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The Floating Press - Victor Appleton

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125 pages

English

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Tom Swift and His Air Glider is the 12th book in the original Tom Swift series. "Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a bright, ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most interesting kind of reading." "These spirited tales convey in a realistic way, the wonderful advances in land and sea locomotion and other successful inventions. Stories like these are impressed upon the memory and their reading is productive only of good." This series of adventure novels starring the genius boy inventor Tom Swift falls into the genre of "invention fiction" or "Edisonade".

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Children's

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Publié par	The Floating Press
Date de parution	01 janvier 2009
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781775412984
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0164€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER
OR SEEKING THE PLATINUM TREASURE
* * *
VICTOR APPLETON

*

Tom Swift and His Air Glider Or Seeking the Platinum Treasure First published in 1912.
ISBN 978-1-775412-98-4
© 2008 THE FLOATING PRESS.
While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike.
Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
*
Chapter I - A Breakdown Chapter II - A Daring Project Chapter III - The Hand of the Czar Chapter IV - The Search Chapter V - A Clew from Russia Chapter VI - Rescuing Mr. Petrofsky Chapter VII - The Air Glider Chapter VIII - In a Great Gale Chapter IX - The Spies Chapter X - Off in the Airship Chapter XI - A Storm at Sea Chapter XII - An Accident Chapter XIII - Seeking a Quarrel Chapter XIV - Hurried Flight Chapter XV - Pursued Chapter XVI - The Nihilists Chapter XVII - On to Siberia Chapter XVIII - In a Russian Prison Chapter XIX - Lost in a Salt Mine Chapter XX - The Escape Chapter XXI - The Rescue Chapter XXII - In the Hurricane Chapter XXIII - The Lost Mine Chapter XXIV - The Leaking Tanks Chapter XXV - Homeward Bound—Conclusion
Chapter I - A Breakdown
*
"Well, Ned, are you ready?"
"Oh, I suppose so, Tom. As ready as I ever shall be."
"Why, Ned Newton, you're not getting afraid; are you? And after you'vebeen on so many trips with me?"
"No, it isn't exactly that, Tom. I'd go in a minute if you didn't havethis new fangled thing on your airship. But how do you know how it'sgoing to work—or whether it will work at all? We may come a cropper."
"Bless my insurance policy!" exclaimed a man who was standing near thetwo lads who were conversing. "You'd better keep near the ground, Tom."
"Oh, that's all right, Mr. Damon," answered Tom Swift. "There isn't anymore danger than there ever was, but I guess Ned is nervous since ourtrip to the underground city of gold."
"I am not!" indignantly exclaimed the other lad, with a look at theyoung inventor. "But you know yourself, Tom, that putting this newpropeller on your airship, changing the wing tips, and re-gearing themotor has made an altogether different sort of a craft of it. You,yourself, said it wasn't as reliable as before, even though it does gofaster."
"Now look here, Ned!" burst out Tom. "That was last week that I said itwasn't reliable. It is now, for I've tried it out several times, andyet, when I ask you to take a trip with me, to act as ballast—"
"Is that all you want me for, Tom, to act as ballast? Then you'd bettertake a bag of sand—or Mr. Damon here!"
"Me? I guess not! Bless my diamond ring! My wife hasn't forgiven me forgoing off on that last trip with you, Tom, and I'm not going to take anymore right away. But I don't blame Ned—"
"Say, look here!" cried Tom, a little out of patience, "you know mebetter than that, Ned. Of course your more than ballast—I want you tohelp me manage the craft since I made the changes on her. Now if youdon't want to come, why say so, and I'll get Eradicate. I don't believehe'll be afraid, even if he—"
"Hold on dar now, Massa Tom!" exclaimed an aged colored man, who was anall around helper at the Swift homestead, "was yo' referencin' t' mewhen yo' spoke?"
"Yes, Rad, I was saying that if Ned wouldn't go up in the airship withme you would."
"Well, now, Masa Tom, I shorely would laik t' 'blige yo', I shore would.But de fack ob de mattah am dat I has a mos' particular job ob whitewashin' t' do dish mornin', an' I 'spects I'd better be gittin' at it.It's a mos' particular job, an', only fo' dat, I'd be mos' pleased t'go up in de airship. But as it am, I mus' ax yo' t' 'scuse me, I reallymus'," and the colored man shuffled off at a faster gait than he was inthe habit of using.
"Well, of all things!" gasped Tom. "I believe you're all afraid of theold airship, just because I wade some changes in her. I'll go up alone,that's what I will."
"No, I'll go with you," interposed Ned Newton who was Tom's mostparticular chum. "I only wanted to be sure it was all right, that wasall."
"Well, if you've fully made up your mind," went on the young inventor, alittle mollified, "lend me a hand to get her in shape for a run. Iexpect to make faster time than I ever did before, and I'm going to headout Waterford way. You'd better come along, Mr. Damon, and I'll drop youoff at your house."
"Bless my feather bed!" gasped the man. "Drop me off! I like that, TomSwift!"
"Oh, I didn't mean it exactly that way," laughed Tom. "But will youcome."
"No, thanks, I'm going home by trolley," and then as the odd man went inthe house to speak to Tom's father, the two lads busied themselves aboutthe airship.
This was a large aeroplane, one of the largest Tom Swift had everconstructed, and he was a lad who had invented many kinds of machinerybesides crafts for navigating the upper regions. It was not as large ashis combined aeroplane and dirigible balloon of which I have told you inother books, but it was of sufficient size to carry three personsbesides other weight.
Tom had built it some years before, and it had seemed good enough then.Later he constructed some of different models, besides the bigcombination affair, and he had gone on several trips in that.
He and his chum Ned, together with Eradicate Sampson, the colored man,and Mr. Damon, had been to a wonderful underground city of gold inMexico, and it was soon after their return from this perilous trip thatTom had begun the work of changing his old aeroplane into a speediercraft.
This had occupied him most of the Winter, and now that Spring had comehe had a chance to try what a re-built motor, changed propellers, anddifferent wing tips would do for the machine.
The time had come for the test and, as we have seen, Tom had somedifficulty in persuading anyone to go along with him? But Ned finallygot over his feeling of nervousness.
"Understand, Tom," spoke Ned, "it isn't because I don't think you knowhow to work an aeroplane that I hesitated. I've been up in the air withyou enough times to know that you're there with the goods, but I don'tbelieve even you know what this machine is going to do."
"I can pretty nearly tell. I'm sure my theory is right."
"I don't doubt that. But will it work out in practice?"
"She may not make all the speed I hope she will, and I may not be ableto push her high into the air quicker than I used to before I made thechanges," admitted Tom, "but I'm sure of one thing. She'll fly, and shewon't come down until I'm ready to let her. So you needn't worry aboutgetting hurt."
"All right—if you say so. Now what do you want me to do, Tom?"
"Go over the wire guys and stays for the first thing. There's going tobe lots of vibration, with the re-built motor, and I want everythingtight."
"Aye, aye, sir!" answered Ned with a laugh.
Then he set at his task, tightening the small nuts, and screwing up theturn-buckles, while Tom busied himself over the motor. There was somesmall trouble with the carburetor that needed eliminating before itwould feed properly.
"How about the tires?" asked Ned, when he had finished the wires.
"You might pump them up. There, the motor is all right. I'm going to tryit now, while you attend to the tires."
Ned had pumped up one of the rubber circlets of the small bicycle wheelson which the aeroplane rested, and was beginning on the second, when anoise like a battery of machine guns going off next to his ear startledhim so that he jumped, tripped over a stone and went down, the air pumpthumping him in the back.
"What in the world happened, Tom?" he yelled, for he had to use all hislung power to be heard above that racket. "Did it explode?"
"Explode nothing!" shouted Tom. "That's the re-built motor in action."
"In action! I should say it was in action. Is it always going to roarlike that?"
Indeed the motor was roaring away, spitting fire and burnt gases fromthe exhaust pipe, and enveloping the aeroplane in a whitish haze ofchoking smoke.
No, I have the muffler cut out, and that's why she barks so. But sheruns easier that way, and I want to get her smoothed out a bit.
"Whew! That smoke!" gasped his chum. "Why don't you—whew—this is morethan I can stand," and holding his hands to his smarting eyes, Ned,gasping and choking, staggered away to where the air was better.
"It is sort of thick," admitted Tom. "But that's only because she'sgetting too much oil. She'll clear in a few minutes. Stick around andwe'll go up."
Despite the choking vapor, the young inventor stuck to his task ofregulating the motor, and in a short while the smoke became less, whilethe big propeller blades whirled about more evenly. Then Tom adjustedthe muffler, and most of the noise stopped.
"Come on back, and finish pumping up the tires," he shouted to Ned. "I'mgoing to stop her now, and then I'll give her the pressure test, andwe'll take a trip."
Having cleared his eyes of smoke, Ned came back to his task, and thishaving been finished, Tom attached a heavy spring balance, or scales, tothe rope that held the airship back from moving when her propellers werewhirling about.
"How much pressure do you want?" asked Ned.
"I ought to get above twelve hundred With the way the motor is geared,but I'll go up with ten. Watch the needle for me."
It may be explained that when aeroplanes are tested on the earth thepropellers are set in motion. This of course would send a craft whizzingover the ground, eventually to rise in the air, but for the fact that arope, attached to the craft, and to some stationary object, holds itback.
Now if this rope is hooked to a spring balance, which in turn is madefast to the stationary