TOM GETS A WARNING
"Bless my shoe buttons!" exclaimed a voice, as a man came toward Tom's
shop, a little later. "Bless my very necktie! This is odd. I go to the
house, and find no one there. I come out here, and not a soul is about.
Tom Swift can't have gone off on another one of his wonderful trips,
without sending me word. I know he wouldn't do that. And yet, bless my
watch and chain, I can't find any one!"
It was Mr. Damon who spoke, as my old readers have already guessed. He
peered into one of the shop windows, and saw something like a fog
filling the place.
"That's strange," he went on. "I don't see Tom there, and yet it looks
as if an experiment was going on. I wonder--"
Mr. Damon heard some one coming up behind him, and turned to see Koku
the giant, who was returning from the errand on which Tom had sent him.
"Oh, Koku, it's you; is it?" the odd man asked. "Bless my cuff buttons!
Where is Tom?"
"In shop I guess."
"I don't see him. Still I had better look. There doesn't seem to be any
one about."
Mr. Damon opened the shop door, and was met by such an outward rush of
choking gas that he staggered back.
"Bless my--" he began but he had to stop, to cough and gasp. "There
must have been some sort of an accident," he cried, as he got his lungs
full of fresh air. "A bad accident! Tom could never work in that
atmosphere. Whew!"
"Accident! What is matter?" cried Koku stepping to the doorway. He,
too choked and gasped, but his was such a strong and rugged nature, and
his lungs held such a supply of air, that it took more than mere gas to
knock him out. He peered in through the wreaths of the acid vapor, and
saw the body of his master, lying on the floor--held down by the heavy
iron.
In another instant Koku had rushed in, holding his breath, for, now
that he was inside the place, the gas made even him feel weak.
"Come back! Come back!" cried Mr. Damon. "You'll be smothered! Wait
until the gas escapes!"
"Then Mr. Tom die!" cried the giant. "I get him--or I no come out."
With one heave of his powerful right arm, Koku lifted the heavy shaft
from Tom's legs. Then, gathering the lad up in his left arm, as if he
were a baby, Koku staggered out into the fresh air, almost falling with
his burden, as he neared Mr. Damon, for the giant was, well-nigh
overcome.
"Bless my soul!" cried the odd man. "Is he--is he--"
He did not finish the sentence, but, as Koku laid Tom down on the
overcoat of Mr. Damon, which the latter quickly spread on the snow, the
eccentric man put his hand over the heart of the young inventor.
"It beats!" he murmured. "He's alive, but very weak. We must get a
doctor at once. I'll do what I can. There's no time to spare. Bless
my--"
But Mr. Damon concluded that there was no time for blessing anything,
and so he stopped short.
"Carry him up to the house, Koku," he said. "I know where there are
some medicines, and I'll try to revive him while we're waiting for the
doctor Hurry!"
Tom was laid on a lounge, and, just then, Mrs. Baggert came in.
"Telephone for the doctor!" cried Mr. Damon to the housekeeper, who
kept her nerve, and did not get excited. "I'll give Tom some ammonia,
and other stimulants, and see if I can bring him around. Koku, get me
some cold water."
The telephone was soon carrying the message to the doctor, who promised
to come at once. Koku, in spite of his size, was quick, and soon
brought the water, into which Mr. Damon put some strong medicine, that
he found in a closet. Tom's eyelids fluttered as the others forced some
liquid between his lips.
"He's coming around!" cried the eccentric man. "I guess he'll be all
right, Koku."
"Koku glad," said the giant simply, for he loved Tom with a deep
devotion.
"Yes, Koku, if it hadn't been for you, though, I don't believe that he
would be alive. That was powerful gas, and a few seconds more in there
might have meant the end of Tom. I didn't see him lying on the floor,
until after you rushed in. Bless my thermometer! It is very strange."
They gave Tom more medicine, rubbed his arms and legs, and held ammonia
under his nose. Slowly he opened his eyes, and in a faint voice asked:
"Where--am--I?"
"In your own house," replied Mr. Damon, cheerfully. "How do you feel?"
"I'm--all--right--now," said Tom slowly. He, felt his strength coming
gradually back, and he remembered what had happened, though he did not
yet know how he had been saved. The doctor came in at this moment, with
a small medical battery, which completed the restorative work begun by
the others. Soon Tom could sit up, though he was still weak and rather
sick.
"Who brought me out?" he asked, when he had briefly told how the
accident occurred.
"Koku did," replied Mr. Damon. "I guess none of the rest of us could
have lifted the iron shaft from your legs."
"It's queer how that fell," said Tom, with a puzzled look on his face.
"I didn't hit it hard enough to bring it down. Beside, I had it tied to
nails, driven into the wall, to prevent just such an accident as this.
I must see about it when I get well."
"Not for a couple of days," exclaimed the doctor grimly. "You've got
to stay in bed a while yet. You had a narrow escape, Tom Swift."
"Well, I'm glad I went to Giant Land," said the young inventor, with a
wan smile. "Otherwise I'd never have Koku," and he looked
affectionately at the big man, who laughed happily. In nature Koku was
much like a child.
Mr. Swift came home a little later, and Ned Newton called, both being
very much surprised to hear of the accident. As for Eradicate, the poor
old colored man was much affected, and would have sat beside Tom's bed
all night, had they allowed him.
Our hero recovered rapidly, once the fumes of the gas left his system,
and, two days later, he was able to go out to the shop again. At his
request everything had been left just as it was after he had been
brought out. Of course the fumes of the gas were soon dissipated, when
the door was opened, and the acids, after mingling and giving off the
vapor, had become neutralized, so that they were now harmless.
"Now I'm going to see what made that shaft fall," said Tom to Ned, as
the two chums walked over to the bench where the young inventor had
been working. "The tap I gave it never ought to have brought it down."
Together they examined the thin, but strong, cords that had been passed
around the shaft, having been fastened to two nails, driven into the
wall.
"Look!" cried Tom, pointing to one of the cords.
"What is it?" asked Ned.
"The strands were partly cut through, so that only a little jar was
enough to break the remaining ones," went on Tom. "They've been cut
with a knife, too, and not frayed by vibration against the nail, as
might be the case. Ned, someone has been in my shop, meddling, and he
wanted this shaft to fall. This is a trick!"
"Great Scott, Tom! You don't suppose any one wanted that shaft to fall
on you; do you?"
"No, I don't believe that. Probably some one wanted to damage the
shaft, or he might have thought it would topple over against the bench,
and break some of my tools, instruments or machinery. I do delicate
experiments here, and it wouldn't take much of a blow to spoil them.
That's why those cords were cut."
"Who did it? Do you think Andy Foger--"
"No, I think it was the man Koku thought was a chicken thief, and whom
we chased the other night. I've got to be on my guard. I wonder if--"
Tom was interrupted by the appearance of Koku, who came out of the shop
with a letter the postman had just left.
"I don't know that writing very well, and yet it looks familiar," said
Tom, as he tore open the missive. "Hello, here's more trouble!" he
exclaimed as he hastily read it.
"What's up now?" asked Ned.
"This is from Mr. Period, the picture man," went on the young inventor.
"It's a warning."
"A warning?"
"Yes. He says:
"'Dear Tom. Be on your guard. I understand that a rival moving picture
concern is after you. They want to make you an offer, and get you away
from me. But I trust you. Don't have anything to do with these other
fellows. And, at the same time, don't give them a hint as to our plans.
Don't tell them anything about your new camera. There is a lot of
jealousy and rivalry in this business and they are all after me.
They'll probably come to see you, but be on your guard. They know that
I have been negotiating with you. Remember the alarm the other night.'"