CHAPTER IX
A ROBBER
"Loose the winches a little!" ordered Captain Britten sharply. "Theair-hoses are strained almost to the breaking point."
"Si," mumbled the engineer, easing off the brake a trifle.
"What's the trouble, in your opinion, Captain?" asked Tom.
The Engineer Eased the Brake]
"Hard to say, young fellow," came the worried reply. "What I'm afraid ofis that a huge octopus or some such monster has attacked the poordivers. Whatever it is, I fear it's the end for 'em, as there's notanother diver aboard and we can't haul the men up for fear of breakin'their air-lines."
"Have you another diving suit?" asked Tom rapidly. "I've hadconsiderable experience in undersea work and can't let those boys drownwithout trying to help 'em!"
"I'm Afraid It Is an Octopus!"]
"Can you do it, lad? Yes, I've a brand-new outfit aboard that's of thelatest type. But what'll I say to your father if anything happens toyou?"
"Dad wouldn't want me to stand back at a time like this," rejoined theyoung inventor. "I sent these men down and it's up to me to see they getback safely!"
"But, Tom!" cried Ned. "What of the octopus? You may be trapped too, andnot save Manuel and Alvarez either!"
"It's up to Me!"]
"You forget, or maybe you didn't know, that I brought my electric riflewith me. That'll polish off any devil-fish I'm likely to meet!"
"Well, at least let me go too!"
"Isn't but one suit," said Captain Britten. "Now, Tom Swift, if you'reready, here's the suit."
"All set," said the young inventor calmly. He began to remove his outerclothing. "Ned, please bring up my rifle."
By the time the young scientist had been helped into the massivelyarmored suit, Ned was back on deck carrying a peculiar-looking gun.Unlike other weapons, this one could discharge a bolt of electricitywhich would slay the largest animal or merely tickle a baby, accordingto the adjustment. Tom set it to its highest power.
They Helped Tom into the Suit]
"Good luck!" cried Ned as the heavy helmet was lowered into place.
Tom attempted to wave in reply but the gear was too weighty. Later, whenhe got into the depths, the buoyant effect of the water would enablehim to move more freely.
Ned Carried a Peculiar Gun]
Clutching his gun in his armored hand, Tom crept slowly on to theplatform suspended over the sea. As it was lowered to the water he got alast glimpse of Ned Newton's face staring down at him.
The young business manager paced the deck of the barge, at every stepreproaching himself for allowing his chum to undertake so hazardous aventure. As his watch told him that Tom must be nearing the bottom heseated himself by the switchboard, headphones clamped over his ears.
Tom Crept Slowly to the Platform]
"Ground floor," announced Tom at last. "Pretty dark down here. I'llswitch on my flash. Now--by George!"
Ned heard a muffled silence.
"Tom! Tom!" he shouted frantically. "What's happened? Are you allright?"
For nearly ten minutes Ned crouched by the instrument trying to get intouch with his friend. Just as he was giving up hope he heard a weakvoice gasp:
"Ground Floor," Announced Tom]
"Not so loud, old man! You've nearly broken my ear-drums. Everything'sunder control!"
"Hurray!" shouted Ned. "He's found 'em, Captain Britten!"
"Easy!" protested Tom from the depths. "Don't shout like that so nearthe phone! Yes, the men are O.K. A big fish had 'em--don't know what itwas, as I never heard of anything like it. But a couple of shots fromthe rifle killed it."
"A Big Fish Had 'Em!"]
"Tell Captain Britten to send down some heavy chains. We've found themeteorite!"
The now jubilant crew, who had feared their companions lost, scurriedabout. In a few minutes the stout chain was snaking its way down throughthe blue-green ocean.
"Seems to me they're taking a mighty long time about it," said Ned toCaptain Britten after an hour had passed with no word from the threedivers.
A Chain Snaked Its Way Down]
"You're right," agreed the other. "Working at that depth it's decidedlyunsafe to stay below so long. I'll warn Tom."
"Can't be done!" was that young man's decisive answer to the old salvageexpert's warning. "This is a tougher job than I thought, for the bottomof the stone seems to be sinking slowly. If we can't finish our job nowI'm afraid we'll lose our prize. But don't worry. We ought to be throughin another twenty minutes."
"This Is a Tough Job."]
The twenty minutes passed, and another like period was nearly runthrough before Tom announced himself and the other two ready to come tothe surface.
To avoid the dreaded "bends," an affliction suffered by divers drawn tothe surface too rapidly, they made their ascent as slowly as theirdescent. Thus it was that the great meteorite reached the top longbefore Tom and the two natives did.
They Made Their Ascent Slowly]
"What in the name o' tarnation did he want with that?" demandedCaptain Britten as the giant stone was lowered cautiously to the deck.Weighing many tons, it had tilted the barge far over to one side as thepowerful derrick drew it up. "It looks like some old rock a man mightpick up 'most any place."
"Oh, Tom Swift usually has a good reason for everything he does," smiledNed noncommittally. "I'm no scientist, but he is, so perhaps he wants toexperiment with this stone from another planet."
The Powerful Derrick Drew It Up]
At last the three divers reached the surface and were hauled rapidlyup to the deck of the barge. All of them appeared exhausted, but Tom'seyes expressed the greatest satisfaction when he saw the meteoritesafely aboard.
At his request the tug was put under way and the "Betsy B." started backto her home port in Key West. During the trip Tom managed to cut fromthe meteorite a fifty-pound chunk.
Tom Cut off a Large Chunk]
"I'm very eager to see if this stone contains more X," he explained toNed, "so I'm planning to fly straight home with this sample to analyzeit. I want you to put the rest of the meteorite on a fast freight trainand travel north with it."
The sun was setting when the dock at Key West was reached. Tom waited nolonger than was necessary to take on a supply of gasoline for the"Winged Arrow." He paid Captain Britten a generous fee and added a bonusfor the divers who had helped him. Then with a hasty good-bye theexcited young inventor roared off in the gathering darkness toward hisdistant home.
He Paid Captain Britten]
After an uneventful flight he reached Shopton at about half-past one thefollowing morning. The wheels of the plane had barely stopped turningwhen the tall figure of Koku came rushing out of the shadows of thehangar to greet his master.
Koku Came Rushing Out]
"You're right on the job!" exclaimed Tom, climbing stiffly from thecabin. "How is everything?"
"All thing good!" declared the giant, grinning to see the young inventorback. "Catchum skystone?"
"We caught it, all right. You might tote this sample of it over to thelab." Tom handed his servant the segment he had chiseled from the mainmass.
"Master knows 'bout secret cave under lab'tory?" questioned the giant asthe two walked across the field in the moonlight.
"Tote This Sample to the Lab."]
"Cave? Oh, you mean the vault?" asked Tom, who had been thinking ofother matters.
"Night you go 'way in sky-bird, Koku watch. Koku hear bell goting-ting-ting!"
Suddenly Tom was paying strict attention.
"Great Scott! D'you mean to say someone broke into my Chest of Secrets?Tell me about it quickly!"
Tom Paid Strict Attention]
CHAPTER X
SUCCESS
"Me tell!" said Koku. "Hear bell, know bad mans hide in cave. I creep upan' watch!" His dramatic pause might have seemed funny at any other timebut Tom was badly worried.
Tom Swift Was Worried]
"Hurry up!" commanded t
he young inventor sharply, grabbing the giant'sarm. "What happened?"
"Nothing happen US," answered Koku. "Plenty happen HIM! I catchum fella,crawl up fum cave, knockum out, callum policemans."
"Good boy! You rate a new suit for that. You can tell the tailor to makeit as loud as you like!"
Nothing could have pleased the simple giant more, for he loved to dressup in gaudy clothes, a trait left over from his savage life before theyoung inventor had brought him to America.
"I Catchum Fella!"]
Too excited to sleep, Tom Swift went straight to his office and calledthe police station. The desk sergeant verified what Koku had said andasked the young scientist to come down and prefer charges.
As he was about to leave he saw on top of his accumulated mail a letterfrom the Apex Glass Works. It was from Mr. Stern. The man advised Tomthat he suspected two discharged workmen as the pair who had attemptedto rob him. Photographs were enclosed.
Photographs Were Enclosed]
"That he, Master!" suddenly boomed Koku, who had been gazing at thephotos. "That man steal green glass thing I ketch back!"
"By Jove, I believe you're right!" declared Tom. "This picture mostcertainly resembles the fellow you dragged in here. Come on, you and Iwill go over to the jail and check up."
Late as the hour was, the two took out a car and hastened over to thecounty prison. No sooner had the sleepy officer on duty conducted themback to the prisoner's cell than Tom immediately recognized the man asthe one Koku had captured with the green disk.
They Drove to the County Prison]
Eager to get off as lightly as possible, the fellow, who had been aconfidential clerk in the main offices of the glass works, made a fullconfession.
"It was Hammer who got me into this, Mr. Swift," whined Anton. "Heoverheard Mr. Stern talking about your experiments with bendableglass. He said you'd surely succeed and that the invention would beworth a fortune. So we decided to steal your formula. I've got a sickwife, Mr. Swift--"
Hammer Overheard Mr. Stern]
"A pack of lies!" roughly interrupted the policeman. "He's a single man,Mr. Swift, and has a police record to boot!"
"Well, hold him. And I hope you will catch his confederate."
"Don't worry. The boys'll bring him in!"
"He Has a Police Record."]
Although the hour was late, Tom decided to return to the laboratoryand inspect the vault. There had been a certain sly expression inAnton's eyes which had vaguely disturbed the inventor. It was as if theman were holding something back and grinning over it.
In a few minutes Tom's feeling was proven correct, for the formuladealing with the flexible glass was gone! Koku, when questioned,admitted that he had seen some papers drop from Anton's pocket when hehad seized him just outside the laboratory, but the simple giant hadpaid no attention to them. There followed a frantic search with aflashlight by Tom but there was no trace of the missing documents.
The Formula Was Gone]
"They couldn't have blown away!" he declared. "They were clippedtogether by a special heavy binder. Somebody must have picked them up!"
He Made a Frantic Search]
When Tom visited Anton in jail the next day, the fellow denied loudlythat he had taken anything. The police promised to redouble theirefforts to capture Hammer. With that assurance the inventor was forcedto content himself.
The next few days Tom was so busy that he gave only an occasionalthought to his loss. Analysis of the sample cut from the meteoriteshowed that it was even richer than he had hoped in the new substance,X. Immediately he telegraphed a large science supply house for hugeflasks, beakers, retorts and other paraphernalia necessary to extractand refine the material.
The Sample Was Rich in X]
This done, he arranged for the loan of a large refracting telescope froma near-by observatory to be used in conjunction with the big green diskhe proposed to make. Professor Standish of the college was so interestedin the project that Tom invited him to the forthcoming test.
Work was begun on an improvised observatory to be erected on a mountainin the Adirondacks. This would place the telescope above most of theblurring effects of the dense, lower atmosphere, filled as it is withsmoke and dust.
Work Was Begun on the Observatory]
Ned Newton wired that the meteorite had been safely placed on a fastfreight train. He added that he was traveling in the caboose of the sametrain by special arrangement with the road officials. Tom met his chumat the station.
"How do you like riding in style?" he teased.
Ned Traveled in the Caboose]
"Humph!" grunted Ned. "I'll take a plane next time."
A huge truck transported the planet stone to the shops of the SwiftConstruction Company. One of the buildings had been cleared of all otherwork, and in it a very large furnace had been erected to cast the greendisk. Powerful mechanisms crushed the meteorite to a fine powder whichwas dissolved by strong acids, then separated into its variousingredients.
The Meteorite Was Crushed]
"The furnace will have to be enlarged!" declared Tom. "I had plannedto make a disk twenty feet long but there is so much X that we caneasily make it thirty-five feet. There'll still be several hundredpounds left."
"Why not use it all and make the biggest 'scope you can?" suggested NedNewton.
"I believe this will be large enough. Besides, I have an idea that the Xhas other and even more remarkable powers. I don't want to use it all upin this device."
"We Can Make a Larger Disk!"]
A gang of men had been employed to clear a trail up the side of themountain in the Adirondacks and construct a road to the summit as noneever had been made to the spot Tom intended to use. A specially largemotor truck was built to carry first the telescope, then the giant greendisk.
It may well be supposed that all these preparations ran into money. Manya groan did Ned give when he studied the mounting cost sheets. Tom,however, was deaf to all his chum's protestations.
A Special Truck Was Built]
"I had hoped your new bendable glass would more than repay the cost ofyour telescope," grumbled Ned. "That's gone, and it looks to me asthough everything else'll go too. The Swift Construction Company willsoon be bankrupt, Tom Swift, if you don't slow down!"
"What do you mean, my flexible glass is gone? Why, I've had anapplication on file in the Patent Office for several months."
"Well, for Pete's sake, why didn't you tell me? Here I've beenworrying my head off for nothing!"
"You'll Be Bankrupt!" Warned Ned]
"Sorry, old man. But you know I've had a lot on my mind. However, wemust get back the papers, for the thief can make things prettyuncomfortable if he chooses to."
As Tom had found out, X would be useful only in an absolutely purestate. To refine it to the proper degree was a painfully slow process,taking in this case a full six weeks. While his chemists labored awayunder the young inventor's supervision, everything else had been madeready. At last the new element was prepared. The tons of yellow powderwere dumped into the heated furnace.
His Chemists Worked Away]
Three days later the stuff had cooled sufficiently for an inspection tobe made. A traveling crane slowly hoisted the massive iron lid of theelectric furnace. Tom climbed a ladder and peered down.
"It's perfect!" he shouted a moment later. Mr. Damon and Barton Swiftwere standing anxiously with Ned and the workmen to hear the verdict.At the young inventor's words the group gave a cheer.
Tom Peered Down at the Disk]
"Bless my stars and planets!" cried Mr. Damon, capering about like aboy. "I can hardly wait till you have your big glass set up!"
"It won't be long now," promised Tom, much pleased himself.
While the giant disk was being given a final electrical treatment, theyouthful inventor was called to the police station. The fugitive crook,Hammer, had finally been nabbed, still with the formula for thebendable glass in his possession. Tom was glad to get this back, even
though patent proceedings were under way, for anyone holding the paperscould have instituted a costly legal contest.
Hammer Had Been Nabbed]
At last the time arrived when the great disk was wrapped in hundreds ofbales of cotton, suspended on racks and loaded onto the great truck. Tominsisted upon riding with his precious creation. The rest of his party,including his father, Ned Newton, Mr. Damon, Professor Standish, Kokuand Rad, traveled by train to the foot of the mountain.
The Disk Was Loaded on the Truck]
"Massa Tom gonna look about six scrillion miles froo space," confidedEradicate Sampson to Koku. The old Negro leaned heavily upon the massivearm of his huge companion. "He see wonderful things!"
"He sure make big medicine!" declared the giant, for once agreeing withhis old rival. He had only the vaguest idea about what his master wasattempting.
Koku and Rad Went Along]
When the entire group assembled on top the mountain there was a suddenhush. The sun had set in a fiery glow that presaged a clear night, andnow darkness overtook the expectant onlookers.
At last Tom stepped to the giant telescope and adjusted it upon theplanet Mars. He electrified the immense disk, which glowed, then couldnot be seen at all.
Looking through the eyepiece, the young inventor stood as thoughtransfixed. One minute! Two!
Tom Stepped to the Telescope]
"Tom! How does it work?" asked Ned finally, unable to restrain himselfany longer.
"Look for yourself!" cried Tom, turning from the instrument. His facewore an expression of awe.
Ned quickly took his place.
"Marvelous!" he exclaimed.
Before his eyes were revealed a great city, nearly seventy-five millionmiles distant!
Peculiar people surged along the avenues, weird aircraft thronged theupper atmosphere, and gigantic buildings and palaces dotted the place.All on far-distant Mars!
He Saw a Gigantic City]
As each one in Tom's party saw the wonderful sight, he in turncongratulated the youthful inventor in his own way. Ned grasped hischum's hand but could say nothing. Mr. Damon blessed the distant stars.Koku and Rad fell upon their knees. Into the eyes of Barton Swift cametears as he said:
"Tom, my son, you have performed the greatest miracle of the Age!"
"You Have Performed a Miracle!"]
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Tom Swift and His Giant Telescope Page 9
