Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice

V >> Victor Appleton >> Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

This etext was produced by Charles Franks, Greg Weeks and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice

OR

The Wreck of the Airship

by VICTOR APPLETON

CONTENTS

I ERADICATE IN AN AIRSHIP
II ANDY FOGER'S TRIPLANE
III ABE IS DECEIVED
IV TOM GETS THE MAP
V GRAVE SUSPICIONS
VI ANDY'S AIRSHIP FLIES
VII READY FOR THE TRIP
VIII A THIEF IN THE NIGHT
IX A VANDAL'S ACT
X TOM IS HELD UP
XI OFF FOR THE FROZEN NORTH
XII PELTED BY HAILSTONES
XIII A FRIGHTENED INDIAN
XIV THE RIVAL AIRSHIP
XV THE RACE
XVI THE FALL OF THE ANTHONY
XVII HITTING THE ICE MOUNTAIN
XVIII A FIGHT WITH MUSK OXEN
XIX THE CAVES OF ICE
XX IN THE GOLD VALLEY
XXI THE FOGERS ARRIVE
XXII JUMPING THE CLAIM
XXIII ATTACKED BY NATIVES
XXIV TEE WRECK OF THE AIRSHIP
XXV THE RESCUE-CONCLUSION

CHAPTER I

ERADICATE IN AN AIRSHIP

"Well, Massa Tom, am yo' gwine out in yo' flyin' machine ag'in to-
day?"

"Yes, Rad, I think I will take a little flight. Perhaps I'll go over
to Waterford, and call on Mr. Damon. I haven't seen very much of
him, since we got back from our hunt after the diamond-makers."

"Take a run clear ober t' Waterfield; eh, Massa Tom?"

"Yes, Rad. Now, if you'll help me, I'll get out the Butterfly, and
see what trim she's in for a speedy flight."

Tom Swift, the young inventor, aided by Eradicate Sampson, the
colored helper of the Swift household, walked over toward a small
shed.

A few minutes later the two had rolled into view, on its three
bicycle wheels, a trim little monoplane--one of the speediest craft
of the air that had ever skimmed along beneath the clouds. It was
built to carry two, and had a very powerful motor.

"I guess it will work all right," remarked the young inventor, for
Torn Swift had not only built this monoplane himself, but was the
originator of it, and the craft contained many new features.

"It sho' do look all right, Massa Tom."

"Look here, Rad," spoke the lad, as a sudden idea came to him,
"you've never ridden in an airship, have you?"

"No, Massa Tom, an' I ain't gwine to nuther!"

"Why not?"

"Why not? 'Case as how it ain't healthy; that's why!"

"But I go in them frequently, Eradicate. So does my father. You've
seen us fly often enough, to know that it's safe. Why, look at the
number of times Mr. Damon and I have gone off on trips in this
little Butterfly. Didn't we always come back safely?"

"Yes, dat's true, but dere might come a time when yo' WOULDN'T come
back, an' den where'd Eradicate Sampson be? I axes yo' dat--whar'd I
be, Massa Tom?"

"Why, you wouldn't be anywhere if you didn't go, of course," and Tom
laughed. "But I'd like to take you for a little spin in this
machine, Rad. I want you to get used to them. Sometime I may need
you to help me. Come, now. Suppose you get up on this seat here, and
I promise not to go too high until you get used to it. Come on, it
will do you good, and think of what all your friends will say when
they see you riding in an airship."

"Dat's right, Massa Tom. Dey suah will be monstrous envious ob
Eradicate Sampson, dat's what dey will."

It was clear that the colored man was being pursuaded somewhat
against his will. Though he had been engaged by Tom Swift and his
father off and on for several years, Eradicate had never shown any
desire to take a trip through the air in one of the several craft
Tom owned for this purpose. Nor had he ever evinced a longing for a
trip under the ocean in a submarine, and as for riding in Tom's
speedy electric car--Eradicate would as soon have sat down with
thirteen at the table, or looked at the moon over the wrong
shoulder.

But now, somehow, there was a peculiar temptation to take his young
employer at his word. Eradicate had seen, many times, the youthful
inventor and his friends make trips in the monoplane, as well as in
the big biplane and dirigible balloon combined--the RED CLOUD. Tom
and the others had always come back safely, though often they met
with accidents which only the skill and daring of the daring
aeronaut had brought to a safe conclusion.

"Well, are you coming, Rad?" asked Tom, as he looked to see if the
oil and gasoline tanks were filled, and gave a preliminary twirl to
the propeller.

"Now does yo' t'ink it am puffickly safe, Massa Tom?" and the
colored man looked nervously at the machine.

"Of course, Rad. Otherwise I wouldn't invite you. But I won't take
you far. I just want you to get used to it, and, once you have made
a flight, you'll want to make another."

"I don't nohow believe I will, Massa Tom, but as long as you have
axed me, an' as yo' say some of dem proud, stuck-up darkies in
Shopton will be tooken down a peg or two when de sees me, vhy, I
will go wif yo', Massa Tom."

"I thought you would. Now take your place in the little seat next to
where I'm going to sit. All start the engine and jump in. Now sit
perfectly still, and, whatever you do, don't jump out. The ground's
pretty hard this morning. There was a frost last night."

"I knows dere was, Massa Tom. Nope, I won't jump. I-I-Oh, golly,
Massa Tom! I guess I don't want to go-let me out!"

Eradicate, his heart growing fainter as the time of starting drew
nearer, made as if he would leave the monoplane, in which he had
taken his seat.

"Sit still!" yelled Tom. At that instant he started the propeller.
The motor roared like a salvo of guns, and streaks of fire could be
seen shooting from one cylinder to the other, until there was a
perfect blast of explosions.

The speed of the propeller increased as the motor warmed up. Tom ran
to his seat and opened the gasoline throttle still more, advancing
the spark slightly. The roar increased. The lad darted a look at
Eradicate. The colored man's face was like chalk, and he was
gripping the upright braces at his side as though his salvation
depended on them.

"Steady now" spoke Tom, yelling to be heard above the racket. "Here
we go."

The Butter-fly was moving slowly across the level stretch of ground
which Tom used for starting his airships. The propeller was now a
blur of light. The explosions of the motor became a steady roar, the
noise from one cylinder being merged into the blast from the others
so rapidly that it was a continuous racket.

With a whizz the monoplane shot across the ground. Then, with a
quick motion, Tom tilted the lifting planes, and, as gracefully as a
bird, the little machine mounted upward on a slant until, coming to
a level about two hundred feet above the earth, Tom sent it straight
ahead over the roof of his house.

"How's this, Rad?" he cried. "Isn't it great?"

"It--it--er--bur-r-r-r! It's--it's mighty ticklish, Massa Tom-dat's
de word--it suah am mighty ticklish!"

Tom Swift laughed and increased the speed. The Butterfly darted
forward like some hummingbird about to launch itself upon a flower,
and, indeed, the revolutions of the propeller were not unlike the
vibrations of the wings of that marvelous little creature.

"Now for some corkscrew twists!" cried the young inventor. "Here we
go, Rad!"

With that he began a series of intricate evolutions, making figures
of eight, spirals, curves, sudden dips and long swings. It was
masterwork in handling a monoplane, but Eradicate

Sampson, as he sat crouched in the seat, gripping the uprights until
his hands ached, was in no condition to appreciate it. Gradually,
however, as he saw that the craft remained up in the air, and showed
no signs of falling, the fears of the colored man left him. He sat
up straighter.

"Don't you like it, Rad?" cried Tom.

This time the answer came with more decision.

"It suah am great, Massa Tom! I'm--I'm beginnin' t' like it. Whoop!
I guess I do like it! Now if some of dem stuck-up coons could see
me--"

"They'd think YOU were stuck up; eh, Rad? Stuck up in the air!"

"Dat's right, Massa Tom. Ha! Ha! I suah am stuck up in de air! Ha!
Ha!"

By this time Tom had guided the machine away from the village, and
they were flying over the fields, some distance from his house. The
colored man was beginning to enjoy his experience very much.

Suddenly, just as Tom was trying to get a bit more speed out of the
motor, the machine stopped. The cessation of the racket was almost
as startling as a loud explosion would have been.

"Just my luck!" cried Tom.

"What's de matter?" asked Eradicate, anxiously.

"Motor's stalled," replied the young inventor.

"An', by golly, we's falling!" yelled the colored man.

Naturally, with the stopping of the propeller, there was no further
straight, forward motion to the monoplane, and, following the law of
nature, it began to drop toward the earth on a slant.

"We's fallin'! We'll be killed!" yelled the negro.

"It's all right, I'll just vol-plane back to earth," spoke Tom,
calmly. "I've often done it before, higher up than this. Sit still,
Rad, I'm volplaning back to the ground."

"An' I'll JUMP back to de ground; dat's what I'll do. I ain't goin'
t' wait until I falls, no sah! An' I ain't gwine t' do none ob dat
ball-playin' yo' speak ob, Massa Swift. It's no time t' play ball
when yo' life am in danger. I'se gwine t' jump."

"Sit still!" cried Tom, for the colored man was about to spring from
his seat. "There's no danger! I didn't say anything about playing
ball. I said I'd VOL-PLANE back to the earth. We'll be there
shortly. I'll take you down safe. Sit still, Rad!"

He spoke so earnestly that the fears of his colored passenger were
quelled. With a quick motion Tom threw up the head planes, to check
the downward sweep. The Butterfly shot forward on a gradual slant.
Repeating this maneuver several times, the young inventor finally
brought his machine to within a short distance of the earth, and,
also, considerably nearer his own home.

"I wonder if we can make it?" he murmured, measuring the distance
with his eye. "I think so. I'll shoot her up a bit and then let her
down on a long slant. Then, with another upward tilt, I ought to
fetch it."

The monoplane tilted upward. Eradicate gave a cry of terror. It was
stilled at a look from Tom. Once more the air machine glided
forward. Then came another long dip, another upward glide and the
Butterfly came gently to earth almost on the very spot whence it had
flown upward a few minutes before.

Eradicate gave one mad spring from his seat, almost before the
bicycle wheels had ceased revolving, as Tom jammed on the earth-
brake.

"Here, where are you going, Rad?" cried the lad.

"Whar am I goin'? I'se goin' t' see if mah mule Boomerang am safe.
He's de only kind ob an airship I wants arter dis!" and the colored
man disappeared into the shack whence came a loud "hee-haw!"

"Oh, pshaw! Wait a minute, Rad. I'll soon have the motor fixed, and
we'll make another try. I'll take you over to Mr. Damon's with me."

"No, sah, Massa Tom. Yo' don't catch dis coon in any mo' airships.
Mah mule am good enough fo' me!" shouted Eradicate from the safe
harbor of the mule's stable.

Tom laughed, and turned to inspect the motor. As he was looking it
over, to locate the trouble, the door of the house opened and a
pleasant-faced woman stepped out.

"Oh, Tom," she called. "I looked for you a moment ago, and you
weren't here!"

"No, Mrs. Baggert," Tom replied, waving his hand in greeting to the
housekeeper, "Rad and I just came back--quite suddenly--sooner than
we expected to. Why? Did you want me?"

"Here's a letter that came for you," she went on.

Tom tore open the envelope, and rapidly scanned the contents of the
missive.

"Hello!" he ejaculated half aloud. "It's from Abe Abercrombie, that
miner I met when we were after the diamond-makers! He says he is on
his way east to get ready to start on the quest for the Alaskan
valley of gold, in the caves of ice. I had almost forgotten that I
promised to make the attempt in the big airship. How did this letter
come, Mrs. Baggert?" he asked.

"By special delivery. The messenger brought it a few minutes ago."

"Then we may see Abe any day now. Guess I'd better be looking over
the RED CLOUD to see if it's in shape for a trip to the Arctic
regions."

Tom's attention for the moment was taken off his little monoplane,
and his memory went back to the strange scenes in which he and his
friends had recently played a part, in searching for the cave of the
diamond-makers on Phantom Mountain. He recalled the promise he had
made to the old miner.

"I wonder if he expects us to start for Alaska with winter coming
on?" thought Tom.

His musings were suddenly interrupted by the entrance into the yard,
surrounding the aeroplane shed, of a lad about his own age.

"Hello, Ned Newton!" called Tom, heartily.

"Hello, yourself," responded Ned. "I've got a day off from the bank,
and I thought I'd come over and see you. Say, have you heard the
latest?"

"No. What is it?"

"Andy Foger is building an airship."

"Andy Foger building an airship?"

"Yes, he says it will beat yours."

"Humph! It will, eh? Well, Andy can do as he pleases as long as he
doesn't bother me. I won't be around here much longer, anyhow."

"Why not, Tom?"

"Because I soon expect to start for the far north on a strange
quest. Come on in the shed, and I'll tell you about it. We're going
to try to locate a valley of gold, and I guess Andy Foger won't
follow me there, even if he does build an airship."

Tom and his chum started toward the shed, the young inventor still
holding the letter that was to play such an important part in his
life within the next few months. And, had he only known it, the
building of Andy Foger's airship was destined to be fraught with
much danger to our hero.

CHAPTER II

ANDY FOGER'S TRIPLANE

"Going to look for a valley of gold, eh?" remarked Ned Newton as he
and Tom took seats in a little room, fitted up like a den, where the
young inventor frequently worked out the details of the problems
that confronted him. "Where is this valley, Tom? Anywhere so I could
have a chance at it?"

"It's up in Alaska. Just where I don't know, but Abe Abercrombie,
the old miner whom we met when out in Colorado this summer, says he
can find it if we circle around in the airship. So I'm going to take
a chance. I'll tell you all about it."

And, while Tom is doing this, I will take the opportunity to more
formally introduce to my new readers our hero and his friends.

Tom Swift was an inventor of no little note, in spite of his youth.
He lived with his father, Barton Swift, who was also an inventor, on
the outskirts of the village of Shopton, New York State. Tom's
mother was dead, and Mrs. Baggert had kept house for him and his
father since he was a child. Garret Jackson, an expert machinist,
was also a member of the household, and as has been explained,
Eradicate Sampson, who took that name because, as he said he
"eradicate de dirt," was also a sort of retainer. He lived in a
little house on the Swift grounds, and did odd jobs about the place.

In the first book of the series, entitled "Tom Swift and His Motor
Cycle," there was related how the lad became possessed of one of
those speedy machines, after Mr. Wakefield Damon had come to grief
on it. Mr. Damon was an eccentric man, who was always blessing
himself, some part of his anatomy, or some of his possessions.

After many adventures on his motor-cycle, Tom Swift went through
some surprising happenings with a motor-boat be bought. After that
he built an airship, the RED CLOUD, and later he and his father
constructed a submarine, in which they went under the ocean in
search of sunken treasure, enduring many perils and much danger.

Tom Swift's electric runabout, which he built after returning home
from the submarine trip, proved to be the speediest car on the road.
The experience he acquired in making this machine stood him in good
stead, when (as told in the sixth volume, "Tom Swift and His
Wireless Message") the airship in which he, Mr. Damon and a friend
of the latter's (who had built the craft) were wrecked on Earthquake
Island. There Tom was marooned with some refugees from a wrecked
steam yacht, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Nestor, father of a girl
of whom Tom thought a great deal.

With parts from the wrecked electric airship the youth rigged up a
plant, and sent wireless messages from the island. The castaways
nearly lost their lives in the earthquake shocks, but a steamer,
summoned by Tom's wireless call, arrived in time to save them, just
as the island disappeared beneath the sea.

In the seventh book of the series, entitled "Tom Swift Among the
Diamond Makers" there was related the adventures of himself and his
friends when they tried to solve the mystery of Phantom Mountain.

Among the castaways of Earthquake Island was a Mr. Barcoe Jenks and
a Professor Ralph Parker. Mr. Jenks was a strange man, and claimed
to have some valuable diamonds, which he said were made by a gang of
men hidden in a cave in the Rocky Mountains. Tom did not believe
that the diamonds were real, but Mr. Jenks soon proved that they
were.

He asked Tom to aid him in searching for the cave of the diamond
makers. Mr. Jenks had been there once--in fact, he had been offered
a partnership in the diamond-making business, but, after he had paid
his money, he had been drugged, and carried secretly from the cave
before he had a chance to note its location.

But he, together with Tom, Mr. Damon and the scientist Mr. Parker,
who correctly predicted the destruction of Earthquake Island, set
out in the RED CLOUD to find the diamond makers. They did find them,
after many hardships, and were captured by the gang. How Tom and his
friends escaped from the cave, after they had seen diamonds made by
a powerful lightning flash, and how they nearly lost their lives
from the destruction of Phantom Mountain, is fully set down in the
book.

Sufficient to say now, that, though they had a general idea of how
the precious stones were made, by the power of the lightning, the
young inventor and his friends were never quite able to accomplish
it, and the secret remained a secret. But they had secured some
diamonds as they rushed from the cave (Mr. Damon grabbing them up)
and these were divided among Tom and the others.

Just as they were ready to come home in the airship, our friends
were met by an old miner, Abe Abercrombie, who spoke of a valley of
gold in Alaska, which was the story Tom related to Ned Newton, as
the two chums sat in the den of the airship shed.

"Then you don't know all the details about the gold valley, Tom?"
remarked Ned, as the young inventor showed his chum the letter that
had just arrived.

"No, not all of them. At the time this miner met us I was anxious to
get back East, for we had been away so long I knew dad would be
worried. But I listened to part of Abe's story, and half promised to
go in partnership in this quest for gold. He was to furnish
information about the hidden valley, and I was to supply the
airship. I expect Abe to come along at any time, now, and then I'll
hear more particulars."

"Will you go all the way in the airship?"

"Well, I hadn't thought of that. I could ship it to the nearest
place by rail, I suppose, and go on from there. That's a detail to
be considered later. I'll talk it over with Abe."

"Who are going?"

"I don't know that even. I suppose Mr. Damon would feel slighted if
I left him out. And perhaps Mr. Parker, that gloomy scientist, who
is always predicting terrible accidents, will be glad to go along.
Then Abe may have some friend he wants to take."

"By Jinks! But you certainly do have swell times, Tom Swift!"
exclaimed Ned Newton, enviously. "I wish I could go and have a try
at that valley of gold!"

"Why don't you come along, Ned?"

"Do you really mean it?"

"Of course."

"But I don't believe I could get away from the bank."

"Oh, dad and Mr. Damon could fix that. They're directors, you know.
Come along, I'd be delighted to have you. Will you?"

"I'll think about it. Jinks! But I sure would like to go. Do you
think you can find the valley?"

"Well, there's no telling. We generally do succeed in finding what
we go after, even if we didn't get the diamond secret. I'm anxious
to have Abe come, now, though until I got his letter I had almost
forgotten about my promise to him. But, say, what's this you told me
about Andy Foger making an airship?"

"It's true, though I haven't seen it. Jake Porter was telling me
about it. Andy's built a big shed in his yard, and he and some
cronies of his, including Pete Bailey and Sam Snedecker, are working
in there night and day. They've hired a couple of machinists, too.
Mr. Foger is putting up the cash, I guess. Say, that was quite a
scare you gave Andy on your monoplane, one day."

"Yes, the big bully! and I'd like to scare him worse. But say, do
you know I'd like to get a look at his airship. I wonder what sort
of a craft it is?"

"We can see it easily enough."

"How?"

"Why, the back part of the shed where he and the others are working
is close to our fence. There are some holes in our fence and if you
come there, maybe you can look in."

"I can't see through the side of the shed, though."

"Yes, you can."

"How?"

"Why, there's a big window, for light, in the back part of it. I
happened to notice it the other day. I didn't look in, because I
wasn't much interested, but I saw that one could peer over the top
of our fence right into the shop where Andy is working. Want to try
it?"

Tom hesitated a moment.

"Well, it seems rather an odd thing to do," he said. "But I would
like to see what sort of a flying machine Andy is making, just for
my own satisfaction. He may be infringing on some of my patents, and
if he is, I'll stop him. Once or twice he's been sneaking around my
shed here. I don't believe in sneaking, but I know he wouldn't let
me in if I asked him, so I guess it's the only way. I'll go with
you, Ned."

"All right. We'll see if we can get a glimpse of Andy's queer
shebang through the window."

The two chums left Tom's shop, and were soon in the yard of Ned
Newton's house. As he had said, the big shed in Andy's premises came
close up to the fence, and there was a window through which one
might gaze. The casement did not appear to be curtained.

"I'll get a ladder so we can climb up to the top of the fence, and
look over," spoke Ned, as he and Tom went out into the yard back of
his house. The fence was high up on an embankment.

A little later Tom and his chum were gazing into the shop window
from the ladder.

"Why, it's a triplane--a big triplane!" he exclaimed.

"What's a triplane?" asked Ned, who didn't have much time to study
the different types of airships.

"It's one that has three sets of planes, one above the other. A
biplane has two sets of planes, and a monoplane only one. Triplanes
are larger, and, as far as I've been able to learn, not as
satisfactory as either the biplanes or monoplanes. But that's not
saying Andy's won't be a success. They certainly are busy in there,
though! Andy is flying around like a hen scratching for her little
chickens!"

"See anything of his cronies?"

"Yes, Pete and Sam are hammering away. There are a couple of men,
too."

"Yes, the machinists. Oh, I guess Andy expects great things from his
airship."

"Have you heard what he's going to do with it, Ned? Make flights for
pleasure, or exhibit it?"

"No, I haven't heard. Look out, Tom, the ladder is slipping!"

As Ned spoke this warning, the window of the airship shed, through
which they were looking, was suddenly raised. The ugly face of Andy
Foger peered out. He caught sight of Tom and Ned.

"Get away from there, you spies!" he yelled. "Get away from there,
Tom Swift! You're trying to steal some of my ideas! Get away or I'll
make you. Sam, bring me my gun! Pete, go tell my father to come
here! I'll show Ned Newton and Tom Swift they can't bother me!"

Andy was dancing about in a rage. His two cronies crowded behind him
to the window just as the ladder on which Tom and Ned were standing
slipped along the fence.

"Jump, Ned!" yelled Tom Swift, as he leaped away to escape being
entangled in the rungs.

The young inventor came to the ground with a jar that shook him up
considerably, while Ned, who had grasped the top board of the fence,
remained hanging there by his hands, his feet dangling in the air.

"Whack his fingers, Andy!" yelled Pete Bailey. "Get a long stick and
whack Ned's fingers! That will make him drop off!"

Tom Swift heard, and labored desperately to raise the ladder to
enable Ned to get down, for his chum seemed to be afraid to drop.

CHAPTER III

ABE IS DECEIVED

Raising a ladder alone is rather an awkward job. Tom found this so
when he tried to aid his friend Ned. But, being a muscular lad, the
young inventor did finally succeed in getting the ladder up against
the fence where the bank clerk could reach it.

Whack! Down upon the top board came a, stick wielded by Andy Foger
from the rear window of his shop.

"Wow!" cried Ned. for the blow had been close to his fingers. "Hurry
up with that ladder, Tom."

"There it is! But why don't you drop?"

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10