“There’s a barbed-wire fence,” observed Ned, as he pointed to one off some distance across the field. “Why don’t you try demolishing that?”
“Oh, it would be too easy! Besides, I don’t want the bother of putting it up again. When I make the barbed-wire test I want some set up on heavy posts, and with many strands, as it is in Flanders. Even that won’t stop the tank, but I’m anxious to see how she breaks up the wire and supports—just what sort of a breach she makes. But I have a different plan in mind now.
“I’m going to try to find a wooden building we can charge as we did the masonry factory. I want to smash up a barn, and I’ll have to pick out an old one for choice, for in these war days we must conserve all we can, even old barns.”
“What’s the idea of using a barn, Tom?”
“Well, I want to test the tank under all sorts of conditions—the same conditions she’ll meet with on the Western front. We’ve proved that a brick and stone factory is no obstacle.”
“Then how could a flimsy wooden barn be?”
“Well, that’s just it. I don’t think that it will, but it may be that a barn when smashed will get tangled up in the endless steel belts, and clog them so they’ll jam. That’s the reason I want to try a wooden structure next.”
“Do you know where to find one?”
“Yes; about a mile from here is one I’ve had my eyes on ever since I began constructing the tank. I don’t know who owns it, but it’s such a ramshackle affair that he can’t object to having it knocked into kindling wood for him. If he does holler, I can pay him for the damage done. So now for a barn, Ned, unless you’re getting tired and want to go back?”
“I should say not! Speaking of barns, I’m with you till the cows come home! Want any more machine gun work?”
“No, I guess not. This barn isn’t particularly isolated, and the shooting might scare horses and cattle. We can smash things up without the guns.”
The tank was going on smoothly when suddenly there was a lurch to one side, and the great machine quickly swung about in a circle.
“Hello!” cried Ned. “What’s up now? Some new stunt?”
“Must be something wrong,” answered the young inventor. “One of the belts has stopped working. That’s why we’re going in a circle.”
He shut off the power and hastened down to the motor room. There he found his men gathered about one of the machines.
“What’s wrong?” asked Tom quickly.
“Just a little accident,” replied the head machinist. “One of the boys dropped his monkey wrench and it smashed some spark plugs. That caused a short circuit and the left hand motor went out of business. We’ll have her fixed in a jiffy.”
Tom looked relieved, and the machinist was as good as his word. In a few minutes the tank was moving forward again. It crossed out to the road, to the great astonishment of some farmers, and the fright of their horses, and then Tom once more swung her into the fields.
“There’s the old barn I spoke of,” he remarked to Ned. “It’s almost as bad a ruin as the factory was. But we’ll have a go at it.”
“Going to smash it?” asked Ned.
“I’m going right through it!” Tom cried
CHAPTER XVII
VEILED THREATS
Like some prehistoric monster about to charge down upon another of its kind, Tank A, under the guidance of Tom Swift, reeled and bumped her way over the uneven fields toward the old barn. Within the monster of steel and iron were raucous noises: the clang and clatter of the powerful gasolene motors; the rattle of the wheels and gears; all making so much noise that, in the engine room proper, not a word could be heard. Every order had to be given by signs, and Tom sent his electric signals from the conning tower in the same way. When running at full speed, it was almost impossible, even in the tower, which was some distance removed from the engine room, to hear voices unless the words were shouted.
“Why don’t you go at it?” cried Ned to his “friend, who was peering through the observation slot in the tower.”
“I’m getting in good position,” Tom answered. “Or rather, the worst position I can find. I want to give the tank a good try-out, and I’m going at the barn on the assumption that this is in enemy country and that I can’t pick and choose my advance.
“So I want to come up through that gully, and go at the barn from the long way. That will be the worst possible way I could do it, and if old Tank A stands the gaff I’ll know she’s a little bit nearer all right.”
“I think she’s all right as she is!” asserted Ned in a yell, for just then Tom signaled for more speed, and the consequent increase in the rattling and banging noises made it correspondingly difficult for talk to be heard.
The big machine now tipped into the little gully spoken of by Tom. This meant a dip downward, and then a climb out again and an attack on the barn going uphill and at an angle. But, as the young inventor had said, it would make a severe test and that was what he wanted to give his ponderous machine.
Ned grasped one of the safety rings, as, with a reel to one side, almost as if it were going to capsize, the tank rumbled on. Tom cast a half-amused smile at his chum, and then threw over the guiding lever.
The tank rolled down into the gully. It was rough and filled with stones and boulders, some of considerable size. But Tank A made less than nothing even of the largest rocks. Some she crushed beneath her steel belts. Others she simply “walked” over, smashing them down into the soil.
Now the big machine reached the bottom of the gulch and started up the sides, which, though not as steep as the trench in which she had capsized, still were not easy going.
“Now for it!” cried Tom, as he signaled for full speed.
Up climbed the tank. Now she was halfway. A moment later, and she was at the top, and then a forward careening motion told that she had passed over the summit and was ready for the attack proper.
Ned gave a quick glance through the slot nearest him. He had a glimpse of the barn, and then he saw something else. This was the sight of a man running away from the dilapidated structure—a man who glanced toward the tank with a face that showed great fright.
“Stop! Stop!” yelled Ned. “There may be folks in there, Tom! I just saw a man run out!”
“All right!” Tom cried, though Ned could hardly hear him. “Tell me when we get on the other side! We’re going through now!”
“But,” shouted Ned, “don’t you understand? I saw a man come out of there! Maybe there’s more inside! Wait, Tom, and—”
But it was too late. The next instant there was a smashing, grinding, splintering crash, a noise as of a thunder-clap, and Tank A fairly ate her way through the old barn as a rat might eat his way into a soft cheese, only infinitely more quickly.
On and on and through and through went the tank, knocking beams, boards, rafters and timbers hither and thither. Minding not at all the weight of great beams on her back, caring nothing for those that got in the way of her steel belts, heeding not the wall of wood that reared itself before her in a barrier of splinters and slivers, Tank A went on and on until finally, with another grinding crash, as she smashed her way through the farthermost wall, the great engine of war emerged on the other side and came panting into the field, dragging with her a part of the structure clinging to her steel sides.
“Well,” cried Tom, with a laugh, as he signaled for the power to be shut off, thereby making it possible for ordinary conversation to be heard, “I guess we didn’t do a thing to that barn!”
“Not much left of it, for a fact, Tom,” agreed Ned, as he looked through the after observation slots at the ruin in the rear. “But didn’t you hear what I was saying?”
“I heard you yelling something to me, but I was too anxious to go at it as fast as I could. I didn’t want to stop then. What was the trouble?”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, Tom—there may be trouble. Just before you tackled the barn for a knockdown, instead of a touchdown, as we might say, I saw
a man running out of it. I thought if there was one there, perhaps there might be more. That’s why I yelled to you.”
“A man running from the old barn!” cried Tom. “Whew!” he whistled. “I wish I had seen him. But, Ned, if one ran out of harm’s way, any others who might possibly be in there would do the same thing, wouldn’t they?”
“I hope so,” returned Ned doubtfully.
“Great Scott!” cried Tom, as the possibility was borne home to him. “If anything has happened—”
He sprang for the door of the tower and threw over the catch, springing out, followed by Ned. From the engine room of the armored tank the men came, smiles of gratification on their faces.
“We certainly busted her wide open, Mr. Swift!” called the chief mechanician.
“Yes,” assented the young inventor; but there was not as much gratification in his voice as there should have been. “There isn’t much of a barn left, but Ned thinks he saw some one run out, and if there was one man there may have been more. We’d better have a look around, I guess.”
The engineering force exchanged glances. Then Hank Baldwin, who was in charge of the motors, said:
“Well, if there was anybody in that barn when we chewed her up I wouldn’t give much for his hide, German or not.”
“Let us hope no one was in there,” murmured Tom.
They turned to go back to the demolished structure, fear and worry in their hearts. No more complete ruin could be imagined. If a cyclone had swept over the barn it could not have more certainly leveled it. And, not only was it leveled, crushed down in the center by the great weight of the tank, but the boards and beams were broken into small pieces. Parts of them clung in long, grotesque splinters to the endless steel belts.
“I don’t see how we’re going to find anybody if he’s in there,” remarked Hank.
“We’ll have to,” insisted Tom. “We can look about and call. If any one is there he may have been off to one side or to one end, and be protected under the debris. I wish I had heard you call, Ned.”
“I wish you had, Tom. I yelled for all I was worth.”
“I know you did. I was too eager to go on, and, at the same time, I really couldn’t stop well on that hill. I had to keep on going. Well, now to learn the worst!”
They walked back toward the demolished barn. But they had not reached it when from around the corner swung a big automobile. In it were several men, but chief, in vision at least, among them, was a burly farmer who had a long, old-fashioned gun in his hands. On his bearded face was a grim look as he leaped out before the machine had fairly stopped, and called:
“Hold on, there! I guess you’ve done damage enough! Now you can pay for it or take the consequences!” And he motioned to Tom, Ned, and the others to halt.
CHAPTER XVIII
READY FOR FRANCE
Such was the reaction following the crashing through of the barn, coupled with the sudden appearance of the men in the automobile and the threat of the farmer, that, for the moment, Tom, Ned, or their companions from the tank could say nothing. They just stood staring at the farmer with the gun, while he grimly regarded them. It was Tom who spoke first.
“What’s the idea?” asked the young inventor. “Why don’t you want us to look through the ruins?”
“You’ll learn soon enough!” was the grim answer.
But Tom was not to be put off with undecided talk.
“If there’s been an accident,” he said, “we’re sorry for it. But delay may be dangerous. If some one is hurt—”
“You’ll be hurt, if I have my way about it!” snapped the farmer, “and hurt in a place where it always tells. I mean your pocketbook! That’s the kind of a man I am—practical.”
“He means if we’ve killed or injured any one we’ll have to pay damages,” whispered Ned to Tom. “But don’t agree to anything until you see your lawyer. That’s a hot one, though, trying to claim damages before he knows who’s hurt!”
“I’ve got to find out more about this,” Tom answered. He started to walk on.
“No you don’t!” cried the farmer, with a snarl. “As I said, you folks has done damage enough with your threshing machine, or whatever you call it. Now you’ve got to pay!”
“We are willing to,” said Tom, as courteously as he could. “But first we want to know who has been hurt, or possibly killed. Don’t you think it best to get them to a doctor, and then talk about money damages later?”
“Doctor? Hurt?” cried the farmer, the other men in the auto saying nothing. “Who said anything about that?”
“I thought,” began Tom, “that you—”
“I’m talkin’ about damages to my barn!” cried the farmer. “You had no right to go smashing it up this way, and you’ve got to pay for it, or my name ain’t Amos Kanker!”
“Oh!” and there was great relief in Tom’s voice. “Then we haven’t killed any one?”
“I don’t know what you’ve done,” answered the farmer, and his voice was not a pleasant one. “I’m sure I can’t keep track of all your ructions. All I know is that you’ve ruined my barn, and you’ve got to pay for it, and pay good, too!”
“For that old ramshackle?” cried Ned.
“Hush!” begged Tom, in a low voice. “I’m willing to pay, Ned, for the sake of having proved what my tank could do. I’m only too glad to learn no one was hurt. Was there?” he asked, turning to the farmer.
“Was there what?”
“Was there anybody in your barn?”
“Not as I knows on,” was the grouchy answer. “A man who saw your machine coming thought she was headed for my building, and he run and told me. Then some friends of mine brought me here in their machine. I tell you I’ve got all the evidence I need ag’in you, an’ I’m going to have damages! That barn was worth three thousand dollars if it was worth a cent, and—”
“This matter can easily be settled,” said Tom, trying to keep his temper. “My name is Swift, and—”
“Don’t get swift with me, that’s all I ask!” and the farmer laughed grimly at his clumsy joke.
“I’ll do whatever is right,” Tom said, with dignity. “I live over near Shopton, and if you want to send your lawyer to see mine, why—”
“I don’t believe in lawyers!” broke in the farmer. “All they think of is to get what they can for theirselves. And I can do that myself. I’ll get it out of you before you leave, or, anyhow, before you take your contraption away,” and he glanced at the tank.
The same suspicion came at once to Tom and Ned, and the latter gave voice to it when he murmured in a low voice to his chum:
“This is a frame-up—a scheme, Tom. He doesn’t care a rap for the barn. It’s some of that Blakeson’s doing, to make trouble for you.”
“I believe you!” agreed Tom. “Now I know what to do.”
He looked toward the collapsed barn, as if making a mental computation of its value, and then turned toward the farmer.
“I’m very sorry,” said Tom, “if I have caused any trouble. I wanted to test my machine out on a wooden structure, and I picked your barn. I suppose I should have come to you first, but I did not want to waste time. I saw the barn was of practically no value.”
“No value!” broke in the farmer. “Well, I’ll show you, young man, that you can’t play fast and loose with other people’s property and not settle!”
“I’m perfectly willing to, Mr. Kanker. I could see that the barn was almost ready to fall, and I had already determined, before sending my tank through it, to pay the owner any reasonable sum. I am willing to do that now.”
“Well, of course if you’re so ready to do that,” replied the farmer, and Ned thought he caught a glance pass between him and one of the men in the auto, “if you’re ready to do that, just hand over three thousand dollars, and we’ll call it a day’s work. It’s really worth more, but I’ll say three thousand for a quick settlement.”
“Why, this barn,” cried Ned, “isn’t worth half that! I know somethin
g about real estate values, for our bank makes loans on farms around here—”
“Your bank ain’t made me no loans, young man!” snapped Mr. Kanker. “I don’t need none. My place is free and clear! And three thousand dollars is the price of my barn you’ve knocked to smithereens. If you don’t want to pay, I’ll find a way to make you. And I’ll hold you, or your tank, as you call it, security for my damages! You can take your choice about that.”
“You can’t hold us!” cried Tom. “Such things aren’t done here!”
“Well, then, I’ll hold your tank!” cried the farmer. “I guess it’ll sell for pretty nigh onto what you owe me, though what it’s good for I can’t see. So you pay me three thousand dollars or leave your machine here as security.”
“That’s the game!” whispered Ned. “There’s some plot here. They want to get possession of your tank, Tom, and they’ve seized on this chance to do it.”
“I believe you,” agreed the young inventor. “Well, they’ll find that two can play at that game. Mr. Kanker,” he went on, “it is out of the question to claim your barn is worth three thousand dollars.”
“Oh, is it?” sneered the farmer. “Well, I didn’t ask you to come here and make kindling wood of it! That was your doings, and you’ve had your fun out of it. Now you can pay the piper, and I’m here to make you pay!” And he brought the gun around in a menacing manner.
“He’s right, in a way,” said Ned to his chum. “We should have secured his permission first. He’s got us in a corner, and almost any jury of farmers around here, after they heard the story of the smashed barn, would give him heavy damages. It isn’t so much that the barn is worth that as it is his property rights that we’ve violated. A farmer’s barn is his castle, so to speak.”
“I guess you’re right,” agreed Tom, with a rather rueful face. “But I’m not going to hand him over three thousand dollars. In fact, I haven’t that much with me.”
“Oh, well, I don’t suppose he’d want it all in cash.”
But, it appeared, that was just what the farmer wanted. He went over all his arguments again, and it could not be denied that he had the law on his side. As he rightly said, Tom could not expect to go about the country, “smashing up barns and such like,” without being willing to pay.
The Tom Swift Megapack Page 266
