NEWS FROM AFRICA
Blankly, and with fear in his eyes, Ned gazed at Tom. The young
inventor was frantically working at the levers, trying to loosen the
jammed rudder--the rudder that enabled the sky racer to be tilted
upward.
"Can't you do it?" cried Ned.
Tom shook his head helplessly, but he did not give up. Madly he
worked on, and there was need of haste, for every moment the
aeroplane was shooting nearer and nearer to the earth.
Ned glanced down. They were headed for the centre of a large grass
plot and the bank employee found himself grimly thinking that at
least the turf would be softer to fall on than bare ground.
"I--I can't imagine what's happened!" cried Tom.
He was still yanking on the lever, but it would not move, and unless
the head of the aeroplane was thrown up quickly, to catch the air,
and check its downward flight, they would both be killed.
"Shut off the engine and vol-plane!" cried Ned.
"No use," answered Tom. "I can't vol-plane when I can't throw her
head up to check her."
But he did shut off the banging, throbbing motor, and then in
silence they continued to fall. Ned had half a notion to jump, but
he knew that would mean instant death, and there was just a bare
chance that if he stayed in the machine it would take off some of
the shock.
They could see Mr. Damon now. The old man had run out of his house
at the sight of the approaching aeroplane. He knew it well, for he
had ridden with Tom many times. He looked up and waved his hand to
the boys, but he had no idea of their danger, and he could not have
helped them had he been aware of it.
He must have soon guessed that something was wrong though, for a
moment later, the lads could hear him shout in terror, and could see
him motion to them. Later he said he saw that Tom was coming down at
too great an inclination, and he feared that the machine could not
be thrown up into the wind quickly enough!
"Here goes something--the lever or the rudder!" cried Tom in
desperation, as he gave it a mighty yank. Up to now he had not
pulled with all his strength as he feared to break some connecting-rod,
wire or lever. But now he must take every chance. "If I can get
that rudder up even a little we're safe!" he went on.
Once more he gave a terrific pull on the handle. There was a
snapping sound and Tom gave a yell of delight.
"That's the stuff!" he cried. "She's moving! We're all right now!"
And the rudder had moved only just in time, for when the aeroplane
was within a hundred feet of the earth the head was suddenly
elevated and she glided along on a level "keel."
"Look out!" yelled Ned, for a new danger presented. They were so
near the earth that Tom had over-run his original stepping place,
and now the sky racer was headed directly for Mr. Damon's house, and
might crash into it.
"All right! I've got her in hand!" said the young inventor
reassuringly.
Tom tilted the rudder at a sharp angle to have the air pressure act
as a brake. At the same time he swerved the craft to one side so
that there was no longer any danger of crashing into the house.
"Bless my--" began Mr. Damon, but in the excitement he really
didn't know what to bless, so he stopped short.
A moment later, feeling that the momentum had been checked enough to
make it safe to land, Tom directed the craft downward again and came
gracefully to earth, a short distance away from his eccentric
friend.
"Whew!" gasped the young inventor, as he leaped from his seat. "That
was a scary time while it lasted."
"I should say so!" agreed Ned.
"Bless my straw hat!" cried Mr. Damon. "What happened? Did you lose
control of her, Tom?"
"No, the deflecting rudder got jammed, and I couldn't move it. I
must look and see what's the matter."
"I thought it was all up with you," commented Mr. Damon, as he
followed Tom and Ned to the front end of the craft, where the
deflecting mechanism was located.
Tom glanced quickly over it. His quick eye caught something, and he
uttered an exclamation.
"Look!" the young inventor cried. "No wonder it jammed!" and from a
copper sleeve, through which ran the wire that worked the rudder, he
pulled a small iron bolt. "That got between the sleeve and the wire,
and I couldn't move it," he explained. "But when I pulled hard I
loosened it."
"How did it fall in there?" asked Ned.
"It didn't FALL there." spoke Tom quietly. "It was PUT there."
"Put there! Bless my insurance policy! Who did such a dastardly
trick?" cried Mr. Damon.
"I don't know," answered Tom still quietly, "but I suspect it was
Andy Foger, and he was never any nearer to putting us out of
business than a little while ago, Ned."
"Do you mean to say that he deliberately tried to injure you?" asked
Mr. Damon.
"Well, he may not have intended to hurt us, but that's what would
have happened if I hadn't been able to throw her up into the wind
when I did," replied Tom. Then he told of Mr. Swift having seen the
red-haired bully near the aeroplane. "Andy may have only intended to
put my machine out of working order," went on the young inventor,
"but it might have been worse than that," and he could not repress a
shudder.
"Are you going to say anything to him?" asked Ned.
"I certainly am!" replied Torn quickly. "He doesn't realize that he
might have crippled us both for life. I sure am going to say
something to him when I get back."
But Tom did not get the chance, for when he and Ned returned to
Shopton,--the sky racer behaving beautifully on the homeward trip,--it
was learned that Mr. Foger had suddenly left town, taking Andy
with him.
"Maybe he knew I'd be after him," said Tom grimly, and so that
incident was closed for the time being, but it was a long time
before Tom and Ned got over their fright.
They had a nice visit with Mr. Damon, and talked of the city of gold
to their heart's content, looking at several large maps of Mexico
that the eccentric man had procured, and locating, as well as they
could from the meager map and description they had, where the
underground treasures might be.
"I suppose you are getting ready to go, Mr. Damon?" remarked Ned.
"Hush!" cautioned the odd man, looking quickly around the room. "I
haven't said anything to my wife about it yet. You know she doesn't
like me to go off on these 'wild goose chases' as she calls them,
with you, Tom Swift. But bless my railroad ticket! It's half the fun
of my life."
"Then don't you think you can go?" asked the young inventor eagerly,
for he had formed a strong like for Mr. Damon, and would very much
regret to go without him.
"Oh, bless my necktie! I think I'll be able to manage it," was the
answer. "I'm not going to tell her anything about it until the last
minute, and then I'll promise to bring her back one of the golden
images. She won't object then."
"Good!" exclaimed Tom. "I hope we can all bring back some of the
images."
"Yes, I know who you'll bring one for," said Ned with a laugh, and
he took care to get beyond the reach of Tom's fist. "Her first name
is Mary," he added.
"You get out!" laughed Tom, blushing at the same time.
"Ah! What a thing it is to be young!" exclaimed Mr. Damon with a
mock sigh. The boys laughed, for the old man, though well along in
years, was a boy at heart.
They talked at some length, speculating when they might hear from
Mr. Illingway, and discussing the sort of an outfit that would be
best to take with them.
Then, as the afternoon was drawing to a close, Tom and Ned went back
in the aeroplane, hearing the news about the Fogers as I have
previously mentioned.
"Well, I'll have to wait until I do see Andy to take it out of his
hide," remarked Tom grimly. "I'm glad he's out of the way, though.
There won't be any more danger of his overhearing our plans, and I
can work in peace on the dirigible balloon."
Though Tom had many air crafts, the one he thought best suited to
take with them on their search for the city of gold would have to be
constructed from parts of several machines, and it would take some
time.
Tom began work on it the next day, his father helping him, as did
Mr. Damon and Ned occasionally. Several weeks were spent in this
way, meanwhile the mails being anxiously watched for news from
Africa.
"Here you are, Tom!" called the postman one morning, as he walked
out to the shop where the young inventor was busy over the balloon.
"Here's another letter from that Buggy-wuggy place."
"Oh, you mean Gumba Twamba, in Africa!" laughed the lad. "Good!
That's what I've been waiting for. Now to see what the missionary
says."
"I hope you're not going to go as a missionary to Africa, Tom," said
the postman.
"No danger. This is just a letter from a friend there. He sent me
some facts so I can go off on another expedition."
"Oh, you're always going off on wild adventures," commented Uncle
Sam's messenger with a shake of his head as he hurried away, while
Tom tore open the letter from Africa and eagerly read it.