Tom Swift and His Aerial Warship | Page 9

giant to get out another line of hose.
"I wonder what Tom is going to do?" mused Ned, as he neared the big
shed he and the others had left on the alarm of fire.
Tom, himself, seemed in no doubt as to his procedure With one look at
the blazing red shed, as if to form an opinion as to how much longer it
could burn without getting entirely beyond control, Tom set off on a
run toward another large structure. Ned, glancing toward his chum,
observed:
"The dirigible shed! I wonder what his game is? Surely that can't be in
danger--it's too far off!"
Ned was right as to the last statement. The shed, where was housed a
great dirigible balloon Tom had made, but which he seldom used of
late, was sufficiently removed from the zone of fire to be out of danger.
Meanwhile several members of the fire-fighting force that had been
summoned from the various shops by the alarm, had made an effort to
save from the red shed some of the more valuable of the contents.
There were some machines in there, as well as explosives and
chemicals, in addition to the store of carbide.
But the fire was now too hot to enable much to be done in the way of
salvage. One or two small things were carried out from a little addition
to the main structure, and then the rescuers were driven back by the
heat of the flames, as well as by the rolling clouds of black smoke.
"Keep away!" warned Mr. Swift. "It will explode soon. Keep back!"
"That's right!" added Mr. Damon. "Bless my powder-horn! We may all
be going sky-high soon, and without aid from any of Tom Swift's
aeroplanes, either."
Warned by the aged inventor, the throng of men began slowly moving
away from the immediate neighborhood of the blazing shed. Though it

may seem to the reader that some time has elapsed since the first
sounding of the alarm, all that I have set down took place in a very
short period--hardly three minutes elapsing since Tom and the others
came rushing out of the aerial warship building.
Suddenly a cry arose from the crowd of men near the red shed. Ned,
who stood ready with several lines of hose, in charge of Koku,
Eradicate and others, to turn them on the airship shed, in case of need,
looked in the direction of the excited throng.
The young bank clerk saw a strange sight. From the top of the dirigible
balloon shed a long, black, cigar-shaped body arose, floating gradually
upward. The very roof of the shed slid back out of the way, as Tom
pressed the operating lever, and the dirigible was free to rise--as free as
though it had been in an open field.
"He's going up!" cried Ned in surprise. "Making an ascent at a time like
this, when he ought to stay here to fight the fire! What's gotten into
Tom, I'd like to know? I wonder if he can be--"
Ned did not finish his half-formed sentence. A dreadful thought came
into his mind. What if the sudden fire, and the threatened danger, as
well as the prospective loss that confronted Tom, had affected his
mind?
"It certainly looks so," mused Ned, as he saw the big balloon float free
from the shed. There was no doubt but that Tom was in it. He could be
seen standing within the pilot-house, operating the various wheels and
levers that controlled the ship of the air.
"What can he be up to?" marveled Tom. "Is he going to run away from
the fire?"
Koku, Eradicate and several others were attracted by the sight of the
great dirigible, now a considerable distance up in the air. Certainly it
looked as though Tom Swift were running away. Yet Ned knew his
chum better than that.

Then, as they watched, Ned and the others saw the direction of the
balloon change. She turned around in response to the influence of the
rudders and propellers, and was headed straight for the blazing shed,
but some distance above it.
"What can he be planning?" wondered Ned.
He did not have long to wait to find out.
An instant later Tom's plan was made clear to his chum. He saw Tom
circling over the burning red shed, and then the bank clerk saw what
looked like fine rain dropping from the lower part of the balloon
straight into the flames.
"He can't be dousing water on from up above there," reasoned Ned.
"Pouring water on carbide from a height is just as bad as spurting it on
from a hose, though perhaps not so dangerous to the persons doing it.
But it can't be--"
"By Jove!" suddenly exclaimed Ned, as