THE GOLD TOOTH
Eagerly Mr. Damon and the government agent leaned over and looked down.
In the moonlight they saw the same sight that had attracted Tom Swift.
The touring car, the two men in front, and the huddled, bound figure in
the back.
"Can you go down, Tom, without letting them hear you?" asked Mr. Damon,
using a low voice, as if fearful the men in the automobile would hear
him.
"I guess so," answered the young inventor. "I can land nearer to the
cabin than Jackson and I did, and then we can see what these fellows
are up to. It looks suspicious to me. That is, unless they're some of
the Secret Service men, and have made a capture," he added to Mr.
Terrill.
"Those aren't any of Uncle Sam's men," declared the agent. "That is,
unless the bound one is. I can't see him very well. Better go down,
and we'll see if we can surprise them."
"My plan," voiced Tom.
Quickly he shifted the rudder, and then, shutting off the motor, as he
wanted to volplane down, he headed his craft for an open spot that
showed in the bright moonlight. By this time the automobile and its
occupants were out of sight behind a clump of trees, but Tom and his
companions felt sure of the destination of the men--the deserted cabin
in the wood.
As silently as a wisp of grass falling, the big craft came down on a
level spot, and then, leaping out, the young inventor and his two
companions crept along the path toward the cabin. Mr. Terrill was
armed, Tom carried a flashlight, while Mr. Damon picked up a heavy club.
As soon as he came near a place where he thought the marks of the
automobile wheels would show, Tom flashed his light.
"I thought so!" he exclaimed, as he saw the square, knobby tread marks
left by the tires. "It's the same gang, or some of them in the same
car. If we can only capture them!"
"The Secret Service men ought to do that," returned Mr. Terrill, but,
as it developed later, they were not on hand, though through no fault
of theirs.
On and on crept Tom and the two men, until they came within sight of
the cabin. They saw a light gleaming in it, and Tom whispered:
"Now we have them! Work our way up quietly and make them surrender, if
we find they're what we think."
"Is there a rear door?" asked Mr. Terrill in a whisper.
Tom answered in the negative, and then all three, in fan shape, crept
up to the front portal. It was open, and silently reaching a place
where they could make an observation, Tom and his companions looked in.
What they saw filled them with wild and righteous rage, and brought to
an end the mystery of the disappearance of Mr. Nestor. For there he
sat, bound in a chair, and at a table in front of him were two
forbidding-looking men.
"What do you intend to do now?" asked Mr. Nestor in a faint voice. "I
cannot stand this captivity much longer. You admit that you don't want
me--that you never wanted me--so why do you keep me a prisoner? It
cannot do the least good."
"There's no use going over that again!" exclaimed the harsh voice of
one of the men. "We told you that if you will promise to keep still
about what happened to you, and not to give the police any information
about us, we'll let you go gladly. We don't want you. It was all a
mistake, capturing you. You were the wrong man. But we're not going to
let you go and have you set the police on us as soon as you get a
chance. Give us your promise to say nothing, and we'll let you join
your friends. If you don't--"
"Make no promises, Mr. Nestor!" cried Tom Swift in a ringing voice, as
he leaped from his hiding place, followed by his companions. "Your
friends are here, and you can tell them everything!"
"Up with 'em!" called Mr. Terrill to the two conspirators as he
confronted them with his automatic pistol ready for firing. He had no
need to mention hands--they knew what he meant and took the
characteristic attitude.
"Tom! Tom Swift!" cried Mr. Nestor, struggling ineffectually at his
bonds. "Is it really you?"
"Well, I hope it isn't any imitation," was the grim answer. "We'll
tell you all about it later. Jove, but I'm glad we found you! If it
hadn't been for Silent Sam we might never have been able to."
"Well, I don't know who Silent Sam is," said Mr. Nestor faintly. "But
I'm sure I'm much obliged to him and your other friends. It has been
very hard. Tell me, are my wife and Mary all right?"
"In good health, yes, but, of course, worrying," said Tom. "We saw them
in the garden a little while ago. Now don't talk until I set you free."
And as Tom cut the ropes from Mr. Nestor, Mr. Damon used them to bind
the two conspirators, while Mr. Terrill stood guard over them. And when
they were safely bound, and Mr. Nestor had somewhat recovered from the
shock, Tom had a chance to examine the prisoners.
"What does it all mean? Who are you fellows, anyhow, and what's your
game?" he demanded.
"Guess it--since you're so smart!" snapped one.
And no sooner had he opened his mouth and Tom had a glance of something
gleaming brightly yellow, than the young inventor cried:
"The gold tooth! So it's you again, is it, you spy?"
The man shrugged his shoulders with an assumption of indifference. And,
as Tom took a closer look, he became aware that the man was surely none
other than Lydane, the spy he had chased into the mud puddle some weeks
before. His companion was a stranger to Tom.
"What does it all mean, Mr. Nestor?" asked Tom. "Have these men held
you a prisoner ever since you called for help on the moor that night?"
"Yes, Tom, they have. And I did call for help after they attacked me as
I was riding my wheel, but I didn't know any one heard me. I began to
be afraid no one would ever help me."
"We've been trying to, a long time," said Mr. Damon, "but we couldn't
find you. Where did they keep you?"
"Here, part of the time," was Mr. Nestor's answer. "And in other lonely
houses. They bound and gagged me when they took me from place to place."
"But what was their object?" asked Tom, concluding it was useless to
question the two captives. "Why did they make you a prisoner, Mr.
Nestor?"
"Because they took me for you, Tom."
"For me?"
"Yes. The night I called at your house, and found you were not at home,
I put back in my pocket a bundle of papers I had brought over to show
you. They were plans of a little kitchen appliance a friend of mine had
invented, and I wanted to ask your opinion of it."
"These scoundrels must have followed me, or have seen the bundle of
papers, and, mistaking me for you, they followed, attacked me in a
lonely spot and, bundling me and my wrecked wheel into an auto, carried
me off. They first demanded that I gave up the 'plans,' and when I
wouldn't they choked off my cries for help and knocked me into
unconsciousness. Then they brought me here, and kept me here for
several days.
"They soon learned that the plans I had weren't those they wanted,
though what they were then after I couldn't imagine. Only, from what I
later overheard, I knew they mistook me for you and that they were
bitterly disappointed in not getting plans of some new airship you were
working on. They have kept me a prisoner ever since, and though they
offered to let me go if I would keep silent, I refused. I did not
think, to secure my own comfort, I should let such men go unpunished if
I could bring about their arrest."
"I should say not!" cried Tom.
"Did they treat you brutally, Mr. Nestor?" asked Mr. Damon.
"Not after they found out who I was, by looking through my wallet. Of
course they didn't behave very decently, but they weren't actually
cruel, except that they bound and gagged me. Oh, but I'm glad you came,
Tom! How did it happen?"
Then they told Mr. Nestor their story, and how the test of the new Air
Scout had led to his rescue.
"But where are the Secret Service men?" asked Mr. Terrill, when it
became evident that none them was on guard at the cabin.
Later it developed that, by following a false clew, the Secret Service
men had been drawn miles away from the cabin. And only that Tom and his
companions in the silent airship saw the men. Mr. Nestor might not
have been rescued for some further time.
His version of what had happened was correct. He had been mistaken for
Tom, and the spy with the gold tooth and his accomplice had waylaid
Mary's father, under the belief that it was Tom Swift with the plans of
the new silent motor. Mr. Nestor had been attacked while riding his
wheel in a lonely place, and had been carried off and kept in hiding, a
prisoner even after his identity became known.
"Well, this is a good night's work!" exclaimed Tom, when the two rogues
had been sent to jail and Mr. Nestor taken to the Bloise farmhouse, to
be refreshed before he went home. Word of his rescue was telephoned to
Mary and her mother, and it can be imagined how they regarded Tom Swift
for his part in the affair.
Little the worse for his experience, save that he was very nervous, Mr.
Nestor was taken home. He gave the details of his being waylaid, and
told how the men, for many days, were at their wits' ends to keep him
concealed when they found what a stir his disappearance had created.
The conspirators were well supplied with money, and in the automobile
they took their prisoner from one place to another. They had usurped
the use of the cabin and had lived there nearly a week in hiding,
leaving just before the first visit of Tom and Jackson. The rifled
wallet had been dropped by accident.
And it did not take much delving to disclose the fact that, Lydane,
"Gold Tooth," as he was called, and his crony, were spies in the pay of
the Universal Flying Machine Company. As the men went under several
aliases there is no need of giving their names. It is to be doubted if
they ever used their real ones--or if they had any.
Of course, there was quite a sensation when Mr. Nestor was found, and a
greater one when it became known the part the Universal Flying Machine
people had in his disappearance in mistake for Tom. The officials of
the company were indicted, and several of the minor ones sent to jail
but Gale and Ware escaped by remaining abroad.
It came out that they both knew of the acts of Lydane and his companion
in crime, and that the two officials realized the mistake that had been
made by their clumsy operatives. It was believed that this knowledge
led to the visit of Gale to Tom, the time the latter's suspicions were
first aroused. Gale made a clumsy attempt to clear his own skirts of
the conspiracy, but in vain, though he did escape his just punishment.
What had happened, in brief, was this. Gale and Ware, unable to secure
Tom's services, even by the offer of a large sum of money, had stooped
to the sending of spies to his shop, to get possession of information
about his silent motor. This was after Gale had, by accident, heard Tom
speaking of it to Mr. Damon.
But, thanks to Tom's vigilance, Bower was discovered. The man tripped
into the mud hole lost in the muck the plans Bower passed to him. They
were never recovered. Then Lydane tried again. He managed, through
bribery, to gain access to the hangar where the new silent machine was
kept, and, unable to get the silencer apart, tried to file it. In doing
so he weakened it so that it burst.
The attempt to waylay Tom, and so get the plans from him, had been
tried before this, only a mistake had been made, and Mr. Nestor was
caught instead. Finding out their error, Lydane and his companions did
not tell the Universal people of their mistake, though Gale and Ware
knew the attempt was to be made against Tom Swift.
Later, hearing that the young inventor was still at work on his
invention, Gale was much surprised, and paid his queer visit, in an
attempt to repudiate the actions of Lydane. At this time it was assumed
that Gale and his partner did not know that it was Mr. Nestor who had
been kidnapped by mistake or they might have insisted on his release.
As it was, Lydane had Mary's father, and was afraid to let him go,
though really their prisoner became a white elephant on the hands of
the conspirators and kidnappers.
And it was after all this was cleared up, and Mr. Nestor restored to
his family and friends, that one day, Tom Swift received another visit
from Mr. Terrill, the government agent.
"Well, Mr. Swift," was the genial greeting, "I have come to tell you
that the favorable report made by my friends and myself as to the
performance of your noiseless motor, has been accepted by the War
Department, and I have come to ask what your terms are. For how much
will you sell your patent to the United States?"
Tom Swift arose.
"The United States hasn't money enough to buy my patent of a noiseless
motor," he said.
"Wha--what!" faltered Mr. Terrill. "Why, I understood--you don't
mean--they told me you were rather patriotic, and--"
"I hope I am patriotic!" interrupted Tom with a smile. "And when I say
that the United States hasn't money enough to buy my latest invention I
mean just that."
"My Air Scout is not for sale!"
"You mean," faltered the government agent. "You say--"
"I mean," went on Tom, "that Silent Sam is for Uncle Sam without one
cent of cost! My father and I take great pleasure in presenting such
machines as are already manufactured, those in process of making, and
the entire patents, and all other rights, to the government for the
winning of the war!"
"Oh!" said Mr. Terrill in rather a strange voice. "Oh!"
And that was all he could say for a little while.
But Tom Swift reckoned without a knowledge of a peculiar law which
prohibits the United States from accepting gifts totally without
compensation, and so, in due season, the young inventor received a
check for the sum of one dollar in full payment for his silent motor,
and the patent rights thereto. And Tom has that check framed, and
hanging over his desk.
And so the silent motor became an accomplished fact and a great
success. Those of you who have read of its work against the Boches, and
how it helped Uncle Sam to gain the mastery of the sky, need not be
reminded of this. By it many surprise attacks were made, and much
valuable information was obtained that otherwise could not have been
brought in.
One day, after the rogues had been sent to prison for long terms, and
Tom had turned over to his government his silent aircraft--except one
which he was induced to keep for his own personal use--the young
inventor went to call on Mary Nestor. The object of his call, as I
believe he stated it, was to see how Mr. Nestor was, but that, of
course, was camouflage.
"Would you like to come for a ride, Mary, in the silent airship?" asked
Tom, after he had paid his respects to Mr. Nestor and his wife. "We can
talk very easily on board Silent Sam without the use of a speaking
tube. Come on--we'll go for a moonlight sky ride."
"It sounds enticing," said Mary, with a shy look at Tom. "But wouldn't
you just as soon sit on a bench in the garden? It's moonlight there,
and we can talk, and--and--"
"I'd just as soon!" said Tom quickly.
And out they went into the beautiful moonlight; and here we will leave
them and say good-bye.
THE END
----------------------------------------------------------------
THE TOM SWIFT SERIES
By VICTOR APPLETON
These spirited tales convey in a realistic way, the wonderful advances
in land and sea locomotion. Stories like these are impressed upon the
memory and their reading is productive only of good.
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 AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Books,"
"The Bunny Brown Series,"
"The Make-Believe Series," Etc.
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 FORDS
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK'S
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS SERIES
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE WEST
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE COAST
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN EARTHQUAKE LAND
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AND THE FLOOD
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT PANAMA
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS UNDER THE SEA
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE WAR FRONT
THE MOTION PICTURE CHUMS SERIES
THE MOTION PICTURE CHUMS' FIRST VENTURE
THE MOTION PICTURE CHUMS AT SEASIDE PARK
THE MOTION PICTURE CHUMS ON BROADWAY
THE MOTION PICTURE CHUMS' OUTDOOR EXHIBITION
THE MOTION PICTURE CHUMS' NEW IDEA
THE MOTION PICTURE CHUMS AT THE FAIR
THE MOTION PICTURE CHUMS' WAR SPECTACLE
End of Project Gutenberg's Tom Swift and his Air Scout, by Victor Appleton