BACK FROM THE ARCTIC
The line did not break. The captain’s brother was drawn to the top
of the low cliff. After that Kingston was raised. The delighted
Wakefield Damon was talking all the time and could scarcely wait to
help bear the two exhausted seamen down the hill to where the flying
boat was being repaired.
Captain Karofsen carried the bag of gold coin over his shoulder,
while the other five from the flying boat bore the exhausted sailors
down the slope. When Tom and the others saw them coming they were
likewise excited. The recovery of these two men completed the rescue
of the party of castaways to search for whom the _Winged Arrow_ had
been brought by her inventor from the States.
“Nothing to be put down on the debit side of the column, Tom!”
shouted Ned, when he drew near. “If you can make the old plane ride
again, we can figure that we’ve turned the trick.”
“And Mr. Damon’s fortune?” shouted Tom.
“Bless my Russian rubles!” chortled Mr. Damon, “I could buy up the
entire Russian Government monetary output now. Here is Aman Dele’s
treasure that he willed me. I am a lucky man. And these brave fellows
shall share in my good luck.”
He was as good as his word. It may as well be said here that Mr.
Damon, with all his eccentricities, was a very honorable man. He
reimbursed Captain Karofsen for his time and exertions, gave each of
the sailors a handsome present, and to the captain’s brother and son
he made over a trust fund that, as he had declared, would keep the
two injured men from want for the remainder of their lives.
For the two who had fallen down the crevasse with the treasure chest
had been exposed so long to the frost that it would be months before
they would be able to go to sea. All these good offices, however, Mr.
Damon arranged later through a legal representative.
Just now the entire party was anxious to discover if the _Winged
Arrow_ would fly. Half the short Arctic night had been expended in
these recent exertions. Brannigan and his men had taken the tools and
the gasoline stoves back into the ship. They all climbed aboard as
soon as possible and once more preparations were made for a jump-off.
“If this old plane doesn’t act right now,” said Tom, “I’ll take her
home and break her up for scrap. That’s a promise.”
“If you get her home at all,” said Ned. “I hope she won’t get
temperamental about the time we are over the Newfoundland fishing
banks, for instance.”
Their first destination, of course, was Iceland. The flying boat
was overcrowded, and Tom wished to place Captain Karofsen and his
five men somewhere near their own homes before launching out for the
longer flight for America across the North Atlantic.
Tom’s first anxiety, however, was to get the huge flying boat into
the air and learn if she would respond properly to the controls. The
motors raced all right when they were tried, and he believed that he
knew now just how much compressed air to order pumped into the skin
of the hull.
Yet he signaled Brannigan and stood at the controls when the time
came for the jump-off with a feeling of anxiety. How would the boat
act? If the whole party were marooned on this iceberg as Mr. Damon
and Mr. Nestor and the five sailors had been, who would come to their
rescue?
“Not a chance!” Ned answered to these queries.
“All ready, Bran?” called Tom into the tube.
“Aye, aye, boss!” exclaimed the mechanician.
The hull of the flying boat began to tremble. The ice field ahead of
her was quite clear of rubble and there were no chasms. The propeller
began to spin and the boat rolled forward.
Trembling, shaking like some huge fowl trying to take the air, the
_Winged Arrow_ started. She cocked her nose skyward and left the ice.
Up, up she soared, on a long slant into the east. The motors throbbed
rhythmically while the gale whistled through the stays.
Tom felt the pull of the controls and knew that the slight rocking of
the boat betrayed a good balance. On a graceful curve she left the
surface of the iceberg and leaped out over the tumbling, open sea.
There was a wide channel between this huge berg and the nearest field
of ice. Flocks of Arctic sea birds rose whirring beneath the flying
boat. On the edge of the ice they saw two solemn looking polar bears
fishing for seals. Sea lions played on one shelving beach of ice.
“Farewell to the giant iceberg!” shouted Ned, as the _Winged Arrow_
left the mountain of crystal behind. “I hope I don’t see any ice
again for a year—not even next summer! B-r-r-r! Shall we ever be
really warm again?”
They were packed so close in the cabin and pilot room of the flying
boat that they should have been more than ordinarily warm. It was
indeed an uncomfortable journey to the nearest land.
Captain Karofsen had studied the chart and he marked a little town
near Reykjavik where Tom could make a landing without attracting
attention from the authorities of the island. Of course it would
have been a simple matter to get by cablegram from the United States
information that would show the Governor of Iceland that the Russians
were trying to steal the flying boat. But that might delay the party
for several weeks.
And nobody was more eager than Tom to get back to Shopton. He
confided to Captain Karofsen certain messages to be sent to Mr.
Barton Swift and Mary Nestor, for he expected that the flying boat
would be all of three days on the journey home, even if she did not
have to descend for repairs.
He made the landing on the spot Captain Karofsen pointed out, with
success. Nothing needed adjusting, and five minutes after taking the
ground the seamen and their captain were out of the flying boat.
Then, after getting a supply of gasoline and oil, the latter made
another jump-off.
“The old plane is doing you proud, Tom!” cried Ned, when they were
in the air again. “Just keep away from icebergs, and I feel sure you
will have no trouble with her. But believe me! if you take another
flight into the Arctic, you can count me out.”
In several ways the wonderful voyage of the _Winged Arrow_ had never
been equaled by any flying boat. Her long jump over the Atlantic
proved her to be a unique craft. She could remain in the air at her
pilot’s will. She had proved that she could rest in rough water. And
the usage she had received on the giant iceberg showed her to be a
craft able to endure a deal of knocking about.
Naturally, when she returned to Shopton, she was not the spick and
span looking flying boat that she had been when she left that base
for the Arctic. Nevertheless, her inventor was satisfied that he knew
now just what he could do with her.
“Will you sell her to the Navy Department if they want her, Tom?”
asked Mr. Nestor, during the flight home.
“I am going to sell her to nobody. Not even to the Russian
Government,” said Tom, smiling. “We are in no war now, thank
goodness, and I mean to keep and improve this craft until she can be
no further perfected. Of course,” he added loyally, “she will be at
the service of the country at any time she may be needed.”
“There is a whole lot I can do to her yet to make her of more value
both in war and commerce. I wish I might make these improvements,
however, without so much publicity. The Swift Construction Company
is getting into the papers too much.” Then he grinned suddenly. “You
know, after all, what I want is a quiet life.”
Ned, listening to this, made an awful face.
“Whoo!” he shouted. “The sort of quiet life Tom Swift wants would
make a jumping jack hysterical! Tom, you know you could not keep
quiet and give up adventures if you had five hundred times the
fortune Mr. Damon is bringing home with him from Iceland.”
“Bless my foreign exchange!” exclaimed Mr. Damon, “that is a true
word you said, Ned Newton. Why, anybody who has anything to do with
Tom Swift is bound to get into the most exciting situations——”
“Listen to him!” cried Tom.
“We know who is the person who manages to get into trouble without
any help,” declared Mr. Nestor laughing. “I certainly am obliged to
Brother Damon for taking me to the Arctic. It has restored my health.
I feel like another man again.
“Nevertheless, if Wakefield Damon asks me to walk down the street
with him to buy a necktie after this, I shall be afraid to accompany
him. Something unexpected is bound to happen when one is in that
gentleman’s company.”
“Bless my reputation!” groaned the eccentric gentleman, “have you all
such an opinion of me as this? I declare! I will go home and raise
fancy chickens and nothing shall entice me on another journey. Humph!
That is, until Tom Swift decides to start off to the antipodes. I
could not contain myself at home if I knew he was away junketing.”
* * * * *
Forewarned of the coming of the flying boat, half the population
of Shopton and all Tom’s workmen were awaiting its appearance. Tom
brought the _Winged Arrow_ over the field behind the shops, spiraled
down, and took the ground very lightly. When they opened the door
in the side of the hull the first faces they saw were those of
Mary Nestor and her mother and Mr. Barton Swift and his faithful
attendant, Eradicate Sampson.
When Rad set his eyes on the gigantic Koku he cried out:
“Ma goodness, Mars’ Tom! couldn’t you lose dat big nuisance up da
in de Antic Seas somewhar? He suah ain’t much good ’round yere. I
reckoned he’d make good polar bear bait, or de like. Has I got to
feed him again?”
Koku showed his teeth in a wide smile. “No polum bear kill Koku,”
he declared, leaping out of the flying boat and beginning to strut.
“Koku kill bear. Killum with spear. Koku great chief.”
“Koku great nuisance,” grumbled Rad, grabbing the big fellow by the
arm. “Come on wid me. I got a beefsteak ha’f as big as a bedsheet to
brile for yo’. Yo’ suah isn’t much good, but we got to feed yo’.”
Mr. Nestor was welcomed by his wife and daughter almost as though he
had risen from the grave. His improvement in health was so great that
they could not cease exclaiming over it.
Tom and his other friends from the flying boat were all greeted most
hilariously by the crowd. The mechanicians and Kingston had their
stories to tell. Ned hurried away on business. Mr. Barton Swift wrung
his son’s hand.
“I was afraid for a while that that strange Russian would manage to
make you trouble. Admiral Gilder found out about him soon after you
had started on your cruise. The fellow had got credentials from the
Navy Board by trickery.”
“If the Soviet Government had had a bunch of flying men up there at
Reykjavik, ready to hop aboard the craft when they got us out and
under guard,” said Tom, “they might have managed to get the _Winged
Arrow_ as far as Russia, and we would have whistled for any money.
Their printing presses could not print rubles fast enough to pay me
for this flying boat.”
“Then you consider her a success, Tom?” asked Mr. Swift smiling.
“She most certainly is. As far as I have gone I am satisfied. But I
have not finished with her yet. You wait and see, Dad.”
Then he hurried away to join Mary Nestor. And, after what Tom had
done for the young girl’s father, the reader may believe that what
Mary Nestor said to Tom made him blush to the tips of his ears!
THE END
THE TOM SWIFT SERIES
By VICTOR APPLETON
=Uniform Style of Binding. Individual Colored Wrappers.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.=
Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a
bright, ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most
interesting kind of reading.
TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE
TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE
TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER
TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON
TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP
TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH
TOM SWIFT AND AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of the “Bobbsey Twins,” “Bunny Brown” Series, Etc.
=Uniform Style of Binding. Individual Colored Wrappers.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.=
These tales take in the various adventures participated in by several
bright, up-to-date girls who love outdoor life.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE;
Or, Camping and Tramping for Fun and Health.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE;
Or, The Stirring Cruise of the Motor Boat Gem.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR;
Or, The Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP;
Or, Glorious Days on Skates and Ice Boats.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA;
Or, Wintering in the Sunny South.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW;
Or, The Box That Was Found in the Sand.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND;
Or, A Cave and What it Contained.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE;
Or, Doing Their Bit for Uncle Sam.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT THE HOSTESS HOUSE;
Or, Doing Their Best For the Soldiers.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT BLUFF POINT;
Or, A Wreck and A Rescue.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE;
Or, The Hermit of Moonlight Falls.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE SADDLE;
Or, The Girl Miner of Gold Run.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE CAMPFIRE;
Or, The Old Maid of the Mountains.
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON CAPE COD;
Or, Sally Ann of Lighthouse Rock.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
THE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS
By HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE
=Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn by WALTER
S. ROGERS=
A new line of fascinating tales for little girls. Honey Bunch is a
dainty, thoughtful little girl, and to know her is to take her to
your heart at once.
HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL
Happy days at home, helping mamma and the washerlady. And Honey
Bunch helped the house painters too—or thought she did.
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY
What wonderful sights Honey Bunch saw when she went to visit her
cousins in New York! And she got lost in a big hotel and wandered
into a men’s convention!
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM
Can you remember how the farm looked the first time you visited it?
How big the cows and horses were, and what a roomy place to play in
the barn proved to be?
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE
Honey Bunch soon got used to the big waves and thought playing in
the sand great fun. And she visited a merry-go-round, and took part
in a seaside pageant.
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN
It was great sport to dig and to plant with one’s own little garden
tools. But best of all was when Honey Bunch won a prize at the
flower show.
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP
It was a great adventure for Honey Bunch when she journeyed to Camp
Snapdragon. It was wonderful to watch the men erect the tent, and
more wonderful to live in it and have good times on the shore and
in the water.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of The Bobbsey Twins Books, The Bunny Brown Series, The
Make-Believe Series, Etc.
=Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume
Complete in Itself.=
Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung into
immediate popularity. To know the six little Bunkers is to take
them at once to your heart, they are so intensely human, so full of
fun and cute sayings. Each story has a little plot of its own—one
that can be easily followed—and all are written in Miss Hope’s most
entertaining manner. Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be on
the bookshelf of every child in the land.
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED’S
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
THE RIDDLE CLUB BOOKS
By ALICE DALE HARDY
=Individual Colored Wrappers. Attractively Illustrated.
Every Volume Complete in Itself.=
Here is as ingenious a series of books for little folks as has ever
appeared since “Alice in Wonderland.” The idea of the Riddle books
is a little group of children—three girls and three boys decide to
form a riddle club. Each book is full of the adventures and doings of
these six youngsters, but as an added attraction each book is filled
with a lot of the best riddles you ever heard.
THE RIDDLE CLUB AT HOME
An absorbing tale that all boys and girls will enjoy reading. How the
members of the club fixed up a clubroom in the Larue barn, and how
they, later on, helped solve a most mysterious happening, and how one
of the members won a valuable prize, is told in a manner to please
every young reader.
THE RIDDLE CLUB IN CAMP
The club members went into camp on the edge of a beautiful lake.
Here they had rousing good times swimming, boating and around the
campfire. They fell in with a mysterious old man known as The Hermit
of Triangle Island. Nobody knew his real name or where he came from
until the propounding of a riddle solved these perplexing questions.
THE RIDDLE CLUB THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS
This volume takes in a great number of winter sports, including
skating and sledding and the building of a huge snowman. It also
gives the particulars of how the club treasurer lost the dues
entrusted to his care and what the melting of the great snowman
revealed.
THE RIDDLE CLUB AT SUNRISE BEACH
This volume tells how the club journeyed to the seashore and how they
not only kept up their riddles but likewise had good times on the
sand and on the water. Once they got lost in a fog and are marooned
on an island. Here they made a discovery that greatly pleased the
folks at home.
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
THE TOM SLADE BOOKS
By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH
Author of “Roy Blakeley,” “Pee-wee Harris,” “Westy Martin,” Etc.
Illustrated. Individual Picture Wrappers in Colors. Every Volume
Complete in Itself.
“Let your boy grow up with Tom Slade,” is a suggestion which
thousands of parents have followed during the past, with the result
that the TOM SLADE BOOKS are the most popular boys’ books published
today. They take Tom Slade through a series of typical boy adventures
through his tenderfoot days as a scout, through his gallant days as
an American doughboy in France, back to his old patrol and the old
camp ground at Black Lake, and so on.
TOM SLADE, BOY SCOUT
TOM SLADE AT TEMPLE CAMP
TOM SLADE ON THE RIVER
TOM SLADE WITH THE COLORS
TOM SLADE ON A TRANSPORT
TOM SLADE WITH THE BOYS OVER THERE
TOM SLADE, MOTORCYCLE DISPATCH BEARER
TOM SLADE WITH THE FLYING CORPS
TOM SLADE AT BLACK LAKE
TOM SLADE ON MYSTERY TRAIL
TOM SLADE’S DOUBLE DARE
TOM SLADE ON OVERLOOK MOUNTAIN
TOM SLADE PICKS A WINNER
TOM SLADE AT BEAR MOUNTAIN
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS
For Little Men and Women
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of “The Bunny Brown Series,” Etc.
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume
Complete in Itself.
These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten
stands among children and their parents of this generation where
the books of Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and
mishaps of this inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and
experiences are a source of keen delight to imaginative children
everywhere.
THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR
THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of the Popular “Bobbsey Twins” Books, Etc.
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume
Complete in Itself.
These stories by the author of the “Bobbsey Twins” Books are eagerly
welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years of age.
Their eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings of
inquisitive little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue.
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA’S FARM
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU’S CITY HOME
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTH
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STORE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOG
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
Transcriber’s Notes
pg 177 Changed: get through this cave and find outselves
to: get through this cave and find ourselves
pg 198 Changed: and his face was again asmile.
to: and his face was again a smile.
pg 198 Changed: It iss wonderful!
to: It is wonderful!
pg 210 Added word THE to: asks me to walk down street
to: asks me to walk down the street