Tom Swift and His Airship | Page 7

as a
tramp, and Tod Boreck, alias Murdock. These men knocked Tom
unconscious, stole the valuable model and some papers, and carried the
youth away in their automobile.
Later the young inventor, following a clue given him by Eradicate
Sampson, an aged colored man, who, with his mule, Boomerang, went
about the country doing odd jobs, got on the trail of the thieves in a
deserted mansion in the woods at the upper end of the lake. Our hero,
with the aid of Mr. Damon, and some friends of the latter, raided the
old house, but the men escaped.
In the second book of the series, called "Tom Swift and His Motor-
Boat," there was related the doings of the lad, his father and his chum,
Ned Newton, on Lake Carlopa. Tom bought at auction, a motor-boat
the thieves had stolen and damaged, and, fixing it up, made a speedy
craft of it so speedy, in fact that it beat the racing-boat Red
Streak-owned by Andy Foger. But Tom did more than race in his boat.
He took his father on a tour for his health, and, during Mr. Swift's

absence from home, the gang of bad men stole some of the inventor's
machinery. Tom set out after them in his motor boat, but the scoundrels
even managed to steal that, hoping to get possession of a peculiar and
mysterious treasure in it, and Tom had considerable trouble.
Among other things he did when he had his craft, was to aid a Miss
Mary Nestor, who, in her cousin's small boat, the Dot, was having
trouble with the engine, and you shall hear more of Miss Nestor
presently, for she and Tom became quite friendly. Events so shaped
themselves that Andy Foger was glad to loan Tom the Red Streak in
which to search for the stolen Arrow, and it was in the later craft that
Tom, his father and Ned Newton had a most thrilling adventure.
They were on their way down the lake when, in the air overhead they
saw a balloon on fire, with a man clinging to the trapeze. They
managed to save the fellow's life, after a strenuous endeavor. The
balloonist, John Sharp, was destined to play quite a part in Tom's life.
Mr. Sharp was more than an aeronaut-he was the inventor of an airship-
that is, he had plans drawn for the more important parts, but he had
struck a "snag of clouds," as he expressed it, and could not make the
machine work. His falling in with Mr. Swift and his son seemed
providential, for Tom and his father were at once interested in the
project for navigating the upper air. They began a study of Mr. Sharp's
plans, and the balloonist was now in a fair way to have the difficulty
solved.
His airship was, primarily an aeroplane, but with a sustaining
aluminum container, shaped like a cigar, and filled with a secret gas,
made partly of hydrogen, being very light and powerful. It was testing
the effect of this gas on a small model of the aluminum container that
the explosion, told of in the first chapter, occurred. In fact it was only
one of several explosions, but, as Tom said, all the while they were
eliminating certain difficulties, until now the airship seemed almost a
finished thing. But a few more details remained to be worked out, and
Mr. Swift and his son felt that they could master these.
So it was with a feeling of no little elation, that the young inventor

followed Mr. Sharp into the shop. The balloonist, it may be explained,
had been invited to live with the Swifts pending the completion of the
airship.
"Do you think we'll get on the right track if we put the needle valve
in?" asked Tom, as he noted with satisfaction that the damage from the
explosion was not great.
"I'm sure we will," answered the aeronaut. "Now let's make another
model container, and try the gas again."
They set to work, with Mr. Swift helping them occasionally, and Garret
Jackson, the engineer, lending a hand whenever he was needed. All that
afternoon work on the airship progressed. The joint inventors of it
wanted to be sure that the sustaining gas bag, or aluminum container,
would do its work properly, as this would hold them in the air, and
prevent accidents, in case of a stoppage of the engine or propellers.
The aeroplane part of the airship was all but finished, and the motor, a
powerful machine, of new design, built by Mr. Swift, was ready to be
installed.
All that afternoon Tom, his father and Mr. Sharp labored in the shop.
As it grew dusk there sounded from the house the ringing of a bell.
"Supper time," remarked Tom,