Tom Swift & his Sky Racer(汤姆·史威夫特和他的空中赛艇)

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TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

TOM SWIFT AND HIS

SKY RACER or The

Quickest Flight on Record

VICTOR APPLETON

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

CHAPTER One

The Prize Offer

"Is this Tom Swift, the inventor of several airships?"

The man who had rung the bell glanced at the youth who answered his

summons.

"Yes, I'm Tom Swift," was the reply. "Did you wish to see me?"

"I do. I'm Mr. James Gunmore, secretary of the Eagle Park Aviation

Association. I had some correspondence with you about a prize contest we

are going to hold. I believe--"

"Oh, yes, I remember now," and the young inventor smiled pleasantly

as he opened wider the door of his home. "Won't you come in? My father

will be glad to see you. He is as much interested in airships as I am." And

Tom led the way to the library, where the secretary of the aviation society

was soon seated in a big, comfortable leather chair.

"I thought we could do better, and perhaps come to some decision

more quickly, if I came to see you, than if we corresponded," went on Mr.

Gunmore. "I hope I haven't disturbed you at any of your inventions," and

the secretary smiled at the youth.

"No. I'm through for to-day," replied Tom. "I'm glad to see you. I

thought at first it was my chum, Ned Newton. He generally runs over in

the evening."

"Our society, as I wrote you, Mr. Swift, is planning to hold a very large

and important aviation meet at Eagle Park, which is a suburb of Westville,

New York State. We expect to have all the prominent 'bird-men' there, to

compete for prizes, and your name was mentioned. I wrote to you, as you

doubtless recall, asking if you did not care to enter."

"And I think I wrote you that my big aeroplane-dirigible, the Red

Cloud, was destroyed in Alaska, during a recent trip we made to the caves

of ice there, after gold," replied Tom.

"Yes, you did," admitted Mr. Gunmore, "and while our committee was

very sorry to hear that, we hoped you might have some other air craft that

you could enter at our meet. We want to make it as complete as possible,

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

and we all feel that it would not be so unless we had a Swift aeroplane

there."

"It's very kind of you to say so," remarked Tom, "but since my big

craft was destroyed I really have nothing I could enter."

"Haven't you an aeroplane of any kind? I made this trip especially to

get you to enter. Haven't you anything in which you could compete for the

prizes? There are several to be offered, some for distance flights, some for

altitude, and the largest, ten thousand dollars, for the speediest craft. Ten

thousand dollars is the grand prize, to be awarded for the quickest flight on

record."

"I surely would like to try for that," said Tim, "but the only craft I have

is a small monoplane, the Butterfly, I call it, and while it is very speedy,

there have been such advances made in aeroplane construction since I

made mine that I fear I would be distanced if I raced in her. And I wouldn't

like that."

"No," agreed Mr. Gunmore. "I suppose not. Still, I do wish we could

induce you to enter. I don't mind telling you that we consider you a

drawing-card. Can't we induce you, some way?"

"I'm afraid not. I haven't any machine which--"

"Look here!" exclaimed the secretary eagerly. "Why can't you build a

special aeroplane to enter in the next meet? You'll have plenty of time, as

it doesn't come off for three months yet. We are only making the

preliminary arrangements. It is now June, and the meet is scheduled for

early in September. Couldn't you build a new and speedy aeroplane in that

time?"

Eagerly Mr. Gunmore waited for the answer. Tom Swift seemed to be

considering it. There was an increased brightness to his eyes, and one

could tell that he was thinking deeply. The secretary sought to clinch his

argument.

"I believe, from what I have heard of your work in the past, that you

could build an aeroplane which would win the ten-thousand-dollar prize,"

he went on. "I would be very glad if you did win it, and, so I think, would

be the gentlemen associated with me in this enterprise. It would be fine to

have a New York State youth win the grand prize. Come, Tom Swift, build

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

a special craft, and enter the contest!"

As he paused for an answer footsteps were heard coming along the

hall, and a moment later an aged gentleman opened the door of the library.

"Oh! Excuse me, Tom," he said, "I didn't know you had company."

And he was about to withdraw.

"Don't go, father," said Tom. "You will be as much interested in this as

I am. This is Mr. Gunmore, of the Eagle Park Aviation Association. This is

my father, Mr. Gunmore."

"I've heard of you," spoke the secretary as he shook hands with the

aged inventor. "You and your son have made, in aeronautics, a name to be

proud of."

"And he wants us to go still farther, dad," broke in the youth. "Me

wants me to build a specially speedy aeroplane, and race for ten thousand

dollars."

"Hum!" mused Mr. Swift. "Well, are you going to do it, Tom? Seems

to me you ought to take a rest. You haven't been back from your gold-

hunting trip to Alaska long enough to more than catch your breath, and

now--"

"Oh, he doesn't have to go in this right away," eagerly explained Mr.

Gunmore. "There is plenty of time to make a new craft."

"Well, Tom can do as he likes about it," said his father. "Do you think

you could build anything speedier than your Butterfly, son?"

"I think so, father. That is, if you'd help me. I have a plan partly

thought out, but it will take some time to finish it. Still, I might get it done

in time."

"I hope you'll try!" exclaimed the secretary. "May I ask whether it

would be a monoplane or a biplane?"

"A monoplane, I think," answered Tom. "They are much more speedy

than the double-deckers, and if I'm going to try for the ten thousand

dollars I need the fastest machine I can build."

"We have the promise of one or two very fast monoplanes for the

meet," went on Mr. Gunmore. "Would yours be of a new type?"

"I think it would," was the reply of the young inventor. "In fact, I am

thinking of making a smaller monoplane than any that have yet been

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

constructed, and yet one that will carry two persons. The hardest work will

be to make the engine light enough and still have it sufficiently powerful

to make over a hundred miles an hour, if necessary.

"A hundred miles an hour in a small monoplane! It isn't possible!"

cried the secretary.

"I'll make better time than that," said Tom quietly, and with not a trace

of boasting in his tones.

"Then you'll enter the meet?" asked Mr. Gunmore eagerly.

"Well, I'll think about it," promised Tom. "I'll let you know in a few

days. Meanwhile, I'll be thinking out the details for my new craft. I have

been going to build one ever since I got back, after having seen my Red

Cloud crushed in the ice cave. Now I think I had better begin active

work."

"I hope you will soon let me know," resumed the secretary. "I'm going

to put you down as a possible contestant for the ten-thousand-dollar prize.

That can do no harm, and I hope you win it. I trust--"

He paused suddenly, and listened. So did Tom Swift and his father, for

they all distinctly heard stealthy footsteps under the open windows of the

library.

"Some one is out there, listening," said Tom in low tones.

"Perhaps it's Eradicate Sampson," suggested Mr. Swift, referring to the

eccentric colored man who was employed by the inventor and his son to

help around the place. "Very likely it was Eradicate, Tom."

"I don't think so," was the lad's answer. "He went to the village a while

ago, and said he wouldn't be back until late to-night. He had to get some

medicine for his mule, Boomerang, who is sick. No, it wasn't Eradicate;

but some one was under that window, trying to hear what we said."

As he spoke in guarded tones, Tom went softly to the casement and

looked out. He could observe nothing, as the night was dark, and the new

moon, which had been shining, was now dimmed by clouds.

"See anything?" asked Mr. Gunmore as he advanced to Tom's side.

"No," was the low answer. I can't hear anything now, either."

"I'll go speak to Mrs. Baggert, the housekeeper," volunteered Mr. Swift.

"Perhaps it was she, or she may know something about it."

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

He started from the room, and as he went Tom noticed, with something

of a start, that his father appeared older that night than he had ever looked

before. There was a trace of pain on the face of the aged inventor, and his

step was lagging.

"I guess dad needs a rest and doctoring up," thought the young

inventor as he turned the electric chandelier off by a button on the wall, in

order to darken the room, so that he might peer out to better advantage. "I

think he's been working too hard on his wireless motor. I must get Dr.

Gladby to come over and see dad. But now I want to find out who that was

under this window."

Once more Tom looked out. The moon had emerged from behind a

thin bank of clouds, and gave a little light.

"See anything?" asked Mr. Gunmore cautiously.

"No," whispered the youth, for it being a warm might, the windows

were open top and bottom, a screen on the outside keeping out mosquitoes

and other insects. "I can't see a thing," went on Tom, "but I'm sure--"

He paused suddenly. As he spoke there sounded a rustling in the

shrubbery a little distance from the window.

"There's something!" exclaimed Mr. Gunmore.

"I see!" answered the young inventor.

Without another word he softly opened the screen, and then, stooping

down to get under the lower sash (for the windows in the library ran all the

way to the floor), Tom dropped out of the casement upon the thick grass.

As he did so he was aware of a further movement in the bushes. They

were violently agitated, and a second later a dark object sprang from them

and sprinted along the path.

"Here! Who are you? Hold on!" cried the young inventor.

But the figure never halted. Tom sprang forward, determined to see

who it was, and, if possible, capture him.

"Hold on!" he cried again. There was no answer.

Tom was a good runner, and in a few seconds he had gained on the

fugitive, who could just be seen in the dim light from the crescent moon.

"I've got you!" cried Tom.

But he was mistaken, for at that instant his foot caught on the

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

outcropping root of a tree, and the young inventor went flat on his face.

"Just my luck!" he cried.

He was quickly on his feet again, and took after the fugitive. The latter

glanced back, and, as it happened, Tom had a good look at his face. He

almost came to a stop, so startled was he.

"Andy Foger!" he exclaimed as he recognized the bully who had

always proved himself such an enemy of our hero. "Andy Foger sneaking

under my windows to hear what I had to say about my new aeroplane! I

wonder what his game can be? I'll soon find out!"

Tom was about to resume the chase, when he lost sight of the figure. A

moment later he heard the puffing of an automobile, as some one cranked

it up.

"It's too late!" exclaimed Tom. "There he goes in his car!" And

knowing it would be useless to keep up the chase, the youth turned back

toward his house.

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

CHAPTER Two

Mr. Swift is Ill

"Who was it?" asked Mr. Gunmore as Tom again entered the library.

"A friend of yours?"

"Hardly a friend," replied Tom grimly. "It was a young fellow who has

made lots of trouble for me in the past, and who, lately, with his father,

tried to get ahead of me and some friends of mine in locating a gold claim

in Alaska. I don't know what he's up to now, but certainly it wasn't any

good. He's got nerve, sneaking up under our windows!"

"What do you think was his object?"

"It would he hard to say."

"Can't you find him to-morrow, and ask him?"

"There's not much satisfaction in that. The less I have to do with Andy

Foger the better I'm satisfied. Well, perhaps it's just as well I fell, and

couldn't catch him. There would have been a fight, and I don't want to

worry dad any more than I can help. He hasn't been very well of late."

"No, he doesn't look very strong," agreed the secretary. "But I hope he

doesn't get sick, and I hope no bad consequences result from the

eavesdropping of this Foger fellow."

Tom started for the hall, to get a brush with which to remove some of

the dust gathered in his chase after Andy. As he opened the library door to

go out Mr. Swift came in again.

"I saw Mrs. Baggert, Tom," he said. "She wasn't out under the window,

and, as you said, Eradicate isn't about. His mule is in the barn, so it

couldn't have been the animal straying around."

"No, dad. It was Andy Foger."

"Andy Foger!"

"Yes. I couldn't catch him. But you'd better go lie down, father. It's

getting late, and you look tired."

"I am tired, Tom, and I think I'll go to bed. Have you finished your

arrangements with Mr. Gunmore?"

"Well, I guess we've gone as far as we can until I invent the new

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

aeroplane," replied Tom, with a smile.

"Then you'll really enter the meet?" asked the secretary eagerly.

"I think I will," decided Tom. "The prize of ten thousand dollars is

worth trying for, and besides that, I'll be glad to get to work again on a

speedy craft. Yes, I'll enter the meet."

"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Gunmore, shaking hands with the young

inventor. "I didn't have my trip for nothing, then. I'll go back in the

morning and report to the committee that I've been successful. I am greatly

obliged to you."

He left the Swift home, after refusing Tom's invitation to remain all

night, and went to his hotel. Tom then insisted that his father retire.

As for the young inventor, he was not satisfied with the result of his

attempt to catch Andy Foger. He had no idea why the bully was hiding

under the library window, but Tom surmised that some mischief might be

afoot.

"Sam Snedecker or Pete Bailey, the two cronies of Andy, may still be

around here, trying to play some trick on me," mused Tom. "I think I'll

take a look outside." And taking a stout cane from the umbrella rack, the

youth sallied forth into the yard and extensive grounds surrounding his

house.

While he is thus looking for possible intruders we will tell you a little

more about him than has been possible since the call of the aviation

secretary.

Tom Swift lived with his father, Barton Swift, in the town of Shopton,

New York State. The young man had followed in the footsteps of his

parent, and was already an inventor of note.

Their home was presided over by Mrs. Baggert, as housekeeper, since

Mrs. Swift had been dead several years. In addition, there was Garret

Jackson, an engineer, who aided Tom and his father, and Eradicate

Sampson, an odd colored man, who, with his mule, Boomerang, worked

about the place.

In the first volume of this series, entitled "Tom Swift and his Motor-

Cycle," here was related how he came to possess that machine. A certain

Mr. Wakefield Damon, an eccentric gentleman, who was always blessing

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER or The Quickest Flight on Record

himself, or something about him, owned the cycle, but he came to grief on

it, and sold it to Tom very cheaply.

Tom had a number of adventures on the wheel, and, after having used

the motor to save a valuable patent model from a gang of unscrupulous

men, the lad acquired possession of a power boat, in which he made

several trips, and took part in many exciting happenings.

Some time later, in company with John Sharp, an aeronaut, whom Tom

had rescued from Lake Carlopa, after the airman had nearly lost his life in

a burning balloon, the young inventor made a big airship, called the Red

Cloud. With Mr. Damon, Tom made several trips in this craft, as set forth

in the book, "Tom Swift and His Airship."

It was after this that Tom and his father built a submarine boat, and

went under the ocean for sunken treasure, and, following that trip Tom

built a speedy electric runabout, and by a remarkable run in that, with Mr.

Damon, saved a bank from ruin, bringing gold in time to stave off a panic.

"Tom Swift and His Wireless Message" told of the young inventor's

plan to save the castaways of Earthquake Island, and how he accomplished

it by constructing a wireless plant from the remains of the wrecked airship

Whizzer. After Tom got back from Earthquake Island he went with Mr.

Barcoe Jenks, whom he met on the ill-fated bit of land, to discover the

secret of the diamond makers. They found the mysterious men, but the trip

was not entirely successful, for the mountain containing the cave where

the diamonds were made was destroyed by a lightning shock, just as Mr.

Parker, a celebrated scientist, who accompanied the party, said it would be.

But his adventure in seeking to discover the secret of making precious

stones did not satisfy Tom Swift, and when he and his friends got back

from the mountains they prepared to go to Alaska to search for gold in the

caves of ice. They were almost defeated in their purpose by the actions of

Andy Foger and his father, who in an under-hand manner, got possession

of a valuable map, showing the location of the gold, and made a copy of

the drawing.

Then, when Tom and his friends set off in the Red Cloud, as related in

"Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice," the Fogers, in another airship, did

likewise. But Tom and his party were first on the scene, and accomplished

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TOMSWIFTANDHISSKYRACERorTheQuickestFlightonRecord1TOMSWIFTANDHISSKYRACERorTheQuickestFlightonRecordVICTORAPPLETONTOMSWIFTANDHISSKYRACERorTheQuickestFlightonRecord2CHAPTEROneThePrizeOffer"IsthisTomSwift,theinventorofseveralairships?"Themanwhohadrungthebellglancedattheyouthwhoansweredhissummons."Yes,I...

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