Accordingly, he had engaged them, much to their delight, and they were -now ready to set off on the trip around the world. They went into -raptures over the mechanical perfection of Tom’s latest machine. - -“Well, Mary, I guess it’s up to you,” said Tom a little later when the -invited guests had all assembled. “Do your stuff!” - -“What do you mean, Tom?” - -“I mean christen my bus.” - -“Are you going to make a speech?” - -“I am not!” was his hasty reply. “I’ve got enough else to do to get -ready for the take-off to-morrow morning. Come on now, my dear, make it -snappy!” - -Mary made it snappy by cracking the bottle of ginger ale on the prow of -the shining craft and murmuring: - -“I christen you _Air Monarch_!” - -“And long may she sail!” cried Ned. - -After this the workmen and guests gave three cheers and the informal -ceremony was over. - -“Bless my fountain pen,” murmured Mr. Damon, a bit sadly as he looked at -the beautiful machine, “I wish I was going!” - -Tom, with the help of Ned, Peltok, and the two mechanics, spent the -remainder of the day putting the finishing touches on the _Air Monarch_. -Stores were taken aboard, together with a supply of a new form of -gasoline Tom had perfected in spite of having been nearly blown up by -it. There was not enough of this for the entire trip, and it was -impossible to provide any at various stopping places or stations around -the world. So what had been made was to be reserved for special -occasions where great power or speed was needed. - -“Well, I guess everything is ready for the hop-off to-morrow morning,” -said Tom to Ned that night as they made a last inspection of the _Air -Monarch_ in her hangar, which stood in a field not far from Tom’s house. -“I hope everything will be all right.” - -“It won’t be your fault if it isn’t,” stated Ned. “But if any little -thing wrong develops you’ll have time to tinker with it on the Long -Island field, won’t you?” - -“Oh, yes! But I don’t like these last-minute repairs. I’m hoping I -sha'n’t have to make any.” - -“Same here,” murmured Ned. - -Tom and Ned were sleeping in adjoining rooms, and it must have been some -time after midnight that they were awakened by hearing a commotion in -the hangar where the _Air Monarch_ was kept. Several shots were fired, -and Koku’s booming voice could be heard saying: - -“Master! Master! Come! Bad man try to break in!” - -“They’re after my machine!” yelled Tom, leaping from his bed and taking -an automatic pistol that lay ready to his hand. Ned, too, leaped after -his friend to do battle with the midnight prowlers. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - THEY'RE OFF! - - -OUT into the night rushed Tom Swift and Ned Newton. They quickly shook -the sleep from them and were ready to fight. A noise and commotion in -the vicinity of the hangar where the _Air Monarch_ rested drew them in -that direction. Several figures were seen rushing about in the gloom, -and Ned easily made out the form of the giant. - -“What’s the row, Koku?” yelled Tom. - -“Bad mans!” was all the giant could say, and then Tom and his chum saw -him start to run after a man who was trying to get away. - -“Burglars, dat’s what dey is!” shouted Eradicate. “Tryin’ to steal yo’ -new machine, Massa Tom!” - -“They’ll have some job if they try to steal the _Air Monarch!_” the -young inventor exclaimed. “I’ve got the motor doubly locked. But they -may damage her.” - -“Who?” asked Ned, as he ran on beside his chum. - -“That bunch from the Red Arrow concern, I suspect,” was Tom’s answer. -“There goes one!” he cried as a second figure, besides the one Koku was -after, started away. - -Tom sped after this fellow with Ned closely following. As the two ran on -there came a sliver of flame in the darkness, followed by the report of -a shot, and Koku yelled. - -“They’ve winged the giant!” shouted Ned. - -“It will take more than one bullet to stop him!” panted Tom. - -Another shot was fired, and then came a yell of fear and terror. But it -was not the voice of the giant It was the cry of an ordinary man, and -Ned guessed what had happened and yelled: - -“Koku got his man!” - -This was proved a moment later as the giant shouted: - -“Me got ’im! Me got ’im!” - -Tom, however, was too busy chasing after his quarry to pay much -attention to his big guard who, he expected, could look after himself. - -The fellow Tom was chasing was running fast, but he was no match for the -young inventor whose anger lent him added speed, and just as the -retreating form reached the outer gate of the big fence which surrounded -the hangar, Tom made a flying football tackle and downed his man. - -“Let me go! Let me go!” the intruder pleaded. - -“Not much I won’t!” panted Tom, as he got a firm hold on his man. “And I -think I know who you are, too! Here, Ned! Bring that flashlight!” the -inventor shouted. - -A moment later the financial manager had joined his chum, aiding him in -subduing the rascal. Then, when the fellow, thoroughly cowed, was taken -in charge by several workmen who had been aroused by the alarm, the -light was focused on his face. - -“I thought so!” exclaimed Tom, as he scanned the features. “Hussy! You -got trapped again, but in a different way!” chuckled Tom. - -“If you know what’s good for you, let me go!” snarled the man, -endeavoring to break away. But he was too firmly held for that. - -“I’ll let you go after I start on my world trip, and not before!” -declared Tom. “Hold him,” he directed to his men. “And we’ll see who -Koku got!” - -The giant and Eradicate could be heard approaching, the big man -muttering again and again: - -“Me got ’im! Me got ’im!” - -While Eradicate, not to be left out, added: - -“I help cotch him, too! I tripped him up wif mah foot!” - -“Good work, Rad! And you, also, Koku!” cried Tom. “Bring him here!” - -The second prisoner was placed alongside of Hussy, the latter scowling -over his fate. Tom looked at the fellow Koku and Eradicate had caught, -but found him a stranger. - -“Though I don’t doubt,” said Tom to Ned, “that he’s one of the Red Arrow -gang. Well, two in one night isn’t so bad. Lock ’em up, men,” he said to -his employees, several more of whom came running up, for a general alarm -had sounded throughout the works. Many of the mechanics lived close to -the shops. - -“Lock us up!” burst out Hussy. “You don’t dare do that!” - -“Don’t I?” cried Tom angrily. “You’ll soon see! Why shouldn’t I dare, -you trespassing, thieving rascal?” - -Hussy and his companion, the latter saying nothing, were hustled off to -one of the shops and locked in a steel enameling oven, where various -parts of machinery were baked to give them a high polish. There was no -fire under the oven when the prisoners were put in, of course, and the -steel cage made a most effective jail. - -“In the morning you’ll be locked in regular cells,” Tom said. - -“You don’t dare hold us!” stormed Hussy. - -“You’ve got another guess coming,” Tom chuckled. Then, when a guard had -been posted near the prisoners, the young inventor asked Koku and -Eradicate what had happened. - -It developed that the two who were on guard had heard a disturbance -shortly after midnight, and, investigating, had seen Hussy and his -companion sneaking into the hangar. At once the colored man and the -giant gave the alarm and rushed to capture the intruders, the end of the -affair coming about when Tom and Ned joined the party. - -“What was their game?” asked Ned, when he and Tom had made sure the _Air -Monarch_ had not been tampered with. - -“Well, they couldn’t hope to steal any of my patent ideas in time to add -them to their machine,” decided Tom. “There isn’t opportunity for that, -with the start of the race almost here. I think they were trying to -disable my machine so I couldn’t start. Kilborn and his bunch know I’m -the most dangerous rival in this globe-circling race, and with me out of -the way they stand a good chance to win. They wanted to cripple the _Air -Monarch_, I’m sure.” - -“But they didn’t!” echoed Ned. - -“No, they didn’t,” echoed Tom, “thanks to Rad and Koku.” - -Additional guards were placed about the hangar for the remainder of the -night, but there was no further disturbance and early in the morning Tom -had the two prisoners, in spite of their strenuous objections, taken to -the Shopton jail where they were held in default of heavy bail on a -charge of breaking and entering with intent to steal. They had broken a -lock on the big gate to get in, but had been detected in time. - -“You’d better withdraw this charge against me, Swift!” stormed Hussy -when he was being arraigned before being taken off to jail. - -“Withdraw nothing!” snapped the young inventor. “You’re going to stay -locked up a long time! Kilborn will have to get along without you and -your pal!” - -A dangerous look came into the eyes of the trapped man. He shook his -fist at Tom when being led back to a cell and muttered: - -“You’ll be sorry for this, Tom Swift!” - -But Tom was not worried and hastened back to his hangar to make ready -for the flight to Long Island whence the world race would start the -following day. - -There was little ceremony attendant upon the departure of Tom and his -friends from Shopton, since Mr. Swift, Mary, and Mr. Damon had arranged -to see them off in Long Island. When the _Air Monarch_ had been gone -over finally by Tom and his mechanics, the craft was wheeled out of the -hangar, the five who were to make the trip got into the cabin, and Tom, -at the motor controls and steering levers, called: - -“All clear?” - -“All clear!” answered Mr. Jackson. - -“Let’s go, then!” exclaimed the young inventor, and with a wave of his -hand to his father, Mary, Mr. Damon, and the crowd of workmen, Tom -pulled the starting lever. - -The big propellers began whizzing, the machine moved across the smooth -aero field with ever increasing speed, and a moment later took the air -with the ease and lightness of a regular aeroplane and not like the -heavy craft she was. - -“Starts well!” observed Ned in the cabin beside his chum. - -“Like a sewing machine!” said Tom. - -Up and up he pointed the nose of his craft and they were soon headed for -Long Island. - -“Never have I ridden in a better craft,” declared Peltok who, with -Brinkley and Hartman, was in charge of the machinery. “She is perfect!” - -“That remains to be seen,” said Tom, though he was much pleased. “We -haven’t really started yet.” - -No attempt was made to get speed out of the craft on what was, -practically, but another trial flight. But Tom knew he had plenty of -power in reserve. The _Air Monarch_ had been tried in the air, on land, -and in water and had performed perfectly. - -Under the skilled hands of the three mechanics the machine behaved well -and in a comparatively short time she settled gracefully down on the -field in Long Island and took her appointed place. Many other machines -were already there, and others were constantly arriving. The field was a -busy place. All contestants had to start from there, though those going -in motor boats, or by trains and steamers would, as has been said, leave -in autos which would take them to the beginning of the first leg of -their journey. But time would start to be counted when the cannon boomed -on the field. - -There were two or three free balloons and several small dirigibles, -including the one operated by Professor Modby and his crew. The _Red -Arrow_ hydroplane was floating in Long Island Sound, not far away, and -Kilborn planned to reach his craft in a speedy auto. He was walking -about his car when Tom got out of the _Air Monarch_. - -“So, that’s what you hope to win with, is it?” sneered Kilborn. - -“That’s the little old bus!” said Tom, with a grin. “And I’m afraid you -aren’t going to have all the company you counted on to be with you -during your trip.” - -“Company? What do you mean?” - -“I mean that Hussy and the man you sent with him to tamper with my -machine are arrested and locked up in the Shopton jail,” said Tom. - -“Hussy arrested?” gasped Kilborn. “I told him—I mean I didn’t send him -to do anything to your craft!” he cried quickly. - -“Didn’t you?” asked Tom, with a smile. “Well, he didn’t get a chance to -do anything, though he tried. But if you’re looking for Hussy—call up -the jail!” - -Kilborn muttered something under his breath and turned away. - -“I guess that will hold him for a while,” chuckled Ned. - -From then on Tom and his crew were kept busy. There were many -last-minute things to be done and final adjustments to be made to the -motors, as well as food supplies to put on board. So it was not until -night that Tom and Ned found time to rest. - -All the other contestants were equally busy, and many police were -required to keep back the curious crowds. The start was to be made in -the morning, and Tom and Ned arranged with some workmen from the shops -to guard the _Air Monarch_ zealously during the hours of darkness. - -In spite of fears that something might happen, nothing did, and when -morning dawned clear and bright it was seen that the day of the start -was perfect. Tom and his crew were up early, making final changes and -adjustments, as all the other contestants were doing. - -Final instructions were given, and the rules gone over again to make -sure all understood. Mr. Damon, Tom’s father, Mary and her father and -other friends arrived by auto to see the _Air Monarch_ take off. All the -other contestants had scores of friends also, so the field was a mass of -humanity. - -“There goes the warning gun!” cried Ned as a shot boomed out. “Are you -all ready, Tom?” - -“All ready!” was the answer. - -“Stand clear!” came the order from Peltok. - -“Good-bye, Mary! Good-bye!” called Tom to his sweetheart. - -“Good-bye!” she echoed. “I know you’re going to win!” - -“Thanks! I hope I shall!” - -“Tom, remember, I’ve got my money on you!” said Mr. Swift, with a smile. - -“I’ll not forget, Dad!” - -“Bless my Liberty Bonds, I’ve got a bet on you myself, Tom!” exclaimed -Mr. Damon. “Oh, dear!” he sighed, as he saw the final preparations for -the start, “if it wasn’t for my wife I’d go, even now!” - -“You just let me see you get on that ship!” said Mrs. Damon in a low -voice close to her husband’s ear. - -“Oh, I’m not going to, my dear! I’m not going to!” he said hastily. - -“Ready?” called the official starter. - -“Ready!” answered Tom Swift. - -“Ready!” came from the other contestants. - -“Boom!” echoed the big cannon. - -“They’re off!” yelled the crowd, and with a roar of her exhaust pipes -the _Air Monarch_ shot across the field, followed by several other craft -seeking to beat her. - -The globe-circling race had started! - - - - - CHAPTER X - ACROSS THE OCEAN - - -“THERE goes the _Red Arrow_!” said Ned, standing beside Tom in the -control cabin as the _Air Monarch_ mounted the air and they could look -down on the earth. “He made good time!” - -“I’ll say he did,” agreed Tom, who was turning on a little more power, -now that his craft was in the air. “Some bus he’s got there, too!” - -The _Red Arrow_ hydroplane was, in truth, a craft not to be despised. -Kilborn had left the starting field in a swift automobile. He had given -orders that the motors of his hydroplane were to be kept turning over so -that he could get aboard and start at once. This he had done, and, as -she was moored not far from the aero field, had taken the air only a -little behind Tom Swift. - -“There goes the dirigible—I mean Modby’s,” went on Ned, who was viewing -the start of the other contestants while Tom attended to the running of -his machine. - -“He must have had some trouble with his motors,” the inventor stated. - -“He did,” agreed Ned. “He’s a bit late in starting. Well, I wish Modby -all sorts of luck, but I’m afraid he hasn’t much of a chance.” - -Professor Modby was considered a friendly rival, for he and Tom had been -associated in aeroplane research on several occasions. The _Cloud_, as -the big dirigible had been named, was now soaring into the air, but her -speed was as nothing compared to that of the _Air Monarch_. Ned noticed, -however, that the _Red Arrow_ was a very fast machine, and she might -prove a dangerous rival, for she was not as heavy as Tom’s craft. - -“But this is only the beginning,” murmured the young inventor, as he -noticed how the _Red Arrow_ was picking up speed. “We’ve got to go -twenty days yet—more or less,” he added, with a grim smile. - -Bob Denman, the millionaire sport, had started from the flying field in -a rush in one of his high-powered cars. He was off to catch a special -train that would hurry him across the United States. He said he would -take a special steamer in San Francisco, cross the Pacific, and then, by -means of other special trains and boats, endeavor to come in ahead of -everybody else. - -Jed Kimball, in an aeroplane somewhat like the _Red Arrow_, also got off -to a good start, but some of the other contestants, especially one in a -free balloon, did not have such good luck. One of the big hydrogen gas -balloons, of which there were several, was caught by an adverse wind -soon after rising and entangled in a clump of trees. Tom and Ned had -only time to observe this before they were out of sight, speeding on -their way over the Atlantic Ocean. - -There was no rule as to what direction the contestants must take in this -world race. They could start east or west. Those who started west would -cross the United States and then go over the Pacific, as Bob Denman -planned to do. They would come to the Japanese Islands in due time, -cross China, Persia, the top of Africa, perhaps go across the -Mediterranean Sea and so reach the Atlantic. Crossing this they would -again reach the eastern shore of America and so complete the circuit. - -Tom’s plan, and that of the _Red Arrow_ and several hydroplanes, -dirigibles and other aircraft, was to cross the Atlantic first, then go -over Europe and Asia, reach the Pacific, and eventually get to the -western coast of the United States, crossing that as the last leg of -their journey. - -When he had seen to it that the motors were working well under the care -of Peltok, Brinkley and Hartman, Tom let the linguistic foreigner take -the controls while he and Ned went to their stateroom, which they shared -in common, to go over the route in detail. - -“This is going to be our route, Ned,” said Tom, as he laid a large map -on the table and pointed to a red line approximately running along the -fortieth degree of north latitude. “We’ll cruise due east from where we -started, bearing a bit south, and head for the Azores.” - -“Going to land there?” - -“Not unless we have to,” said Tom. “We’re going to keep moving all the -while.” - -“At the rate of two hundred and fifty miles an hour,” said Ned, “we -can——” - -“We can’t keep up a speed of two fifty per hour for more than a little -stretch at a time,” interrupted Tom. “In fact, I don’t expect to reach -that rate for another day. It would rack my engines to pieces to -maintain it for any length of time. I can do it, but I’m going to save -that burst of speed for emergencies. No, if we can average a hundred -miles an hour in the air we’ll be doing well. And when we have to land -and taxi along, or when we have to go as a boat, we won’t do that, of -course.” - -“Where do you go from the Azores?” asked Ned. - -“We don’t exactly go to the Azores Islands,” corrected Tom. “We’ll fly -above them if I hit the right route. From there we head for Spain, move -along across the Mediterranean and over the northern part of Turkey and -then across China. We may land in the Philippines before we complete the -trip across the Pacific.” - -“And then from there you’ll head for San Francisco I take it?” asked -Ned. - -“That’s the idea. You know, don’t you, that I had the Airline Express -sent on to ’Frisco to be held in readiness there?” - -“Yes, you told me you did,” admitted Ned. “But I didn’t quite grasp the -idea.” - -“Simply providing for emergencies,” went on Tom. “The _Air Monarch_ may -have a breakdown when we get over the United States again, and if an -Express machine is waiting for me I can just hop aboard her and complete -the trip—on time I hope.” - -Ned turned again to the route map, and then glanced out of the cabin -windows. - -“We seem to be having it all our own way for the present. Nothing else -is in sight,” he stated. - -“It’s getting a bit hazy,” remarked Tom as he glanced at several gages -and distance indicators on the wall. “We’re over the ocean now.” - -“Over the Atlantic so soon?” cried Ned. “That’s right, quite a way out -too, I hope,” he added. “Let’s see what Peltok says.” - -They went to the steering compartment where the man who spoke so many -languages was guiding the craft. - -“We are a hundred miles out from the end of Long Island,” Peltoc stated, -after making some computations. - -“Whew!” whistled Ned. “A hundred miles and we haven’t been going an -hour.” - -“Oh, yes, it’s a little longer than that,” said Peltok, with a smile. -“But we are making fairly good time. I have increased the speed a -little,” he said to Tom. - -“That’s right. We want to make all the distance we can while the weather -is good and while we have daylight. Night flying is going to slow us up -a bit. If you don’t believe you’re pretty well out, Ned, look down!” -invited Tom. - -He pulled a lever and Ned gave a cry as the bottom of the craft seemed -to open, disclosing below him heaving ocean waves! - - - - - CHAPTER XI - FORCED DOWN - - -“WHAT’S the matter?” asked Tom, with a smile, as he beheld Ned’s -amazement. - -“I thought the bottom was dropping out of the machine!” gasped the -financial manager of the Swift concern. - -“Just a plate glass window in the floor,” Tom explained, with a chuckle. -“It enables us to take a look below without sticking our heads out of -the windows and looking over the side. Yes, that’s the old Atlantic -there,” and he pointed to the heaving, foam-tipped waves that were -lazily surging far down beneath them. - -The _Air Monarch_ was now well up and moving eastward at fast speed. As -the motors warmed up, Peltok fed them more and more gasoline until they -were approaching their maximum. - -Meanwhile Brinkley and Hartman were going about adjusting bearings, -putting oil where it was needed, and doing general work. Being a new -machine, the _Air Monarch_ needed more oil than a craft that had been -run some time and whose bearings would have been worn to smoothness. - -“Well, we’re on our way,” remarked Tom, as he moved about the cabin -looking at the indicators, noting the speed, and having a general eye to -the performance of his newest and pet craft. “We’re on our way, and in -less than three weeks, if we have luck, we’ll be right back where we -started.” - -“Do you think you can do it?” asked Ned. - -Tom did not answer for a moment. Then, with a serious look on his face, -he said: - -“It’s taking a big chance, Ned. Twenty days is a very short time to -circle the world. I know we talk about aeroplanes that do two hundred -and fifty miles an hour. And if one could keep that up for a hundred -hours the trick would be pulled off in about four days. But no machine -made can keep that speed up constantly. Not enough gasoline or oil could -be carried for a continuous flight of that kind. A man would have to -come down several times to replenish. - -“Of course the hundred thousand dollar prize offer doesn’t specify that -the world must be circled in twenty days. If it takes thirty days to do -it, the one who gets under the wire first, having used up less time than -any of the others, will win. But there’s dad’s bet of twenty thousand -with Mr. Burch and Mr. Trace. That specifies twenty days.” - -“Evidently they don’t think you have much of a chance, Tom,” said Ned. -“They didn’t even come to Long Island to see you start.” - -“No, they weren’t there. And I guess they think they have dad’s money -won. But though they couldn’t be there, they were sports enough to wish -me good luck in a telegram. It came just before we took off. But I don’t -really believe they think their money is in danger. I’m going to do my -best, though, to win for dad’s sake and my own. That hundred thousand -will come in very useful, Ned.” - -“I’ll say it will! You’ve been spending a lot lately, and you owe Mr. -Jacks fifteen thousand.” - -“We’ll pay him!” Tom said with a determined air. “We’ll be on easy -street if I can flash home a winner. And she’s running mighty sweet -now,” he added, as he listened to the purr and hum of the motors and the -throb of the propellers. - -A look around them showed no other contesting aircraft in sight. But -that did not mean none were racing them for the prize. The _Red Arrow_ -might be close by, hidden from them in the mist. Below them were several -motor boats and a steamer or two, and whether or not any of these were -the craft trying for the prize Tom Swift did not know. - -“Do you think Kilborn and his crowd will make any trouble for you?” -asked Ned when he and Tom were sitting at ease, lulled by the speedy, -even motion of their craft. - -“I think they’ll try,” was the answer. “They’re desperate, for some -reason or other. One is that they want to beat me, of course. Another is -that there has been for some time a trade rivalry between us. As you -know, I’ve been making aeroplanes for a concern and Kilborn and his -crowd are trying to get the business away from me. If I win this -international race it will be a big feather in my cap. The Swift -aeroplanes will get a big advertisement out of it.” - -“I see,” murmured Ned. - -Brinkley appeared in the doorway of the room where Tom and Ned were -sitting. There was a grin on the face of the former tank man. - -“What is it?” asked Tom. - -“Come and get it!” answered the other. - -“Grub ready so soon?” asked Ned, who recognized the cook’s method of -summoning them to eat. - -“Grub is ready,” repeated Brinkley. - -“Time went mighty fast,” Tom said. “I forgot all about cooking or -eating. We really didn’t settle on who was to be cook.” - -“Well, Joe sort of wished it onto me,” went on Brinkley, with another -grin. “I had a hand in it when I was running a tank over on the other -side,” he went on, “and if you want me to, I’ll keep at it.” - -“I’ll tell you better after I eat this grub you say is ready,” laughed -Tom. - -“That’s a fair proposition,” admitted Brinkley. “Well, anyhow, it’s -ready. You two can eat and Joe and I will take a shot at the grub -later.” - -“Yes,” assented Tom. “Somebody’s got to run the ship.” - -They went out to the little dining apartment, and appetizing odors -greeted the noses of Tom and Ned. They sniffed hungrily and soon were -doing full justice to the meal. - -“You’re elected, Brinkley!” cried Tom when half way through the menu. - -“Second the motion!” echoed Ned, who was also doing his full share with -knife and fork. - -Cooking aboard the _Air Monarch_ was done on a gasoline stove. Since no -hydrogen gas was carried, as is the case in most dirigibles and balloons -that cannot get helium, there was no danger of any explosion from an -open flame. - -There was plenty of food on board, and Tom planned to buy more whenever -a landing was made. He knew he would have to land several times along -the world-circling route to enable gasoline, oil and other supplies to -be taken aboard. - -The meal was nearly over and Tom was calculating how far they had come -and what speed they had made so far, while Ned was debating with himself -whether he could eat another slice of boiled ham, when there came a -series of loud noises from the motor compartment back of the dining -salon. - -“What’s that?” cried Tom starting up. - -“One of the main bearings has burned out!” exclaimed Hartman. “Oil feed -failed. The bearing’s red-hot!” - -At the same moment the craft began to lose speed. Ned felt her being -forced down, for when it does not move fast enough to overcome the pull -of gravity, an aeroplane must fall. Slower and slower moved the _Air -Monarch_, and lower and lower she sank toward the heaving surface of the -Atlantic. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - THE HURRICANE - - -“WHAT’S going to happen, Tom?” asked Ned as he saw his chum leap toward -the motor room. “Are we in danger?” - -“In danger of losing time on account of a hot bearing, yes,” admitted -Tom. “But in no danger as far as being forced down is concerned. I had -planned for this—a landing in the sea.” - -“Our boat-like body will keep us afloat,” explained Brinkley to Ned, -whose strong point was certainly not mechanics, but finance. “You know -we’re a hydroplane as well as an aeroplane.” - -“I had forgotten it for a moment,” admitted Tom’s chum. - -The first alarm over, he watched Tom and the three mechanics so -manipulate the _Air Monarch_ as to bring her out of the partial nose -dive into which she had fallen on losing speed. She was now coming down -to the sea on a gentle slant. - -“I don’t like nose dives!” murmured Tom, remembering the peril which he -and Mary had so narrowly escaped from with the help of Brinkley and -Hartman. - -“We’ll make a three point landing,” observed Peltok as Tom, taking -charge, began to guide his craft toward the waves which Ned could see, -through the plate glass bottom in the cabin, rushing, as it were, up to -meet them. - -Not quite as gently as a feather, but with hardly enough of a jar to -spill the water in the glasses on the table which Tom and Ned had quit -in such a hurry, the _Air Monarch_ sank to the surface of the sea where -she rode easily under the influence of a gentle swell. - -“Are we going to stay here?” Ned asked, when he found that the craft was -making no forward progress. - -“Not any longer than we can help,” Tom answered. “Every minute counts -when you’re trying to circle the globe in twenty days. But we’ll have to -wait for that bearing to cool. Did she chew up the metal?” he asked -Peltok, referring to the soft anti-friction lining material which the -axle, or shaft, of any fast-moving machine comes in contact with instead -of directly on the bearing itself. - -“I’m afraid so,” was the answer. “But I can cast a new journal for you.” - -“Good!” exclaimed Tom. “You three had better get something to eat,” he -added to Brinkley and the others. “Ned and I will stand watch. Not that -there’s anything we can do until she cools down, though,” he added, with -a rueful laugh. - -Since the machinists had had nothing to eat since early in the morning, -before the take-off, they did ample justice to the meal the tank man had -gotten ready. - -Meanwhile, Tom and Ned went to the engine room to examine the damage. -The _Air Monarch_ was gently rising and falling on a long swell. Just -where they had come down Tom did not know, without taking a marine -observation, but he judged it to be perhaps four or five hundred miles -off the Atlantic coast—not a bad bit of distance to have covered in -this time. But of course he realized he would have to do much better -than this to win the race. - -It did not take Tom long to find the overheated bearing. It had become -red-hot from lack of oil, which was supposed to be fed to it constantly, -but it was now cooling down and when it was completely cool the burned -anti-friction metal could be cut out and new put in. - -“There’s what did the damage!” exclaimed Tom as he unscrewed the -coupling of a small copper oil feed pipe and took out a little ball of -what seemed to be rubber. “That kept the oil from cooling the bearing.” - -“Do you think the _Red Arrow_ imps had anything to do with that?” asked -Ned. - -“It’s possible, of course,” Tom replied. “But hardly probable. This -isn’t one of the main bearings, and the oil feed pipe would be hard to -get at to tinker with. Hussy and that fellow we caught in the hangar -night before last didn’t have time to unscrew the coupling, slip in the -rubber, and then put it together again. And it was all right when we -started. - -“What I think is that this bit of rubber came from a gasket—it just -naturally worked loose and was forced into the pipe. I use a forced feed -oil system. It’s just one of those accidents that will happen. Lucky it -wasn’t any worse.” - -“Have we got to lay to like this until the bearing is fixed?” - -“No,” Tom said, after looking over the motors. “We can taxi along on the -surface with one motor, but of course not as fast as if the two were -working. However, it will help some, and every mile and minute count. -Whew, she certainly got hot!” he exclaimed, as he burned himself -slightly from putting his hand for too long a period on the defective -bearing. - -The three machinists were so eager to make repairs and hop off again -that they hurried through their dinner and were soon in the motor room -again. There Peltok proved his worth, as did Hartman and Brinkley. They -wasted no time, but began taking down the motor. - -While the aeroplane man and his tank companion did this, Peltok was busy -casting a new bearing, filing it down to a perfect fit so the axle would -run smoothly. - -“Will it bother you if I start up with one motor?” asked Tom of the -three who were working at top speed to finish the repairs in the -shortest possible time. - -“Not a bit!” Peltok answered. “You can’t go very fast with only one -motor running, and she’ll ride on a pretty even keel, for there is -scarcely any sea at all—it’s almost a dead calm.” - -“But it isn’t going to remain so long,” stated Ned, who knew a little of -weather signs. - -“Why not?” asked Tom. - -“The glass is falling,” and Ned pointed to the barometer. “I think we’re -in for a storm.” - -“It does look so,” remarked Tom, who noted the reading now and compared -it with the height of the mercury column when they had started. “I guess -we’re in for a blow. It will be better to take it up above than down -here.” - -“We’ll finish this as soon as we can,” said Peltok, but there was no -occasion to say that. Tom and Ned could see that the three were doing -their best. - -So, having learned that he would not disturb them by sending his craft -along, the young inventor started the undamaged motor and soon the _Air -Monarch_ was moving at fairly rapid speed over the surface of the calm -sea. Tom steered by a binnacle compass, heading due east, and knew that -every mile he gained was so much to the good. - -With the other motor in commission, he knew he could more than double -the present speed. But his main reliance was going to be travel in the -air, for that was his speediest medium. - -After about an hour, during which the craft had sped along for several -miles over the sea, they ran into a thick fog, which seemed another -indication of a change in the weather. - -“Got a fog horn?” asked Ned, as he stood beside Tom in the motor control -cabin. - -“What for?” - -“To signal so we won’t run into any ships.” - -“I guess we won’t be down on the sea much longer,” Tom said, for he had -asked Ned to take the wheel while he went back to note what progress the -three mechanics were making. “They have almost finished. We’ll be going -up directly.” - -“Glad of it,” remarked Ned. “I don’t like it down here—not in a fog.” - -“There’s no danger,” began Tom, with a laugh. “I’ll take a chance——” - -He was interrupted by a heavy, throbbing noise in the air over their -heads. The fog was too thick to enable them to see what it was, but Ned -cried: - -“Wind!” - -“Of a sort—yes!” admitted Tom. “But it’s wind from the propellers of -some sort of an aeroplane! There’s a craft passing overhead.” - -When Ned listened more carefully he knew this to be right. Some big -dirigible or aeroplane was passing above them, and the throb of her -motors and the beat of her propellers could plainly be heard. - -“Think that might be the _Red Arrow_ passing us?” asked Ned. - -“It’s possible,” Tom admitted. “She’s got powerful motors.” - -They looked upward, trying to pierce the fog, and a moment later the -wind began to blow, tearing the blanket of vapor apart. It was just in -time for Tom and Ned to see, high up, a great craft heading toward the -east. But whether it was the _Red Arrow_ or some other machine they -could not tell. It seemed likely that it was one which was racing -against Tom for the world circuit prize. - -Then the fog drifted in again and there was a wall of white all about -them. Ned looked at the glass once more and found that it was still -dropping. As he took this in he gave a low whistle. - -“It’s going to blow and blow soon,” he said to Tom. “How much longer are -we going to be here?” - -“Not much longer, I hope,” answered the young inventor a bit -impatiently. The sight of that big craft passing overhead had made him -apprehensive. “I’ll go and find out. Keep her on this course, Ned,” and -he turned the steering wheel over to his chum. - -Hardly had Tom gone back to the motor room than the voice of Peltok was -heard exclaiming: - -“She’s done! The bearing is finished. Now we can use the other engine!” - -This was good news, and a few minutes later, when it was made certain -that the oil feed system was working properly, the second motor was -started and the _Air Monarch_ began to gather speed. - -“We’ll be up in a minute,” Tom said, taking the wheel from Ned. Hardly -had he spoken than as if a giant’s breath had blown it away, the fog -vanished and out of the west rushed a wind of great force. It caught the -craft broadside on and heeled her over so far that she was in danger of -capsizing. But Tom speeded up the starboard motor and pulled the machine -around just in time. - -“Go on up!” yelled Peltok. “There’s a hurricane coming! Go on up!” - -“Up she is!” echoed Tom Swift. With a motion of his hand he turned more -gasoline into the motors and they roared out as if eager to do their -work. The _Air Monarch_ surged forward over the surface of the sea, -gathering speed to enable her to lift herself into the air. - -Just as Tom was about to pull the lever of the rear elevating rudder -planes, the hurricane burst with all its force around the craft, -twirling her about, howling through the struts and wire stays like ten -thousand demons and sending a shower of spray clear over the top wings. - -“We’re in for it now!” yelled Tom, as he headed the craft up on a long -slant. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - A CLOSE CALL - - -DOUBTFUL it was, for what seemed a long time, whether or not the _Air -Monarch_ would justify her name and rise from the water. She seemed held -fast to the surface of the sea along which the craft was being driven by -the force of her propellers whirled by the two powerful motors, now both -working well. - -“Will she make it, Tom?” cried Ned, above the roar and howl of the -hurricane which seemed bent on destroying the globe-circling craft. - -“Can’t tell yet,” was the grim answer. “We’re just about holding our own -and no more!” - -Tom had headed his craft into the very teeth of the strong wind, for -this is the proper way in which to make an aeroplane rise. If the pilot -should try to rise with the wind the chances are that his ship’s tail -would flip up and he’d find himself standing on his head with the nose -of the machine buried deep in the earth. - -But such was the power of the wind, and such its peculiar downward -pressing force that, for a time, it seemed that the ship would not rise. -She seemed held down as by a giant’s hands. - -“We’ve got to get up more speed!” yelled Tom to those in the motor room. - -“I’m giving her all the gas she’ll take!” shouted Peltok. - -“Turn on the super-charger!” the young inventor directed. “If ever we -needed that high-test gas of mine we need it now!” - -He referred to the new gasoline he had been experimenting on when he had -to leap through the window of his shop to avoid being blown up. - -“That ought to do the trick!” exclaimed Hartman, who had seen some -demonstrations of the new fuel. - -“Turn it on,” cried Tom again, and his mechanics made haste to carry out -this order. - -Meanwhile the hurricane was increasing in violence. The wind howled as -if in rage that any man-made craft should try to fight it. The sea, too, -was whipped into salty spray and the waves were rapidly becoming larger -and more dangerous. Two or three times water sprayed all the way over -the _Air Monarch_, and when Ned discovered that some was entering the -interior of the ship through an open window he hastened to close it. - -“All ready, Chief!” called Brinkley, addressing Tom Swift. “Here goes -for the super-charger!” - -“If she doesn’t rise now she never will!” murmured Tom as he yanked the -throttle around to turn on full power with the new fuel, a tank of which -had been hastily connected with the carburetor. - -If the motors had hummed and purred before, they fairly roared now with -this new form of gas, and Tom exulted in his heart. - -“It wouldn’t do to use that all the while, though,” he said to himself. -“It would rack the engines to pieces. But it’s good to have in an -emergency. Now let’s see if we can take off.” - -The craft was now skimming the surface of the sea at a greater speed -than she had ever before attained on water. Tom pulled the throttle back -another notch, advanced his sparking system a trifle, and then pulled -the handle that tilted the tail rudder. Until this was done the _Air -Monarch_ would sail along on an even keel. But with the back rudder -tilted so that a current of air would strike on the lower surface, the -effect would be to elevate the nose of the ship and send it up into the -air on a long slant. - -“I hope she’ll work,” Tom told himself, as he pulled the lever. - -There came another burst of wind, and now it began to rain in a torrent, -while lightning flashed from the cloud-obscured sky and the deep booming -of thunder seemed to shake the craft from stem to stern. - -The machine quivered. It seemed to be a struggle between the elements of -air and water as to which should claim her, but in the end the air won. - -“We’re rising!” cried Ned, who stood behind Tom. But the young inventor -had already noted on the altitude gage that the machine was leaving the -sea and going up. - -“Not much too soon, either!” muttered Peltok, who stood with the two -machinists in the motor room where another gage showed them that the -fight was being won. - -“We’re all right now,” said Tom with an air of relief as he guided his -craft on a long slant up through the wind, the rain, the lightning and -thunder. “We’re all right now.” - -The engines were still rotating furiously under the power of the new -gas, and Tom kept them at this speed until he was well up above the -surface of the sea. Then, turning the craft about, to take advantage of -the wind, instead of heading into it, he ordered the ordinary motor fuel -gasoline turned on and slowed down his ship. - -Slowed down, yes, but the _Air Monarch_ was still moving along at a -terrific speed. And Tom knew that speed was necessary, for he had lost -considerable time. He had counted on some delays, but the fewer of these -there were the better. And Tom preferred to have them come, if they -must, when he was back again on United States soil. For if the _Air -Monarch_ failed him then, he could use his Airline Express. - -Up, up and up soared the powerful craft, boring her way through the -storm. Now she was where she properly belonged, for though Tom’s craft -could travel on land or water she was designed, primarily, for the air. - -“Going above the storm, Tom?” asked Ned when things were more nearly -normal aboard. - -“Going to try,” was the answer. “But there’s a big area of disturbance, -I think.” - -So it proved. For it took an hour of hard work before Tom could force -his machine to climb high enough to be above the howling wind and -rattling rain. But then the _Air Monarch_ found herself in a calm -atmosphere, above the clouds with the sun shining, and in that peaceful -region, far away from the hurricane and the lashing sea, she sailed -along on her journey. - -“Well, she came out of that pretty well,” remarked the young inventor as -he turned the wheel over to Peltok while he went with Ned to work out -their position. Ned was good at figures, and intricate calculations were -necessary to determine how many miles had been traveled in the machine. - -“She done noble, as Eradicate would say,” agreed Ned. “But it’s getting -on toward dark, Tom,” he observed, as he noted the position of the sun. - -“That’s right. It will soon be night. But I think we can still travel -on.” - -“About where do you guess we are?” - -“About half-way across the Atlantic, I think. But we’ve got to work it -out. We lost considerable by being forced down.” - -When the observations had been made and the computation completed it was -found that Tom was a little off—that about twelve hundred miles had -been covered in the twelve hours since the start. But this was very -good, considering the time lost, and Tom felt that the first day, or -rather, the first half day, was a successful one. - -As evening came on, supper was got ready and served several miles high -in the air. But eating thus was no longer a novelty to Tom and Ned. They -had done it too often on other daring cruises. - -They had been blown somewhat off their course by the hurricane, but -managed to get back on it when the stars began to appear and then, the -night watches having been arranged, the _Air Monarch_ was driven along -through the darkness. There was little danger in thus traveling at night -unless some accident should befall the craft itself. Though a number of -air machines had started in the great race, Tom had no fear of colliding -with them. - -“I think the _Red Arrow_ is ahead of us, though,” he said to his chum as -they made ready to turn in for a sleep. - -“It doesn’t seem to worry you.” - -“What’s the use of worrying? The race has hardly begun yet. I’m -satisfied.” - -Through the hours of darkness the craft was driven on, the five taking -turns in steering, even Ned being able to keep on the course by means of -observing several compasses, though he did not attempt to regulate the -motors, which, however, were practically automatic once they were -started. - -A rosy tint in the east apprised Tom and his friends that the sun was -rising and that morning was at hand. It was the second day of the great -race, and a hasty calculation, while Brinkley was preparing breakfast, -told Tom that they were approaching the coast of Spain. - -A few hours later Ned, taking an observation, exclaimed: - -“There’s some sort of a big harbor down there. Might be a good place to -land, Tom, since you say we’ve about crossed the Atlantic. What place do -you think that is?” - -“Lisbon, Portugal!” exclaimed Peltok. “I know it. I have been there many -times. It is a good place to land!” - -“Then we’ll go down!” decided Tom. “We’ll get oil and gas. We’ve done -pretty well to cross the Atlantic in about twenty-four hours. But that -doesn’t mean we can always make as good time as that.” - -Amid screams from the whistles of steamers in the Lisbon harbor, the big -craft slowly settled down, Tom, who was steering, picking out a clear -space in which to anchor. - -Like a great bird, the _Air Monarch_ dropped into the peaceful waters -and slowly came to a stop. At once there were signs of activity on all -the vessels within sight while the wharves alongshore became black with -a mass of humanity drawn by the news of the arrival of the strange -craft. - -“Seems as if they were expecting us,” observed Ned. - -“Shouldn’t wonder,” agreed Tom. “This world race has attracted a lot of -attention.” - -“Do you think any of the other contestants are here, or have been here -and gone?” went on Ned. - -“We’ll soon find out,” his chum answered. - -Suddenly Hartman uttered a cry and pointed upward. There, hovering above -them, was a great craft, painted red—a hydroplane—and it seemed to be -steering straight for them. - -“The _Red Arrow_!” cried Tom. “We were ahead of him after all!” - -“But he’s going to land on top of us!” cried Ned. “Look out! Keep off!” -he yelled. - -The _Red Arrow_ came down swiftly, and it was a close call for the _Air -Monarch_ as Kilborn’s craft landed, skimmed over the water, and came -within a few feet of crashing into Tom’s craft. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - WHIZZING BULLETS - - -HARDLY had the _Red Arrow_ stopped, some of her men coming out of the -cabin to drop a light anchor, than Tom ran to the prow of his craft, -where there was a little landing stage. Seeing Kilborn tantalizingly -smiling at him, the young inventor cried: - -“What do you mean by that?” - -“Mean by what?” sneered the pilot of the rival plane. - -“By landing so close to me that you nearly grazed my wing tips? Don’t -you know how to make a landing yet? Seems to me there was room enough -for even an amateur!” - -Kilborn’s face turned an angry red at hearing this taunt. - -“I know as much about running a bus as you do!” he retorted. - -“You don’t seem to!” fired back Tom. “After this you keep your -distance!” - -“Aw, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” sneered Kilborn. - -“Don’t I?” retorted Tom. “Well I think I do! And, what’s more, I have a -strong suspicion that you wouldn’t have cared much if you had crashed -into me. It would have given you a chance to take off ahead of me. But -you didn’t pull your trick, did you?” - -“I wasn’t trying any trick!” snapped Kilborn. “And if you accuse me -of——” - -“I’m not exactly accusing you,” broke in the young inventor. “But I have -my suspicions and I’m going to watch you. Don’t forget that your tool -Hussy and the fellow with him are still in jail!” - -“I don’t know anything about Hussy!” stormed the owner of the _Red -Arrow_. - -“I think you do,” was Tom’s reply. “But keep away from me and my -machine—that’s all I ask. I can beat you in a fair race, and I don’t -want any dirty work, nor will I stand for it!” - -Tom turned and went back in his ship. The talk was in English of course, -and few of the Portuguese who had gathered about to view the strange -craft knew what it was about. - -“He sure tried to foul you,” declared Ned when his chum had rejoined -him. “He had plenty of room to land clear.” - -“More than he needed,” agreed Peltok. “That man will bear watching, Mr. -Swift!” - -“And we’ll watch him!” replied Tom. - -“Here come a couple more of the contestants, I guess,” called Hartman as -he pointed upward, where two specks, like big birds, were observed in -the sky. - -“Either that, or it’s a welcoming delegation of Portuguese airmen,” -suggested Tom. - -But the first surmise proved correct, and a little later two big -hydroplanes, one piloted by Jed Kimball and the other by Harry Walton, -whom Tom knew slightly, settled down in Lisbon harbor. - -This harbor, while not an official landing, since the race was a -go-as-you-please one, was the objective of most of the contestants who -flew eastward in aircraft. Some were not able to cross the Atlantic in -one hop, and were obliged to stop at the Azores. But the bigger -machines, including Tom’s, the _Red Arrow_, and the two to arrive later, -carried fuel enough for the longer journey. - -“They’re making almost as good time as you made, Tom,” remarked Ned when -informal greetings had been exchanged with the two latest arrivals. -“Doesn’t that mean they’ll give you a hard rub?” - -“You forget, Ned,” said the inventor, “that we were forced down by a hot -bearing and lost a lot of time. Even with that, we beat the other three. -If we did that, bucking the hurricane as we did, it shows we are a lot -speedier than they are, unless they, too, were delayed. We must find out -about that, but we’ll have to be diplomatic. No use letting them know -just how speedy we are.” - -While oil and gas, together with some more food and other supplies, were -being taken aboard all four of the competing craft, Tom signaled a small -boat and visited Jed Kimball. - -“Run into any bad weather on the way over?” Tom asked casually. - -“Not a bit,” was the answer. “Had smooth sailing all the time. And so -did Walton. He and I were close together on the way over.” - -Tom’s heart rejoiced at this. It meant that the other craft had pushed -their engines to the limit and had been traveling steadily in clear air, -only to arrive after he did. - -“And we lost considerable time,” said Tom to Ned when he was back on -board the _Air Monarch_. “That means we have a lot the best of them. The -only one I’m in doubt of is the _Red Arrow_. I’m not friendly enough -with Kilborn to ask him if he had any delays. If he did, and yet came in -soon after us, it means he is pretty nearly as fast as we are. But if he -came right along without a stop, it means we’ve got him beat.” - -“Let’s see if Brinkley or Hartman can’t pick up a bit of information,” -suggested Ned. “They’re going ashore for a half hour, and I notice some -of the _Red Arrow’s_ crew also going to take shore leave.” - -“That might be a good way,” agreed Tom, and he instructed the two -mechanics to get into casual conversation, if they could, with the men -from Kilborn’s craft, but, at the same time, not to give a hint of their -own speed. - -Hartman and Brinkley managed to get friendly with some mechanics from -the _Red Arrow_, but the information they secured was not the most -reassuring to Tom. It developed that his most formidable rival had also -been delayed by the hurricane, though not forced down, being, however, -blown far off the course. - -“Then since he arrived about the time we did,” said Tom, talking the -matter over with Ned, “it means that he’s going almost as fast as we -are. I’m afraid we’re going to have trouble with Kilborn.” - -“Do you really think he has a chance to beat you?” - -“He has a good chance. The only thing is that if he gets disabled so he -can’t travel in the air, he can’t do very much on the water and nothing -at all on land. I might have him there. But it’s only a chance. We’ve -got our work cut out for us, Ned!” - -“Well, then, the sooner we get away from here the better!” suggested the -financial manager, and his chum agreed with him. - -The work of taking on the gas, oil and other supplies was hastened, and -at last the _Air Monarch_ was again ready to hop off. The mechanics had -gone carefully over every part of the motors, and they were tuned up to -the highest notch of efficiency. - -“Well, let’s go!” called Tom when, about three hours after landing in -the Lisbon harbor, they were ready to leave again. - -The motors roared as the gas was turned on when the starters had turned -the flywheels over, and Tom was about to guide his craft down a long, -wide lane of water in the bay when Ned exclaimed: - -“There goes the _Red Arrow_!” - -Tom turned to see the rival craft making ready to take off, and then he -suddenly shut down the motors and let his craft come to a slow stop -while the other increased her speed and was ready to take the air. - -“What’s the idea?” cried Ned. “Has anything happened?” - -“No. But something might if I tried to take off just when Kilborn did,” -said Tom quietly. “There’s too much chance of a collision—planned or -accidental. Let him get up—I’ll follow. I can do as I please then. Let -him go!” - -It was evident that the _Red Arrow_ had been waiting for the _Air -Monarch_ to lead the way, for just as soon as Tom started the other -craft had followed, and when Tom shut down it appeared to puzzle Kilborn -and his men. However, they must have imagined that it was only a -temporary halt, for they roared on their way, finally leaping into the -air from a foam-crested wave and speeding off ahead of Tom Swift. - -“Let him go!” the young inventor said. “I can pass him when I need to. -But I want a clear field.” - -A few minutes later Tom started his motors again, and his craft was in -the air shortly before the other two hydroplanes took off. But by this -time the _Red Arrow_ was only a speck in the sky. - -“Hope he won’t get too far ahead!” mused Ned. - -“I’m not worrying,” declared Tom Swift. - -Up and up soared the _Air Monarch_ and when she was high enough Tom -straightened her out and sent her ahead on an eastern course, steering -over Spain, the Mediterranean Sea, the lower part of Italy, and, in -turn, across Turkey. - -It was when sailing rather low over a wooded section of this latter -country that something happened which showed Tom how dangerous his trip -might be. - -He, with Ned, was leaning out of the window of the forward cabin looking -down below and trying to figure out just where they were when Ned -called: - -“Look at the horsemen!” - -Below them was a squad of Turks riding along and seemingly much excited -by the airship over them. The motors, though muffled, were making too -much noise for Tom and Ned to hear what the horsemen were shouting, but -their actions were plainly discernible. - -Suddenly some of them brought their guns around and aimed up at the -airship. - -“Look out!” cried Ned. “They’re going to shoot!” - -“Let them!” chuckled Tom. “They must be uncivilized fellows who have -never seen or heard of an aeroplane before. They can’t hit us up here!” - -“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” warned Ned. “Better go a bit higher.” - -“But I want to see what river that is we’re coming to,” Tom said. “I -need to be low down to make an observation.” - -He had hardly ceased speaking when several puffs of smoke came from the -horsemen below, and though the reports of the rifles could scarcely be -heard, there was no doubt as to the firing. - -“Duck!” yelled Ned as he caught the hum of whizzing bullets. - -Suddenly he saw Tom give a start and fall back from the window. - -“He’s hit!” cried Ned, springing to his chum’s side as he yelled to -Peltok, who was at the wheel: “Go up! Go up! We’re being fired on!” - - - - - CHAPTER XV - YELLOW GYPSIES - - -RAPIDLY, as soon as Peltok pulled the elevating lever, the machine shot -upward and was quickly beyond rifle distance, though the last glimpse -Ned had of the mounted hunters they were still firing at the aircraft. - -But Ned had other thoughts than those of the men who, through fear or -anger, had fired on the _Air Monarch_. He had seen Tom start back, -wince, and disappear from the window. - -“Are you hit, Tom?” Ned yelled, as he drew in his head and had a glimpse -of his chum swaying in the middle of the forward cabin. “Did they get -you?” - -As if in a daze Tom put his hand to his head and took off his cap. There -was a queer look on his face as he looked at a neat, round hole through -the cap’s visor, close to where it set on his head. - -“They missed you!” Ned joyfully cried when he saw this. “But it was a -narrow squeak, Tom!” - -Holding the punctured cap in his left hand, Tom put his right hand to -his head and when he brought his fingers down there was a little smear -of blood on them. - -“You’re hit—after all!” gasped Ned. - -“No, just a graze,” and Tom found his voice for the first time since the -shooting. “It was a close call,” he went on. “It fairly had me going for -a moment or two. That bullet must have creased me, Ned. It skimmed right -past my head. Yes, I was creased.” - -This is a term used by Westerners to indicate that a bullet grazes a man -or an animal. The effect, while not serious, is to render the victim -incapable of speech or action for a short time. Often wild horses are -subdued in that way. Needless to say, it takes a sure shot to “crease” a -beast and not send the bullet deep enough to kill. In the case of the -hunters firing from below on the airship it was undoubtedly accidental. - -“It was just a graze,” declared Tom again, and an examination showed -this to be the case. The bullet had buried itself in the upper part of -the window frame after piercing Tom’s cap and drawing a little blood. -The wound was treated with an antiseptic solution, and then, feeling -more like himself, Tom prepared to ascertain their position. - -They had soon left the hunters behind, and doubtless those wild riders -had a strange tale to tell around the campfire that night. - -By calculating their speed and distance and by identifying certain -landmarks, Tom made, certain that they were over Turkey—and the wilder -part of that country. - -“Well, I think we’re keeping up to our schedule,” Tom said that noon as -they were cruising along and he and Peltok and Ned were eating an -appetizing meal. “So far we have had very good luck, even getting out of -the hurricane and over the hot bearing without falling back much. If -this keeps up I’ll be well within my margin of twenty days.” - -“The race isn’t over yet,” said Peltok, who was an experienced aeroplane -man. “Wait until we run into some real trouble.” - -“We’ll strike it, of course,” admitted Tom. “Couldn’t expect not to on a -trip like this. But the longer it holds off the better we’ll be.” - -“Hope there aren’t any other wild tribes that are going to take pot -shots at us,” remarked Ned. - -“There aren’t likely to be,” said Peltok who knew this part of the -country quite well. “This was some wild tribe, I suppose, that lived in -a mountain fastness, or some wild wooded place, and they had never heard -of an airship before.” - -The _Air Monarch_ was now running along very easily. The motors were -beginning to “find” themselves, the rough spots were wearing down smooth -and, as Tom said, the craft was operating like a sewing machine, which -seems to be the standard in cases of this sort. - -For the first time since leaving the Long Island field, Tom and Ned felt -the relief from nervous strain and began to take matters a little -easier. - -“Guess I’ll write some messages home,” decided Tom in the afternoon, -when he and Ned sat together in the main cabin. - -“It wouldn’t be a bad idea,” agreed the other. “I suppose you’ll put the -letters out in front for the mail plane to pick up,” he added, and there -was that in his voice which caused Tom to explain: - -“Don’t you think I mean it?” - -“How in the world are you going to get any dispatches off home from up -here? We haven’t got a powerful enough wireless to do it—you said that -yourself the other day—and——” - -“Go slow!” advised Tom, with a chuckle. “This is easy. I’ll write some -messages—telegrams to be more exact—and you can, too, if you like. -We’ll enclose them in some tubes I had made for the purpose and drop -them when we pass near some city and see a crowd out watching us. With -the messages I’ll include a request that they be sent off, and I’ll put -in some money to pay the toll and also to reward the person who attends -to the matter.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed Ned. “I didn’t think of that! Guess I’ll write to Helen -Morton.” - -He took it for granted that Tom was going to wire Mary Nestor that, so -far, everything was lovely. This Tom did, also writing brief words of -greeting to his father, Mr. Damon, and some few others. - -These messages were enclosed in strong but light tubes and when the -airship passed over the next town, flying low so the crowds could be -observed, the messages were dropped. Before the _Air Monarch_ flew on, -Tom and Ned saw a rush to pick up the tubes, and they felt sure word of -their progress would soon be ticking on its way. - -It was toward the close of the afternoon that Ned went into the engine -room and was surprised to see Hartman and Brinkley standing together -near one of the thermometers connected with the water cooling system of -the motors. Like an automobile engine, the machinery of some airships -must be cooled by water circulating around the cylinder walls. As Ned -came upon the two mechanics, he saw Brinkley pointing to the red -indicating column which was higher than usual. - -“Anything wrong?” asked Ned, as he saw the two talking. - -“This motor is heating up more than I like to see,” stated Brinkley. - -“Shall I call Tom?” asked Ned. - -“Oh, no. Not yet,” was the reply. - -“Maybe the water is low in the radiator,” suggested Hartman. “Let’s take -a look. Yes, that’s it,” he went on a moment later. “It needs filling.” - -As Ned walked on, satisfied that it was only a minor trouble, easily -remedied, he heard Brinkley say to his companion: - -“It’s queer how the water got low. I filled that radiator only a little -while before the chief so nearly got shot. I don’t see how it could leak -out.” - -“Maybe it doesn’t leak,” said Hartman. “There may be faster evaporation -than usual.” - -Ned thought no more about it until an hour later when, as night was -coming on, there came a sudden slowing of the motors and the craft began -losing speed. - -“What’s the matter?” called Tom, who was on his way to the control -cabin. “Why are you slowing down, Peltok?” - -“Something’s wrong!” was the answer. “One of the motors is overheating. -There seems to be a leak in the water radiator. We’ll have to go down to -overhaul it.” - -“Too bad,” murmured Tom. “I thought we could gain a little on this leg. -But it can’t be helped.” - -In the gathering darkness an open spot amid the forests was picked out -where the _Air Monarch_ could safely land and rise again after repairs -were made. - -As the aircraft came gently down to the ground, several scores of -evil-looking men, dressed in gay but fantastic clothes and bearing long -guns, rushed out from the surrounding trees. - -“Looks as if we’d get a warm reception!” exclaimed Tom. - -“We shall!” declared Peltok. “These are Yellow Gypsies—one of the worst -tribes in Persia. We’ve got to fight, I’m afraid!” - -The airship ceased moving, and as she came to a halt the horde of -evil-faced men rushed up to surround the craft. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - TO THE RESCUE - - -“WHAT are we going to do, Tom?” asked Ned of his chum, beside whom he -stood in the forward part of the airship as it settled down in the midst -of the Yellow Gypsies. - -“Let’s wait and see which way the cat jumps,” was the answer. “These -chaps may not be as bad as Peltok thinks they are.” - -“They look nasty enough,” commented Brinkley. - -“I wouldn’t like to meet ’em after dark,” said Hartman, to which Ned -added: - -“Well, we’re going to be with ’em after dark, all right.” - -It was evident that this would be the case, for Peltok, who had run back -to the motor room after the ship landed, now came out to say: - -“There’s a puncture in the port radiator. Hole right through it.” - -“How do you account for that?” asked Tom, quickly. - -“Looks like a bullet hole,” said the machinist, while the Yellow -Gypsies, their number now greatly increased, crowded closer in on the -disabled ship. - -“Must have come from one of the bullets fired by the Turks,” said Tom. -“Probably it caused a slow leak, and that’s why it didn’t develop until -just now.” - -“But what about these chaps?” asked Ned. “They evidently mean business!” - -There could be little doubt of this, for, with savage cries, many of the -yellow-faced men were swarming over the craft. Their complexions were of -a peculiar hue of yellow, somewhat like Chinese, yet they did not have -the cast of features of the Celestials. - -“They’ve got their knives out!” cried Ned. “They’ll slit the wing -fabric, Tom, and then we shall be in bad.” - -“They won’t slit my wing fabric!” the young inventor said, with a -chuckle. “It’s aluminum. They can’t cut it, but they might bend it. Get -off there, you yellow beggars!” he yelled at the Gypsies, but they did -not seem at all impressed and only laughed sneeringly. - -“Let me try to talk to them,” suggested Peltok. - -“Do you speak their lingo?” asked Hartman. - -“He talks anything, including United States!” declared Ned, with a -laugh, though the situation was anything but funny. The scowling Yellow -Gypsies seemed bent on mischief—as though they resented the coming of -the airship. - -Peltok took his position at one of the windows, held up his hands for -silence, which came grudgingly from the nomads, and began to address -them. His words had a peculiar snarling quality. - -But what he said seemed to be understood, for there were murmurs among -the men as though they were about to make reply. Peltok continued, -speaking more rapidly and emphatically. - -“What are you telling them?” asked Tom when the interpreter paused for -breath. - -“I had to romance a little,” was the answer. “I said we were strangers -from the stars who had come to visit our earthly friends.” - -“Will they believe you?” asked Tom. - -“I don’t know,” was the doubtful reply. “They don’t seem to think I am -telling the truth. I tried to impress them with our supernatural origin. -I’m sure they never saw an aeroplane before and know nothing about it. -But if we could impress them in some way and make them believe we are -supernatural characters we might get them to withdraw. I’ll try it -again.” - -Once more he addressed the Yellow Gypsies, but did not seem to be making -much of an impression. They hooted and cried sneeringly and more than -one shook a gun or a knife at Peltok. - -“What are they saying?” asked Tom. - -“They say they don’t believe me. They say we look just like themselves -except for color, and they think this is only a new kind of railroad -train, which of course they are more or less familiar with. I’m afraid -they’re going to rush us.” - -It did look so, for the Gypsies were now gathering on all sides of the -craft, hemming her in. As a matter of fact, even without the savage men, -the _Air Monarch_ could not have risen until the leaky radiator was -repaired. - -“If we could only impress them in some way!” murmured Peltok. - -“I’ll impress them!” cried Tom, starting for the motor control room. -“Start the land motor!” he cried to the two machinists. - -“What are you going to do?” asked Ned. - -“Use our wheels and roll along!” Tom answered. “I’ll plow through that -bunch if they don’t get out of the way, but I think they’ll get all -right. If we can’t sail through the air we’ll travel on land until we -get out of the Gypsy country. Start the motor!” - -There was a special machine for operating the craft when on land, and -Brinkley and Hartman sprang to get this going. Peltok went to their aid, -and Ned took his place beside Tom. - -The Yellow Gypsies seemed about ready to make the attack, but at the -sign of this activity on the strange craft they hung back. This was the -very opportunity for which Tom Swift had been waiting. - -“Here we go!” he cried, as he pulled the lever meshing the gears of the -land wheels. The _Air Monarch_ leaped forward, and Tom slued her around -until her blunt nose pointed to the crowd where it was thinnest. “I’ll -ram them!” the inventor shouted. - -Some of the Yellow Gypsies seemed to understand what was going to happen -and yelled to their companions to leap out of the way. But those -directly in front of the craft seemed stubborn, and held their ground. - -“You’ll run right over them and kill a lot, Tom!” Ned warned. “That may -set them wild!” - -“I won’t run over any of them!” said the other with a grim smile. - -The machine was careening on over the uneven ground, but still the -Gypsies in front did not budge. And then, when it seemed that the -aluminum nose of the craft would push into their midst and the big -wheels crush them, Tom suddenly pulled on a lever over his head as he -stood at the steering wheel. - -Instantly a white vapor was projected straight into the faces of the -Yellow Gypsies. This seemed to knock them over as if a hail of bullets -had hit them. They fell in heaps. Tom quickly turned the nose of the -_Air Monarch_, and those now in its path scrambled to one side so that a -lane was left for Tom to guide his craft down. - -Though the windows of the cabin were all closed Ned caught a whiff of a -powerful, pungent chemical. - -“What is it, Tom?” he cried. - -“Ammonia gas!” was the answer. “I rigged up two tubes, forward and aft, -to project ammonia. I thought we might get in a tight corner some day, -and it would help. We won’t get much of it inside here, but it’s strong -out there!” - -And strong it was, for the stuff, though it would have no lasting ill -effects, actually knocked the victims down, rendering them helpless. - -When those on either side saw what had happened to their comrades in -front, the horde of Yellow Gypsies melted away like dew under the hot -sun. Tom guided his craft past those who were knocked out, taking care -not to run over any, and in a short time had run out of the forest -clearing to a smooth, level road that led onward in the direction he -wished to travel. - -“Good work, Tom!” cried Ned, when they were safe for at least a time. -“That ammonia gas was a wonderful idea!” - -Peltok, opening a window at the rear of the ship, which was rapidly -moving out of the zone of the powerful smell, called back to the -discomfited Gypsies, some of whom were now reviving. - -“I told you we were from the stars!” the interpreter said in the Gypsy -tongue. “And doubtless you saw not only stars but suns, moons, and -comets!” - -Then the machine moved onward, now traveling on land, of course, not so -fast as in the air. - -“But we’ll get to some quiet place where we can lay to and mend that -leaky radiator,” declared Tom. - -Presently they reached a broad, level plain which would make an ideal -starting field in the morning. - -“We’ll have to work all night, if necessary, on that radiator,” Tom -said. “This is our second delay. We can’t afford many more.” - -The Gypsies seemed to have been left behind as night settled down. The -travelers were in a lonely stretch of country. For this, however, they -were glad. While Tom and Ned got the supper, the three mechanics worked -on the punctured radiator. Presently, in one of the water coils, a -bullet was found, undoubtedly fired by the Turkish party. - -Mending the leak was not as easy as had been hoped and it was well on -toward morning before the _Air Monarch_ was again ready to justify her -name. It was found to be impossible to travel along on land while -repairs were being made, owing to their delicacy. On other occasions -this might not be the case. - -“Get a little rest, men, and we’ll hop off early in the morning,” Tom -said, and while he and Ned stood watch, the other three got some much -needed sleep. - -The sun was just tinting the east when the signal for getting under way -was once more given, but just as the craft was starting to taxi over the -plain, to get momentum to mount toward the sky, there came rushing -toward the travelers those same Yellow Gypsies again, only five times as -many. - -“They’re after us this time for sure!” yelled Peltok, who caught some of -the threatening yells. “They are going to be revenged on us for what we -did last night.” - -“What a mob!” cried Ned as hundreds of the Gypsies rushed toward the -airship, which was all ready to leave. - -Tom tried to increase his speed to take off before the angry and savage -warriors could approach, but the motors were cold and not running at -their best. - -“Ram them!” advised Ned, and it seemed to be the only thing to do. Some -would, undoubtedly, be killed when the craft crushed its way through -them, but she might soon rise above them and all would be well, save -that they would probably send a volley of shots after the travelers. - -Tom had about decided to do this, terrible as it seemed, when Peltok, -who was looking from a rear window cried: - -“Here they come! Here they come to the rescue!” - -“Who?” asked Ned. - -“The forest patrol—like your state police. They’ll scatter these Yellow -Gypsies!” - -Then all those in the airship saw a squad of Persian mounted men -sweeping across the plain toward them. This squad at once opened fire on -the horde that sought to stay Tom Swift in his world flight. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - KILBORN'S TRICK - - -“NOW you will see a fight!” cried Peltok. “I know those Yellow Gypsies -and I know the Persian forest rangers. You will see a pretty fight.” - -“I didn’t start this world flight to witness a skirmish between bandits -and the soldiers,” said Tom, with grim humor. “I want to get under way -again.” - -“You will presently,” predicted Peltok. - -In another moment, amid wild shouts, the cavalry opened fire on the -Gypsies, some of whom shot in return, though most of the bandits, for -they were little less, turned to flee. - -There seemed to be a perpetual feud between these two bodies, one -representing law and the other crime, for they did not stop to parley, -but at once began fighting. And Tom Swift did not flatter himself that -the soldiers had come merely to rescue him. No word had been sent asking -for help. - -“The Gypsies are bad,” explained Peltok, “and the forest rangers fight -them whenever they can. See! They are on the run now!” - -“That’s right!” echoed Ned. - -“And it’s time for us to be on the move!” said Tom. “Get ready!” he -called to his helpers. - -The advent of the soldiers had scattered the savage men from in front of -the aeroplane, and she could now speed over the level place and take off -into the air. - -A moment later, while the “pretty fight” was still going on, Tom pulled -back the lever of the elevating plane. Up shot the _Air Monarch_, and -amid yells of surprise from the horsemen, some of whom had evidently not -expected the craft to do this, the machine sailed aloft and was soon -winging its way toward cloudland, safe from further molestation on the -part of the Yellow Gypsies. - -“Those rangers, or whatever they are, came in the nick of time,” said -Tom when he had turned the management of the ship over to Brinkley while -he and Ned went to make some calculations regarding their course. “We -couldn’t have stood much more delay.” - -“We can make up for lost time now,” Ned remarked, and, indeed, the craft -was now spinning along faster than it had ever gone before. The repairs -had improved the motors. - -“Well, we are holding our own, at any rate,” Tom said when he and his -chum had figured out how far they had come, how much distance yet -remained to cover, and how much time they had to do it in. “I hoped we’d -be a bit ahead of our schedule when we were near China, but we aren’t. -Only just above even. But that’s better than being behind.” - -“Are we over China now?” asked Ned, “looking down as if he expected to -see a red laundry sign,” declared his chum, laughing. - -“We shall be soon,” answered Tom seriously when his laugh was over. -“We’ll have to land there, too, for more gas and oil. There’s where I -arranged to take it on,” and he indicated a spot on the map where the -eastern Turkestan city of Yarkand was located. “When we leave there -we’ll head right across the great Chinese Empire, or rather, Republic, -as it is now, over the lower edge of the Gobi Desert, perhaps, and then -on to the Pacific.” - -“Why, Tom!” Ned exclaimed with shining eyes, “we’ve almost won the race -already, haven’t we?” - -“Not by a long shot!” exclaimed Tom emphatically. “The hardest part of -the trip is yet before us, and I fear the journey over the Pacific more -than anything else!” - -“Why?” - -“On account of the storms—especially in the vicinity of the China coast -and the Japanese islands. We may run into a typhoon.” - -“Not so good,” murmured Ned, as he gazed at the map. - -“Oh, well, we sha'n’t worry about that until we get there,” observed Tom -more cheerfully. “We’re on our way, anyhow,” and indeed they were, with -the wonderful machine throbbing her course through space. - -Tom Swift well realized that he must make his best speed while in the -air. Though his craft could do fairly well on land or in the water, the -less actual distance he had to travel on _aqua pura_ or _terra firma_ -the better chance he would have of winning the race. His most feared -rival—Kilborn in the _Red Arrow_—could travel only in the air, and -would keep to that medium. Though of course, having a hydroplane, he -could, to a certain extent, move over the water. - -“But the race will be decided by air travel,” said Tom, and to this end -he determined to devote all his energies. - -It was shortly after noon, when Brinkley had served an appetizing meal -in the little cabin, that Peltok, who had been told by Tom what course -to follow, announced that they were approaching Yarkand. - -“Land there!” ordered Tom. “I don’t know just how near our oil and gas -supply in Yarkand is to our landing field, but pick out the best spot -and we can have the supplies brought out to us.” - -“Right!” exclaimed the navigator, and a little later the big craft came -to a gentle stop on a big plain on the farther edge of which was the -city. - -No sooner had the _Air Monarch_ landed than she was surrounded by a -swarm of curious natives, a sort of a cross between a Chinese and an -Indian, Ned declared. They were friendly, however, and laughed with glee -as they beheld the “foreign devils” and their queer craft. - -Here Peltok’s linguistic abilities were useful, for he was soon talking -with the natives “like a house afire,” as Tom said, and in a little -while the interpreter announced that he had arranged for Tom’s supply of -oil and gas to be brought out. - -“Then sha'n’t we take this chance to stretch our legs?” proposed Tom to -Ned. “We’ll walk about a bit and the mechanics will have time to tune up -the motors. I don’t like the way the starboard one is behaving.” - -He gave his instructions to Brinkley and Hartman, and then, with Peltok -looking after things, uttering dire threats in their own language to the -Turkestan natives, who seemed to want to pull the machinery apart, Tom -and Ned strolled about. They would have about an hour to wait, and -decided to go into the ancient city. - -As they were entering it, Ned pointed off to the left and uttered a cry -of surprise. - -“There’s the _Red Arrow_!” he said. - -“That’s right!” agreed Tom, as he caught sight of Kilborn’s big, crimson -hydroplane circling about as if preparing for a landing. “He’s following -me close.” - -“But he isn’t going to land near us,” commented Ned, for the _Red Arrow_ -was heading down on a different part of the plain from that occupied by -Tom Swift’s craft. - -“Glad of it,” the inventor remarked. “I don’t want any more trouble with -him. He’s a crook!” - -Then the two young men forgot their anxieties in viewing the wonders of -the old place, while curious natives crowded about them. They wandered -into one of the bazaars, where Tom bought some trinkets for Mary and Ned -a souvenir for Helen. - -“And while we’re here,” said Tom to his chum, “we can mail some -postcards back home. We may not get another chance.” - -“Good idea,” agreed Ned. - -They were in the local post-office, to them a queer sort of place, where -they found a native who could speak enough English to tell them what -they wanted to know about stamps and cards and the mails. - -While they were writing their messages, Ned observed two men, who seemed -to be officials of some sort, hurriedly enter the post-office and talk -with the man who had acted as interpreter. But the young man gave this -scene little thought until he and Tom were ready to leave. - -Then Ned saw these same two officials barring their way out. Tom also -became aware of something and exclaimed, respectfully enough: - -“One side, please! We’re in a hurry to get back to our ship!” - -But the two officers did not move, and one drew from its scabbard an -ugly, curved sword. - -“Look out, Tom,” warned Ned in a low voice. “This looks like trouble!” - -“It will be of their making, not ours!” snapped Tom. “What’s the idea?” -he went on, for he was anxious to start off again. “Get out of the way!” -he ordered the man with the drawn sword. “Tell him he’s making a -mistake,” he said to the man who had translated the request for stamps -and cards. - -There was a lively interchange of words between the officers and the -interpreter, and the latter, with a shrug of his shoulders, turned to -Tom and Ned, saying: - -“You cannot go!” - -“Can’t go where?” - -“Away from here. You are under arrest!” - -“Under arrest? Nonsense!” yelled Tom Swift. “What for?” - -“It seems you have no official permission to land your airship near the -city,” the interpreter answered. “You must be taken to jail!” - -“It’s a plot, Tom!” exclaimed Ned. “It’s a trick on the part of Kilborn -to delay us!” - -“I’m afraid it is,” said Tom in a low voice. “We’ve got to get out of -this in some way. Stand by me now, Ned! I’ll see what a little strategy -will do!” - -Tom turned toward the two officers, a grim look on his face. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - CHINESE BANDITS - - -TALKING rapidly in his own language, the officer with the sword said -something to the man who had acted as interpreter before Tom could say -anything further. - -“What’s he talking about?” Ned wanted to know. - -“He say if you be ready he take you to jail now. Judge hear you talk -to-morrow,” was the interpreter’s answer. - -“Oh, he’ll hold us for a hearing to-morrow, will he?” snapped out Tom -Swift. “That doesn’t suit me. Look here,” he went on, to Yal, which the -interpreter had said was his name, “ask him how it is he doesn’t arrest -that other fellow who landed not far from me. The red airship! Why -didn’t he arrest that pilot? Kilborn his name is.” - -“I ask,” offered Yal, and there was more talk before he turned to Tom -and Ned, saying: - -“Red machine man he have permit to land. He send money on for it week -ago.” - -“That’s a point we missed,” remarked Tom to Ned. “And I’m pretty sure -Kilborn put up this game on us. As soon as he landed and saw we were -here, he bribed these fellows to arrest us. I don’t believe there’s any -permit needed at all.” - -“Well, what can you do about it?” asked Ned. “They’ve got the upper hand -of us.” - -Truly it seemed so, for now a squad of native soldiers, ugly and unkempt -enough but armed with swords and guns, came swarming around the -post-office. One of the two officers who had arrested Tom and Ned took -charge of the squad. - -“I’m going to buy a permit here and now,” Tom said, with a smile. -“There’s no use trying to fight these fellows except with money. Look -here,” he went on to Yal. “Tell that officer I’m sorry I didn’t know -about a permit, but I’m willing to pay for one now and also pay him for -his trouble in getting it, and I’ll pay you for translating this to -him.” - -At this the eyes of the interpreter sparkled, as did those of the two -officers when Tom took out some United States gold pieces. Gold speaks a -universal language, and when Tom had clinked the pieces in his hands a -few times there was a quick exchange of spitfire language between Yal -and the tallest of the two officers. Then Yal said: - -“Mebby so he get you a permit for money.” - -“Have him try,” said Tom, with a significant smile, as he passed over -some of the gold pieces. - -The tall officer hurried away while his companion arranged the ragged, -dirty soldiers rather in the form of a bodyguard about the two aviators -than as a squad sent to arrest them. - -“I think everything is going to come out all right,” said Tom to his -chum. - -It did; for a few minutes later the tall officer, now all smiles, came -hurrying back, bearing a paper covered with big red and gold seals. This -he handed to Tom while Yal said: - -“Him got permit for you. Now you can go—for a little more gold!” and -his eyes gleamed greedily. - -“I guess it’s worth the money,” commented Tom, as he handed over the -remaining five dollar gold pieces, “if it’s only to get the best of that -skunk Kilborn.” - -Some orders were shouted to the soldiers, they in turn yelled at the -rabble, and Tom and Ned were allowed to walk out as they pleased. They -lost no time in hastening back to their craft, where they found that the -work of taking on the oil, gas, and other supplies had been completed. - -Peltok was pacing about, looking anxiously up and down. At the sight of -the two young men, who were followed by a crowd of boys, he said: - -“I was afraid something had happened. That Kilborn was sneaking around -here, looking as tickled as a cat with cream on her whiskers.” - -“Something did happen,” explained Tom. “And that Kilborn won’t be so -pleased the next time he calls.” - -“Here he is now,” said Ned in a low voice as the pilot of the _Red -Arrow_ was observed pushing his way through the crowd. His craft could -be seen off in the distance down in a little hollow. He, too, it -appeared, had landed for supplies. - -At the sight of Tom and Ned about to enter the cabin of the _Air -Monarch_, the face of the rascal underwent a change. He started back as -Tom mockingly remarked: - -“Well, you’re following us pretty close, Mr. Kilborn. How much did you -have to pay for your landing permit?” - -“I didn’t pay—I don’t know anything about it!” snapped the man, his -face almost as red as his machine. “I can’t help it if my route -parallels yours. The air is free.” - -“But landing in Yarkand doesn’t seem to be,” went on Tom. “Your little -trick cost me some money!” - -“What trick? I haven’t done anything. I—I——” - -“There’s no use in talking about it,” broke in the young inventor. “I -know what you did! But I held a trump card,” and with that Tom went to -the pilot house and gave the word to take off. - -The machine was soon again soaring in the air and, looking back, Ned -reported that the _Red Arrow_ was also in progress. - -“He’s following us, Tom,” the young inventor’s financial manager stated. - -“Let him come!” said Tom grimly. “If he tries any more of his tricks -I’ll not let him off so easily next time.” - -Wishing to put as much distance as possible between himself and his most -dangerous rival, Tom signaled for some of the super gas to be used, and -this so speeded up the motors that the _Red Arrow_, fast as she was -traveling, was soon left behind, lost in the mist of the upper regions. - -All that day and through the night, Tom Swift’s powerful craft winged -her way onward, covering mile after mile. When the pilot thought he had -gained enough on Kilborn’s craft he changed back to the ordinary fuel, -saving the powerful gasoline for another emergency. - -It was shortly after breakfast, when Tom and Ned were taking some very -much limited exercise by walking about the cabin, that Peltok, with a -worried look on his face, came in to report: - -“I’m afraid we’ll have to make another landing, Mr. Swift.” - -“Land again? What for?” asked Tom. - -“One of the carburetors seems to be choked and the adjustment of it is -such a delicate matter that I don’t believe we can do it in the air. We -are constantly losing speed, and also getting off our course, as one -motor is more powerful than the other.” - -“Well, if we must land, we must,” agreed Tom ruefully. “But we are -losing too much time. It can’t be helped, I suppose. Go down, then!” - -“Where shall we land?” asked Ned. - -“Somewhere in China,” was Tom’s answer, as he looked at the route map. - -A little later they floated down on a vast plain in a lonely region -where there was not a habitation in sight and where there seemed to be -no life stirring. - -“I don’t believe we’ll be disturbed here,” remarked Tom, as he got out -of the machine, followed by Ned. “It’s as lonesome as the middle of a -desert. Well, let’s have a look at that carburetor.” - -He had no sooner got it disconnected from the feed line than he saw that -extensive repairs were needed. - -“It will take all of a day, maybe more,” he said, with a sigh. - -“Another day lost!” exclaimed Ned. “That’s bad!” - -“Oh, we’ll make it up!” declared Tom, with a smile. “We’ve got some of -that super gas left. I’m saving that for a grand-stand finish.” - -Since they were to be held in this lonely Chinese region for a day, the -young inventor and Ned Newton planned to roam about and take matters -easy while the three machinists made a new part for the defective one in -the carburetor. - -That evening, as Tom and Ned sat in front of the machine, they heard, -off to the right, a roaring, pulsating sound which had a meaning for -them. They looked in the direction of the noise, but on account of the -mist could see nothing. - -“An aeroplane, as sure as guns!” exclaimed Ned. - -“And the _Red Arrow_, if I know anything about gasoline!” added Tom. -“That’s just how her motors sound. Well, I hope Kilborn doesn’t spot us -held up here.” - -The sound of the throbbing engines died suddenly, and at this Tom sprang -to his feet. - -“He’s shut off!” he exclaimed. “He’s going to land!” - -“Seems so,” admitted Ned. “But he may not spot us,” and as they had no -sight of the rival plane, they concluded that the mist hid them as it -also hid the _Red Arrow_. - -“We’ll stand guard to-night,” decided Tom, and so watch was kept. But -nothing happened during the hours of darkness. - -The sun was scarcely up when Brinkley and Hartman rose, to resume work -on the carburetor. But it was Ned who, looking out of his cabin window, -uttered a cry of alarm. - -“What is it?” asked Tom. - -“Chinese bandits!” was the answer. “They’re going to surround us! We’re -in for it now, Tom!” - -As the young inventor peered out, he saw a horde of fierce-looking -Chinese advancing toward the stalled airship. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - THE TYPHOON - - -“TROUBLE surely is hovering over us!” grimly mused Tom Swift, as he -leaped out of bed and hurried into the pilot house, where he found -Peltok and the two machinists gathered. - -“Can you speak the language of these bandits?” asked Tom of Peltok. For -that the advancing Chinese were bandits there was little doubt. - -“Oh, yes, I can talk to them. But it will do little good, I fear,” was -the answer. “They make it a practice to capture foreigners whenever they -can, to hold them for ransom.” - -“And they’re likely to capture us unless we can rise soon!” exclaimed -Tom. “Can we?” he asked the machinists. - -Brinkley shook his head while his companion said: - -“It will take about two hours more to fix that carburetor and adjust -it.” - -“Then we’ve got to fight!” said Tom. “All right, if they want that they -can have it! Get out the guns, Ned!” he cried. “Peltok, you man the -ammonia tubes. Hartman, you——” - -“Wait a minute!” advised Peltok. “I think if we drive the machine on her -wheels in the direction of these bandits they may scatter. They are not -as intelligent as the Yellow Gypsies. We can run on land with only one -motor. It will be better than starting a fight, for it will take only a -few bullets to damage the machine beyond repair.” - -“That’s right,” agreed Tom. “But do you think we can bluff ’em?” - -“It’s worth trying,” Peltok answered. “I’ll give them a word of -warning!” - -He leaned out of the pilot house window and shouted something which, as -Ned said later, sounded like the back fire of an auto. The oncoming -Chinese, none of whom were mounted, halted and talked among themselves. - -“I told them,” said Peltok to Tom, “that you would mow them down as a -typhoon mows down a rice field if they did not scatter.” - -“What did they say?” - -“They expressed some doubts, but I have them frightened. If you’ll start -the machine and open the cut-out so the muffler isn’t working, I think -they’ll run.” - -“Better that than shooting them,” declared Tom. - -It did not take long to start the land motor, and when the engine was -warmed up Tom opened the cut-out, and such a staccato, rapid series of -explosions resulted as to make it sound like a battery of machine guns -in action. - -There were surprised shouts from the bandits, and some of them started -to run. A few however held their ground. - -“Shave her nose right into the midst of them!” advised Peltok. “But run -slow, and knock them down gently. Since the propellers are aft they will -do no damage.” - -So Tom, guiding the craft, put her in motion toward a knot of the -scowling Chinese bandits, some of whom seemed about to fire with their -antiquated guns. - -But when the bandits saw the powerful craft headed straight for them and -when the foremost in the line were gently but effectively bowled over, -rolling out of the way of the wheels just in time to save their lives, -it was too much for the spirit of the rascals. - -With cackling, shrill cries they turned and fled, and in a little while -the plain was cleared of them. At this Tom Swift was well pleased, for -he did not wish to take life, even of a bandit, if he could avoid it. - -“Might just as well keep right on with the land motor,” advised Ned when -the way was clear before them. “We can get to some place better fitted -to stand off an attack than we were back there. And we’ll be delayed a -bit yet, sha'n’t we?” - -“I’m afraid we can’t get that carburetor tuned up before to-morrow -morning,” Hartman reported. He was an expert on this particular part of -a gasoline motor. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to get to some place where -we’d have a hill at our backs,” he added. - -“All right,” agreed Tom Swift, so he guided the craft for several miles -across the treeless plain until they reached a plateau which they -thought would be a good place to stop. - -“Now, boys, make the best time you can on that carburetor,” begged Tom -of his mechanics when they were again at rest. It was decided that it -would be wiser to lay to until the repairs were completed, rather than -to try to make distance by traveling on land. The _Air Monarch_ was not -at her best climbing hills. - -Though the delay fretted Tom, there was no help for it, and as the -afternoon wore away and nothing further occurred to disturb the party, -they had visions of taking off early in the morning and heading once -more through the air on their course. - -“An hour’s work in the morning, and we’ll be all set,” announced Hartman -as he and the other two mechanics, weary with their labors, sought some -much-needed rest. Peltok, who was a nervous, restless man, said he would -stroll about a bit before turning in, and as Tom and Ned sought their -bunks they saw him walking off in the darkness. - -In spite of his anxiety over the delay, Tom Swift was soon asleep. How -long he had slumbered he did not know, but he was suddenly awakened by -some one shaking him and in the dim light of a small electric lamp in -his cabin he saw Peltok bending over him. - -“What is it?” asked Tom, starting up. “Is it morning? Are we going to -leave now?” - -“I don’t know whether we can leave or not,” was the answer. “We are in -great danger. Listen. I walked out this evening and, most unexpectedly, -I came upon a place where the _Red Arrow_ is hidden in a glen.” - -“The _Red Arrow_?” cried Tom. “You mean Kilborn’s ship?” - -“Yes. She is right near-by, and I believe he and his men know we are -here. But that isn’t the worst. Kilborn has hired a band of Chinese -bandits to attack us just before sunrise, disable our plane, and capture -us!” - -“Are you sure of this?” gasped Tom. - -“Very sure! I crept near enough in the darkness to overhear all the -details. Kilborn was talking to the bandits through an interpreter, and -I heard all that was said. The bandits are angry because we repulsed -them this morning, and they are eager for revenge. They promised Kilborn -to attack us in force, to wreck our machine and to carry us off.” - -“The dirty rascal!” cried Tom. “What can we do?” - -“If we could finish those repairs and be ready to start up before they -got here, we’d trick them,” said Peltok. And when Ned, who was aroused -by the talk, heard what was in prospect, he too, advised the same thing. - -“Then we’ll do it!” decided Tom. “I hate to route Joe and Bill out of -bed again, but it’s got to be done.” - -Never a word of protest came from the two mechanics as they sleepily -rolled out of their berths, and, with the help of Peltok and Tom, while -Ned managed a flashlight, went to work adjusting the carburetor and -fitting it in place. - -“Now we’ll try it,” said Hartman when, toward morning, the last of the -adjustments were made. - -“But if we start the motors and they don’t work,” objected Ned, “won’t -those bandits, who must be camped near here and waiting, hear them and -come to the attack.” - -“We’ve got to chance it,” said Tom. - -Luckily, just as they began to make the test a violent storm, with heavy -thunder, came up, and the sound of the motors’ exhausts were drowned in -the furious rumbles from the sky. The bandits heard nothing of the trial -of the airship’s machinery and, to the delight of Tom and his friends, -the carburetor functioned perfectly. - -“We’re ready to go up now!” announced Peltok, as the first rosy tints in -the sky denoted the coming of dawn. “Everything is all right. We’re -going up!” - -“And here come the bandits!” cried Ned as, through the windows of the -pilot house, he saw a crowd of Chinese advancing. - -“Lively!” ordered Tom. “It’s going to be touch and go!” - -The motors roared as more gas was turned on. The _Air Monarch_ trembled, -seemed to cling for an instant to the earth, and then she began moving -rapidly. - -A cry of astonishment and rage burst from the bandits, who had not -expected this. It was rapidly getting light. Tom was in charge of the -controls and, waiting only until the craft had acquired sufficient -momentum, he pulled on the elevating rudder handle. - -“There’s Kilborn!” shouted Ned, as he caught sight of the rascal who had -come out to see how his plot worked. He was yelling something, though -what it was could not be heard, and he seemed to be urging the bandits -to rush up and grab the airship before it could get fully off the earth. - -But now the motors were warming up. The nose of the craft lifted. In -desperation Kilborn yelled and waved his hands wildly. One of the -bandits, directly in the path of the plane, made a jump and grabbed a -rope that had, inadvertently, been left dangling. He caught it and was -lifted up in the air. - -“We’re taking him with us!” cried Ned, leaning out of the window to -observe. - -“That’s his lookout!” said Tom coolly. - -But the Chinese bandit had no relish for being taken from his home in -this strange fashion. With a yell, he let go the rope when he was ten -feet up, and down he fell. - -“Wow!” yelled Ned, with a laugh of delight. “He got his all right!” - -“Who?” asked Tom, who was guiding the plane up higher and higher, out of -danger. - -“Kilborn,” was the answer. “That bandit fell squarely on top of him, and -they both went down in a mud puddle! Oh, baby!” and Ned chuckled in -delight while grins of satisfaction spread over the faces of the others. - -Tom looked down in time to see the discomfited pilot of the _Red Arrow_ -picking himself up from beneath the bandit, his clothes dripping mud and -water, and then the _Air Monarch_ shot on her way. - -The remainder of that day was one void of excitement. They traveled in -the air over the vast extent of China, making only one descent to get -some oil, as a leak developed in one of the reservoirs, allowing much of -the precious fluid to drip away. They had a little trouble with the -Chinese authorities in the city where they landed. But this was not due -to any scheming on the part of Kilborn. It was just a local “squeeze” -custom, and Tom had to pay out money for graft. But he said he did not -mind as long as he was ahead of the _Red Arrow_, and he felt sure that -he was. - -It was the middle of the next day, when they were about to leave the -region above land, once more to sail over water, that Tom observed the -barometer falling. - -“Does it mean anything?” asked Ned, as he saw the serious look on his -chum’s face. - -“A storm, I’m afraid,” was the answer. “And a storm here, in the region -of the Japan Sea, is anything but pleasant.” - -“Bad?” asked Ned. - -“The very worst,” was Tom’s reply. “But we may be able to get above it.” - -He increased the speed of the motors and headed the _Air Monarch_ in a -different direction. But the glass continued to fall. The sky soon -became overcast and there was a dead calm, as they could tell by looking -down on the surface of the sea, which was as flat as a mill pond. - -But not for long. - -Suddenly there was a puff of air that swerved the craft, powerful as she -was, to one side. Then came a howl as from some mighty siren whistle. -Tom, who had given Peltok charge of the steering wheel, sprang to aid -him as the spokes were almost torn from his hands. At the same time the -young inventor cried: - -“Typhoon! Typhoon! It’s going to hit us hard!” - -Then, in spite of all efforts to keep her nose up, the airship began -shooting down toward the surface of the sea that was now lashed into -foamy waves by the power of the awful wind! - - - - - CHAPTER XX - MALAY PIRATES - - -TYPHOON in itself has a sinister sound, and when, coupled with that, was -the knowledge of what such a storm was capable of doing, it is no wonder -that there were anxious hearts aboard the _Air Monarch_. - -“What’s the matter?” asked Ned of his chum, as he realized that Tom was -not going to be able to do as he hoped and send the craft up into a calm -area above the outburst. - -“I don’t quite know,” was the answer. “It’s just as if we were being -pulled or pushed down.” - -“If we land in that sea—well——” Ned did not finish, but Tom knew what -his chum meant. If it was bad in the air it was worse on the water. - -A typhoon is a hurricane of the worst sort, this particular name for -violent wind and sea disturbances being common to China and Japan where -these storms rage from May to November, being at their worst in the -summer months. Tom and his party had arrived just at the very height of -the stormy season, and were now in the grip of a typhoon of the most -dangerous character. - -“Our only chance is to fight it!” cried Tom, while he aided Peltok in -handling the wheel. “Once we are forced down, we’ll be swamped.” - -The craft was built to navigate on water, it is true, but not amid big -waves and swells kicked up by a hurricane. Yet it might chance that Tom -would have to battle with the elements of water as well as those of the -air. - -For a time it seemed that the typhoon would conquer and force the -machine down. At first Tom thought something had gone wrong with the -machinery, so reluctant was his ship to respond to the controls. But -when he looked at the wind gage near the front window and noted that its -hand was hovering around the 150 mark on the dial, he understood what -was taking place. - -The wind was approaching a rate of two hundred miles an hour, and as the -_Air Monarch_ was not making that speed she was being blown back, and -her propellers were not even holding her stationary in the gale. Not -only was she being forced back, but she was being forced downward. - -“We’ve got to have more power!” cried Tom. “Turn on the super-gas!” - -“There isn’t much left,” said Hartman. “You were to save that for the -last lap!” - -“There won’t be any last lap if we don’t get above this typhoon!” -shouted Tom. “Turn it on!” - -“On she goes!” echoed the mechanic. - -With Hartman at the super-charger, while Tom and Peltok managed the -wheel, Ned and Brinkley looked to the oiling systems. If they failed -now, when it was necessary to run the motors at their top speed, it -would be disastrous. - -Though the wind howled about them and heavy rain now dashed against the -thick plate glass of the windows, and though the typhoon was increasing -in power, it was soon evident that the machine was doing better. With -the increase in speed and power of the motors, because of Tom’s newly -invented gas, the _Air Monarch_ began to recover lost ground, and soon -she began progressing straight into the teeth of the hurricane. To have -turned and sailed before it would have meant that she would be turned -over and over, her wings shorn off and that she would be dropped into -the raging sea, a helpless wreck. - -“We’ll make it! We’ll make it!” exulted Tom, as he saw the speed -indicator hand slowly move along until it was passing the two hundred -mark. He knew his ship was capable of over two hundred and fifty miles -an hour, or more than four miles a minute, though how long she could -keep up this speed was a problem. And the young inventor knew he could -not hope to reach that goal with a typhoon blowing against him at more -than half that speed. - -So Tom was satisfied when he saw his craft making a little more than the -two hundred mile rate, and he had hopes of coming out of the contest not -only with a whole skin himself but with his plane intact. - -Howling and yelling, the wind threatened to tear the machine apart. But -the _Air Monarch_ was stanchly made, and she forged ahead. Now and then -some more violent outburst than usual caused the craft to dip down -toward the raging sea, but Tom and Peltok forced her up again, and she -rode above the waves, though sometimes perilously close to their crests. - -There is one thing about typhoons that is in their favor, if such a -thing can be said. This is that they do not last long. From the very -nature of these storms, they cannot last long. - -So, after about half an hour, there was a diminishing of the force of -the hurricane, as Tom could note on the gage, and he was able to send -his craft up higher, soon being in a region of comparative calm. - -“Oh, boy! That was some blow!” Tom confided to Ned, when he could let -Peltok manage the wheel alone and the young inventor went to get some -rest in the main cabin with his chum. - -“I’ll say it was!” Ned echoed. “Do they have many of these out here?” - -“More or less. We’re well out of that one.” - -The typhoon was passing almost as quickly as it had arisen, and when it -was possible to slow down the motors, to save as much as possible of the -now precious super-gas, Tom gave orders to that effect. - -They were now over a portion of the ocean that had not, as yet, -responded to the whipping and lashing of the terrific wind, and Peltok, -who had given Hartman charge of the wheel, came in to say: - -“I think we had better drop down to the water and give the airship an -overhauling. No telling what might have been strained by that gale.” - -“I agree with you,” Tom said. “We’ll make a landing, or rather,” he -added, with a smile, “a watering. There is a large island near here, I -think,” he went on, consulting the map, “and we can be sheltered in the -harbor if we have to make any repairs.” - -The typhoon had passed. The rain was over. The setting sun came out -clear and bright from behind the black clouds as the _Air Monarch_ -gently settled down in the sea near a large island, with smaller islands -clustered about it. - -“Pleasant place, this,” remarked Ned. - -“It looks so,” agreed Tom. “I hope we find nothing wrong and can soon be -on our way again. We have lost a lot of time.” - -“And we’re likely to lose something else, too!” suddenly exclaimed -Hartman, as the craft came to a stop at the entrance to a natural harbor -on one side of the large island. - -“What’s the matter?” asked Tom, who was shutting off the motors. - -“Look!” exclaimed the mechanic, and as he pointed ahead Tom and his -friends saw, swarming toward them, a number of long, low boats, filled -with savage warriors who set up a hideous howling. - -“Malay pirates!” cried Tom, recognizing the natives. “We’ll have a -hornet’s nest about our ears in a minute! Malay pirates!” - -On came the savages chanting a war song to keep time with the flashing -paddles as they urged their boats toward the floating aeroplane. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - AMONG THE HEAD-HUNTERS - - -“WHAT shall we do, Tom?” exclaimed Ned, as he stood beside his chum, -regarding the pirate flotilla. “Going to fight? Better turn on the -ammonia tubes! Let’s get out the machine gun!” One of these weapons had -been brought along. “We can stand them off!” and Ned started back to the -rear of the cabin where the weapons were kept. - -“Wait a minute!” ordered Tom Swift. “I don’t believe we’d better shoot, -Ned!” - -“But, man alive, why not? They’ll kill us if we don’t. Look at their -savage faces!” - -“They’re regular fiends!” said Peltok. “They’ll not only capture us, but -they’ll torture us before they eventually kill us. This tribe is one of -the worst of the Malay pirate bands!” - -“I haven’t the least doubt of it,” assented Tom. “But at best we can -kill only a few of them before the rest will swarm over us.” - -“There’s something in that,” agreed Hartman. “But still we shall have to -do something. They’ll capture the ship if we don’t! Get down off that!” -he yelled as one of the boats was suddenly paddled forward and a Malay, -horribly decked out in war paint and feathers, leaped up on one of the -plane’s wings. Impulsively Hartman jumped outside and pushed the pirate -off the airship into the water, where he fell with a splash. - -This did not disconcert him, however, for the Malays were like fishes in -the ocean, and he swam back to his canoe while his companions laughed. - -At this Tom Swift’s face brightened and he exclaimed: - -“We have a chance. Any tribe, no matter how savage, that can see the -funny side of life is open to reason.” - -“Do you mean you’re going to reason with these fellows?” asked Ned. -“What’s the idea? We can’t hang around here making those fellows laugh -and getting them into good humor so they’ll let us go. If you’re going -to win this race, Tom——” - -“I’m going to do my best to win it,” was the answer. “But harsh measures -may be the very worst sort we could adopt. I have an idea we can escape -from these pirates by a little strategy.” - -“What kind?” Ned wanted to know. - -“I’ve got to work out a plan,” Tom answered. “Meanwhile, how will this -do to impress them?” - -Without waiting for his chum to answer and not consulting the others, -Tom went to a chest in the corner of the cabin and took out a small -black globe. From it dangled the end of a fuse, and to this Tom set a -match. - -“Going to bomb them?” asked Ned. “Good! I’d never thought of that! But I -thought you advocated peaceful measures.” - -“This will be peaceful enough,” Tom said with a smile, looking out on -the ever increasing flotilla of Malay canoes. So closely were they now -clustered around the airship that it would have been impossible for her -to have gotten up speed enough to taxi across the water and to rise in -the air. The engines had been shut down, and it seemed that the _Air -Monarch_ was at the mercy of the pirate horde. - -“A peaceful bomb!” cried Ned. “That’s one on me. But be careful where -you throw it, Tom, or you may damage us more than you damage those imps. -Though I’d like to see ’em all blown sky high!” he added vindictively. - -“They won’t be blown far with this,” remarked Tom Swift, as, noting that -the fuse was almost burned down, he hurled the black object through the -open window straight into the midst of a number of canoes. - -There was a yell of surprise from the pirates as they saw the object, -with its faint trail of smoke, coming toward them. A moment later there -was a little explosion, hardly louder than that of a fire-cracker, and a -great cloud of smoke floated over the scene, hiding the pirates from -view. - -“I get you now!” yelled Ned. “A smoke bomb such as they use in the -movies! We’ll escape while they are blinded by the smoke.” - -“No, not exactly,” Tom said. “The smoke will hamper us as much as I hope -it scares these pirates. I only want to impress them and lay pipes for -another demonstration later. I brought some of these smoke bombs along -to use for signaling, but they may serve another purpose.” - -Indeed, this one seemed destined to act that way, for from the midst of -the heavy cloud of white vapor came yells and cries of fear and -astonishment. Meanwhile, those in the airship waited for Tom’s next -move. - -“This will give them the idea that we are a supernatural bunch, I hope,” -said the young inventor. “They’ll hesitate about rushing us, and that’s -what I want—to hold off that overwhelming rush.” - -Tom Swift seemed likely to get his wish, for when, after a minute or -two, the smoke screen was blown away, the water about the _Air Monarch_ -was clear of pirate canoes. The paddlers had hastily drawn back from too -close proximity to the “foreign bird-ship,” as, doubtless, they called -the craft. - -But if the danger of an immediate and overwhelming rush was over for a -time, the menace of the Malay horde still remained. For though the -canoes had withdrawn to a respectful distance they still hemmed the -aircraft in, and it would have been impossible to get headway enough to -rise without crashing into part of the flotilla. This might kill a -number of the pirates. It was also likely to damage the _Air Monarch_. - -“Here comes the chief. I think he wants a parley,” said Peltok, as the -largest canoe of all, much bedecked with feathers and other ornaments, -shot out from the midst of the boats and was paddled toward the -aircraft. On a raised platform amidships sat a fat Malaysian surrounded -by his attendants. One of them began shouting something to which Peltok -listened attentively. - -“He’s the chief, all right,” he translated to the others after an -exchange of talk between himself and the Malaysian. “He says he will let -us depart in peace if one of us will remain to be offered as a -sacrifice.” - -“A sacrifice!” cried Tom. “A sacrifice to what?” - -“To one of their heathen gods,” Peltok announced. “It seems the tribe -has had bad luck and they think their god should be propitiated. A white -man as a sacrifice will do the trick, that Malay chap said. That smoke -bomb scared them,” he went on. “They can see that we have great power. -But still they are not enough impressed to let us go free, though they -say they will withdraw their boats and let us go on our way if one of -our party is handed over for sacrifice.” - -“And if we refuse?” asked Tom. - -“Then they will rush on us and kill us all, no matter how many of them -we may kill,” translated Peltok. “Thus will their god be appeased and -fortune will smile on them, the chief says.” - -“They’re desperate enough to do just that,” said Tom. He seemed lost in -thought for a moment, and then he added: “Tell them we will let them -know in the morning. Hold them off until after dark,” he added. “By that -time we’ll have had a chance to go over our motors and be ready for a -rush.” - -“But it will be dangerous to crash through those canoes,” objected Ned. - -“Maybe there won’t be any canoes left when we get ready to leave,” -replied Tom, with a smile. “Go ahead, Peltok, tell them we will decide -by morning.” - -Again there was an interchange of words in the Malay tongue, and when -there was a pause Peltok turned and said: - -“They agree. If by morning you will donate one of the party to sacrifice -they will give us free passage over their sea. If not, they will kill us -all!” - -“There are two sides to every story,” quoted Tom. “Ours yet remains to -be told. Come on now,” he urged his companions. “Let’s get busy on the -motors. They may not need much tinkering with. But we’ll tune them up -and be ready for the dash.” - -While the mechanics were making some adjustments, which fortunately -proved to be very few, Ned asked Tom: - -“What’s the game?” - -“Fireworks,” answered the young inventor. “I’ve got a few I brought -along, Ned, not really knowing what use I might make of them. But now I -see a chance. - -“To-night,” went on Tom, “when we are ready to start, I’ll shoot some -rockets and Roman candles over the heads of the Malays. They’ll probably -be surrounding us in their canoes. But the fireworks will scatter them -and we’ll have a clear lane to shoot through.” - -“Good!” cried Ned. “I wondered what you were going to do. This will turn -the trick, I think.” - -Though the triple ring of canoes had withdrawn a little distance from -the airship, the big craft was still so well invested that unless the -rings were broken escape would be out of the question. - -Darkness fell rapidly. Tom and Ned got a meal ready, serving it to the -mechanics who were working fast to complete the adjustments made -necessary by the strain to the ship caused by the typhoon. - -It was nearly midnight when Tom, having got out the fireworks, made -ready for his surprise. With the help of his four friends, he laid a -battery of rockets in wooden troughs so they would shoot in four -directions from the airship. Then, directly ahead, in the path he -intended to use to get up speed to mount into the air, he aimed some big -Roman candles. - -“All ready!” cried Tom when Ned and the others had announced that they -were prepared. “Let ’em go!” - -With terrifying roars, with sharp explosive pops and showers of sparks, -the rockets and Roman candles whizzed forth. The darkness was set aglow -with a terrifying glare, and from the watchers in the canoes came yells -of dismay. - -“Start the motors!” cried Tom when, by means of the red glow, he saw the -canoes scurry away, leaving a free passage. - -With a roar, the powerful machines got into action, the propellers -whirled, and the _Air Monarch_ shot across the water. - -A few seconds of this ever increasing speed enabled the craft to rise -into the air, and then she was on her way, winging her flight high over -the heads of the terrified and disappointed savages. - -“That will hold them for a while!” cried Ned, as he aimed the last -burning balls of his Roman candle down on the dark mass of fleeing -natives. - -All through the night the machine roared on, reducing each hour the -distance that separated her from the final goal. There were still many -thousands of miles to cover, however, and several days would be needed -to do this. - -It was on the third day after having escaped from the Malay pirates and -while proceeding along over the Pacific that the machine which Tom was -guiding swerved sharply to the left. It almost turned turtle, but he -righted it quickly and then shut down the power. - -“What’s the matter?” shouted Ned. - -“We’re wrecked, I’m afraid,” was the answer. “One of our propellers is -broken. We’ve got to descend! I’ll head for that island!” - -“No! Not there! Not there!” cried Peltok, who had been studying the -charts just before the accident. “Don’t go down there.” - -“There’s no help for it,” said Tom. “But what’s the objection?” - -“That island is inhabited by head-hunters!” was the answer. “They are -even worse than the Malay pirates!” - -“It can’t be avoided!” said Tom Swift. “We’re disabled. We’ll have to -take our chance!” and a few minutes later he guided his craft down into -a little natural harbor of the island, the shores of which swarmed with -savage-looking men. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - THE RAFT - - -SCARCELY had the aircraft come to a stop, gliding over the water, than -scores of canoes, smaller than those used by the pirates, but containing -fully as many savages, put out from the sheltered shore of the little -bay and began approaching the machine housing Tom Swift and his party. -Their horrid cries rent the air and they brandished their spears, axes, -clubs and bows and arrows. - -“What are we going to do, Tom?” asked Ned. “Are you going to fight them -or scare them?” - -“You can’t scare these natives!” shouted Peltok. “They are utterly -savage. They have no gods. They worship only human heads, and they are -after ours.” - -“Then we won’t waste any time parleying,” decided the young inventor. -“Unlimber the machine gun!” he called to Hartman and Brinkley. “Ned, get -out the rifles! If they want to fight we’ll give ’em one!” - -“But what if we can’t beat ’em off?” asked Ned, as he ran to get some of -the arms. “We’ll be stuck here sha'n’t we, with one propeller gone?” - -“We’ll be stuck if we can’t ship a new one, but we have two spares,” -said Tom. “We’ve got to fight these head-hunters off—that’s all there -is to it!” - -Realizing how desperate was their situation, the party, one and all, -resolved to die fighting rather than fall into the hands of the evil -savages. - -The machine gun was set up on its tripod just outside the motor room, on -a small platform which was hastily screened in by some boxes, chests and -movable lockers. Hartman and Brinkley, who were to work this automatic -weapon, would thus be protected from the spears and arrows of the -head-hunters. Luckily the islanders did not seem to possess firearms. - -Tom, Ned and Peltok would take their stand in the front cabin and fire -on the savages from there. No sooner were these measures of defense -taken than the head-hunters rushed to the attack, yelling, shouting, and -brandishing their weapons. - -There was quite a party of them coming up in canoes at the stern of the -floating airship, and Tom, seeing this, yelled to the machine gunners: - -“Let ’em have it!” - -A moment later the automatic began its staccato roar and the bullets -fairly riddled several canoes, sinking them, spilling their warriors and -paddlers into the water, and killing numbers of them. - -But while the rear attack was thus repulsed, there was a rush toward the -front and sides. There the savages were met with a sharp fire from the -rifles of Tom, Ned and Peltok, and great execution was done. - -With yells of dismay at this hot reception, most of the canoes that were -not disabled swung back, but one containing half a score of natives -dashed on and bumped against the fuselage of the aircraft. Screaming and -brandishing their weapons, the occupants tried to swarm up the slippery -metal sides. - -“Repel boarders!” yelled Tom, rushing out, followed by the others. - -Despite a flight of arrows and spears, one of which latter wounded -Peltok and Ned slightly, the three drove the invaders back, firing in -their very faces, and actually kicking some of them off into the water. -Then this canoe turned back, but not before several of the occupants had -been killed. - -“Good work!” cried Tom, turning to go back to the shelter of the cabin -to avoid more arrows and spears which were now showering toward the _Air -Monarch_. “A little more of this and we’ll have them on the run.” - -As he spoke he uttered a cry of pain, for an arrow took him in the -thigh, inflicting a painful wound. - -“It may have been a poisoned arrow, too!” said Peltok. “Better put some -disinfectant in the wound.” This Tom did, in the shelter of the cabin. - -After the first rush the head-hunters withdrew, their ardor somewhat -cooled. But Tom and his companions knew the fight was not yet over. The -canoes still hung about and more savages were coming to the coast from -the interior of the island. Some of them bore freshly severed heads, and -it was a foretaste of what might happen to Tom Swift and his party -should they be captured. - -Meanwhile, Hartman and Brinkley had used the machine gun to such good -advantage that they had repulsed the savages at the rear with great -loss, though both machinists had been slightly wounded by arrows. - -All five of the airship occupants were now hurt, but none of the wounds -amounted to much save in the case of Tom Swift, and he made light of his -pierced thigh. It was, however, very painful. - -“What are we going to do?” asked Ned, who was beginning to lose heart -when he saw the increasing crowd of savages and realized that the -airship was disabled. - -“Do?” cried Tom. “Why, we’re going to carry on, of course! It will not -take long to attach a new propeller, and we’ll have to fight off these -imps while it’s being done. Hartman and Brinkley can do the work, while -you and I, Ned, with Peltok, will stand guard.” - -This program was carried out, though under great difficulties. The -head-hunters, in spite of their heavy losses, returned to the attack -soon after the two machinists began attaching the spare propeller. The -old one had lost a blade, possibly through some defect in it, Tom -decided. - -Ned and Peltok worked the machine gun at the stern, thus protecting -Hartman and Brinkley from an overwhelming rush, while Tom, with several -magazine rifles ready to hand, peppered the natives who sought to come -at the craft from the front. - -In this way the fight and repair work went on for a couple of hours, -until, at last, the execution among the head-hunters was so great that -they were forced to withdraw. Ned received another slight scratch from -an arrow, but there were no other casualties on board the _Air Monarch_, -which was rapidly being put in shape for another flight. - -It was not until late in the afternoon, however, and following a most -strenuous hour, that the machinists announced that the propeller was in -place. - -“And it’s about time, too,” said Tom. “I think the head-hunters are -going to make another grand rush.” - -This was plainly evident from the additional canoes that were being -filled with islanders who swarmed down to the shore. They seemed -determined, no matter how severe their own losses, to get the heads of -these strangers. - -Peltok tried to listen to the shouted talk of the savages, but had to -admit that they spoke a dialect unfamiliar to him. However, it was -evident that the yells and shouts had to do with the intentions of the -war party. - -“Here they come!” yelled Ned, when word had been given to start the -motors. “Wow, what a mob!” - -Hundreds of the head-hunters were now paddling to the attack. But when -they were within range they were met with a sharp fire from the rifles -and machine guns. At the same time the _Air Monarch_ began moving, and -before the attackers could get close enough to interpose their canoes in -her path, the machine had risen and was soon high over their heads and -out of danger. - -“Whew!” whistled Ned as they sailed on. “If we don’t get the prize for -the international race, Tom, we ought to get one for an international -globe-circling fight. We’ve had a lot of it since we started.” - -“Yes, we have,” Tom admitted, wincing a bit as he moved his wounded leg. -“And we may have more. We still have Kilborn to reckon with.” - -“I wonder where he is,” mused Ned as the machine straightened out on her -course. - -“Hard to say,” was the answer. “But we aren’t making as good time as I’d -like to make. He may pull in ahead of us.” - -At the thought of this the speed of the craft was increased and as night -came she was winging her way over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean -toward the shores of the United States. - -It was just at dawn the next morning when Ned, who had got up early to -make Tom a cup of coffee, looked down toward the sea. What he saw caused -him to cry out. - -“What is it?” asked his chum. - -“There’s a raft just below us.” - -“A raft?” - -“Yes, with a couple of people on it. Looks like a raft from a wrecked -ship. I think they are castaways. Can’t we rescue them, Tom?” - -The young inventor came limping out of his cabin to look down at the -sea. Rising and falling on the heaving swells below the _Air Monarch_ -was a big raft, on which were two men waving frantically to those -sailing above their heads in the airship. Faintly their cries floated -up, for the _Air Monarch_ was flying low. - -“Help! Help!” the castaways shouted. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - THERE SHE BLOWS! - - -TOM SWIFT for a moment was torn between duty and ambition. - -His machine was winging along at wonderful speed and he was beginning to -make up for much time lost. To slow up, descend and rescue these two on -the raft meant more delay—a delay that would be dangerous to his -chances of winning the prize. He did not know how many or what other -ships, whether of the air or the sea, containing his rivals, might be -ahead of him or close behind. - -But it was for only a moment that Tom hesitated. He gave one look down -at the despairing, helpless men on the raft and cried to Ned: - -“We’ll go down!” - -Ned knew, as well as Tom, what this might mean. - -As the young inventor sprang into the motor room to give the order to -Hartman, who was on duty, he practically gave up all hope of winning the -race. Yet he had no regrets. - -There was another thought that came to Tom as he told the surprised -Hartman what was about to be done and mentioned the raft with the -shipwrecked ones on it. This was the problem of caring for the two -castaways when they were taken aboard the _Air Monarch_. - -“There’s hardly room for them,” reasoned Tom. “Their added weight will -hold me back, even if I’m able to make up any of this lost time. And we -haven’t any too much food. Didn’t have a chance to lay in any at the -camps of the pirates and head-hunters,” he grimly reflected. - -But he did not hesitate, and a little later two very thankful, but much -wondering, men were being taken aboard the airship. They were thankful -for their rescue but surprised at the manner of it. - -“We thought some steamer might pick us up,” said one, “but we never -counted on something coming out of the sky to do it.” - -“Sam thought I was out of my head when I told him an airship was -coming,” remarked the other. - -Tom had sent his craft slowly over the water on her pontoons as close as -he dared to go to the raft, and the men had leaped into the sea, -swimming the intervening distance, since it would take but a slight bump -from the jagged edges of the raft to puncture the frail body of the _Air -Monarch_. - -Once on board, and again riding through the air, Tom listened to the -stories of the castaways. They were part of the crew of a small lumber -schooner that had broken up in a terrible storm. For more than a week -the men had been drifting about on the raft which had been made from -some of the deck load of lumber. Five of their companions had been -washed off, and one, in delirium, had leaped into the sea and was eaten -by sharks. The two who were left had only a little food and water -remaining when they were saved. - -“I’m sorry that I can’t take you men all the way back to San Francisco -with me,” Tom said, when the two had been made comfortable in temporary -bunks and given some extra garments in place of their wet and storm-torn -ones. “But I’m trying to win a race. How would it do if I landed you on -one of the Hawaiian Islands? I’ve got to stop there for oil and gas.” - -“That would suit us fine, Captain,” said Sam Stout, while his companion, -Frank Madler, said: - -“We can easily get another ship there.” - -So it was arranged, and Tom, still with a faint hope in his heart that -he might at least come in a good second if not the winner of the world -race, turned on a little more power and headed for the east. There lay -the United States, and once over that territory there remained only the -last part of the flight—across the continent. - -The motors of the _Air Monarch_ were not behaving as well as Tom liked, -and he had an idea it was due to the poor quality of the last gasoline -he had put into his tanks. He dared not use the last of his super-fuel, -but he hoped in Hawaii to get some better than the last. - -If worse came to worst, he thought he could finish the race in his -_Airline Express_ craft, but he wanted to do it in the _Air Monarch_. It -would be much more satisfactory, he told Ned, who agreed with him. - -It was only half a day’s travel from where the shipwrecked ones had been -picked up to the harbor of Honolulu, and it was about mid afternoon when -Ned, who was on watch, gave the cry: - -“Land ho! All out for Hawaii!” - -The beautiful islands were looming ahead of them through the mist. -Quarter of an hour later they made out Diamond Head and knew they were -close to Honolulu, the chief city of the territory. - -Tom was in the pilot house, prepared to make a landing, if such a term -is permissible when one means to drop into the water. He had headed the -craft for a spot somewhat outside a harbor, intending to taxi up into it -to avoid the shipping when, suddenly, Sam, one of the shipwrecked -sailors, who was looking from the pilot house window, pointed to a spot -directly in front of them and cried: - -“There she blows!” - -“What?” asked Tom, though a second later he realized what was meant. - -“A whale!” cried the sailor. “There she blows, and you’re going to bump -right into her!” - -Tom tried desperately to shift the wheel and, at the same time to -elevate the airship to pass over the monster of the deep. But they were -now so close that it seemed impossible. With the motors shut off the -sound of the whale’s blowing could be heard and each moment the vast -bulk became plainer. If the airship hit that mountain of flesh she would -be instantly wrecked! - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - THE LAST TRICK - - -“START the engine! Give me some speed!” Tom yelled desperately. “I’ve -got to zoom!” - -He meant, by this, a sudden and sharp lifting of the airship over the -whale, as a birdman often zooms to avoid crashing into trees or some -obstruction. - -Luckily, Peltok was on duty in the engine compartment. He had shut off -power but a short time before, and the cylinders were still hot. In a -second the machinist switched on the spark, hoping to start the motors -on compression as can sometimes be done. To his delight it happened this -time. - -With a roar the powerful engines started up, whirring the propellers and -giving the craft enough momentum for Tom to lift her over the whale’s -back. - -But so little room was there to spare that afterward, observers in -near-by boats declared that the spouting of the whale wet the lower -portion of the _Monarch_. - -Tom could well believe this, for when the big creature, alarmed by the -near approach of the air craft, raised its flukes and slammed them down -on the surface of the sea, preparatory to sounding, the water was washed -in a big wave over the rudders of the _Air Monarch_ tearing loose some -of the stays and guy wires of the elevating surfaces. - -It was a narrow escape, and Tom realized this as, a little farther on, -he brought his craft safely to the calm surface of the bay while behind -him the waves were ruffled by the sinking of the whale that was soon -lost to sight. - -“If this keeps us,” remarked Ned whimsically, as he sat on a locker, -“I’ll be a nervous wreck after this race. It’s just one bit of -excitement and narrow squeak after another.” - -“We have had a little more than our share,” admitted Tom. “But I think -the worst is over now.” - -“You sure handled your ship like a veteran!” commended the two -shipwrecked sailors. - -Tom’s arrival at Honolulu was greeted with a great demonstration on the -part of officials and the populace, some of whom had expected that one -or more of the world racers might pass over their islands. So when word -came that Tom had stopped to take on gasoline and oil, arrangements were -made to fête him. But he had little time for any ceremonies although he -did consent to be decked with a wreath of flowers—a native custom. - -“I want to hop off again as soon as I can,” he told the welcoming -delegation, though as politely as possible. “You understand how it is.” - -“Oh, yes, we understand,” was the reply. “But one of your rivals is -here, and he seems to be taking his time.” - -“Who is it?” asked Tom, though he was almost prepared for the answer -that came. - -“Dan Kilborn in the _Red Arrow_.” - -“Here ahead of us!” exclaimed Ned. - -“That isn’t to be wondered at!” remarked Tom. “The thing for us to do is -to leave ahead of him and keep him at a distance.” - -They learned that the _Red Arrow_ had arrived two days before with a -broken cam shaft and that the repairs were nearly completed. On hearing -this Tom hastened as much as he could the taking on of gas, oil, and -other necessities. But when it seemed that they might get under way -again a few hours after landing in Honolulu, Peltok discovered another -small burned-out bearing that must be replaced. - -“It will not take long,” he said, “as we have spare parts for that. By -night we can be moving again.” - -“I hope so,” murmured Tom. - -The two shipwrecked sailors were taken in charge by the captain of a -vessel who promised them berths, and Tom and Ned sent home radiograms -telling of their progress up to date. - -In spite of Peltok’s assertion that it would not take long to replace -the burned-out bearing, it did, and he had to amend his calculation so -that it would be midnight before the _Air Monarch_ could take off again. - -Tom and Ned occupied their time by visiting places of interest, and it -was when they were coming out of a restaurant that they saw a crowd -approaching them. Thinking it was only curious ones who wanted to look -at the “world fliers,” the two young men paid little heed until they -heard a voice they knew saying: - -“There’s Tom Swift now! Arrest him! I’ll make the charge!” - -Tom and Ned wheeled about to see Dan Kilborn facing them. The pilot of -the _Red Arrow_ was in company with a police officer, and again he -exclaimed: - -“Arrest Tom Swift!” - -“On what charge?” asked the officer. - -“He tried to kill me!” - -“Kill you!” shouted Tom. “Are you crazy?” - -“No, I’m perfectly rational!” sneered Kilborn. “But I make that charge. -A charge of attempting my life! Tom Swift dropped from his airship a -Chinaman on my head, severely injuring me.” - -And then it came to Tom and Ned what the rascal meant. He was referring -to the time he had set the Chinese bandits on to wreck the _Air -Monarch_. One of the bandits had been carried up by catching hold of a -rope as Tom sent his craft aloft, but the frightened fellow had loosed -his hold and dropped on Kilborn’s head. - -“Arrest Tom Swift!” again demanded the _Red Arrow_ pilot. - -As he hastened forward, so did the police officer, accompanied by a -number of others. - -“I am sorry,” said the officer to Tom, “that I shall have to take you -into custody. There must be a hearing, but probably, since no one was -really killed, you will be admitted to bail.” - -“You mean that I must submit to arrest and probably lose a day, if not -more, arranging for bail on this untrue charge?” asked Tom indignantly. - -“Such is the law,” was the answer. - -“It’s a foolish law!” cried Ned. “It was Kilborn’s own fault that the -Chinese bandit dropped on him. He sent them to attack us!” - -“I did nothing of the sort!” declared Kilborn brazenly. - -“I must take you into custody, young man,” said the officer. “I am -sorry, but this gentleman,” and he pointed to Kilborn, “has sworn out a -warrant against you, charging you with assault with intent to kill. I -must do my duty.” - -“All right,” assented Tom, with such seeming cheerfulness that Ned -looked at him curiously. “If I have to go with you I suppose I must. But -this is your last trick, Kilborn!” the young inventor suddenly cried. -“I’m going to play trumps from now on! Follow me, Ned!” - -With a sudden motion Tom tripped the officer who had reached out a hand -to apprehend him. He pushed the man backward into the midst of his -fellows, and then sent a fist full into Kilborn’s face, whirling him -aside. - -Then, like a football player, Tom turned and ran back into the -restaurant, followed by Ned, who did not know what to make of it. - -“They’ll trap us in here, Tom!” panted his chum. - -“No, there’s a back way out that leads directly to the beach!” whispered -Tom. “I noticed that when we were in there. Come on. We can beat Kilborn -yet!” - -On they rushed, through the midst of the astonished waiters and patrons -in the dining room. Out through the kitchen they went and into a back -alley. Tom had marked the way well, and in a few minutes, leaving a -confused and yelling crowd of men behind them, the two reached the -harbor, and, engaging a motor launch by the simple but effective method -of shoving gold coin into the owner’s hand, were soon aboard the _Air -Monarch_. - -“How about it?” gasped Tom to the workmen. “Can we start?” - -“At once, if there is need!” answered Peltok. - -“There’s the greatest need in the world if I’m going to win the race!” -cried Tom. - -A minute later the _Air Monarch_ rose. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - ACROSS THE CONTINENT - - -“WELL, Tom, what do you make it?” - -The young inventor and his chum were in the snug cabin of the _Air -Monarch_ which was speeding over the last few hundred miles of the -Pacific that lay between her and the Golden Gate. Tom was poring over a -chart and making some calculations. - -“If we reach San Francisco by night, and we ought to do it at the rate -we’re traveling, we’ll have used up nearly eighteen days of the twenty.” - -“That leaves you one day to cross the continent,” remarked Ned. - -“Correct,” agreed Tom. “But we’ll have to stop in Frisco to take on more -gas and oil. After that we’ll have a straight-away run to New York.” - -“And victory,” added Ned. - -“That remains to be seen,” replied Tom. - -It was the day after the sensational escape in Honolulu from the -trumped-up charges of Kilborn. The _Air Monarch_ had got away to a -flying start, though what Kilborn had done remained a matter of -conjecture. Doubtless, tricked by Tom’s quick action, the _Red Arrow_ -pilot had also completed his repairs and was racing after his most -dangerous rival. - -“With good luck, no more delays and fair feather, we’ll just about do -it,” Tom said, putting away the maps and calculating tables and -instruments as they neared San Francisco. They had arranged for a -landing field there—the same field that Tom used for his _Airline -Express_, though he did not now consider using that machine, since the -_Air Monarch_ was doing so well. - -It was evening when the great craft, going fast, passed the Golden Gate -amid a salvo of whistles from all sorts of craft in the harbor, for -scouting aeroplanes had discovered Tom’s approach and heralded it. Out -to the landing field without mishap the _Air Monarch_ soared, and there -willing hands assisted in making a few slight repairs and in filling the -gas and oil tanks. - -“We’d like to have you address our Chamber of Commerce,” said the -president of it to Tom, as that young man was nervously walking about -his craft. “We have our annual meeting this evening and——” - -“Sorry,” cut in Tom, with a smile. “But I’m going to hop off at once. I -have only about a day left of my allowance, and there’s too much at -stake to take any time here. If I win this race I may fly back and give -you a talk.” - -“I wish you would,” said the president. - -At last everything was in readiness, and while police were clearing the -field that Tom might have a runway to get a start for taking the air, -there echoed above the _Air Monarch_ a throbbing and beating in the -night. It was a sound the nature of which Tom and Ned knew only too -well. - -“There goes the _Red Arrow_!” cried Tom, recognizing the peculiar throb -of his rival’s propellers. “He’s ahead of us!” - -In vain Ned sought to pierce the blackness above for a sight of the -other machine. He could see a dim blur of light, and that was all. - -“Cast off! Let’s start!” cried Tom, and a moment later, amid shouts of -farewell and cries of good luck, the _Air Monarch_ started on the last -lap of the twenty-five-thousand-mile journey around the earth. - -“Think we can make it, Tom?” asked Ned. - -“We’re going to try,” was the answer. - -But as Tom, during the night that followed—the last night of their -flight—looked at the barometer, he shook his head a bit dubiously. - -“I’m afraid we’re going to run into a storm when we hit the Middle -West,” he said. - -That is just what happened. Through the night the _Air Monarch_ soared -on, crossing the Rockies and heading for the East. When dawn broke the -occupants of the craft found themselves navigating in the midst of a -swirling storm of wind, rain, and, at times, beating hail. - -“Some storm!” cried Ned, as the fierce wind careened the aircraft. “Will -it hold us back, Tom?” - -“It’s bound to, somewhat, but it isn’t as bad as the typhoon or the -hurricane.” - -There was an anxious look on the young inventor’s face, however, and Ned -guessed that it was caused as much by the thought that Kilborn in the -_Red Arrow_ was ahead of him as it was by the storm. The _Air Monarch_ -might beat the storm, but could she beat the rival plane? - -On and on raced Tom’s craft, until at last she was clear of the storm -which had done its best, but in vain, to hold her back or cripple her. - -“Pittsburgh!” shouted Ned, who was marking off the principal cities as -they flew over them. - -“Four hundred miles more to New York and victory!” echoed Tom. - -It was shortly after noon. A hasty meal had been served. In about two -hours more, if all went well, the race would be over. The twenty days -were not quite up. Tom Swift still had a chance to win the twenty -thousand dollars for Mr. Swift. Would he also win the prize money? - -Suddenly, through the mist in front, Ned caught sight of another plane, -traveling in the same direction as the _Air Monarch_. - -“Look, Tom!” the financial manager cried. - -Tom leveled a glass at the other craft. - -“It’s the _Red Arrow_!” he yelled. “And she’s limping. We’ve got a -chance to beat her! Turn on the super-gas. We’ve got just about enough -to finish the race!” - -In an instant the powerful new gas Tom had evolved was turned on, and at -once the improvement in the pace of the _Air Monarch_ was noted. Tom had -been saving his precious fuel for just such an emergency as this. He -gave the _Red Arrow_ a wide berth in passing her, lest perhaps Kilborn, -in his rage at seeing himself about to be beaten, might try to ram Tom’s -craft. Then the mist closed in again and it is probable that those on -the _Red Arrow_ did not know the _Air Monarch_ was passing, unless they -heard the throb of her propellers. - -On and on rushed Tom Swift and his friends. One hour passed. In less -than sixty minutes they would be in the neighborhood of New York City -and could glide out to the Long Island landing field. - -“If this mist would only let up!” complained Tom. “We may over run the -field in the fog!” - -Passing Pittsburgh and other cities, messages had been dropped, to tell -the committee in charge of the race the _Air Monarch’s_ progress and let -them know the approximate time she would arrive. He also hoped his -father, and perhaps Mary, would be on the field to greet him. - -Suddenly the mist cleared away and Ned, looking down, saw the tall and -jagged skyline of New York’s big buildings. - -“We’ve arrived, Tom!” he yelled. - -“Not quite yet! A few minutes more!” - -Tom steered with a clear vision now, out toward Long Island. The airship -had been sighted, and a din of whistled greetings arose from the harbor. - -“Stand by to land!” cried Tom a little later, as he glimpsed the field -he had left nearly three weeks before. A big crowd was with difficulty -kept out of the danger zone. - -“And the _Red Arrow_ isn’t in sight!” exulted Ned. - -Down to the ground floated the _Air Monarch_. Her wheels ran over the -sod and she came to a stop within a few feet of where she had taken off. -Cries and cheers greeted the returning voyagers. - -“Tom! Tom!” yelled Mr. Damon, rushing out of the crowd as Tom, Ned and -the others stepped from the plane. “You win! Bless my alarm clock, but -you win!” - -“What was our time?” asked Tom, as he greeted the eccentric man and then -noticed Mary coming toward him with her father and Mr. Swift. - -“Nineteen days, eleven hours, fifteen minutes, eleven seconds,” was the -answer of the official timekeeper. “I congratulate you, Mr. Swift. You -have won the hundred thousand dollar prize!” - -“And your father wins his bets!” echoed Mr. Trace who, with Mr. Burch, -had arrived in time to see the landing. “I didn’t believe it was -possible to circle the globe in less than twenty days.” - -“We had several narrow squeaks!” admitted Tom, as he paused to allow the -news reel men to make moving pictures of him. - -“Oh, Tom, I’m so glad you’re back!” murmured Mary. “And I guess Helen is -glad to see Ned, too,” she added, as Tom noticed his chum being greeted -by another pretty damsel. - -“Has anything been heard of any of the other contestants?” asked Tom -when his time had been officially set down. “How about the _Red Arrow_?” - -“Hasn’t been heard from,” some one said. “And most of the others gave up -soon after starting.” - -Just then a reporter came bursting into the crowd. - -“The _Red Arrow_ just crashed in New York harbor!” he cried. “She’s a -wreck!” - -“Too bad!” murmured Tom. “We didn’t get here any too soon,” he added to -Ned. “Whew, but I’m tired!” And well he might be, for the last part of -the trip had been a terrible strain. - -The _Air Monarch_ was wheeled into a hangar and left in charge of the -three mechanics while Tom and his friends, after a reception in New -York, made ready to go back to Shopton. - -Meanwhile further news came of the wrecking of the _Red Arrow_. Her -motors, worn by excessive strain, had collapsed just when Kilborn might -have given Tom a close finish, and the machine, a complete wreck, fell -into the water. Some of her crew were seriously hurt, and it was thought -her pilot would die. - -Under this impression Kilborn made a complete confession, admitting that -he had set Hussy and another man on not only to steal Tom’s secret if -possible, and, failing in that, to try to cripple Tom and disable the -_Air Monarch_. - -But all their evil plans came to naught. Tom did not press his charges, -and Hussy was released, but his employer, Kilborn, was discredited in -the eyes of every one and Tom, acclaimed a hero and a sport on all -sides, received the hundred thousand dollars. - -One of the first things he bought with the prize money was a fine -diamond pin for Mary. - -“Just a souvenir!” Tom explained. - -“Some souvenir!” murmured Ned. But then he did not need to be envious, -for he was given a large share of the prize money by Tom, and was able -to get a souvenir for Helen. - -Peltok, Hartman and Brinkley were also well rewarded for their part in -helping win the great race. - -“And I won a bit myself,” admitted Mr. Damon, when matters were being -talked over. “But bless my phonograph,” he said, “don’t tell my wife. -She doesn’t believe in making wagers. Only I’m glad you won, Tom!” - -“I’m a bit glad myself,” laughed the young inventor. - - THE END - - * * * * * - - - - - =This Isn’t All!= - - Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have - made in this book? - - Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures - and experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the - same author? - - On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, - you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at - the same store where you got this book. - - Don’t throw away the Wrapper - - _Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to - have. But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for - a complete catalog._ - - - - - - - THE TOM SWIFT SERIES - By VICTOR APPLETON - Author of “The Don Sturdy Series.” - - -Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a -bright, ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most -interesting kind of reading. - - TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTORCYCLE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTORBOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP - TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT - TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS - TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE - TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER - TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON - TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP - TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL - TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH - TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER - TOM SWIFT AND HIS CHEST OF SECRETS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRLINE EXPRESS - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - - - - TRANSCRIBER NOTES - -Misspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where multiple -spellings occur, majority use has been employed. - -Punctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer errors -occur. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM SWIFT CIRCLING THE -GLOBE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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