THEY'RE OFF!
OUT into the night rushed Tom Swift and Ned Newton. They quickly shook
the sleep from them and were ready to fight. A noise and commotion in
the vicinity of the hangar where the _Air Monarch_ rested drew them in
that direction. Several figures were seen rushing about in the gloom,
and Ned easily made out the form of the giant.
“What’s the row, Koku?” yelled Tom.
“Bad mans!” was all the giant could say, and then Tom and his chum saw
him start to run after a man who was trying to get away.
“Burglars, dat’s what dey is!” shouted Eradicate. “Tryin’ to steal yo’
new machine, Massa Tom!”
“They’ll have some job if they try to steal the _Air Monarch!_” the
young inventor exclaimed. “I’ve got the motor doubly locked. But they
may damage her.”
“Who?” asked Ned, as he ran on beside his chum.
“That bunch from the Red Arrow concern, I suspect,” was Tom’s answer.
“There goes one!” he cried as a second figure, besides the one Koku was
after, started away.
Tom sped after this fellow with Ned closely following. As the two ran on
there came a sliver of flame in the darkness, followed by the report of
a shot, and Koku yelled.
“They’ve winged the giant!” shouted Ned.
“It will take more than one bullet to stop him!” panted Tom.
Another shot was fired, and then came a yell of fear and terror. But it
was not the voice of the giant It was the cry of an ordinary man, and
Ned guessed what had happened and yelled:
“Koku got his man!”
This was proved a moment later as the giant shouted:
“Me got ’im! Me got ’im!”
Tom, however, was too busy chasing after his quarry to pay much
attention to his big guard who, he expected, could look after himself.
The fellow Tom was chasing was running fast, but he was no match for the
young inventor whose anger lent him added speed, and just as the
retreating form reached the outer gate of the big fence which surrounded
the hangar, Tom made a flying football tackle and downed his man.
“Let me go! Let me go!” the intruder pleaded.
“Not much I won’t!” panted Tom, as he got a firm hold on his man. “And I
think I know who you are, too! Here, Ned! Bring that flashlight!” the
inventor shouted.
A moment later the financial manager had joined his chum, aiding him in
subduing the rascal. Then, when the fellow, thoroughly cowed, was taken
in charge by several workmen who had been aroused by the alarm, the
light was focused on his face.
“I thought so!” exclaimed Tom, as he scanned the features. “Hussy! You
got trapped again, but in a different way!” chuckled Tom.
“If you know what’s good for you, let me go!” snarled the man,
endeavoring to break away. But he was too firmly held for that.
“I’ll let you go after I start on my world trip, and not before!”
declared Tom. “Hold him,” he directed to his men. “And we’ll see who
Koku got!”
The giant and Eradicate could be heard approaching, the big man
muttering again and again:
“Me got ’im! Me got ’im!”
While Eradicate, not to be left out, added:
“I help cotch him, too! I tripped him up wif mah foot!”
“Good work, Rad! And you, also, Koku!” cried Tom. “Bring him here!”
The second prisoner was placed alongside of Hussy, the latter scowling
over his fate. Tom looked at the fellow Koku and Eradicate had caught,
but found him a stranger.
“Though I don’t doubt,” said Tom to Ned, “that he’s one of the Red Arrow
gang. Well, two in one night isn’t so bad. Lock ’em up, men,” he said to
his employees, several more of whom came running up, for a general alarm
had sounded throughout the works. Many of the mechanics lived close to
the shops.
“Lock us up!” burst out Hussy. “You don’t dare do that!”
“Don’t I?” cried Tom angrily. “You’ll soon see! Why shouldn’t I dare,
you trespassing, thieving rascal?”
Hussy and his companion, the latter saying nothing, were hustled off to
one of the shops and locked in a steel enameling oven, where various
parts of machinery were baked to give them a high polish. There was no
fire under the oven when the prisoners were put in, of course, and the
steel cage made a most effective jail.
“In the morning you’ll be locked in regular cells,” Tom said.
“You don’t dare hold us!” stormed Hussy.
“You’ve got another guess coming,” Tom chuckled. Then, when a guard had
been posted near the prisoners, the young inventor asked Koku and
Eradicate what had happened.
It developed that the two who were on guard had heard a disturbance
shortly after midnight, and, investigating, had seen Hussy and his
companion sneaking into the hangar. At once the colored man and the
giant gave the alarm and rushed to capture the intruders, the end of the
affair coming about when Tom and Ned joined the party.
“What was their game?” asked Ned, when he and Tom had made sure the _Air
Monarch_ had not been tampered with.
“Well, they couldn’t hope to steal any of my patent ideas in time to add
them to their machine,” decided Tom. “There isn’t opportunity for that,
with the start of the race almost here. I think they were trying to
disable my machine so I couldn’t start. Kilborn and his bunch know I’m
the most dangerous rival in this globe-circling race, and with me out of
the way they stand a good chance to win. They wanted to cripple the _Air
Monarch_, I’m sure.”
“But they didn’t!” echoed Ned.
“No, they didn’t,” echoed Tom, “thanks to Rad and Koku.”
Additional guards were placed about the hangar for the remainder of the
night, but there was no further disturbance and early in the morning Tom
had the two prisoners, in spite of their strenuous objections, taken to
the Shopton jail where they were held in default of heavy bail on a
charge of breaking and entering with intent to steal. They had broken a
lock on the big gate to get in, but had been detected in time.
“You’d better withdraw this charge against me, Swift!” stormed Hussy
when he was being arraigned before being taken off to jail.
“Withdraw nothing!” snapped the young inventor. “You’re going to stay
locked up a long time! Kilborn will have to get along without you and
your pal!”
A dangerous look came into the eyes of the trapped man. He shook his
fist at Tom when being led back to a cell and muttered:
“You’ll be sorry for this, Tom Swift!”
But Tom was not worried and hastened back to his hangar to make ready
for the flight to Long Island whence the world race would start the
following day.
There was little ceremony attendant upon the departure of Tom and his
friends from Shopton, since Mr. Swift, Mary, and Mr. Damon had arranged
to see them off in Long Island. When the _Air Monarch_ had been gone
over finally by Tom and his mechanics, the craft was wheeled out of the
hangar, the five who were to make the trip got into the cabin, and Tom,
at the motor controls and steering levers, called:
“All clear?”
“All clear!” answered Mr. Jackson.
“Let’s go, then!” exclaimed the young inventor, and with a wave of his
hand to his father, Mary, Mr. Damon, and the crowd of workmen, Tom
pulled the starting lever.
The big propellers began whizzing, the machine moved across the smooth
aero field with ever increasing speed, and a moment later took the air
with the ease and lightness of a regular aeroplane and not like the
heavy craft she was.
“Starts well!” observed Ned in the cabin beside his chum.
“Like a sewing machine!” said Tom.
Up and up he pointed the nose of his craft and they were soon headed for
Long Island.
“Never have I ridden in a better craft,” declared Peltok who, with
Brinkley and Hartman, was in charge of the machinery. “She is perfect!”
“That remains to be seen,” said Tom, though he was much pleased. “We
haven’t really started yet.”
No attempt was made to get speed out of the craft on what was,
practically, but another trial flight. But Tom knew he had plenty of
power in reserve. The _Air Monarch_ had been tried in the air, on land,
and in water and had performed perfectly.
Under the skilled hands of the three mechanics the machine behaved well
and in a comparatively short time she settled gracefully down on the
field in Long Island and took her appointed place. Many other machines
were already there, and others were constantly arriving. The field was a
busy place. All contestants had to start from there, though those going
in motor boats, or by trains and steamers would, as has been said, leave
in autos which would take them to the beginning of the first leg of
their journey. But time would start to be counted when the cannon boomed
on the field.
There were two or three free balloons and several small dirigibles,
including the one operated by Professor Modby and his crew. The _Red
Arrow_ hydroplane was floating in Long Island Sound, not far away, and
Kilborn planned to reach his craft in a speedy auto. He was walking
about his car when Tom got out of the _Air Monarch_.
“So, that’s what you hope to win with, is it?” sneered Kilborn.
“That’s the little old bus!” said Tom, with a grin. “And I’m afraid you
aren’t going to have all the company you counted on to be with you
during your trip.”
“Company? What do you mean?”
“I mean that Hussy and the man you sent with him to tamper with my
machine are arrested and locked up in the Shopton jail,” said Tom.
“Hussy arrested?” gasped Kilborn. “I told him—I mean I didn’t send him
to do anything to your craft!” he cried quickly.
“Didn’t you?” asked Tom, with a smile. “Well, he didn’t get a chance to
do anything, though he tried. But if you’re looking for Hussy—call up
the jail!”
Kilborn muttered something under his breath and turned away.
“I guess that will hold him for a while,” chuckled Ned.
From then on Tom and his crew were kept busy. There were many
last-minute things to be done and final adjustments to be made to the
motors, as well as food supplies to put on board. So it was not until
night that Tom and Ned found time to rest.
All the other contestants were equally busy, and many police were
required to keep back the curious crowds. The start was to be made in
the morning, and Tom and Ned arranged with some workmen from the shops
to guard the _Air Monarch_ zealously during the hours of darkness.
In spite of fears that something might happen, nothing did, and when
morning dawned clear and bright it was seen that the day of the start
was perfect. Tom and his crew were up early, making final changes and
adjustments, as all the other contestants were doing.
Final instructions were given, and the rules gone over again to make
sure all understood. Mr. Damon, Tom’s father, Mary and her father and
other friends arrived by auto to see the _Air Monarch_ take off. All the
other contestants had scores of friends also, so the field was a mass of
humanity.
“There goes the warning gun!” cried Ned as a shot boomed out. “Are you
all ready, Tom?”
“All ready!” was the answer.
“Stand clear!” came the order from Peltok.
“Good-bye, Mary! Good-bye!” called Tom to his sweetheart.
“Good-bye!” she echoed. “I know you’re going to win!”
“Thanks! I hope I shall!”
“Tom, remember, I’ve got my money on you!” said Mr. Swift, with a smile.
“I’ll not forget, Dad!”
“Bless my Liberty Bonds, I’ve got a bet on you myself, Tom!” exclaimed
Mr. Damon. “Oh, dear!” he sighed, as he saw the final preparations for
the start, “if it wasn’t for my wife I’d go, even now!”
“You just let me see you get on that ship!” said Mrs. Damon in a low
voice close to her husband’s ear.
“Oh, I’m not going to, my dear! I’m not going to!” he said hastily.
“Ready?” called the official starter.
“Ready!” answered Tom Swift.
“Ready!” came from the other contestants.
“Boom!” echoed the big cannon.
“They’re off!” yelled the crowd, and with a roar of her exhaust pipes
the _Air Monarch_ shot across the field, followed by several other craft
seeking to beat her.
The globe-circling race had started!