Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive; Or, Two Miles a Minute on the Rails

by Victor Appleton

  Chapter XXII

  A Desperate Chase

  These moments were fraught with peril, and not alone peril to the hugemachine that Tom Swift had built, but peril to those who remained inthe cab of the electric locomotive, as her forward trucks struck theopen switch.

  There was a mighty jerk that brought a shout from Ned Newton's lips anda grunt from Mr. Damon. Tom clung to his swivel-seat, staring ahead.

  The pilot of the electric locomotive shot over on the siding; theforward trucks followed, then the great drivers. The whole locomotiveswerved into the siding, but for several breathless seconds Tom was notat all sure that the monster would not jump the rails and head into theditch!

  Meanwhile his gaze measured the speed of that flying figure in theMackinaw as it scuttled up the slope through the open grove of hardwood and pine. He could not at first see Koku, but he knew the giantwas headed for the fugitive, whether the latter proved to be AndyO'Malley or not.

  Tom's gaze flashed to what lay ahead of the electric locomotive. As itseemed to joggle back into balance, gain its uprightness, as it were,the inventor saw the great, log-braced bumper between the two rails atthe end of the siding. With what force would the locomotive hit thatobstruction?

  Until the trailers were over the switch Tom dared not give her thebrakes. To lock the brake shoes upon the wheels might easily throw thelocomotive off the rails. But the instant he felt the tail of the longlocomotive swerve off the switch he jabbed the compressed air lever andthe wild shriek of the brake shoes answered to his effort.

  Then the bumper was but a few yards ahead. The electric locomotive wasbound to collide with it. And under the speed at which it had beenrunning, now scarcely reduced by half, the collision was apt to be atragic happening!

  Weeks of effort might be ruined in that moment! If the crash wasserious, thousands of dollars might be lost! In truth, Tom Swiftapprehended the possibility of a disaster, the complete results ofwhich might put the test of his invention forward for weeks--perhapsfor months.

  Nor could he do a thing to avert the disaster. He had reversed and setthe brakes immediately after the last wheel of the trailer was on thesiding. Nothing more could he do as the great electric locomotive boredown upon the solid timber at the far end of this short track.

  Those few seconds, as the locked wheels slid toward the end of thesiding, were about as hard to bear as any experience the young inventorhad ever gone through. It was not so much the peril of the accident, itwas the possibility of what might happen to the locomotive.

  Within those few moments, however, Tom considered more than the safetyof his companions and himself, and more than the peril of wreck to hislocomotive. He considered the schedule of the trains on this divisionof the Hendrickton & Pas Alos and remembered all those that might bewithin this sector at this time.

  If the locomotive smashed into the bumper with force enough to wreckthe structure, would some approaching train on the westbound track notbe endangered?

  The thought was parent to Tom's act before the collision occurred. Witha single swift motion he reached for the signaling apparatus which hehad established in connection with his wireless telephone.

  Just the moment before the head of the locomotive rammed that seeminglyimmovable barrier at the end of the siding there flashed into the airfrom Tom's annunciator the code word agreed upon announcing a wreck,and the number of the sector on which the electric locomotive was thenrunning.

  The next moment the crash occurred.

  Tom had leaped up with a shout of warning. "Hang on!" was his cry. Butwhen the locomotive had struck and rebounded Ned, from far down theaisle of the locomotive, wanted to know in a very peevish tone what heshould have hung on to?

  "My elbows!" he groaned. "I've skinned 'em, and my back has got a twistin it like the Irishman thought he had when he put on his overallshind-side to. What's happened?"

  "Bless my radiolite!" growled Mr. Damon. "My watch crystal is brokenall to finders, if you want to know. Bless my shock-absorbers! youwon't do this locomotive a bit of good, Tom Swift, if you stop it soabruptly."

  "And that's the surest word you ever said," responded Tom, hurrying tothe door. "I don't know what's broken, but we're still on the rails.The most immediate thing to learn, is the where-abouts of the fellowwho did this."

  "Who opened the switch?" cried Ned.

  "I believe it was Andy O'Malley. Come on, Ned! Koku is after him and Idon't want him to tear O'Malley apart before I get there."

  "O'Malley has got powerful interests behind him, and it might go hardwith Koku if he injured the spy and some of these Westerners caughthim," suggested Mr. Damon.

  "They ought to thank Koku for manhandling the fellow--if he does," saidNed.

  "As a matter of fact," replied Tom, "Koku will merely hold to thefellow until we get there. But my giant's strength is enormous, and hedoes not always know the strength of his grasp. He might hurt thefellow. Come on," and Tom leaped from the doorway of the electriclocomotive.

  Ned leaped down the ladder after his chum.

  "Which way did they go?" he asked.

  "Across the ditch and up the hill," said Tom. "Mr. Damon!" he calledback to that eccentric man, "will you please remain there and watch thelocomotive?"

  "I certainly will. And I'm armed, too," shouted Mr. Damon. "Don't fearfor this locomotive, Tom. I am right on the job."

  Tom waved his hand in reply, leaped the ditch, and started up throughthe wood. Ned was close behind him, and the two young men ran as hardas they could in the direction Tom had seen Andy O'Malley, followed bythe giant, running.

  In places the earth was slippery with pine needles, and the ground waselsewhere rough. Therefore the chums did not make much speed in runningafter the giant and his quarry. But Tom was sure of the direction inwhich the two had disappeared, and he and Ned kept doggedly on.

  They went over the crest of the hill and lost sight of the siding andthe locomotive. Here was a sharp descent into a gulch, and some rodsaway, in the bottom of this gully, the young fellows obtained theirfirst sight of Koku. He was still running with mighty strides and wasevidently within sight of the man he had set out after in such haste.

  "Hey! Koku!" shouted Tom Swift.

  The giant's hearing was of the keenest. He glanced back and raised hisarm in greeting. But he did not slacken his pace.

  "He must see O'Malley, Tom," cried Ned Newton.

  "I am sure he does. And I want to get there about as soon as Koku grabsthe fellow," panted Tom.

  "He'll maul O'Malley unmercifully," said Ned.

  "I don't want Koku to injure him," admitted Tom, and he increased hisown stride as he plunged down into the gully.

  The young inventor distanced his chum within the next few moments. Tomran like a deer. He reached the bottom of the gully and kept on afterKoku's crashing footsteps. At every jump, too, he began to shout to thegiant:

  "Koku! Hold him!"

  The giant's voice boomed back through the heavy timber: "I catch him! Ihold him for Master! I break all um bones! Wait till Koku catch him!"

  "Hold him, Koku!" yelled Tom again. "Be careful and don't hurt him tillI get there!"

  He could not see what the giant was doing. The timber was thicker downhere. It might be that the giant would seize the man roughly. His zealin Tom's cause was great, and, of course, his strength was enormous.

  Yet Tom did not want to call the giant off the trail. Andy O'Malleymust be captured at this time. He had done enough, too much, indeed, inattempting the ruin of Tom's plans. Before the matter went any furtherthe young inventor was determined that Montagne Lewis' spy should beput where he would be able to do no more harm.

  But he did not want the man permanently injured. He knew now that Kokuwas so wildly excited that he might set upon O'Malley as he would uponan enemy in his own country.

  "Koku! Stop! Wait for me!" Tom finally shouted.

  Now the young inventor got no reply from the giant. Had the latter gotso far ahead that he no longer heard h
is master's command?

  Tom pounded on, working his legs like pistons, putting every last ounceof energy he possessed into his effort. This was indeed a desperatechase.