THE LIGHT IN THE SKY
"Well, what do you say, Tom?" asked Ned, in a low voice.
"She's all right as far as I can see, though she may stagger a bit at
the take off."
"It's a pretty heavy load," agreed the young manager, as he and Tom
Swift walked about the big fire-fighting airship Lucifer, which had
been rolled outside the hangar. "But still I think she'll take it,
especially since you've tuned up the motor so it's at least twenty per
cent. more powerful than it was."
"Perhaps you'd better leave me out," suggested Mr. Baxter, who had been
helping the boys. "I'm not a feather weight, you know."
"I need you with us," said Tom. "I want your expert opinion on the
effect the new chemicals have on the flames."
"Well, I'd like to come," admitted the chemist, "for it will be a
valuable experience for me. But I don't want an accident up in the air."
"Trust Tom Swift for that!" cried Ned. "If he says his aircraft will do
the trick, it positively will."
"How about leaving me out?" asked Mr. Damon. "I'm not an expert in
anything, as far as I know."
"You are in keeping us cheerful. And we may need you to bless things if
there's a slip-up anywhere," laughed Tom, for Mr. Damon had been
invited to be one of the party.
"I don't so much mind a slip-up," said Mr. Damon, "as I do a slip down.
That's where it hurts! However, I'll take a chance with you, Tom Swift.
It won't be the first one--and I guess it won't be the last."
The work of getting the big airship ready for what was to be a
conclusive test of her fire-fighting abilities from the clouds
proceeded rapidly. As has been related, Tom had perfected, with the
help of Mr. Baxter, a combination of chemicals which was effective in
putting out a fire when dropped into the blaze from above. Quantities
of this combination had been stored in metal containers which Tom had
at first styled "bombs," but which he now called "aerial grenades."
The manner of dropping the grenades was, on the whole, similar to the
manner in which bombs were dropped from airships during the Great War,
but Tom had made several improvements in this plan.
These improvements had to do with the releasing of the bombs, or, in
this case, grenades. It is not easy to drop or throw something from a
swiftly moving airship so that it will hit an object on the ground.
During the war aviators had to train for some time before becoming even
approximately accurate.
Tom Swift decided that to leave this matter to chance or to the eye of
the occupant of an airship was too indefinite. Accordingly he invented
a machine, something like a range-finder for big guns. With this it was
a comparatively easy matter to drop a grenade at almost any designated
place.
To accomplish this it was necessary to take into consideration the
speed of the airship, its height above the ground, the velocity of the
wind, the weight of the grenades, and other things of this sort. But by
an intricate mathematical process Tom solved the problem, so that it
was only necessary to set certain pointers and levers along a slide
rule in the cockpit of the craft. Then when the releasing catch was
pressed, the grenades would drop down just about where they were most
needed.
"I think everything is ready," said Tom, when he had taken a last look
over his craft, making sure that all the chemical grenades were in
place. "If you will be ready, gentlemen, we will take our places and
start in about half an hour," he added. "I want to say goodbye to my
father, and cheer up Rad--if I can."
"The doctor will know tomorrow, will he?" asked Mr. Damon.
"Yes. And I'm sorry I will not be here to listen to the report," said
Tom. "Though I am almost afraid to receive it," he added in a low
voice. "I shall blame myself if Rad is to go through the remainder of
his life blind."
"It couldn't be helped," said Ned. "We'll hope for the best."
"Yes," agreed Tom, "that's all we can do--hope for the best. By the
way," he went on, turning to Mr. Baxter, "are you any nearer fastening
the guilt on those two rascals, Field and Melling?"
"Bless my prosecuting attorney, no!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "Those are
the slickest scoundrels I ever tackled! They're like a flea. Once you
think you have them where you want them, and they're on the other side
of the table, skipping around."
"I've about given up," said Mr. Baxter, in discouraged tones. "I guess
my dye formulae are gone forever."
"Don't say that!" exclaimed Tom. "Once I get this fire matter off my
hands, I'm going to tackle the problem myself. We'll either make those
fellows sorry they ever meddled in this matter, or we'll get up a new
combination of dyes that will put them out of business!"
"Bless my Easter eggs, I'm glad to hear you talk that way!" cried Mr.
Damon.
"Well, Rad, I'll expect to see you up and around when I get back," said
Tom to his old servant, as he stepped into the sick room to say goodbye.
"Oh, is yo' goin', Massa Tom?" asked the colored man, turning his
bandaged head in the direction of the beloved voice.
"Yes. I'm going to try out a new scheme of mine--the fire extinguisher,
you know."
"De same one whut fizzed up, an'--an' busted me in de eyes, Massa Tom?"
"Yes, Rad, I'm sorry to say, it's the same one."
"Oh, shucks now, Massa Tom! whut's use worryin'?" laughed Rad. "I suah
will be all right when yo' gits back. De doctor man--de 'pill man' dat
giant calls him--says I'll suah be better."
"Of course you will," declared Tom, but his heart sank when he saw Mrs.
Baggert remove the bandages and he caught sight of Rad's burned face
and the eyes that had to be kept closed if ever they were again to look
on the sunshine and flowers. "And when I come back, Rad, I'll stage a
little fire for your benefit, and show you how quickly I can put it
out."
"Ha! dat's whut I wants to see, Massa Tom, I suah does like to see
fires!" chuckled Eradicate. "Mah ole mule, Boomerang--does yo' 'member
him, Massa Tom?"
"Of course, Rad!"
"Well, Boomerang he liked fires, too. Liked 'em so much I jest couldn't
git him past 'em lots ob times I But run 'long, Massa Tom. Yo' ain't
got no time to waste on an ole culled man whut's seen his best days.
Yas-sir, I reckon I'se seen mah best days," and the smile died from the
honest, black face.
"Oh, don't talk like that!" cried Tom, as cheerfully as he could.
"You've got a lot of work in you yet, Rad. Hasn't he, Koku?" and the
young inventor appealed to the giant, who seldom left the side of his
former enemy.
"Rad good man--him an' me do lots work--next week mebby," said Koku,
smiling very broadly.
"That's the way to talk!" exclaimed Tom, and he laughed a little though
his heart was far from light.
And then, having seen to the final details, he took his place in the
big airship with Ned, Mr. Damon and Josephus Baxter. The craft carried
the largest possible load of fire extinguishing chemicals.
As Tom had feared, the Lucifer staggered a bit in "taking off" late
that afternoon when the start was made for the distant city of Denton,
where the first real test was to be made under the supervision and
criticism of the fire department. But once the craft was aloft she rode
on a level keel.
"I guess we're all right," Tom said. But to make certain he circled
several times over his own landing field, that a good place to come
down might be assured if something unforeseen developed.
However, all went well, and then the course was straightened for the
distant city.
"We'll go right over Newmarket, sha'n't we, Tom?" asked Ned, as the
speed of the Lucifer increased.
"Yes. And I wish I had time to stop and see Mary, but I haven't. It's
getting dark fast, and we ought to arrive at our destination early in
the morning. The test has been set by the committee for ten o'clock."
They settled themselves comfortably in the big craft for a long night
trip, and Mr. Damon was just going to bless something or other when he
pointed off into the distance.
"Look, Tom!" cried the eccentric man. "See that light in the sky!"
"Seems to be a fire," observed Ned.
"It is a fire!" shouted Mr. Baxter. "And it's in Newmarket, if I'm any
judge."
Tom Swift did not answer, but he shoved forward the gasolene lever of
his controls, and the Lucifer shot ahead through the air while the red,
angry glow deepened in the evening sky.