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

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24 CHAPTER 5. BUILDING THE SKY RACERWhen Ned had gone <strong>Tom</strong> got out pencil <strong>and</strong> paper, <strong>and</strong> was busily engagedin making some intricate calculations. He drew odd little sketches on the marginof the sheet, <strong>and</strong> then wrote out a list of the things he would need to constructthe new aeroplane.This finished, he went to Mr. Jackson, the engineer, <strong>and</strong> asked him to getthe various things together, <strong>and</strong> to have them put in the special shop where<strong>Tom</strong> did most of his w<strong>or</strong>k.“I want to get the machine together as soon as I can,” he remarked to theengineer, “f<strong>or</strong> it will need to be given a good tryout bef<strong>or</strong>e I enter in the race,<strong>and</strong> I may find that I’ll have to make several changes in it.”Mr. Jackson promised to attend to the matter right away, <strong>and</strong> then <strong>Tom</strong>went in to talk to his father about the mot<strong>or</strong> that was to whirl the propeller ofthe new air craft.Mr. <strong>Swift</strong> had improved very much in the past few days, <strong>and</strong> though Dr.Gladby said he was far from being well, the physician declared there was n<strong>or</strong>eason why he should not do some inventive w<strong>or</strong>k.He <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tom</strong> were deep in an argument of gasoline mot<strong>or</strong>s, discussing thebest manner of attaching the fins to the cylinders to make them air-cooled, whena voice sounded outside, the voice of Eradicate:“Heah! Whar yo’ goin’?” dem<strong>and</strong>ed the col<strong>or</strong>ed man. “Whar yo’ goin’?”“Somebody’s out in the garden!” exclaimed <strong>Tom</strong>, jumping up suddenly.“Perhaps it’s the same person who took the plans!” suggested Mr. <strong>Swift</strong>.“Hold on, dere!” yelled Eradicate again.<strong>The</strong>n a voice replied:“Bless my insurance policy! What’s the matter? Have there been burglarsaround? Why all these precautions? Bless my steam heater! Don’t you knowme?”“Mr. Damon!” cried <strong>Tom</strong>, a look of pleasure coming over his face. “Mr.Damon is coming!”“So I should judge,” responded Mr. <strong>Swift</strong>, with a smile. “I wonder whyEradicate didn’t recognize him?”<strong>The</strong>y learned why a moment later, f<strong>or</strong> on looking from the library window,<strong>Tom</strong> saw the col<strong>or</strong>ed man coming up the walk behind a well-dressed gentleman.“Why, mah goodness! It’s Mr. Damon!” exclaimed Eradicate. “I didn’tknow yo’, sah, wif dem whiskers on! I didn’t, fo’ a fac’!”“Bless my raz<strong>or</strong>! I suppose it does make a difference,” said the eccentricman. “Yes, my wife thought I’d look better, <strong>and</strong> m<strong>or</strong>e sedate, with a beard, soI grew one to please her. But I don’t like it. A beard is too warm this kind ofweather; eh, <strong>Tom</strong>?” And Mr. Damon waved his h<strong>and</strong> to the young invent<strong>or</strong> <strong>and</strong>his father, who stood in the low windows of the library. “Entirely too warm,bless my finger-nails, yes!”“I agree with you!” exclaimed <strong>Tom</strong>. “Come in! We’re glad to see you!”“I called to see if you aren’t going on another trip to the N<strong>or</strong>th Pole, <strong>or</strong>somewhere in the Arctic regions,” went on Mr. Damon.“Why?” inquired <strong>Tom</strong>.
25“Why, then this heavy beard of mine would come in h<strong>and</strong>y. It would keep mythroat <strong>and</strong> chin warm.” And Mr. Damon ran his h<strong>and</strong>s through his luxuriantwhiskers.“No m<strong>or</strong>e n<strong>or</strong>thern trips right away,” said <strong>Tom</strong>. “I’m about to build a speedymonoplane, to take part in the big meet at Eagle Park.”“Oh, yes, I heard about the meet,” said Mr. Damon. “I’d like to be in that.”“Well, I’m building a machine that will carry two,” went on <strong>Tom</strong>, “<strong>and</strong> ifyou think you can st<strong>and</strong> a speed of a hundred miles an hour, <strong>or</strong> better, I’ll letyou come with me. <strong>The</strong>re are some races where a passenger is allowed.”“Have you got a raz<strong>or</strong>?” asked Mr. Damon suddenly.“What f<strong>or</strong>?” inquired Mr. <strong>Swift</strong>, wondering what the eccentric man wasgoing to do.“Why, bless my shaving soap! I’m going to cut off my beard. If I go in amonoplane at a hundred miles an hour I don’t want to make any m<strong>or</strong>e resistanceto the wind than possible, <strong>and</strong> my whiskers would certainly hold back <strong>Tom</strong>’smachine. Where’s a raz<strong>or</strong>? I’m going to shave at once. My wife won’t mindwhen I tell her what it’s f<strong>or</strong>. Lend me a raz<strong>or</strong>, please, <strong>Tom</strong>.”“Oh, there’s plenty of time,” explained the lad, with a laugh. “<strong>The</strong> racedoesn’t take place f<strong>or</strong> over two months. But when it does, I think you would bebetter off without a beard.”“I know it,” said Mr. Damon simply. “I’ll shave bef<strong>or</strong>e we enter the contest,<strong>Tom</strong>. But now tell me all about it.”<strong>Tom</strong> did so, relating the st<strong>or</strong>y of the theft of the plans. Mr. Damon was f<strong>or</strong>having Andy arrested at once, but Mr. <strong>Swift</strong> <strong>and</strong> his son pointed out that theyhad no evidence against him.“All we can do,” said the young invent<strong>or</strong>, “is to keep watch on him, <strong>and</strong> seeif he is building another aeroplane. He has all the facilities, <strong>and</strong> he may attemptto get ahead of me. If he enters a sky craft at the meet I’ll be pretty sure thathe has made it from my stolen plans.”“Bless my wing tips!” cried Mr. Damon. “But can’t we do anything to stophim?”“I’m afraid not,” answered <strong>Tom</strong>; <strong>and</strong> then he showed Mr. Damon his redrawnplans, <strong>and</strong> told in detail of how he intended to construct the new aeroplane.<strong>The</strong> eccentric man remained as the guest of the <strong>Swift</strong> family that night,departing f<strong>or</strong> his home the next day, <strong>and</strong> promising to be on h<strong>and</strong> as soon as<strong>Tom</strong> was ready to test his new craft, which would he in about a month.As the days passed, <strong>Tom</strong>, with the help of his father, whose health wasslightly better, <strong>and</strong> with the aid of Mr. Jackson, began w<strong>or</strong>k on the speedylittle sky racer.As you boys are all m<strong>or</strong>e <strong>or</strong> less familiar with aeroplanes, we will not devotemuch space to the description of the new one <strong>Tom</strong> <strong>Swift</strong> made. We can describeit in general terms, but there were some features of it which <strong>Tom</strong> kept a secretfrom all save his father.Suffice it to say that <strong>Tom</strong> had decided to build a small air craft of the singlewingtype, known as the monoplane. It was to be a cross between the Bleriot
Page 1: Tom Swift<
Page 4 and 5: 4 CONTENTS20 Just in Time 8921 “W
Page 6 and 7: 6 CHAPTER 1. THE PRIZE OFFER“It
Page 8 and 9: 8 CHAPTER 1. THE PRIZE OFFERHe star
Page 10 and 11: 10 CHAPTER 2. MR. SWIFT IS ILL“<s
Page 13 and 14: Chapter 3The Plans
Page 15 and 16: Tom followed him,
Page 17 and 18: that the screen was also unhooked,
Page 19 and 20: Chapter 4Anxious DaysPeering on all
Page 21 and 22: 21about him. He may have been sneak
Page 23: Chapter 5Building the Sky</
Page 27 and 28: Who had them? Was some one making a
Page 29 and 30: Chapter 6Andy Foger Will ContestOne
Page 31 and 32: 31“Then you go o
Page 33 and 34: near you were ready, and</s
Page 35 and 36: Chapter 7Seeking a ClueJohn Sharp w
Page 37 and 38: 37“Well, because it will add to t
Page 39 and 40: Chapter 8The Empty
Page 41 and 42: He left the house by a side do<stro
Page 43 and 44: Chapter 9A Trial Flight</st
Page 45 and 46: emained much to do on it. It was no
Page 47 and 48: Chapter 10A Midnight Intruder<stron
Page 49 and 50: must do his very best, and<
Page 51 and 52: Chapter 11Tom Is H
Page 53 and 54: 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
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Chapter 17Mr. Swift</strong
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above that the flames were now on t
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Chapter 18The Brok
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83By daylight it was seen that quit
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Chapter 19A Nervy Specialist<strong
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was so absorbed in
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Chapter 20Just in TimeWhile Dr. Hen
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91Humming-Bird gave a dangerous <st
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Chapter 21“Will He Live?”Soon t
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Chapter 22Off to the MeetSoftly <st
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There was a wirele
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Chapter 23The Grea
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101“Don’t worr
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103“I’m going to beat you!” t
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Chapter 24Won by a LengthRising upw
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107he would wait until five miles f
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Chapter 25Home Again—ConclusionMr
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111But Tom almost
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113“Indeed I did. But you helped
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