Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters; Or, Battling with Flames from the Air

by Victor Appleton

  CHAPTER X

  ANOTHER ATTEMPT

  Koku managed to make Tom understand that the dye inventor was in themain office of the Swift plant talking to Tom's father. The younginventor sent Mary home in his electric runabout in company with NedNewton, who, fortunately, happened along just then, and hurried to hisoffice.

  "Oh, Tom, I'm glad you have arrived," said his father. "You rememberMr. Baxter, of course."

  "I should hope so," Tom answered, extending his hand. He noticed thatthe man whom he had helped save from the fireworks blaze was under thestress of some excitement.

  "I hope he hasn't been getting on dad's nerves," thought Tom, as hetook a seat. The elder Mr. Swift had been quite ill, and it was thoughtfor a time that he would have to give up helping Tom. But there hadbeen a turn for the better, and the aged inventor had again taken hisplace in the laboratory, though he was frail.

  "What's the trouble now?" asked Tom. "At least I assume there has beensome trouble," he went on. "If I am wrong--"

  "No, you are right, unfortunately," said Mr. Baxter gloomily. "Thetrouble is that everything I do is a failure. Up to a little while agoI thought I might succeed, in spite of Field and Melling's theft of theformulae from me. I made a purple dye the other day, and tested ittoday. It was a miserable failure, and it got on my nerves. I came tosee if you could help me."

  "In what way?" asked Tom, wondering whether or not he had best tell Mr.Baxter what he had overheard at the Inn.

  "Well, I need better laboratory facilities," the man went on. "I knowyou have been very kind to me, Mr. Swift, and it seems like animposition to ask for more. But I need a different lot of chemicals,and they cost money. I also need some different apparatus. You have itin your big laboratory. That wouldn't cost you anything. But of courseto go out and buy what I need--"

  "Oh I guess we can stand that, can't we, Dad?" asked Tom, with a genialsmile. "You may have free access to our big laboratory, Mr. Baxter, andI'll see that you get what chemicals you need."

  "Oh, thank you!" exclaimed the inventor. "Now I believe I shall succeedin spite of those rascals. Just think, Mr. Swift! They have started abig new dye factory."

  "So I have heard," replied Tom.

  "And I'm almost sure they're using the secret formulae they stole fromme!" exclaimed Mr. Baxter. "But I'll get the best of them yet! I'llinvent a better dye than they ever can, even if they use the secretsthe old Frenchman gave me. All I need is a better place to work and allthe chemicals at my disposal."

  "Then we'll try to help you," offered Tom.

  "And if I can do anything let me know," put in Mr. Swift. "I shall beglad to get in the harness again, Tom!" he added.

  "Well, if you're so anxious to work, Dad, why not give me a hand withmy fire extinguisher chemical?" asked Tom. "I haven't been able to hiton the solution, somehow or other."

  "Perhaps I may be able to give you a hint or two after I get settleddown," suggested Mr. Baxter.

  "I shall be glad of any assistance you can give," replied Tom Swift."And now I'm going to start right in. Dad, you can make thearrangements for Mr. Baxter to use our big laboratory. And let him havecredit for any chemicals he needs. Have them put on my bill, for I ambuying a lot myself."

  "I'll never forget this," said Mr. Baxter, and there were tears in hiseyes as he shook hands with Tom, who tried to make light of hisgenerous act.

  Tom, after the wrecking of his laboratory, in which accident poorEradicate was injured, had built himself another--two others, in fact,after having shared Mr. Baxter's temporary one for a time. Tom put upthe most completely equipped laboratory that could be devised, and healso erected a smaller one for his own personal use, the main one beingat the disposal of his father and the various heads of the differentdepartments of the Shopton plant.

  The little conference broke up, and Tom was on his way to his ownspecial private laboratory when there came the sound of some excitementin the corridor outside and Mr. Damon burst in.

  "Bless my accident policy, Tom! what's this I hear?" he asked, all in afluster.

  "I'm sure I don't know," answered the young inventor, with a smile."What about?"

  "About you and Mary Nestor being killed!" burst out Mr. Damon. "Iheard you fell in the aeroplane and were both dashed to pieces!"

  "If you can believe the evidence of your own eyes, I'm far from beingin that state," laughed Tom. "And as for Mary, she just left here withNed Newton."

  "Thank goodness!" sighed Mr. Damon, sinking into a chair. "Bless myelevator! I rushed over as soon as I heard the news, and I was almostafraid to come in. I'm so glad it didn't happen!"

  "No gladder than I," said Tom. "We had to make a forced landing, thatwas all," and he made as light of the incident as possible when he sawthe look of terror in his father's eyes.

  "Some people in Waterford saw you going down," went on Mr. Damon, "andthey told me."

  "It was a false alarm," replied Tom. "And now, Mr. Damon, if you wantto smell some perfumes come with me."

  "Are you going into that line, Tom?" asked the eccentric man. "Blessmy handkerchief, my wife will be glad of that!"

  "I mean I'm going to experiment some more with fire-extinguishingchemicals," laughed the young inventor. "If you want to--"

  "Bless my gas mask, I should say not!" cried Mr. Damon. "I don't seehow you stand those odors, Tom Swift."

  "Guess I'm used to 'em," was the answer. And then, leaving his fatherto entertain Mr. Damon and to make arrangements for Mr. Baxter's use ofthe main laboratory, he betook himself to his own private quarters.

  The next week or so was a busy time for Tom; so busy, in fact, that hehad little chance to see Mr. Baxter. All he knew was that theunfortunate man was also laboring in his own line, and Tom wished himsuccess. He knew that if the man made any discoveries that would helpwith the fire-extinguishing fluid he would report, as he had promised.

  "Well, Tom, how goes it?" asked Ned one day when he came over to callon his chum. "Are you ready to accept contracts for putting outskyscraper blazes in all big cities?"

  "Not yet," was the answer. "But I'm going to make another attempt, Ned."

  "You mean another experiment?"

  "Yes, I have evolved a new combination of chemicals, using something ofthe carbonate idea as a basis. I found that I couldn't get away fromthat, much as I wanted to. But my application is entirely new, at leastI hope it will prove so."

  "When are you going to try it?" asked Ned.

  "Right away. All I have to do is to put the chemicals in the metaltank."

  "Then I'd better get my leather suit on," remarked Ned, starting totake off his street coat. Tom kept for his chum a full outfit of flyinggarments, one suit being electrically heated.

  "Oh, we aren't going up in any airship," Tom said.

  "Why, I thought you were going to test your aerial fire fightingdingus!" exclaimed Ned.

  "So I am. But I want to stay on the ground and watch the effect on theblaze as the tank bursts and scatters the chemical fluid."

  "Then you want me, and perhaps Mr. Damon to take the stuff up in themachine? Excuse me. I don't believe I care to run an airship myself."

  "No," went on Tom, "there isn't any question of an airship this time.No one is going up. Come on out into the yard and I'll show you."

  Ned Newton followed his chum out into the big yard near one of theshops. Erected in it, and evidently a new structure, was a large woodenscaffold in square tower shape with a long overhanging arm and aplatform on the extremity. Beneath it was a pit dug in the earth, andin this pit, which was directly under the outstanding arm of the tower,was a pile of wood and shavings, oil-soaked.

  "Oh, I see the game," remarked Ned. "You're going to drop the stufffrom this height instead of doing it from an airship."

  "Yes," Tom answered. "There will be time enough to go on with theairship end of it after I get the right combination of chemicals. Andby having a metal container with the stuff in dropped from this framework, I can station myself as near the bur
ning pit as I can get andwatch what happens."

  "It's a good idea," decided Ned. "I wonder you didn't try that before."

  "Mr. Baxter suggested it," replied Tom. "That helpful idea more thanpays me for what I have done for him. So now, if you're ready, I'd liketo have you watch with me and make some notes, one of us on one side ofthe pit, and one on the other. There are always two sides to a fire,the leeward and the windward, and I want to see how my chemicals act inboth positions."

  "I'm with you," said Ned. "Who's going to drop the stuff--Koku?"

  "No, he is a bit too heavy for the framework, which I had put up in ahurry. I'd have Rad do it, but he's out of the game."

  "Poor old Rad!" murmured Ned. "Do you think he'll ever get better, Tom?"

  "I don't know," sighed the young inventor. "All I can do is to hope. Heis very patient, and Koku is devoted to him. All their littlebickerings and squabbles seem to have been forgotten."

  Tom called some of his workmen, some of them to start the blaze ofinflammable material in the pit, while one climbed up to the top of thetower of scantlings and made his way out on the extended arm, wherethere was a little platform for him to stand until it was time to dropthe chemicals.

  "Light her up!" cried Tom Swift, and a match was thrown in among theoiled wood. In an instant a fierce blaze shot up, as hot, inproportion, as would come from any burning building.

  For the second time Tom was about to make a test on a fairly largescale of his experimental extinguisher mixture.

  "All ready up there?" he called to his helper perched high in the air.

  "All ready!" came back the answer above the roar and crackle of theflames that made Tom and Ned step back.

  Would success or failure attend the young inventor's project?