A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE
Disappointed and puzzled, Tom and Ned went to where Koku was
standing in rather a dazed attitude. The giant, like all large
bodies, moved slowly, not only bodily but mentally. He could
understand exactly what had happened, except that he had not
prevailed over the "pygmies" who had attacked him. They had been
too many for him.
"Let's take a look inside," suggested Tom, when, by another glance
upward, he had made sure that all trace of his big airship was
gone. "Maybe we can get a clue. Then, Koku, you tell us what
happened."
"It all happened to me," said the giant, simply. "Me no make
anything happen to them."
"That's about right," laughed Tom, ruefully. "It all happened to
us."
The lights in the hangar were switched on, but a careful search
revealed little. The men, half a dozen or more, had come evidently
well prepared for the taking away of Tom Swift's airship, and they
had done so.
Entrance had been effected by forcing a small side door. True, the
burglar alarm had given notice of the presence of the men, but Tom
and Ned had not acted quite quickly enough. Koku had been at the
hangar almost as soon as the men themselves, but he had watched
and waited for orders, instead of going in at once, and this had
given the intruders time to wheel out the craft and start the
motor.
"Why didn't you jump right in on them when you saw what they were
up to, Koku?" asked Tom.
"Me wait for master. Me think master want to see who men were. Me
go in--they run."
"Well, of course that's so, in a way," admitted Tom. "They
probably would have run, but they'd have run WITHOUT my airship
instead of WITH it, if they hadn't had time to get it outside the
hangar. However, there's no use in crying over lost biplanes. The
next thing is how to get her back. Did you know any of the men,
Koku?"
"No, master."
"Then we haven't any clue that way. They laid their plans well.
They just let you tangle yourself up with them, Koku, while the
head ones got the motor going; an easy matter, since it was all
ready to start. Then they tripped you, Koku, and as many of them
as could, made a jump for the machine. Then they were off."
"Well, what's the next thing to do?" asked Ned, when another look
about the shed had shown that not the slightest clue was
available.
"I'm going to do some telephoning," Tom stated. "A big airship
like mine can't go scooting around the country without being
noticed. And those fellows can't go on forever. They've got to
have gasoline and oil, and to get them they'll have to come down.
I'll get it back, sooner or later; but the question is: Why did
they take her?"
"To sell," suggested Ned.
"I think not," Tom said. "A big airship like mine isn't easy to
sell. People who would buy it would ask questions that might not
easily be answered. I'm inclined to think that some other reason
made them take her, and it's up to us to find out what it was.
Let's go into the house."
"Hark!" suddenly exclaimed Ned, holding up his hand for silence.
They all heard footsteps outside the hangar.
Tom sprang to the door, flashing his electric light, and a voice
exclaimed:
"Golly! Chicken thieves!"
"Oh, is it you, Eradicate?" asked the young inventor, with a
laugh. "No, it isn't chicken thieves--they were after bigger game
this time."
"Suffin happen?" asked the colored man. "Massa Swift he heah a
noise, an' see a light, an' he sent me out yeah t' see what all am
gwine on."
"Yes, something happened," admitted Tom. "They got the Eagle,
Rad."
"What! Yo' big airship?"
"Yes."
"Huh! Dat's too bad, Massa Tom. I suah am sorry t' heah dat. Who
done it?"
"We don't know, Rad."
"Maybe it was dat low-down cousin ob mine what tried t' git mah
chickens, onct!"
"No, Rad, it wasn't your cousin. But I'll telephone the alarm to
the police. They may be able to help me get the Eagle back."
Within the next hour several messages were sent to the authorities
of nearby towns, asking them to be on the watch for the stolen
airship. This was about all that could be done, and after Mr.
Swift had been told the story of the night's happenings, everyone
went back to bed again.
Further search the next morning brought forth no clues, though
Tom, Ned and the others beat about in the bushes where the men had
disappeared.
One or two reports were heard from surrounding towns, to the
effect that several persons had heard a strange throbbing sound in
the night, that, possibly, was caused by the passage of the
airship overhead. One such report came from Waterford, the home
town of Mr. Damon.
"Let's go over there," suggested Ned, to his chum. "I'd like to
see our friend, and maybe we can get some other clues by
circulating around there."
"Oh, I don't know," spoke Tom, rather listlessly.
"Why not?" Ned wanted to know.
"Well, I ought to be working on my photo telephone," was the
answer. "I've got a new idea now. I'm going to try a different
kind of current, and use a more sensitive plate. And I'll use a
tungsten filament lamp in the sending booth."
"Oh, let your experiments go for a little while, Tom," suggested
Ned. "Come on over to Mr. Damon's. The trouble with you is that
you keep too long at a thing, once you start."
"That's the only way to succeed," remarked Tom. "Really, Ned,
while I feel sorry about the airship, of course, I ought to be
working on my telephone. I'll get the Eagle back sooner or later."
"That's not the way to talk, Tom. Let's follow up this clue."
"Well, if you insist on it I suppose I may as well go. We'll take
the little monoplane. I've fixed her up to carry double. I guess--"
Tom Swift broke off suddenly, as the telephone at his elbow rang.
"Hello," he said, taking off the receiver. "Yes, this is Tom
Swift. Oh, good morning, Mrs. Damon! Eh! What's that? Mr. Damon
has disappeared? You don't tell me! Disappeared! Yes, yes, I can
come right over. Be there in a few minutes. Eh? You don't know
what to make of it? Oh, well, maybe it can easily be explained.
Yes, Ned Newton and I will be right over. Don't worry."
Tom hung up the receiver and turned to his chum.
"What do you think of that?" he asked.
"What is it?"
"Why, Mr. Damon mysteriously vanished last night, and this morning
word came from his bankers that every cent of his fortune had
disappeared! He's lost everything!"
"Maybe--maybe--" hesitated Ned.
"No, Mr. Damon isn't that kind of a man," said Tom, stoutly. "He
hasn't made away with himself."
"But something is wrong!"
"Evidently, and it's up to us to find out what it is. I shouldn't
be surprised but that he knew of this coming trouble and started
out to prevent it if he could."
"But he wouldn't disappear and make his wife worry."
"No, that's so. Well, we'll have to go over there and find out all
about it."
"Say, Tom!" exclaimed Ned, as they were getting the small, but
swift monoplane ready for the flight, "could there be any
connection with the disappearance of Mr. Damon and the taking of
the Eagle?"
Tom started in surprise.
"How could there be?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't know," answered Ned. "It was only an idea."
"Well, we'll see what Mrs. Damon has to say," spoke the young
inventor, as he took his seat beside Ned, and motioned to Koku to
twirl the propeller.