Tom Swift and His Aerial Warship | Page 3

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This Etext was prepared for Project Gutenberg by Anthony Matonac.

TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP or The Naval Terror of
the Seas
BY VICTOR APPLETON
CONTENTS
* I TOM IS PUZZLED
* II A FIRE ALARM
* III A DESPERATE BATTLE

* IV SUSPICIONS
* V A QUEER STRANGER
* VI THE AERIAL WARSHIP
* VII WARNINGS
* VIII A SUSPECTED PLOT
* IX THE RECOIL CHECK
* X THE NEW MEN
* XI A DAY OFF
* XII A NIGHT ALARM
* XIII THE CAPTURE
* XIV THE FIRST FLIGHT
* XV IN DANGER
* XVI TOM IS WORRIED
* XVII AN OCEAN FLIGHT
* XVIII IN A STORM
* XIX QUEER HAPPENINGS
* XX THE STOWAWAYS
* XXI PRISONERS
* XXII APPREHENSIONS
* XXIII ACROSS THE SEA

* XXIV THE LIGHTNING BOLT
* XXV FREEDOM

TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP
CHAPTER I
TOM IS PUZZLED
"What's the matter, Tom? You look rather blue!"
"Blue! Say, Ned, I'd turn red, green, yellow, or any other color of the
rainbow, if I thought it would help matters any."
"Whew!"
Ned Newton, the chum and companion of Tom Swift, gave vent to a
whistle of surprise, as he gazed at the young fellow sitting opposite him,
near a bench covered with strange-looking tools and machinery, while
blueprints and drawings were scattered about.
Ranged on the sides of the room were models of many queer craft,
most of them flying machines of one sort or another, while through the
open door that led into a large shed could be seen the outlines of a
speedy monoplane.
"As bad as that, eh, Tom?" went on Ned. "I thought something was up
when I first came in, but, if you'll excuse a second mention of the color
scheme, I should say it was blue--decidedly blue. You look as though
you had lost your last friend, and I want to assure you that if you do
feel that way, it's dead wrong. There's myself, for one, and I'm sure Mr.
Damon--"
"Bless my gasoline tank!" exclaimed Tom, with a laugh, in imitation of
the gentleman Ned Newton had mentioned, "I know that! I'm not
worrying over the loss of any friends."

"And there are Eradicate, and Koku, the giant, just to mention a couple
of others," went on Ned, with a smile.
"That's enough!" exclaimed Tom. "It isn't that, I tell you."
"Well, what is it then? Here I go and get a half-holiday off from the
bank, and just at the busiest time, too, to come and see you, and I find
you in a brown study, looking as blue as indigo, and maybe you're all
yellow inside from a bilious attack, for all I know."
"Quite a combination of colors," admitted Tom. "But it isn't what you
think. It's just that I'm puzzled, Ned."
"Puzzled?" and Ned raised his eyebrows to indicate how surprised he
was that anything should puzzle his friend.
"Yes, genuinely puzzled."
"Has anything gone wrong?" Ned asked. "No one is trying to take any
of your pet inventions away from you, is there?"
"No, not exactly that, though it is about one of my inventions I am
puzzled. I guess I haven't shown you my very latest; have I, Ned?"
"Well, I don't know, Tom. Time was when I could keep track of you
and your inventions, but that was in your early days, when you started
with a motorcycle and were glad enough to have a motorboat. But,
since you've taken to aerial navigation and submarine work, not to
mention one or two other lines of activity, I give up. I don't know
where to look next, Tom, for something new."
"Well, this isn't so very new," went on the young inventor, for Tom
Swift had designed and patented many new