Tom Swift and His Airship | Page 3

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Scanned and OCR'd by Tom Szolyga

Tom Swift and His Airship
by Victor Appleton

Contents
I - An Explosion II - Ned Sees Mysterious Men III - Whitewashed IV - A Trial Trip V - Colliding With A Tower VI - Getting Off The Roof VII - Andy Tries A Trick VIII - Winning a Prize IX - The Runaway Auto X - A Bag of Tools XI - The "Red Cloud" Departs XII - Some Startling News XIII - Mr. Damon in Danger XIV - Andy Gives the Clue XV - Fired Upon XVI - Over a Fiery Furnace XVII - "Wanted -- For Robbery!" XVIII - Back for Vindication XIX - Wrecked XX - Tom Gets a Clue XXI - On the Trail XXII - The Sheriff on Board XXIII - On To the Camp XXIV - The Raid XXV - Andy Gets His Reward
Chapter 1
- An Explosion

"Are you all ready, Tom?"
"All ready, Mr. Sharp," replied a young man, who was stationed near some complicated apparatus, while the questioner, a dark man, with a nervous manner, leaned over a large tank.
"I'm going to turn on the gas now," went on the man. "Look out for yourself. I'm not sure what may happen."
"Neither am I, but I'm ready for it. If it does explode it can't do much damage."
"Oh, I hope it doesn't explode. We've had so much trouble with the airship, I trust nothing goes wrong now."
"Well, turn, on the gas, Mr. Sharp," advised Tom Swift. "I'll watch the pressure gauge, and, if it goes too high, I'll warn you, and you can shut it off."
The man nodded, and, with a small wrench in his hand, went to one end of the tank. The youth, looking anxiously at him, turned his gaze now and then toward a gauge, somewhat like those on steam boilers, which gauge was attached to an aluminum, cigar-shaped affair, about five feet long.
Presently there was a hissing sound in the small frame building where the two were conducting an experiment which meant much to them. The hissing grew louder.
"Be ready to jump," advised Mr. Sharp.
"I will," answered the lad. "But the pressure is going up very slowly. Maybe you'd better turn on more gas."
"I will. Here she goes! Look out now. You can't tell what is going to happen."
With a sudden hiss, as the powerful gas, under pressure, passed from the tank, through the pipes, and into the aluminum container, the hand on the gauge swept past figure after figure on the dial.
"Shut it off!" cried Tom quickly. "It's coming too fast! Shut her off!"
The man sprang to obey the