Putting the Enemy to Flight
The pilot and headlight of the freight locomotive came around the turn
and the freight thundered on toward the switch. Seeing the group of men
standing by the stalled electric locomotive, and the locomotive itself
in the clear of the siding, the driver of the freight did not suppose
the switch was open. Nobody who was not a criminal would have stood by
idly in such an emergency and let the freight run into an open switch.
Therefore, for the first minute, the coming engineer did not observe
his danger. Lewis and his gang stared at the head of the freight and
did nothing. They had moved hastily back from the siding so as to be
clear of the wreckage. Mr. Damon was in the front of the cab of
Hercules 0001 and had no idea of the approaching menace.
But of a sudden a loud shout echoed through the wood. Tom Swift came
over the ridge and started toward his invention at top speed. From that
height he saw the freight train coming, he observed the men standing at
the siding, and he recognized Montagne Lewis, roughly as the railroad
magnate was dressed.
Instantly Tom realized what was about to happen--what would surely
occur--and he saw what must be done if the utter wreck of his
locomotive was to be averted. Yelling at the top of his voice, he
leaped down the slope.
"That's Swift!" shouted Lewis. "Stop him!" But the men he had hired to
do his wicked work fell back instead of trying to halt the young
inventor. It was not Tom's appearance that made them quail. Over the
ridge there appeared a second figure--and a more fearful or threatening
apparition none of them had ever before seen!
Koku came running with the limp body of Andy O'Malley slung over his
shoulder like a bag of meal. The fellows knew it was Andy from his
dress.
The giant came down the slope after Tom as though he wore the
seven-league boots. The fellows Lewis had hired to wreck the electric
locomotive shrank back from before both Tom and the giant.
"Get him!" yelled the half blinded Lewis again.
"Get your grandmother!" bawled one of the men suddenly. "Good-night!"
He turned tail and ran, disappearing almost instantly into the thicker
woods. And his mates, after a moment of wavering, sped after him. Lewis
was left alone, quite helpless because of the ammonia fumes.
As a matter of fact not all of O'Malley's predicament was due to Koku.
The rascal, exhausted by his run and half blind through fright and
rage, had stumbled, fallen, and struck his head on a root, which
rendered him unconscious.
This, of course, Lewis and his ruffians did not know. All the men of
the railroad president's gang saw was the gigantic Koku coming along in
great strides, bearing the unconscious O'Malley, who was a burly
fellow, as though he were a featherweight. No wonder they fled from
such a monster.
Tom had reached the switch, and he was several seconds ahead of the
freight locomotive. The engineer saw the open switch then; but he was
too late to stop his train.
Going into reverse, however, helped some. Tom seized the switch lever
and threw it over, locking it in place, just as the forward trucks
thundered upon the joint. The train swept by in safety, and the
engineer leaned from his cab window to wave a grateful hand at the
young inventor.
Neither the engineer nor the crew of the freight understood the meaning
of the scene at the timber siding. All they learned was that Tom Swift
had saved the freight from a possible wreck.
The young inventor turned sharply from the switch and motioned with his
hand to Koku.
"Throw that fellow into the cab, Koku," he commanded.
The giant did as he was told, just as Ned Newton came panting to the
spot.
"Did they do any harm, Tom?" he cried. Then he saw Montagne Lewis
standing by, and he seized his chum's arm. "Do you see what I see,
Tom?" he demanded, earnestly.
"I guess we both see the same snake," rejoined his chum. "And I mean to
scotch it."
"Montagne Lewis!" murmured Ned. "And we've got his chief tool."
Tom said nothing to his chum, but he approached Lewis with determined
mien.
"I can see something has happened to you, Mr. Lewis, and I can guess
what it is. The effect of that ammonia will blow away after a time. Ask
your friend, Andy O'Malley. He knows all about it, for he sampled it
back East, in Shopton."
"I'm going to get square for this, young man," growled the railroad
magnate. "You know who I am. And that fellow in the cab knew me, too.
How dared he shoot that stuff into my face and eyes?"
"I fancy it didn't take much daring on Mr. Damon's part," and Tom
actually chuckled. "A big crook isn't any more important in our eyes
than a little crook. We've got your henchman, O'Malley--"
"And you'd better let him go. I'm telling you," snarled Lewis. "I'll
ruin you in this country, Tom Swift. I've got influence--"
"You won't have much after this thing comes out. And believe me, I mean
to spread it abroad. I've got nothing to win or lose from you, Mr.
Lewis. As for O'Malley, I'll put him behind the bars for a good long
term."
"You'll do a lot--"
"More than you think," said Tom. "Koku!" The giant had pitched
O'Malley, who was still senseless, into the cab, and now was coming up
behind Lewis.
"Yes, Master," said the giant.
"Get him!"
"Yes, Master," said Koku, and to Lewis' startled amazement, the next
instant he was in the hands of the giant!
He screamed and threatened, and even kicked, to no avail. When he was
pitched into the electric locomotive he was held under the threat of
Mr. Damon's ammonia pistol until Tom and Ned and the giant entered and
the door was shut. Then Koku proceeded to tie both the prisoners by
wrist and ankle while the others examined the mechanism of the Hercules
0001.
The pantagraph had been torn off the trolley wires when the locomotive
had gone on the siding. But now Tom climbed to the roof of the
locomotive, and with Koku's aid managed to set the rear pantagraph at
such an angle that its wheels caught the trolley cables again, and once
more the current was pumped into the Hercules 0001.
Tom tried out the several parts of the mechanism and found that,
despite the jar of the collision, nothing was really injured.
"I built this thing to withstand hard usage," he declared with pride.
"The Swift Hercules Electric Locomotives will not be built for parlor
ornaments. She is going to run into Hendrickton under her own power, in
spite of a smashed cows catcher and target lights."
"Is nothing really injured, Tom?" asked Mr. Damon. "Bless my dinner
set! I thought everything had gone to smash when she hit that bumper."
"She will be as good as new in a week," declared Tom, with conviction.
This prophecy of the young inventor proved to be true. A week from that
day the public test of the electric locomotive on the Hendrickton & Pas
Alos Railroad was held. A picked delegation of railroad men was present
to observe and marvel, with Mr. Bartholomew; but Montagne Lewis, the
president of the H. & W., was not one of those who attended.
Of course, Lewis soon got out of jail on bail. But the accusation
against him was a serious one. His guilt would be proved by his own
employee, Andy O'Malley, who was in a hospital for the time being.
O'Malley had got enough. He had turned State's evidence and implicated
his employer. Influential and wealthy as Lewis was, he could not escape
trial with O'Malley when the time came.
"One thing sure, Lewis has got all he wants. He isn't likely to try any
more crooked work against the H. & P. A.," Mr. Bartholomew said. "I can
thank you for that, Tom Swift, as well as for your invention. You
have saved the day for my railroad."
"You can thank Koku," chuckled Tom. "If he hadn't spied and identified
'Big Feet,' we might not have caught O'Malley, and, through O'Malley,
implicated Montagne Lewis. You give Koku a new suit of clothes, Mr.
Bartholomew, and we will call it square. But be sure and have the
pattern of the goods loud enough."
This conversation took place while the party of guests was gathering to
board Mr. Bartholomew's private car, attached to the Hercules 0001. Mr.
Damon was one of the guests and so was Ned Newton. Tom took into the
cab a crew of H. & P. A. men who would hereafter drive the huge
locomotive and take care of her.
The semaphore signal dropped and the electric locomotive started as
quietly as a baby going to sleep! There was not a jar as the train
moved off the siding and over the switches to the main line.
The dispatcher had arranged a clear road for them. Tom knew that he had
a free track ahead of him--a level of ninety-odd miles to the Hammon
yards. As he passed the Hendrickton shops he touched the siren lever
for a moment, and the shrill voice of the Hercules 0001 bade the town
good-bye.
The next minute the visitors in the private car grabbed out their
split-second watches and began to murmur. The electric locomotive had
begun to travel!