Tom Swift and His Motor-Boat | Page 5

Baggert, in a large house on the outskirts of the
town of Shopton, in New York State. Mr. Swift had acquired
considerable wealth from his many inventions and patents, but he did

not give up working out his ideas simply because he had plenty of
money. Tom followed in the footsteps of his parent and had already
taken out several patents.
Shortly before this story opens the youth had become possessed of a
motor-cycle in a peculiar fashion. As told in the first volume of this
series, entitled "Tom Swift and His Motor-cycle," Tom was riding to
the town of Mansburg on an errand for his father one day when he was
nearly run down by a motorcyclist. A little later the same motorcyclist,
who was a Mr. Wakefield Damon, of Waterfield, collided with a tree
near Tom's home and was severely cut and bruised, the machine being
broken. Tom and his father cared for the injured rider, and Mr. Damon,
who was an eccentric individual, was so disheartened by his attempts to
ride the motor-cycle that he sold it to Tom for fifty dollars, though it
had cost much more.
About the same time that Tom bought the motor-cycle a firm of
rascally lawyers, Smeak & Katch by name, had, in conjunction with
several men, made an attempt to get control of an invention of a turbine
motor perfected by Mr. Swift. The men, who were Ferguson Appleson,
Anson Morse, Wilson Featherton, alias Simpson, and Jake Burke, alias
Happy Harry, who sometimes disguised himself as a tramp, tried
several times to steal the model.
Their anxiety to get it was due to the fact that they had invested a large
sum in a turbine motor invented by another man, but their motor would
not work and they sought to steal Mr. Swift's. Tom was sent to Albany
on his motor-cycle to deliver the model and some valuable papers to
Mr. Crawford, of the law firm of Reid & Crawford, of Washington,
attorneys for Mr. Swift. Mr. Crawford had an errand in Albany and had
agreed to meet Tom there with the model.
But, on the way, Tom was attacked by the gang of unscrupulous men
and the model was stolen. He was assaulted and carried far away in an
automobile. In an attempt to capture the gang in a deserted mansion, in
the woods on the shore of Lake Carlopa, Tom was aided by Mr. Damon,
of whom he had purchased the motor-cycle. The men escaped, however,
and nothing could be done to punish them.

Tom was thinking of the exciting scenes he had passed through about a
month previous as he spun along the road leading to Lanton.
"I hope I don't meet Happy Harry or any of his gang today," mused the
lad as he turned on a little more power to enable his machine to mount
a hill. "I don't believe they'll attend the auction, though. It would be too
risky for them."
As Tom swung along at a rapid pace he heard, behind him, the puffing
of an automobile, with the muffler cut out. He turned and cast a hasty
glance behind.
"I hope that ain't Andy Foger or any of his cronies," he said to himself.
"He might try to run me down just for spite. He generally rushes along
with the muffler open so as to attract attention and make folks think he
has a racing car."
It was not Andy, however, as Tom saw a little later, as a man passed
him in a big touring car. Andy Foger, as my readers will recollect, was
a red-haired, squinty-eyed lad with plenty of money and not much else.
He and his cronies, including Sam Snedecker, nearly ran Tom down
one day, when the latter was on his bicycle, as told in the first volume
of this series. Andy had been off on a tour with his chums during the
time when Tom was having such strenuous adventures and had recently
returned.
"If I can only get that boat," mused Tom as he swung back into the
middle of the road after the auto had passed him, "I certainly will have
lots of fun. I'll make a week's tour of Lake Carlopa and take dad and
Ned Newton with me." Ned was Tom's most particular chum, but as
young Newton was employed in the Shopton bank, the lad did not have
much time for pleasure. Lake Carlopa was a large body of water, and it
would take a moderately powered boat several days to make a complete
circuit of the shore, so cut up into bays and inlets was it.
In about an hour Tom was at Lanton, and as he neared the home of Mr.
Hastings, which was on the shore of the lake, he