Tom Swift and His Sky Racer or The Quickest Flight on ... - Fourmilab

100 CHAPTER 23. THE GREAT RACEinfringed on your machine, lodge a protest—that is unless you can get evidenceagainst him bef<strong>or</strong>e that time.”<strong>Tom</strong> well knew the uselessness of the latter plan. He <strong>and</strong> Mr. Damon hadtried several times to get a glimpse of the craft Andy had made, but withoutsuccess. As to the other alternative—that of waiting until the last moment—<strong>Tom</strong> feared that, too, would be futile.“F<strong>or</strong>,” he reasoned, “just bef<strong>or</strong>e the race there will be a lot of confusion,officials will be here <strong>and</strong> there, scattered over the ground, they will be hard tofind, <strong>and</strong> it will be almost useless to protest then. Andy will enter the race, <strong>and</strong>there is a possibility that he may win. Almost any one could with a machinelike the Humming-Bird. It’s the machine almost as much as the operat<strong>or</strong>, in acase like this.”“But you can protest after the race,” suggested Mr. Damon.“That would be little good, in case Andy beat me. <strong>The</strong> public would say Iwas a s<strong>or</strong>ehead, <strong>and</strong> jealous. No, I’ve either got to stop Andy bef<strong>or</strong>e the race,<strong>or</strong> not at all. I will try to think of a plan.”<strong>Tom</strong> did think of several, but ab<strong>and</strong>oned them one after the other. He triedto get a glimpse inside the tent where the Foger aeroplane Was housed, but itwas too closely guarded. Andy himself was not much in evidence, <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tom</strong> onlyhad fleeting glimpses of the bully.Meanwhile he <strong>and</strong> Mr. Damon, together with their machinist, were keptbusy. As <strong>Tom</strong>’s craft was fully protected by patents now, he had no hesitationin taking it out, <strong>and</strong> it was given several severe tests around the aerial course.It did even better than <strong>Tom</strong> expected of it, <strong>and</strong> he had great hopes.Always, though, there were two things that w<strong>or</strong>ried him. One was his father’sillness, <strong>and</strong> the other the uneasiness he felt as to what Andy Foger might do.As to the f<strong>or</strong>mer, the wireless rep<strong>or</strong>ts indicated that Mr. <strong>Swift</strong> was doing as wellas could be expected, but his improvement was not rapid. Regarding the latterw<strong>or</strong>ry, <strong>Tom</strong> saw no way of getting rid of it.“I’ve just got to wait, that’s all,” he thought.<strong>The</strong> day bef<strong>or</strong>e the opening of the meet, <strong>Tom</strong> <strong>and</strong> Mr. Damon had given theHumming-Bird a grueling tryout. <strong>The</strong>y had taken her high up—so high thatno prying eyes could time them, <strong>and</strong> there <strong>Tom</strong> had opened the mot<strong>or</strong> f<strong>or</strong> allthe power in it. <strong>The</strong>y had flashed through space at the rate of one hundred <strong>and</strong>twenty miles an hour.“If we can only do that in the race, the ten thous<strong>and</strong> dollars is mine!” exulted<strong>Tom</strong>, as he slanted the nose of the aeroplane toward the earth.<strong>The</strong> day of the race dawned clear <strong>and</strong> beautiful. <strong>Tom</strong> was up early, f<strong>or</strong> thereremained many little things to do to get his craft in final trim f<strong>or</strong> the contest.<strong>The</strong>n, too, he wanted to be ready to act promptly as soon as Andy’s machinewas wheeled out, <strong>and</strong> he also wanted to get a message from home.<strong>The</strong> wireless arrived soon after breakfast, <strong>and</strong> did not contain very cheeringnews.“Your father not so well,” Mr. Jackson sent. “Po<strong>or</strong> night, but doct<strong>or</strong> thinksday will show improvement. Don’t w<strong>or</strong>ry.”