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

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106 CHAPTER 24. WON BY A LENGTH<strong>The</strong> bully gave one glance over toward his rival, <strong>and</strong> pulled a lever. <strong>The</strong>Slugger increased her speed, but <strong>Tom</strong> was not a second behind him.<strong>The</strong>re was a roaring noise in the rear, <strong>and</strong> up shot De Tromp in the Farman,<strong>and</strong> Loi Tong, the little Japanese, in the Santos-Dumont. Truly the race wasgoing to he a hotly contested one. But the end was far off yet.After the first jockeying f<strong>or</strong> a start <strong>and</strong> position, the race settled down intowhat might be termed a “grind.” <strong>The</strong> course was a large one, but so fav<strong>or</strong>ablewas the atmosphere that day, <strong>and</strong> such was the location of Eagle Park in agreat valley, that even on the far side of the great ellipse the contestants couldbe seen, dimly with the naked eye, but very plainly with glasses, with whichmany of the spectat<strong>or</strong>s were provided.Around <strong>and</strong> around they went, at no very great height, f<strong>or</strong> it was necessaryto make out the signals set up by the race officials, so that the contestants wouldknow when they were near the finish, that they might use the last atom of speed.So at varying heights the wonderful machines circled about the course.<strong>The</strong> Humming-Bird was w<strong>or</strong>king well, <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tom</strong> felt a sense of pride as hesaw the ground slipping away below him. He felt sure that he would win, evenwhen Alameda, the Spaniard, in the Antoinette, came creeping up on him, <strong>and</strong>even when Andy Foger, with a burst of speed, placed himself <strong>and</strong> his passengerin the lead.“I’ll catch him!” muttered <strong>Tom</strong>, <strong>and</strong> he opened the throttle a trifle wider,<strong>and</strong> went after Andy, passing him with ease.<strong>The</strong>y had covered about thirty miles of the course, when the humming <strong>and</strong>crackling of the wireless apparatus told <strong>Tom</strong> that a message was coming. Hesnapped the receiver to his ear, adjusting the outer covering to shut out theracket of the mot<strong>or</strong>, <strong>and</strong> listened.“Well?” asked Mr. Damon, as <strong>Tom</strong> took off the receiver.“Dad isn’t quite so well,” answered the lad. “Mr. Jackson says they havesent f<strong>or</strong> Dr. Hendrix again. But dad is game. He sends me w<strong>or</strong>d to go on <strong>and</strong>win, <strong>and</strong> I’ll do it, too, only—”<strong>Tom</strong> paused, <strong>and</strong> choked back a sob. <strong>The</strong>n he prepared to get m<strong>or</strong>e speedout of his mot<strong>or</strong>.“Of course you will!” cried Mr. Damon. “Bless my—!”But they encountered an adverse current of wind at that moment, <strong>and</strong> itrequired the attention of both of the aviat<strong>or</strong>s to manage the machine. It wassoon on an even keel again, <strong>and</strong> once m<strong>or</strong>e was shooting f<strong>or</strong>ward around thecourse.At times <strong>Tom</strong> would be in advance, <strong>and</strong> again he would have to give placeto the Curtis, the Farman, <strong>or</strong> the Santos-Dumont, as these speedy machines,fav<strong>or</strong>ed by a spurt from their mot<strong>or</strong>s, <strong>or</strong> by some current of air, shot ahead. But,in general, <strong>Tom</strong> maintained the lead, <strong>and</strong> among the spectat<strong>or</strong>s there began aseries of guesses as to how much he would win by.<strong>Tom</strong> glanced at the barograph. It registered a little over twelve hundredfeet. He looked at the speed gage. He was doing a trifle better than a hundredmiles an hour. He looked down at the signals. <strong>The</strong>re was twenty miles yet togo. It was almost time f<strong>or</strong> the spurt f<strong>or</strong> which he had been holding back. Yet
107he would wait until five miles from the end, <strong>and</strong> then he felt that he could gain<strong>and</strong> maintain a lead.“Andy seems to be doing well,” said Mr, Damon.“Yes, he has a good machine,” conceded <strong>Tom</strong>.Five miles m<strong>or</strong>e were reeled off. <strong>The</strong>n an other five. Another round of thatdistance <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tom</strong> would key his mot<strong>or</strong> up to the highest pitch, <strong>and</strong> then theHumming-Bird would show what she could do. Eagerly <strong>Tom</strong> waited f<strong>or</strong> theright signal.Suddenly the wireless began buzzing again. Quickly the young invent<strong>or</strong>clamped the receiver to his ear. Mr. Damon saw him turn pale.“Dr. Gladby says dad has a turn f<strong>or</strong> the w<strong>or</strong>se. <strong>The</strong>re is little hope,” translated<strong>Tom</strong>.“Will you—are you going to quit?” asked Mr. Damon.<strong>Tom</strong> shook his head.“No!” he cried. “My father has become unconscious, so Mr. Jackson says,but his last w<strong>or</strong>ds were to me: ’Tell <strong>Tom</strong> to win the race!’ And I’m going to doit!”<strong>Tom</strong> suddenly changed his plans. <strong>The</strong>re was to be no waiting f<strong>or</strong> the signalnow. He would begin his final spurt, <strong>and</strong> if possible finish the hundred miles athis utmost speed, win the race <strong>and</strong> then hasten to his father’s side.With a menacing roar the mot<strong>or</strong> of the Humming-Bird took up the additionalpower that <strong>Tom</strong> sent into her. She shot ahead like an eagle darting after hisprey. <strong>Tom</strong> opened up a big gap between his machine <strong>and</strong> the one nearest him,which, at that moment, was the Antoinette, with the Spaniard driving her.“Now to win!” cried <strong>Tom</strong>, grimly.Surely no race was ever flown as was that one! <strong>Tom</strong> flashed through theair so quickly that his speed was almost incredible. <strong>The</strong> gage registered onehundred <strong>and</strong> thirty miles an hour!Down below in the gr<strong>and</strong> st<strong>and</strong>s, <strong>and</strong> on the aviation field, there were yells ofapproval—of wonder—of fear. But <strong>Tom</strong> <strong>and</strong> Mr. Damon could not hear them.<strong>The</strong>y only heard the powerful song of the mot<strong>or</strong>.Faster <strong>and</strong> faster flew the Humming-Bird <strong>Tom</strong> looked down, <strong>and</strong> saw thesignal put up which meant that there were but three miles m<strong>or</strong>e to go. He feltthat he could do it. He was half a lap ahead of them all now. But he saw AndyFoger’s machine pulling away from the bunch.“He’s going to try to catch me!” exulted <strong>Tom</strong>.<strong>The</strong>n something happened. <strong>The</strong> mot<strong>or</strong> of the Humming-Bird suddenly slackenedits speed, it missed explosions, <strong>and</strong> the trim little craft began to dropbehind.“What’s the matter?” cried Mr. Damon.“Three of the cylinders are out of business!” yelled <strong>Tom</strong>. “We’re done f<strong>or</strong>,I guess.”On came the other machines, Andy in the lead, then the Santos-Dumont,then the Farman, <strong>and</strong> lastly the Wright. <strong>The</strong>y saw the plight of the Humming-Bird <strong>and</strong> determined to beat her. <strong>Tom</strong> cast a despairing look up at the mot<strong>or</strong>.
Page 1:
Tom Swift<
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4 CONTENTS20 Just in Time 8921 “W
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6 CHAPTER 1. THE PRIZE OFFER“It
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8 CHAPTER 1. THE PRIZE OFFERHe star
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10 CHAPTER 2. MR. SWIFT IS ILL“<s
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Chapter 3The Plans
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Tom followed him,
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that the screen was also unhooked,
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Chapter 4Anxious DaysPeering on all
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21about him. He may have been sneak
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Chapter 5Building the Sky</
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25“Why, then this heavy beard of
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Who had them? Was some one making a
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Chapter 6Andy Foger Will ContestOne
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31“Then you go o
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near you were ready, and</s
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Chapter 7Seeking a ClueJohn Sharp w
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37“Well, because it will add to t
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Chapter 8The Empty
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He left the house by a side do<stro
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Chapter 9A Trial Flight</st
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emained much to do on it. It was no
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Chapter 10A Midnight Intruder<stron
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must do his very best, and<
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Chapter 11Tom Is H
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He did not intend to shoot at the m
Page 55 and 56: Chapter 12Miss Nestor</stro
Page 57 and 58: 57“It’s possible,” agreed the
Page 59 and 60: Chapter 13A Clash with Andy
Page 61 and 62: 61“It’s glorio
Page 63 and 64: 63Cautiously they entered the enclo
Page 65 and 66: Chapter 14The Grea
Page 67 and 68: “To-morrow, if I
Page 69 and 70: Chapter 15A Noise in the Night“We
Page 71 and 72: 71“Oh, we’ll take good care of
Page 73 and 74: Chapter 16A Mysterious FireF<strong
Page 75 and 76: Tom looked out. Fl
Page 77 and 78: Chapter 17Mr. Swift</strong
Page 79 and 80: above that the flames were now on t
Page 81 and 82: Chapter 18The Brok
Page 83 and 84: 83By daylight it was seen that quit
Page 85 and 86: Chapter 19A Nervy Specialist<strong
Page 87 and 88: was so absorbed in
Page 89 and 90: Chapter 20Just in TimeWhile Dr. Hen
Page 91 and 92: 91Humming-Bird gave a dangerous <st
Page 93 and 94: Chapter 21“Will He Live?”Soon t
Page 95 and 96: Chapter 22Off to the MeetSoftly <st
Page 97 and 98: There was a wirele
Page 99 and 100: Chapter 23The Grea
Page 101 and 102: 101“Don’t worr
Page 103 and 104: 103“I’m going to beat you!” t
Page 105: Chapter 24Won by a LengthRising upw
Page 109 and 110: Chapter 25Home Again—ConclusionMr
Page 111 and 112: 111But Tom almost
Page 113 and 114: 113“Indeed I did. But you helped
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Tom Swift and His Sky Racer or The Quickest Flight on ... - Fourmilab

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