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Tom Swift and His Great Searchlight
or
On the Border for Uncle Sam
by Victor Appleton
AUTHOR OF "TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR-CYCLE," "TOM SWIFT AND HIS
SUBMARINE BOAT," "TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE," "TOM SWIFT IN
CAPTIVITY," ETC.
ILLUSTRATED
CONTENTS
I A SCRAP OF PAPER
II A SPY IN TOWN
III QUEER REPAIRS
IV SEARCHING FOR SMUGGLERS
V THE RAID
VI THE APPEAL TO TOM
VII A SEARCHLIGHT IS NEEDED
VIII TOM'S NEWEST INVENTION
IX "BEWARE OF THE COMET!"
X OFF FOR THE BORDER
XI ANDY'S NEW AIRSHIP
XII WARNED AWAY
XIII KOKU SAVES THE LIGHT
XIV A FALSE CLEW
XV THE RESCUE ON THE LAKE
XVI KOKU'S PRISONER
XVII WHAT THE INDIAN SAW
XVIII THE PURSUIT
XIX IN DIRE PERIL
XX SUSPICIOUS ACTIONS
XXI MR. PERIOD ARRIVES
XXII HOVERING O'ER THE BORDER
XXIII NED IS MISSING
XXIV THE NIGHT RACE
XXV THE CAPTURE--CONCLUSION
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT
CHAPTER I
A SCRAP OF PAPER
"Tom, did you know Andy Foger was back in town?"
"Great Scott, no, I didn't Ned! Not to stay, I hope."
"I guess not. The old Foger homestead is closed up, though I did see
a man working around it to-day as I came past. But he was a
carpenter, making some repairs I think. No, I don't believe Andy is
here to stay."
"But if some one is fixing up the house, it looks as if the family
would come back," remarked Tom, as he thought of the lad who had so
long been his enemy, and who had done him many mean turns before
leaving Shopton, where our hero lived.
"I don't think so," was the opinion of Ned Newton, who was Tom
Swift's particular chum. "You know when Mr. Foger lost all his
money, the house was supposed to be sold. But I heard later that
there was some flaw in the title, and the sale fell through. It is
because he couldn't sell the place that Mr. Foger couldn't get money
to pay some of his debts. He has some claim on the house, I believe,
but I don't believe he'd come back to live in it."
"Why not?"
"Because it's too expensive a place for a poor man to keep up, and
Mr. Foger is now poor."
"Yes, he didn't get any of the gold, as we did when we went to the
underground city," remarked Tom. "Well, I don't wish anybody bad
luck but I certainly hope the Fogers keep poor enough to stay away
from Shopton. They bothered me enough. But where did you see Andy?"
"Oh, he was with his crony, Sam Snedecker. You know Sam said, some
time ago, that Andy was to pay him a visit, but Andy didn't come
then, for some reason or other. I suppose this call makes up for it.
I met them down near Parker's drug store."
"You didn't hear Andy say anything about coming back here?" and the
young inventor's voice was a trifle anxious.
"No," replied Ned. "What makes you so nervous about it?"
"Well, Ned, you know what Andy is--always trying to make trouble for
me, even sneaking in my shop sometimes, trying to get the secret of
some of my airships and machinery. And I admit I think it looks
suspicious when they have a carpenter working on the old homestead.
Andy may come back, and--"
"Nonsence, Tom! If he does you and I can handle him. But I think
perhaps the house may be rented, and they may be fixing it up for a
tenant. It's been vacant a long time you know, and I heard the other
day that it was haunted."
"Haunted, Ned! Get out! Say, you don't believe in that sort of bosh,
do you?"
"Of course not. It was Eradicate who told me, and he said when he
came past the place quite late the other night he heard groans, and
the clanking of chains coming from it, and he saw flashing lights."
"Oh, wow! Eradicate is getting batty in his old age, poor fellow! He
and his mule Boomerang are growing old together, and I guess my
colored helper is 'seeing things,' as well as hearing them. But, as
you say, it may be that the house is going to be rented. It's too
valuable a property to let stand idle. Did you hear how long Andy
was going to stay?"
"A week, I believe."
"A week! Say, one day would be enough I should think."
"You must have some special reason for being afraid Andy will do you
some harm," exclaimed Ned. "Out with it, Tom."
"Well, I'll tell you what it is, Ned," and Tom led his chum inside
the shop, in front of which the two lads had been talking. It was a
shop where the young inventor constructed many of his marvelous
machines, aircraft, and instruments of various sorts.
"Do you think some one may hear you?" asked Ned.
"They might. I'm not taking any chances. But the reason I want to be
especially careful that Andy Foger doesn't spy on any of my
inventions is that at last I have perfected my noiseless airship
motor!"
"You have!" cried Ned, for he knew that his chum had been working
for a long time on this motor, that would give out no sound, no
matter at how high a speed it was run. "That's great, Tom! I
congratulate you. I don't wonder you don't want Andy to get even a
peep at it."
"Especially as I haven't it fully patented," went on the young
inventor. He had met with many failures in his efforts to perfect
this motor, which he intended to install on one of his airships. "If
any one saw the finished parts now it wouldn't take them long to
find out the secret of doing away with the noise."
"How do you do it?" asked Ned, for he realized that his chum had no
secrets from him.
"Well, it's too complicated to describe," said Tom, "but the secret
lies in a new way of feeding gasolene into the motor, a new sparking
device, and an improved muffler. I think I could start my new
airship in front of the most skittish horse, and he wouldn't stir,
for the racket wouldn't wake a baby. It's going to be great."
"What are you going to do with it, when you get it all completed?"
"I haven't made up my mind yet. It's going to be some time before I
get it all put together, and installed, and in that time something
may turn up. Well, let's talk about something more pleasant than
Andy Foger. I guess I won't worry about him."
"No, I wouldn't. I'd like to see the motor run."
"You can, in a day or so, but just now I need a certain part to
attach to the sparker, and I had to send to town for it. Koku has
gone after it."
"What, that big giant servant? He might break it on the way back,
he's so strong. He doesn't realize how much muscle he has."
"No, that's so. Well, while we're waiting for him, come on in the
house, and I'll show you some new books I got."
The two lads were soon in the Swift homestead, a pleasant and large
old-fashioned residence, in the suburbs of Shopton. Tom brought out
the books, and he and his chum poured over them.
"Mr. Damon gave me that one on electricity," explained the young
inventor, handing Ned a bulky volume.
"'Bless my bookmark!' as Mr. Damon himself would say if he were
here," exclaimed Ned with a laugh. "That's a dandy. But Mr. Damon
didn't give you THIS one," and Ned picked up a dainty volume of
verse. "'To Tom Swift, with the best wishes of Mary--'" but that
was as far as he read, for Tom grabbed the book away, and closed the
cover over the flyleaf, which bore some writing in a girl's hand. I
think my old readers can guess whose hand it was.
"Wow! Tom Swift reading poetry!" laughed Ned.
"Oh, cut it out," begged his chum. "I didn't know that was among the
books. I got it last Christmas. Now here's a dandy one on lion
hunting, Ned," and to cover his confusion Tom shoved over a book
containing many pictures of wild animals.
"Lion hunting; eh," remarked Ned. "Well, I guess you could give them
some points on snapping lions with your moving picture camera, Tom."
"Yes, I got some good views," admitted the young inventor modestly.
"I may take the camera along on some trips in my noiseless airship.
Hello! here comes Koku back. I hope he got what I wanted."
A man, immense in size, a veritable giant, one of two whom Tom Swift
had brought away from captivity with him, was entering the front
gate. He stopped to speak to Mr. Swift, Tom's father, who was
setting out some plants in a flower bed, taking them from a large
wheel barrow filled with the blooms.
Mr. Swift, who was an inventor of note, had failed in his health of
late, and the doctor had recommended him to be out of doors as much
as possible. He delighted in gardening, and was at it all day.
"Look!" suddenly cried Ned, pointing to the giant. Then Tom and his
chum saw a strange sight.
With a booming laugh, Koku picked up Mr. Swift gently and set him on
a board that extended across the front part of the wheel barrow.
Then, as easily as if it was a pound weight, the big man lifted Mr.
Swift, barrow, plants and all, in his two hands, and carried them
across the garden to another flower bed, that was ready to be
filled.
"No use to walk when I can carry you, Mr. Swift," exclaimed Koku
with a laugh. "I overtook you quite nice; so?"
"Yes, you took me over in great shape, Koku!" replied the aged
inventor with a smile at Koku's English, for the giant frequently
got his words backwards. "That barrow is quite heavy for me to
wheel."
"You after this call me," suggested Koku.
"Say, but he's strong all right," exclaimed Ned, "and that was an
awkward thing to carry."
"It sure was," agreed Tom. "I haven't yet seen any one strong enough
to match Koku. And he's gentle about it, too. He's very fond of
dad."
"And you too, I guess," added Ned.
"Well, Koku, did you get that attachment?" asked Tom, as his giant
servant entered the room.
"Yes, Mr. Tom. I have it here," and from his pocket Koku drew a
heavy piece of steel that would have taxed the strength of either of
the boys to lift with one hand. But Koku's pockets were very large
and made specially strong of leather, for he was continually putting
odd things in them.
Koku handed over the attachment, for which his master had sent him.
He held it out on a couple of fingers, as one might a penknife, but
Tom took both hands to set it on the ground.
"I the female get, also," went on Koku, as he began taking some
letters and papers from his pocket. "I stop in the office post, and
the female get."
"Mail, Koku, not female," corrected Tom with a laugh. "A female is a
lady you know."
"For sure I know, and the lady in the post office gave me the
female. That is I said what, did I not?"
"Well, I guess you meant it all right," remarked Ned. "But letter
mail and a male man and a female woman are all different."
"Oh such a language!" gasped the giant. "I shall never learn it.
Well, then, Mr. Tom, here is your mail, that the female lady gave to
me for you, and you are a male. It is very strange."
Koku pulled out a bundle of letters, which Tom took, and then the
giant continued to delve for more. One of the papers, rolled in a
wrapper, stuck on the edge of the pocket.
"You must outcome!" exclaimed Koku, giving it a sudden yank, and it
"outcame" with such suddenness that the paper was torn in half,
tightly wrapped as it was, and it was considerable of a bundle.
"Koku, you're getting too strong!" exclaimed Tom, as scraps of paper
were scattered about the room. "I think I'll give you less to eat."
"I am your forgiveness," said Koku humbly, as he stooped over to
pick up the fragments. "I did not mean."
"It's all right," said Tom kindly. "That's only a big bundle of
Sunday papers I guess."
"I'll give him a hand," volunteered Ned, stooping over to help Koku
clear the rug of the litter. As he did so Tom's chum gave a gasp of
surprise.
"Hello, Tom!" Ned cried. "Here's something new, and I guess it will
interest you."
"What is it?"
"It's part of an account of some daring smugglers who are working
goods across the Canadian border into the northern part of this
state. The piece is torn, but there's something here which says the
government agents suspect the men of using airships to transport the
stuff."
"Airships! Smugglers using airships!" cried Tom. "It doesn't seem
possible!"
"That's what it says here, Tom. It says the custom house authorities
have tried every way to catch them, and when they couldn't land 'em,
the only theory they could account for the way the smuggling was
going on was by airships, flying at night."
"That's odd. I wonder how it would seem to chase a smuggler in an
airship at night? Some excitement about that; eh, Ned? Let's see
that scrap of paper."
Ned passed it over, and Tom scanned it closely. Then in his turn, he
uttered an exclamation of surprise.
"What is it?" inquired his chum.
"Great Scott, Ned, listen to this! 'It is suspected that some of the
smugglers have'--then there's a place where the paper is torn-'in
Shopton, N.Y.'" finished Tom. "Think of that, Ned. Our town here, is
in some way connected with the airship smugglers! We must find the
rest of this scrap of paper, and paste it together. This may be a
big thing! Find that other scrap! Koku, you go easy on papers next
time," cautioned Tom, good naturedly, as he and his chum began
sorting over the torn parts of the paper.