Tom Swift and His Giant Cannon | Page 6

There's a pair in the shop, but--"
"Heah dey be! Heah dey be!" cried Eradicate, as he produced a heavy
pair from his pocket. "I--I couldn't find de can-opener fo' Mrs. Baggert,
an' I jest got yo' pliers, Massa Tom. Oh, how glad I is dat I did. Here's
de pincers, Massa Peterson."
He handed them to the fortune-hunter, who came running back with the
rubber gloves. Mr. Damon was no more than half way to the power
house, which was quite a distance from the Swift homestead.
Meanwhile Tom's airship was slipping more and more, and a thick,
pungent smoke now surrounded it, coming from the burning insulation.
The sparks and electrical flames were worse than ever.
"Just a moment now, and I'll have you safe!" cried the fortune- hunter,
as he again mounted the ladder. Luckily the charged wire was near
enough to be reached by going nearly to the top of the ladder.
Holding the pincers in his rubber-gloved hands, the old man quickly
snipped the wire. There was a flash of sparks as the copper conductor
was severed, and then the shower of sparks about Tom's airship ceased.
In another second he had turned on full power, the propellers whizzed
with the quickness of light, and he rose in the air, off the shed roof, the
live wire no longer entangling him. Then he made a short circuit of the
work-shop yard, and came to the ground safely a little distance from the
balloon hangar.

"Saved! Tom is saved!" cried Mr. Swift, who had seen the act of Mr.
Peterson from a distance. "He saved my boy's life!"
"Thanks, Mr. Peterson!" exclaimed the young inventor, as he left his
seat and walked up to the fortune-hunter. "You certainly did me a good
turn then. It was touch and go! I couldn't have stayed there many
seconds longer. Next time I'll know better than to fly with a wireless
trailer over a live conductor," and he held out his hand to Mr. Peterson.
"I'm glad I could help you, Tom," spoke the other, warmly. "I was
afraid that if you had to wait until they shut off the power it would be
too late."
"It would--it would--er--I feel--I--"
Tom's voice trailed off into a whisper and he swayed on his feet.
"Cotch him!" cried Eradicate. "Cotch him! Massa Tom's hurt!" and
only just in time did Mr. Peterson clutch the young inventor in his arms.
For Tom, white of face, had fallen back in a dead faint.


CHAPTER II
"WE'LL TAKE A CHANCE!"
"Carry him into the house!" cried Mr. Swift, as he came running to
where Mr. Peterson was loosening Tom's collar.
"Git a doctor!" murmured Eradicate. "Call someone on de tellifoam!
Git fo' doctors!"
"We must get him into the house first," declared Mr. Damon, who,
seeing that Tom was off the shed roof, had stopped mid-way to the
powerhouse, and retraced his steps. "Let's carry him into the house.
Bless my pocketbook! but he must have been shocked worse than he

thought."
They lifted the inert form of our hero and walked toward the mansion
with him, Mrs. Baggert, the housekeeper, standing in the doorway in
dismay, uncertain what to do.
And while Tom is being cared for I will take just a moment to tell my
new readers something more about him and his inventions, as they have
been related in the previous books of this series.
The first volume was called "Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle," and
this machine was the means of his becoming acquainted with Mr.
Wakefield Damon, the odd gentleman who so often blessed things. On
his motor-cycle Tom had many adventures.
The lad was of an inventive mind, as was his father, and in the
succeeding books of the series, which you will find named in detail
elsewhere, I related how Tom got a motorboat, made an airship, and
later a submarine, in all of which craft he had strenuous times and
adventures.
His electric runabout was quite the fastest car on the road, and when he
sent his wonderful wireless message he saved himself and others from
Earthquake Island. He solved the secret of the diamond makers, and,
though he lost a fine balloon in the caves of ice, he soon had another air
craft--a regular sky-racer. His electric rifle saved a party from the red
pygmies in Elephant Land, and in his air glider he found the platinum
treasure. With his wizard camera, Tom took wonderful moving pictures,
and in the volume immediately preceding this present one, called "Tom
Swift and His Great Searchlight," I had the pleasure of telling you how
the lad captured the smugglers who were working against Uncle Sam
over the border.
Tom, as you will see, had, with the help of