Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone | Page 4

ON THE ROOF II. BAD NEWS III. TOM'S FAILURE IV.
RUN DOWN V. SHARP WORDS VI. A WARNING VII. SOFT
WORDS VIII. TOM IS BAFFLED IX. A GLEAM OF HOPE X.
MIDNIGHT VISITORS XI. THE AIRSHIP IS TAKEN XII. A
STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE XIII. THE TELEPHONE PICTURE
XIV. MAKING IMPROVEMENTS XV. THE AIRSHIP CLUE XVI.
SUCCESS XVII. THE MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE XVIII. ANOTHER
CALL XIX. THE BUZZING SOUND XX. SETTING THE TRAP
XXI. THE PHOTO TELEPHONE XXII. THE ESCAPE XXIII. ON
THE TRAIL XXIV. THE LONELY HOUSE XXV. THE AIRSHIP
CAPTURE

TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE
CHAPTER I

A MAN ON THE ROOF
"Tom, I don't believe it can be done!"
"But, Dad, I'm sure it can!"
Tom Swift looked over at his father, who was seated in an easy chair in
the library. The elderly gentleman--his hair was quite white
now--slowly shook his head, as he murmured again:
"It can't be done, Tom! It can't be done! I admit that you've made a lot
of wonderful things--things I never dreamed of--but this is too much.
To transmit pictures over a telephone wire, so that persons cannot only
see to whom they are talking, as well as hear them--well, to be frank
with you, Tom, I should be sorry to see you waste your time trying to
invent such a thing."
"I don't agree with you. Not only do I think it can be done, but I'm
going to do it. In fact, I've already started on it. As for wasting my time,
well, I haven't anything in particular to do, now that my giant cannon
has been perfected, so I might as well be working on my new photo
telephone instead of sitting around idle."
"Yes, Tom, I agree with you there," said Mr. Swift. "Sitting around idle
isn't good for anyone--man or boy, young or old. So don't think I'm
finding fault because you're busy."
"It's only that I don't want to see you throw away your efforts, only to
be disappointed in the end. It can't be done, Tom, it can't be done," and
the aged inventor shook his head in pitying doubt.
Tom only smiled confidently, and went on:
"Well, Dad, all you'll have to do will be to wait and see. It isn't going to
be easy--I grant that. In fact, I've run up against more snags, the little
way I've gone so far, than I like to admit. But I'm going to stick at it,
and before this year is out I'll guarantee, Father, that you can be at one
end of the telephone wire, talking to me, at the other, and I'll see you

and you'll see me--if not as plainly as we see each other now, at least
plainly enough to make sure of each other."
Mr. Swift chuckled silently, gradually breaking into a louder laugh.
Instead of being angry, Tom only regarded his father with an indulgent
smile, and continued:
"All right, Dad. Go ahead, laugh!"
"Well, Tom, I'm not exactly laughing at YOU--it's more at the idea than
anything else. The idea of talking over a wire and, at the same time,
having light waves, as well as electrical waves passing on the same
conductor!"
"All right, Dad, go ahead and laugh. I don't mind," said Tom,
good-naturedly. "Folks laughed at Bell, when he said he could send a
human voice over a copper spring; but Bell went ahead and to-day we
can talk over a thousand miles by wire. That was the telephone."
"Folks laughed at Morse when he said he could send a message over
the wire. He let 'em laugh, but we have the telegraph. Folks laughed at
Edison, when he said he could take the human voice--or any other
sound--and fix it on a wax cylinder or a hard-rubber plate--but he did it,
and we have the phonograph. And folks laughed at Santos Dumont, at
the Wrights, and at all the other fellows, who said they could take a
heavier-than-air machine, and skim above the clouds like a bird; but we
do it--I've done it-- you've done it."
"Hold on, Tom!" protested Mr. Swift. "I give up! Don't rub it in on
your old dad. I admit that folks did laugh at those inventors, with their
seemingly impossible schemes, but they made good. And you've made
good lots of times where I thought you wouldn't. But just stop to
consider for a moment. This thing of sending a picture over a telephone
wire is totally out of the question, and entirely opposed to all the
principles of science."
"What do I care for principles of science?" cried Tom, and he strode
about the room so rapidly that Eradicate, the old colored servant, who

came in with the mail, skipped out of the library with the remark:
"Deed, an' Massa