Tom Swift and his Wireless Message
V >>
Victor Appleton >> Tom Swift and his Wireless Message
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 | 9
"Yes, that's a good idea, too," conceded Tom.
"And we must stock it well with provisions," said Mr. Damon. "Put
plenty of water and food aboard."
"We can't," spoke Tom, quietly.
"Why not?"
"Because we haven't plenty of provisions. That's what I came down to
speak about," and the lad related what Mrs. Nestor had said.
"Then there is but one thing to do," declared Mr. Fenwick.
"What?" asked Captain Mentor.
"We must go on half rations, or quarter rations, if need be. That
will make our supply last longer. And another thing--we must not let
the women folks know. Just pretend that we're not hungry, but take
only a quarter, or at most, not more than a half of what we have
been in the habit of taking. There is plenty of water, thank
goodness, and we may be able to live until help comes."
"Then shall we build the raft?" asked Mr. Hosbrook.
It was decided that this would be a good plan, and they started it
that same day. Trees were felled, with axes and saws that had been
aboard the WHIZZER, and bound together, in rude fashion, with strong
trailing vines from the forest. A smaller raft, as a sort of ferry,
was also made.
This occupied them all that day, and part of the next. In the
meanwhile, Tom continued to flash out his appeals for help, but no
answers came. The men cut down their rations, and when the two
ladies joked them on their lack of appetite, they said nothing. Tom
was glad that Mrs. Nestor did not renew her request to him to get
out the reserve food supply from what remained in the wreck of the
airship. Perhaps Mr. Nestor had hinted to her the real situation.
The large raft was towed out into a quiet bay of the island, and
anchored there by means of a heavy rock, attached to a rope. On
board were put cans of water, vhich were lashed fast, but no food
could be spared to stock the rude craft. All the castaways could
depend on, was to take with them, in the event of the island
beginning to sink, what rations they had left when the final shock
should come.
This done, they could only wait, and weary was that waiting. Tom
kept faithfully to his schedule, and his ear ached from the constant
pressure of the telephone receiver. He heard message after message
flash through space, and click on his instrument, but none of them
was in answer to his. On his face there came a grim and hopeless
look.
One afternoon, a week following the erection of the wireless
station, Mate Fordam came upon a number of turtles. He caught some,
by turning them over on their backs, and also located a number of
nests of eggs under the warm sands.
"This will be something to eat," he said, joyfully, and indeed the
turtles formed a welcome food supply. Some fish were caught, and
some clams were cast up by the tide, all of which eked out the
scanty food supply that remained. The two ladies suspected the truth
now and they, too, cut down their allowance.
Tom, who had been sitting with the men in their sleeping shack, that
evening, rose, as the hour of ten approached. It was time to send
out the last message of the night, and then he would lie down on an
improvised couch, with the telephone receiver clamped to his ear, to
wait, in the silence of the darkness, for the message saying that
help was on the way.
"Well, are you off?" asked Mr. Damon, kindly. "I wish some of us
could relieve you, Tom."
"Oh, I don't mind it," answered the lad "Perhaps the message may
come to-night."
Hardly had he spoken than there sounded the ominous rumble and
shaking that presaged another earthquake. The shack rocked, and
threatened to come down about their heads.
"We must be doomed!" cried Mr. Parker. "The island is about to sink!
Make for the raft!"
"Wait and see how bad it is," counseled Mr. Hosbrook. "It may be
only a slight shock."
Indeed, as he spoke, the trembling of the island ceased, and there
was silence. The two ladies, who had retired to their own private
shack, ran out screaming, and Mr. Anderson and Mr. Nestor hastened
over to be with their wives.
"I guess it's passed over," spoke Mr. Fenwick.
An instant later there came another tremor, but it was not like that
of an earthquake shock. It was more like the rumble and vibration of
an approaching train.
"Look!" cried Tom, pointing to the left. Their gaze went in that
direction, and, under the light of a full moon they saw, sliding
into the sea, a great portion of one of the rocky hills.
"A landslide!" cried Captain Mentor. "The island is slowly breaking
up."
"It confirms my theory!" said Mr. Parker, almost in triumph.
"Forget your theory for a while, Parker, please," begged Mr.
Hosbrook. "We're lucky to have left a place on which to stand! Oh,
when will we be rescued?" he asked hopelessly.
The worst seemed to be over at least for the present, and, learning
that the two ladies were quieted, Tom started up the hill to his
wireless station. Mr. Damon and Mr. Fenwick went with him, to aid in
starting the motor and dynamo. Then, after the message had been
clicked out as usual Tom would begin his weary waiting.
They found that the earthquake shock had slightly disturbed the
apparatus, and it took them half an hour to adjust it. As there had
been a delay on account of the landslide, it was eleven o'clock
before Tom began sending out any flashes, and he kept it up until
midnight. But there came no replies, so he shut off the power, and
prepared to get a little rest.
"It looks pretty hopeless; doesn't it?" said Mr. Fenwick, as he and
Mr. Damon were on their way back to the sleeping shack.
"Yes, it does. Our signal hasn't been seen, no ships have passed
this way, and our wireless appeal isn't answered. It does look
hopeless but, do you know, I haven't given up yet."
"Why not?"
"Because I have faith in Tom Swift's luck!" declared the eccentric
man. "If you had been with him as much as I have, up in the air, and
under the water, and had seen the tight places he has gotten out of,
you'd feel the same, too!"
"Perhaps, but here there doesn't seem to be anything to do. It all
depends on some one else."
"That's all right. You leave it to Tom. He'll get an answer yet, you
see if he doesn't."
It was an hour past midnight. Tom tossed uneasily on the hard bed
in the wireless shack. The telephone receiver on his ear hurt him,
and he could not sleep.
"I may as well sit up for a while," he told himself, and he arose.
In the dimness of the shack he could see the outlines of the dynamo
and the motor.
"Guess I'll start her up, and send out some calls," he murmured. "I
might just happen to catch some ship operator who is up late. I'll
try it."
The young inventor started the motor, and soon the dynamo was
purring away. He tested the wireless apparatus. It shot out great
long sparks, which snapped viciously through the air. Then, in the
silence of the night, Tom clicked off his call for help for the
castaways of Earthquake Island.
For half an hour he sent it away into space, none of the others in
their shacks below him, awakening. Then Tom, having worked off his
restless fit, was about to return to bed.
But what was this? What was that clicking in the telephone receiver
at his ear? He listened. It was not a jumble of dots and dashes,
conveying through space a message that meant nothing to him. No! It
was his own call that was answered. The call of his station--"E.
I."--Earthquake Island!
"WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT'S WANTED?"
That was the message that was clicked to Tom from somewhere in the
great void.
"I GET YOUR MESSAGE 'E. I.' WHAT'S WANTED? DO I HEAR YOU RIGHT?
REPEAT." Tom heard those questions in the silence of the night.
With trembling fingers Tom pressed his own key. Out into the
darkness went his call for help.
"WE ARE ON EARTHQUAKE ISLAND." He gave the longitude and latitude.
"COME QUICKLY OR WE WILL BE ENGULFED IN THE SEA! WE ARE CASTAWAYS
FROM THE YACHT 'RESOLUTE,' AND THE AIRSHIP 'WHIZZER.' CAN YOU SAVE
US?"
Came then this query:
"WHAT'S THAT ABOUT AIRSHIP?"
"NEVER MIND AIRSHIP," clicked Tom. "SEND HELP QUICKLY! WHO ARE YOU?"
The answer flashed to him through space:
"STEAMSHIP 'CAMBARANIAN' FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO NEW YORK. JUST
CAUGHT YOUR MESSAGE. THOUGHT IT A FAKE."
"NO FAKE," Tom sent back. "HELP US QUICKLY! HOW SOON CAN YOU COME?"
There was a wait, and the wireless operator clicked to Tom that he
had called the captain. Then came the report:
"WE WILL BE THERE WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS. KEEP IN COMMUNICATION
WITH US."
"YOU BET I WILL," flashed back Tom, his heart beating joyously, and
then he let out a great shout. "We are saved! We are saved! My
wireless message is answered! A steamer is on her way to rescue us!"
He rushed from the shack, calling to the others.
"What's that?" demanded Mr. Hosbrook.
Tom briefly told of how the message had come to him in the night.
"Tell them to hurry," begged the rich yacht owner. "Say that I will
give twenty thousand dollars reward if we are taken off!"
"And I'll do the same," cried Mr. Jenks. "I must get to the place
where--" Then he seemed to recollect himself, and stopped suddenly.
"Tell them to hurry," he begged Tom. The whole crowd of castaways,
save the women, were gathered about the wireless shack.
"They'll need to hurry," spoke Mr. Parker, the gloomy scientist.
"The island may sink before morning!"
Mr. Hosbrook and the others glared at him, but he seemed to take
delight in his prediction.
Suddenly the wireless instruments hummed.
"Another message," whispered Tom. He listened.
"THE 'CAMBARANIAN' WILL RUSH HERE WITH ALL SPEED," he announced, and
not a heart there on that lonely and desolate island but sent up a
prayer of thankfulness.
CHAPTER XXIV
"WE ARE LOST!"
There was little more sleep for any one that night. They sat up,
talking over the wonderful and unexpected outcome of Tom Swift's
wireless message, and speculating as to when the steamer would get
there.
"Bless my pocket comb! But I told you it would come out all right,
if we left it to Tom!" declared Mr. Damon.
"But it hasn't come out yet," remarked the pessimistic scientist.
"The steamer may arrive too late."
"You're a cheerful sort of fellow to take on a yachting trip,"
murmured Mr. Hosbrook, sarcastically. "I'll never invite you again,
even if you are a great scientist."
"I'm going to sit and watch for the steamer," declared Mr. Damon, as
he went outside the shack. The night was warm, and there was a full
moon. "Which way will she come from, Tom?"
"I don't know, but I should think, that if she was on her way north,
from South America, she'd pass on the side of the island on which we
now are."
"That's right," agreed Captain Mentor. "She'll come up from over
there," and he pointed across the ocean directly in front of the
shacks and camp.
"Then I'm going to see if I can't be the first to sight her lights,"
declared Mr. Damon.
"She can't possibly get here inside of a day, according to what the
operator said," declared Tom.
"Wire them to put on all the speed they can," urged the eccentric
man.
"No, don't waste any more power or energy than is needed," suggested
Mr. Hosbrook. "You may need the gasolene before we are rescued. They
are on their way, and that is enough for now."
The others agreed with this, and so Tom, after a final message to
the operator aboard the CAMBARANIAN stating that he would call him
up in the morning, shut down the motor.
Mr. Damon took up his position where he could see far out over the
ocean, but, as the young inventor had said, there was no possible
chance of sighting the relief steamer inside of a day. Still the
nervous, eccentric man declared that he would keep watch.
Morning came, and castaways brought to breakfast a better appetite
than they had had in some time. They were allowed larger rations,
too, for it was seen that they would have just enough food to last
until taken off.
"We didn't need to have made the big raft," said Mr. Fenwick, as Tom
came down from his station, to report that he had been in
communication with the Camabarian and that she was proceeding under
forced draught. "We'll not have to embark on it, and I'm glad of
it."
"Oh, we may need it yet," asserted Mr. Parker. "I have been making
some observations just now, and the island is in a very precarious
state. It is, I believe, resting on only a slim foundation, and the
least shock may break that off, and send it into the sea. That is
what my observations point out."
"Then I wish you wouldn't make any more observations!" exclaimed
Mrs. Nestor, with spirit. "You make me nervous."
"And me, also," added Mrs. Anderson.
"Science can not deceive, madam," retorted Mr. Parker.
"Well it can keep quiet about what it knows, and not make a person
have cold chills," replied Mary's mother. "I'm sure we will be
rescued in time."
There was a slight tremor of an earthquake, as they were eating
dinner that day, but, aside from causing a little alarm it did no
damage. In the afternoon, Tom again called up the approaching
steamer, and was informed that, because of a slight accident, it
could not arrive until the next morning. Every effort would be made
to keep up speed, it was said. There was much disappointment over
this, and Mr. Damon was observed to be closely examining the food
supply, but hope was too strong to be easily shattered now.
Mr. Parker went off alone, to make some further "observations" as he
called them, but Mr. Hosbrook warned him never again to speak of his
alarming theories.
Mr. Barcoe Jenks called Tom aside just before supper that evening.
"I haven't forgotten what I said to you about my diamonds," he
remarked, with many nods and winks. "I'll show you how to make them,
if you will help me. Did you ever see diamonds made?"
"No, and I guess very few persons have." replied the lad, thinking
perhaps Mr. Jenks might not be quite right, mentally.
The night passed without alarm, and in the morning, at the first
blush of dawn, every one was astir, looking eagerly across the sea
for a sight of the steamer.
Tom had just come down from the wireless station, having received a
message to the effect that a few hours more would bring the
CAMBARANIAN within sight of the island.
Suddenly there was a tremendous shock, as if some great cannon had
been fired, and the whole island shook to its very centre.
"Another earthquake! The worst yet!" screamed Mrs. Anderson.
"We are lost!" cried Mrs. Nestor, clinging to her husband.
An instant later they were all thrown down by the tremor of the
earth, and Tom, looking toward his wireless station, saw nearly half
of the island disappear from sight. His station went down in
collapse with it, splashing into the ocean, and the wave that
followed the terrible crash washed nearly to the castaways, as they
rose and kneeled on the sand.
"The island is sinking!" cried Mr. Parker. "Make for the raft!"
"I guess it's our only chance," murmured Captain Mentor, as he gazed
across the water. There was no steamer in sight. Could it arrive on
time? The tremors and shaking of the island continued.
CHAPTER XXV
THE RESCUE--CONCLUSION
Down to where the small raft was moored ran Mr. Parker. He was
followed by some of the others.
"We must put off at once!" he cried. "Half the island is gone! The
other half may disappear any moment! The steamer can not get here on
time, but if we put off they may pick us up, if we are not engulfed
in the ocean. Help, everybody!"
Tom gave one more look at where his wireless station had been. It
had totally disappeared, there being, at the spot, now but a sheer
cliff, which went right down into the sea.
The women were in tears. The men, with pale faces, tried to calm
them. Gradually the earthquake tremor passed away; but who could
tell when another would come?
Captain Mentor, Mr. Hosbrook and the others were shoving out the
small raft. They intended to get aboard, and paddle out to the
larger one, which had been moored some distance away, in readiness
for some such emergency as this.
"Come on!" cried Mr. Fenwick to Tom who was lingering behind. "Come
on, ladies. We must all get aboard, or it may be too late!"
The small raft was afloat. Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Nestor, weeping
hysterically, waded out through the water to get aboard.
"Have we food?" cried Mr. Damon. "Bless my kitchen range! but I
nearly forgot that."
"There isn't any food left to take," answered Mrs. Anderson.
"Shove off!" cried Captain Mentor.
At that instant a haze which had hung over the water, was blown to
one side. The horizon suddenly cleared. Tom Swift looked up and gave
a cry.
"The steamer! The steamer! The CAMBARANIAN!" he shouted, pointing to
it.
The others joined in his exclamations of joy, for there, rushing
toward Earthquake Island was a great steamer, crowding on all speed!
"Saved! Saved!" cried Mrs. Nestor, sinking to her knees even in the
water.
"It came just in time!" murmured Mr. Hosbrook.
"Now I can make my diamonds," whispered Mr. Jenks to Tom.
"Push off! Push off!" cried Mr. Parker. "The island will sink,
soon!"
"I think we will be safer on the island than on the raft," declared
Captain Mentor. "We had better land again."
They left the little raft, and stood on the shore of the island.
Eagerly they watched the approach of the steamer. They could make
out hands and handkerchiefs waving to them now. There was eager hope
in every heart.
Suddenly, some distance out in the water, and near where the big
raft was anchored, there was a curious upheaval of the ocean. It was
as if a submarine mine had exploded! The sea swirled and foamed!
"It's a good thing we didn't go out there," observed Captain Mentor.
"We would have been swamped, sure as guns."
Almost as he spoke the big raft was tossed high into the air, and
fell back, breaking up. The castaways shuddered. Yet were they any
safer on the island? They fancied they could feel the little part of
it that remained trembling under their feet.
"The steamer is stopping!" cried Mr. Damon.
Surely enough the CAMBARANIAN had slowed up. Was she not going to
complete the rescue she had begun?
"She's going to launch her lifeboats," declared Captain Mentor. "Her
commander dare not approach too close, not knowing the water. He
might hit on a rock."
A moment later and two lifeboats were lowered, and, urged on by the
sturdy arms of the sailors, they bounded over the waves. The sea
seemed to be more and more agitated.
"It is the beginning of the end," murmured Mr. Parker. "The island
will soon disappear."
"Will you be quiet?" demanded Mr. Damon, giving the scientist a
nudge in the ribs.
The lifeboats were close at hand now.
"Are you all there?" shouted some one, evidently in command.
"All here," answered Tom.
"Then hurry aboard. There seems to be something going on in these
waters--perhaps a submarine volcano eruption. We must get away in a
hurry!"
The boats came in to the shelving beach. There was a little stretch
of water between them and the sand. Through this the castaways
waded, and soon they were grasped by the sailors and helped in. In
the reaction of their worriment Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Nestor were
both weeping, but their tears were those of joy.
"Give way now, men!" cried the mate in charge of the boats. "We must
get back to the ship!"
The sea was now swirling angrily, but the sailors, who had been in
worse turmoils than this, rowed on steadily.
"We feared you would not get here in time," said Tom to the mate.
"We were under forced draught most of the way," was his answer.
"Your wireless message came just in time. An hour later and our
operator would have gone to bed."
The young inventor realized by what a narrow margin they had been
rescued.
"The island will soon sink," predicted Mr. Parker, as they reached
the steamer, and boarded her. Captain Valasquez, who was in command,
warmly welcomed the castaways.
"We will hear your story later," he said. "Just now I want to get
out of these dangerous waters."
He gave the order for full speed, and, as the CAMBARANIAN got under
way, Tom, and the others, standing on the deck, looked back at
Earthquake Island.
Suddenly there sounded a dull, rumbling report. The whole ocean
about the island seemed to upheave. There was a gigantic shower of
spray, a sound like an explosion, and when the waters subsided the
island had sunk from sight.
"I told you it would go," cried Mr. Parker, triumphantly, but the
horror of it all--the horror of the fate that would have been theirs
had they remained there an hour longer--held the castaways dumb. The
scientist's honor of having correctly predicted the destruction of
the island was an empty one.
The agitation of the sea rocked even the mighty CAMBARANIAN and, had
our friends been aboard the frail raft, they would surely have
perished in the sea. As it was, they were safe--saved by Tom Swift's
wireless message.
The steamer resumed her voyage, and the castaways told their story.
Captain Valasquez refused to receive the large amount of money Mr.
Hasbrook and Mr. Jenks would have paid him for the rescue, accepting
only a sum he figured that he had lost by the delay, which was not a
great deal. The castaways were given the best aboard the ship, and
their stories were listened to by the other passengers with bated
breath.
In due time they were landed in New York, and Mr. and Mrs. Nestor
accompanied Tom to Shopton. Mr. Damon, with many blessings also
accompanied them, going to his home in Waterfield. Later it was
learned that the other boats from the RESOLUTE had been picked up,
and the sailors and guests were all saved.
Of course, as soon as our friends had been rescued by the steamer,
the wireless operator aboard her, with whom Tom soon struck up an
acquaintance, sent messages to the relatives of the castaways,
apprising them of their safety.
And the joy of Mary Nestor, when she found that it was Tom who had
saved her parents, can well be imagined. As for our hero, well, he
was glad too--for Mary's sake.
"I won't forget my promise to you, Tom Swift," said Mr. Barcoe
Jenks, as he parted from the young inventor, and what the promise
was will be told in the next volume of this series, to be called:
"Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers; or, The Secret of Phantom
Mountain." In that Tom is destined to have many more surprising
adventures, as is also Mr. Damon, who learned new ways to call down
blessings on himself and his possessions.
And now, for a time, we will take leave of the young inventor and
also of his many friends, who never ceased to wonder over Tom
Swift's skill with the wireless.
THE END
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 | 9