TOM IS WORRIED
Dropping what he had in his hands, Tom Swift raced back to the
laboratory where he had left Eradicate to mix the chemicals. Again the
despairing, frightened cry of the colored man rang out.
"I hope nothing serious has happened," was the thought that flashed
through Tom's mind. "But I'm afraid it has. I should have mixed those
new chemicals myself."
Koku, the giant, who was at work in another part of the shop yard,
heard Rad's cry and came running up. As there was always more or less
jealousy between Eradicate and Koku, the latter now thought he had a
chance to crow over his rival, not, of course, understanding what had
happened.
"Ho! Ho!" laughed Koku. "You much better hab me work, Master Tom. I no
make blunderstakes like dat black fellow! I never no make him!"
"I don't know whether Rad has made a mistake or not," murmured Tom.
"Come along, Koku, we may need your help. There has been an explosion."
"Yep, dat Rad he don't as know any more as to blow up de whole place!"
chuckled Koku.
He thought he would have a chance to make fun of Eradicate, but neither
he nor Tom realized how serious had been the happening. As the young
inventor reached the laboratory, which he had left but a few seconds
before, he saw the interior almost in ruins. All about were scattered
various pieces of apparatus, test tubes, alembics, retorts, flasks, and
an electric furnace.
But what gave Tom more concern than anything else was the sight of
Eradicate lying in the midst of broken glass on the floor. The colored
man was moaning and held his hands over his face, and the young
inventor could see that the hands, which had labored so hard and
faithfully in his service, were cut and bleeding.
"Rad! Rad! what has happened?" cried Tom quickly.
"It sploded! It done sploded right in mah face!" moaned Eradicate.
"I--I can't see no mo', Massa Tom! I can't see to help yo' nevah no
mo'!"
"Don't worry about that, Rad!" cried Tom, as cheerfully as possible
under the circumstances. "We'll soon have you fixed up! Come in here,
Koku, and help me carry Rad out!"
Though the fumes from the chemicals that had exploded were choking,
causing both Tom and Koku to gasp for breath, they never hesitated. In
they rushed and picked up the limp figure of the helpless colored man.
"Poor Rad!" murmured the giant Koku tenderly. "Him bad hurt! I carry
him, Master Tom! I take him bed, an' I go for doctor! I run like
painted pig!"
Probably Koku meant "greased pig," but Tom never thought of that. All
his concern was for his faithful Eradicate.
"Me carry him, Master Tom!" cried Koku, all the petty jealousy of his
rival passing away now. "Me take care ob Rad. Him no see, me see for
him. Anybody hurt Rad now, got to hurt Koku first!"
It was a fine and generous spirit that the giant was showing, though
Tom had no time to speculate on it just then.
"We must get him into the house, Koku," said the young inventor. "And
two of us can carry him better than one. After we get him to a bed you
can go for the doctor, though I fancy the telephone can run even
quicker than you can, Koku."
"Whatever Master Tom say," returned the giant humbly, as he looked with
pity at the suffering form of his rival--a rival no longer. It seemed
that Rad's working days were over.
Tenderly the aged colored man was laid on a lounge in the living room,
Mr. Swift and Mrs. Baggert hovering over him.
"Where are you worst hurt, Rad?" asked Tom, with a view to getting a
line on which physician would be the best one to summon.
"It's all in mah face, Massa Tom," moaned the colored man. "It's mah
eyes. Dat stuff done sploded right in 'em! I can't see--nevah no mo'!"
"Oh, I guess it isn't as bad as that," said Tom. But when he had a
glimpse of the seared and wounded face of his faithful servant he could
not repress a shudder.
A physician was summoned by telephone, and he arrived in his automobile
at the same time that Mr. Damon reached Tom's house.
"Bless my bottle of arnica, Tom!" exclaimed the eccentric man, with
sympathy in his voice. "What's this I hear? One of your men tells me
old Eradicate is killed!"
"Not as bad as that, yet," replied Tom, as he came out, leaving the
doctor to make his first examination. "It was an explosion of my new
aerial fire-fighting chemicals that I left Rad to mix for me. If
anything serious results to him from this I'll drop the whole business!
I'll never forgive myself!"
"It wasn't your fault, Tom. Perhaps he did something wrong," said Mr.
Damon.
"Yes, it was my fault. I should not have let him take the chance with a
mixture I had tried only a few times. But we'll hope for the best. How
is he, Doctor?" Tom asked a little later when the physician came out on
the porch.
"He's doing as well as can be expected for the present," was the
answer. "I have given him a quieting mixture. His worst injury seems to
be to his face. His hands are cut by broken glass, but the hurts are
only superficial. I think we shall have to get an eye specialist to
look at him in a day or two."
"You mean that he--that he may go blind?" gasped Tom.
"Well, we'll not decide right away," replied the doctor, as cheerfully
as he could. "I should rather have the opinion of an oculist before
making that statement. It may be only temporary."
"That's bad enough!" muttered Tom. "Poor old Rad!"
"Me take care ob him," put in Koku, who had been humbly standing around
waiting to hear the news. "Me never be mad at dat black man no more!
Him my best friend! I lub him like I did my brudder!"
"Thank you, Koku," said Tom, and his mind went back to the time when he
had escaped in his airship from the gigantic men, of whom Koku and his
brother were two specimens. The brother had gone with a circus, and
Koku, for several years, only saw him occasionally.
Everything possible was done for Eradicate, and the doctor said that it
would be several days, until after the burns from the exploding
chemicals had partly healed, before the eye-doctor could make an
examination.
"Then we can only wait and hope," said Tom.
"And hope for the best!" advised Mr. Damon.
"I'll try," promised Tom. He went back to the laboratory with his
eccentric friend and with Ned, who had come over as soon as he heard
the news. Not much of an examination could be made, as the place was in
such ruins. But it was surmised that in combining the two chemical
mixtures a new one had been created, or at least one that Tom had not
counted on. This had exploded, blowing Eradicate down, flaring a sheet
of flame up into his face, scattering broken glass about, and generally
creating havoc.
"I can't understand it," said Tom. "I was trying to make a fire
extinguishing liquid, and it turned out to be a fire creator. I don't
see what was wrong."
"One chemical might have been impure," suggested Ned.
"Yes," agreed Tom. "I'll check them over and try to find out where the
mistake happened."
"This place will have to be rebuilt," observed Ned. "It's in bad shape,
Tom."
"I don't mind that in the least, if Rad doesn't lose his eyesight," was
the answer of the young inventor, and his friends could see that he was
much worried, as well he might be.
In silence Tom Swift looked about the ruins of what had been a fine
chemical laboratory.
"It will take a month to get this back in shape," he said ruefully. "I
guess I shall have to postpone my experiments."
"Why not ask Mr. Baxter to help you?" suggested Ned.
"What can he do?" Tom wanted to know. "He hasn't any laboratory."
"He has a sort of one," Ned rejoined. "You know you told me to keep
track of him and give him any help I could."
"Yes," Tom nodded.
"Well, the other day he came to me and said he had a chance to set up a
small laboratory in a vacant shop near the river. He needed a little
capital and I lent it to him, as you told me to."
"Glad you did," returned Tom. "But do you suppose his plant is large
enough to enable me to work there until mine is in shape again?"
"It wouldn't do any harm to take a look," suggested Ned.
"I'll do it!" decided Tom, more hopefully than he had spoken since the
accident.