CHAPTER V
THE EXPLOSION
Tom and Ned were so startled by the entrance of the excited man withhis cry of "Fire!" that the young inventor nearly dropped the tank ofliquid extinguisher he was helping to hoist into the aeroplane. Then,as he caught sight of his visitor, Tom exclaimed:
"Hello, Mr. Damon! We were wondering whether you'd be along to witnessour first experiment."
"Experiment, Tom Swift! Experiment! Bless my Latin grammar! but you'dmuch better be calling out the fire department to play on that blazedown in your meadow. What is it--your barns or one of your new shops?"
"Neither one, Mr. Damon," laughed Ned. "It's only a blaze that Koku andRad started."
"And the fire department is here," added Tom.
"Where?" inquired the eccentric man.
"Here," and Tom pointed to his airship--one of the smaller craft--intowhich the tank of chemicals had been hoisted.
"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "Something new, eh, Tom?" His eyes glistened.
"Yes. Fighting fires from the air. I got the idea after the fireworksfactory went up in smoke. Will you come along? There's plenty of room."
"I believe I will," assented Mr. Damon. It was not the first time, byany means, that he had gone aloft with Tom. "I happened to be comingover in my auto," he went on to explain, "when I happened to see thefire down in the meadow. I was afraid you didn't know about it."
"Oh, yes," replied Tom. "I had Rad and Koku light a big pile of packingboxes, to represent, as nearly as possible, on a small scale, a burningbuilding. I plan now to sail over it and drop the tins of chemicals.They are arranged to burst as they fall into the blaze, and I hope thecarbon dioxide set loose will blanket out the fire."
"Sounds interesting," commented Mr. Damon. "I'll go along."
The airship was wheeled out of the hangar and was soon ready for theflight. A big cloud of black vapor down in the meadow told Tom and Nedthat Koku and Eradicate had done their work well. The giant and thecolored man had poured oil over the wood to make a fierce blaze thatwould give Tom's new chemical combination a severe test.
A mechanic turned the propeller of the airship until there was anaccumulation of gas in the different cylinders. Then he stepped backwhile Tom threw on the switch. This was not one of the self-startingtypes, of which Tom possessed one or two.
"Contact!" cried Tom sharply, and the man stepped forward to give thebig blades a final turn that would start the motor. There was amuffled roar and then a steady staccato blending of explosions. Tomraced the motor while his men held the machine in place, and then,satisfied that all was well, the young inventor gave the word, and thecraft raced over the ground, to soar aloft a little later.
Tom, Ned and Mr. Damon could look down to the meadow where the bonfirewas blazing. A crowd had collected, but the heat of the blaze kept themat a good distance. Then, as many of the throng caught sight of theairship overhead, there was a new interest for them.
Tom had told Ned and Mr. Damon, before the trio had entered themachine, what he wanted them to do. This was to toss the chemicalsoverboard at the proper time. Of course in his perfected apparatus Tomhoped to have a device by which he could drop the fire extinguishingelements by a mere pressure of his finger or foot, as bombs werereleased from aircraft during the war. But this would serve for thetime being.
Nearer and nearer the blaze the airship approached until it was almostabove it. Tom had had some experience in bomb-dropping, and knew whento give the signal.
At last the signal came. Mr. Damon and Ned heaved over the side themetal containers of the powerful chemicals.
Down they went, unerring as an arrow, though on a slant, caused by theimpetus given them by the speed of the airship.
Tom and his friends leaned over the side of the machine to watch theeffect. They could see the chemicals strike the blaze, and it wasevident from the manner in which the fire died down that the containershad broken, as Tom intended they should to scatter their contents.
"Hurray!" cried Ned, forgetting that he could not be heard, for no headtelephones were used on this occasion and the roar of the motor woulddrown any human voice. "It's working, Tom!"
Truly the effect of the chemicals was seemingly to cause the fire to goout, but it was only a momentary dying down. Koku and Rad had made afierce, yet comparatively small, conflagration, and though for a timethe gas generated by Tom's mixture dampened the blaze, in a fewseconds--less than half a minute--the flames were shooting higher thanever.
Tom made a gesture of disappointment, and swung his craft around in asharp, banking turn. He had no more chemicals to drop, as he hadthought this supply would be sufficient. However, he had guessed badly.The fire burned on, doing no damage, of course, for that had beenthought of when it was started in the meadow.
"Something wrong!" declared the young inventor, when they were back atthe hangar, climbing out of the machine.
"What was it?" asked Ned.
"Didn't use the right kind of chemicals," Tom answered. "From the waythe flames shot up, you'd think I had poured oil on the blaze insteadof carbon dioxide."
"Bless my insurance policy, Tom!" cried Mr. Damon, "but I'd hate totrust to your apparatus if my house caught."
"Don't blame you," Tom assented. "But I'll do the trick yet! This isonly a starter!"
During the next two weeks the young inventor worked hard in hislaboratory, Mr. Swift sometimes helping him, but more often Koku andEradicate. Mr. Baxter had recovered sufficiently to leave the Swifthome. But though the chemist seemed well physically, his mind appearedto be brooding over his loss.
"If I could only get my secret formulae back!" he sighed, as he thankedTom for his kindness. "I'm sure Field and Melling have them. And Ibelieve they got them the night of the fireworks blaze; the scoundrels!"
"Well, if I can help you, please let me," begged Tom. And then hedismissed the matter from his mind in his anxiety to hit upon the rightchemical mixture for putting out fires from the air.
One afternoon, at the end of a week in which he had been busily andsteadily engaged on this work, Tom finally moved away from hislaboratory table with a sigh of relief, and, turning to Eradicate, whohad been helping him, exclaimed:
"Well, I think I have it now!"
"Good lan' ob massy, I hopes so!" exclaimed the colored man. "It sho'do smell bad enough, Massa Tom, to make any fire go an' run an' drownhisse'f! Whew-up! It's turrible stuff!"
"Yes, it isn't very pleasant," Tom agreed, with a smile. "Though I amgetting rather used to it. But when it's in a metal tube it won'tsmell, and I think it will put out any fire that ever started. We'llgive it a test now, Rad. Just take that flask of red stuff and pour itinto this one of yellow. I'll go out and light the bonfire, and we'llmake a small test."
Leaving Rad to mix some of the chemicals, a task the colored man hadoften done before, Tom went out into the yard near his laboratory tostart a blaze on which his new mixture could be tested.
He had not got far from the laboratory door when he felt a sudden jarand a rush of air, and then followed the dull boom of an explosion.Like an echo came the voice of Eradicate:
"Oh, Massa Tom, I'se blowed up! It done sploded right in mah face!"
Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters; Or, Battling with Flames from the Air Page 5
