Tom Swift in the City of Gold
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Victor Appleton >> Tom Swift in the City of Gold
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"Think he'll give the secret away, Tom?" asked Ned.
"No. And I'm glad he's going. Four makes a nice party, and Rad will
make himself useful around camp. I've been sorry ever since he said
he wouldn't go, on account of the good cooking I'd miss, for Rad is
sure a fine cook."
"Bless my knife and fork, that's so!" agreed Mr. Damon.
So complete were the preparations of our friends that nothing
remained to do the next morning. Eradicate had his things all in
readiness, and when good-byes had been said to Mr. Swift, and Mrs.
Baggert, Tom, Ned and Mr. Damon, followed by the faithful colored
man, set off for the depot to take the train for New York. There
they were to take a coast steamer for Tampico, Mexico, and once
there they could arrange for transportation into the interior.
The journey to New York was uneventful, but on arrival there they
met with their first disappointment. The steamer on which they were
to take passage had been delayed by a storm, and had only just
arrived at her dock.
"It will take three days to get her cargo out, clean the boilers,
load another cargo in her and get ready to sail," the agent informed
them.
"Then what are we to do?" asked Ned.
"Guess we'll have to wait; that's all," answered Tom. "It doesn't
much matter. We're in no great rush, and it will give us three days
around New York. We'll see the sights."
"Bless my spectacles! Its an ill wind that blows nobody good,"
remarked Mr. Damon, "I've been wanting to visit New York for some
time, and here's my chance."
"We'll go to a good hotel," said Tom. "and enjoy ourselves as long as
we have to wait for the steamer."
CHAPTER IX
"THAT LOOKED LIKE ANDY!"
What seemed at first as if it was going to be a tedious time of
waiting, proved to be a delightful experience, for our friends found
much to occupy their attention in New York.
Tom and Ned went to several theatrical performances, and wanted Mr.
Damon to go with them, but the odd man said he wanted to visit
several museums and other places of historical interest, so, while
he was browsing around that way, the boys went to Bronx Park, and to
Central Park, to look at the animals, and otherwise enjoy
themselves.
Eradicate put in his time in his own way. Much of it was spent in
restaurants where chicken and pork chops figured largely on the
bills of fare, for Tom had plentifully supplied the colored man with
money, and did not ask an accounting.
"What else do you do besides eat, Rad?" asked Ned with a laugh, the
second day of their stay in New York.
"I jest natchally looks in de jewelery store windows," replied
Eradicate with a grin on his honest black face. "I looks at all de
gold ornaments, an' I tries t' figger out how much better mah golden
images am gwine t' be."
"But don't you go in, and ask what a gold image the size of a man
would be worth!" cautioned Tom. "The jeweler might think you were
crazy, and he might suspect something."
"No, Massa Tom, I won't do nuffin laik dat," promised Eradicate.
"But, Massa Tom, how much DOES yo' 'spect a image laik dat WOULD be
worth?"
"Haven't the least idea, Rad. Enough, though, to make you rich for
the rest of your life."
"Good land a' massy!" gasped Eradicate, and he spent several hours
trying to do sums in arithmetic on scraps of paper.
"Hurrah!" cried Tom, when, on the morning of the third day of their
enforced stay in New York, a letter was sent up to his room by the
hotel clerk.
"What's up?" asked Ned. "I didn't know that you sent Mary word that
you were here."
"I didn't, you old scout!" cried Tom. "This is from the steamship
company, saying that the steamer Maderia, on which we have taken
passage for Mexico, will sail to-night at high tide. That's the
stuff! At last we'll really get on our way."
"Bless my notebook!" cried Mr. Damon. "I hoped we'd stay at least
another day here. I haven't seen half enough in the museums."
"You'll see stranger things than in any museum when we get to the
underground city," predicted Tom. "Come on, Ned, we'll take in a
moving picture show, have our last lunch in the big city, and then
go aboard."
So impatient were the travelers to go on board the steamer that they
arrived several hours before the time set for sailing. Many others
did the same thing, however, as supper was to be served on the
Maderia.
Though it was within a few hours of leaving time there seemed so
much to be done, such a lot of cargo to stow away, and so much coal
to put into the bunkers, that Tom and the others might well be
excused for worrying about whether or not they really would sail.
Big trucks drawn by powerful horses thundered down the long dock.
Immense automobiles laden with boxes, barrels and bales puffed to
the loading gangways. There was the puffing and whistling of the
donkey engines as they hoisted into the big holds the goods intended
for export.
At the side of the steamer were grimy coal barges, into which was
dipped an endless chain of buckets carrying the coal to the bunkers.
Stevadores were running here and there, orders and counter-orders
were being given, and the confusion must have been maddening to any
one not accustomed to it.
"Bless my walking stick!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "We'll never get off
to-night, I'm positive."
"Dat's right," agreed Eradicate. "Look at all dat coal dey's got to
load in."
"Oh. they knew how to hustle at the last minute," said Tom, and so
it proved. Gradually the loading was finished. The coal barges were
emptied and towed away. Truck after truck departed from the dock
empty, having left its load in the interior of the steamer. One
donkey engine after another ceased to puff, and the littered decks
were cleared.
"Let's watch the late-comers get aboard," suggested Ned to Tom, when
they had arranged things in their stateroom. The two boys and Mr.
Damon had a large one to themselves and Eradicate had been assigned
a small one not far from them.
"That'll make the time pass until supper is ready," agreed the young
inventor, so they took their station near the main gangway and
watched the passengers hurrying up. There were many going to make
the trip to Mexico it seemed, and later the boys learned that a
tourist agency had engaged passage for a number of its patrons.
"That fat man will never get up the slope unless some one pushes
him," remarked Ned, pointing to a very fleshy individual who was
struggling up the steep gangplank, carrying a heavy valise. For the
tide was almost at flood and the deck of the steamer was much
elevated. Indeed it seemed at one moment as if the heavy-weight
passenger would slide backward instead of getting aboard.
"Go give him a hand, Rad," suggested Tom, and the colored man
obligingly relieved the fat man of his grip, thereby enabling him to
give all his attention to getting up the plank.
And it was this simple act on the part of Rad that was the cause of
an uneasy suspicion coming to Tom and Ned. For, as Eradicate
hastened to help the stout passenger, two others behind him. a man
and a boy, started preciptably at the sight of the colored helper.
So confused were they that it was noticed by Ned and his chum.
"Look at that!" said Ned in a low voice, their attention drawn from
the fat man to the man and youth immediately behind him. "You'd
think they were afraid of meeting Rad."
"That's right," agreed Tom, for the man and youth had halted, and
seemed about to turn back, Then the man, with a quick gesture,
tossed a steamer rug he was carrying over his shoulder up so that it
hid his face. At the same time the lad with him, evidently in
obedience to some command, pulled his cap well down over his face
and turned up the collar of a light overcoat he was wearing. He also
seemed to shrink down, almost as if he were deformed.
"Say!" began Ned in wondering tones, "Tom, doesn't that look like--"
"Andy Foger and his father!" burst out the young inventor in a horse
whisper. "Ned, do you think it's possible?"
"Hardly, and yet--"
Ned paused in his answer to look more closely at the two who had
aroused the suspicions of himself and Tom. But they had now crowded
so close up behind the fat man whom Eradicate was assisting up the
plank, that he partly hid them from sight, and the action of the two
in covering their faces further aided them in disguising themselves,
if such was their intention.
"Oh, it can't be!" declared Tom. "If they were going to follow us
they wouldn't dare go on the same steamer. It must be some one else.
But it sure did look like Andy at first."
"That's what I say," came from Ned. "But we can easily find out."
"How?"
"Ask the purser to show us the passenger list. Even if they are down
under some other names he'd know the Fogers if we described them to
him."
"That's right, we'll do it."
By this time the fat man, who was being assisted by Eradicate had
reached the top of the gang plank. He must have been expected, for
several friends rushed to greet him, and for a moment there was a
confusing little throng at the place where the passengers came
abroad. Tom and Ned hurried up, intent on getting a closer view of
the man and youth who seemed so anxious to escape observation.
But several persons got in their way. and the two mysterious ones
taking advantage of the confusion, slipped down a companionway to
their stateroom, so that when our two lads managed to extricate
themselves from the throng around the fat man, who insisted on
thanking them for allowing Eradicate to help him, it was too late to
effect any identification, at least for the time being.
"But we'll go to the purser," said Tom. "If Andy and his father are
on this steamer we want to know it."
"That's right," agreed Ned.
Just then there was the usual cry:
"All ashore that's going ashore! Last warning!"
A bell rang, there was a hoarse whistle, the rattle of the gangplank
being drawn in, a quiver through the whole length of the ship, and
Tom cried:
"We're off!"
"Yes," added Ned, "if Andy and his father are here it's too late to
leave them behind now!"
CHAPTER X
MYSTERIOUS PASSENGERS
Ned and Tom did not escape the usual commotion that always attends
the sailing of a large steamer. The people on the dock were waving
farewells to those on the boat, and those on the deck of the Maderia
shook their handkerchiefs, their steamer rugs, their hands,
umbrellas--in short anything to indicate their feelings. It was
getting dark, but big electric lights made the dock and the
steamer's deck brilliantly aglow.
The big whistle was blowing at intervals to warn other craft that
the steamer was coming out of her slip. Fussy little tugs were
pushing their blunt noses against the sides of the Maderia to help
her and, in brief, there was not a little excitement.
"Bless my steamer chair!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "We're really off at
last! And now for the land of--"
"Hush!" exclaimed Tom, who stood near the odd gentleman. "You're
forgetting. Some one might hear you."
"That's so, Tom. Bless my soul! I'll keep quiet after this."
"Mah golly!" gasped Eradicate as he saw the open water between the
ship and the deck, "I can't git back now if I wanter--but I doan't
wanter. I hope yo' father takes good care ob Boomerang, Massa Tom."
"Oh, I guess he will. But come on, Ned, we'll go to the purser's
office now."
"What for? Is something wrong?" asked Mr. Damon.
"No, we just want to see if--er--if some friends of ours are on
board," replied the young inventor, with a quick glance at his
chum.
"Very well," assented Mr. Damon. "I'll wait for you on deck here.
It's quite interesting to watch the sights of the harbor."
As for these same sights they possessed no attractions for the two
lads at present. They were too intent on learning whether or not
their suspicions regarding the Fogers were correct.
"Now if they are on board," said Tom, as they made their way to the
purser's office, "it only means one thing--that they're following us
to get at the secret of the city of gold," and Tom whispered this
last, even though there seemed to be no one within hearing, for
nearly all the passengers were up on deck.
"That's right," agreed Ned. "Of course there's a bare chance, if
those two were the Fogers, that Mr. Foger is going off to try and
make another fortune. But more than likely they're on our trail,
Tom."
"If it's them--yes."
"Hum, Foger--no, I don't think I havs any passengers of that name,"
said the purser slowly, when Tom had put the question. "Let's see,
Farday, Fenton, Figaro, Flannigan, Ford, Foraham, Fredericks--those
are all the names in the 'Fs'. No Fogers among them. Why, are you
looking for some friends of yours, boys?"
"Not exactly friends," replied Tom slowly, "but we know them, and we
thought we saw them come aboard, so we wanted to make sure."
"They might be under some other name," suggested Ned.
"Yes, that is sometimes done," admitted the purser with a quick
glance at the two lads, "It's done when a criminal wants to throw
the police off his track, or, occasionally, when a celebrated person
wants to avoid the newspaper reporters. But I hardly think that--"
"Oh, I don't believe they'd do it," said Tom quickly. He saw at once
that the suspicions of the purser had been aroused, and the official
might set on foot inquiries that would be distasteful to the two
lads and Mr. Damon. Then, too, if the Fogers were on board under
some other name, they would hear of the questions that had been put
regarding them, and if they were on a legitimate errand they could
make it unpleasant for Tom.
"I don't believe they'd do anything like that," the young inventor
repeated.
"Well, you can look over the passenger list soon," said the purser.
"I'm going to post it in the main saloon. But perhaps if you
described the persons you are looking for I could help you out. I
have met nearly all the passengers already."
"Mr. Foger is a big man, with a florid complexion and he has a heavy
brown moustache," said Ned.
"And Andy has red hair, and he squints," added Tom.
"No such persons on board," declared the official positively. "It's
true we have several persons who squint, but no one with red hair--
I'm sure of it."
"Then they're not here," declared Ned. "No, we must have been
mistaken," agreed Tom, and there was relief in his tone. It was bad
enough to have to search for a hidden city of gold, and perhaps have
to deal with the head-hunters, without having to fight off another
enemy from their trail.
"Much obliged," said the young inventor to the purser, and then the
two lads went back on deck.
A little later supper was served in the big dining saloon, and the
boys and Mr. Damon were glad of it, for they were hungry. Eradicate
ate with a party of colored persons whose acquaintance he had
quickly made. It was a gay gathering in which Tom and Ned found
themselves, for though they had traveled much, generally it had been
in one of Tom's airships, or big autos, and this dining on a big
ship was rather a novelty to them.
The food was good, the service prompt, and Tom found himself
possessed of a very good appetite. He glanced across the table and
noted that opposite him and Ned, and a little way down the board,
were two vacant chairs.
"Can't be that anyone is seasick already." he remarked to his chum.
"I shouldn't think so, for we haven't any more motion than a
ferryboat. But some persons are very soon made ill on the water."
"If they're beginning thus early, what will happen when we get out
where it's real rough?" Tom wanted to know.
"They'll sure be in for it," agreed Ned, and a glance around the
dining saloon showed that those two vacant chairs were the only
ones.
Somehow Tom felt a vague sense of uneasiness--as if something was
about to happen. In a way he connected it with the suspicion that
the Fogers were aboard, and with his subsequent discovery that their
names were not on the passenger list. Then, with another thought in
mind, he looked about to see if be could pick out the man and youth
who, on coming up the gang plank, had been taken by both Tom and Ned
to be their enemies. No one looking like either was to be seen, and
Tom's mind at once went back to the vacant seats at the table.
"By Jove, Ned!" he exclaimed. "I believe I have it!"
"Have what--a fit of seasickness?"
"No, but these empty seats--the persons we saw you know--they belong
there and they're afraid to come out and be seen."
"Why should they be--if they're not the Fogers. I guess you've got
another think coming."
"Well, I'm sure there's something mysterious about those two--the
way they hid their faces as they came on board--not appearing at
supper--I'm going to keep my eyes open."
"All right, go as far as you like and I'm with you. Just now you may
pass me the powdered sugar. I want some on this pie."
Tom laughed at Ned's matter-of-fact indifference, but when the young
inventor turned in to his berth that night he could not stop
thinking of the empty seats--the two mysterious passengers--and the
two Fogers. They got all jumbled in his head and made his sleep
restless.
Morning saw the Maderia well out to sea, and, as there was quite a
swell on, the vessel rolled and pitched to an uncomfortable degree.
This did not bother Tom and Ned, who were used to sudden changes of
equilibrium from their voyages in the air. Nor did Mr. Damon suffer.
In fact he was feeling fine and went about on deck like an old salt,
blessing so many new things that he had many of the passengers
amused.
Poor Eradicate did suffer though. He was very seasick, and kept to
his berth most of the time, while some of his new friends did what
they could for him.
Tom had in mind a plan whereby he might solve the identity of the
mysterious passengers. He was going to do it by a process of
elimination--that is he would carefully note all on board until he
had fixed on the two who had aroused his suspicions. And he had to
do this because so many of the passengers looked very different, now
that they had on their ship "togs," than when first coming on board.
But the rough weather of the first day prevented the lad from
carrying out his plan, as many of the travelers kept to their
staterooms, and there were a score of vacant places at the tables.
The next day, however, was fine, and with the sea like the
proverbial mill pond, it seemed that everyone was out on deck. Yet
when meal time came there were these same two vacant seats.
"What do you think of it, Ned?" asked Tom, with a puzzled air.
"I don't know what to think, Tom. It sure is queer that these two--
whoever they are--don't ever come to meals. They can't be seasick on
a day like this, and they certainly weren't the first night."
"That's right. I'm going to ask one of the stewards where their
stateroom is, and why they don't come out."
"You may get into trouble."
"Oh, I guess not. If I do I can stand it. I want to solve this
mystery." Tom did put his question to one of the dining saloon
stewards and it created no suspicions.
"Ah, yes, I guess you must mean Mr. Wilson and his son." spoke the
steward when he had referred to a list that corresponded with the
numbers of the vacant places at the table. "They have their meals
served in their stateroom."
"Why?" asked Tom, "are they ill?"
"I really couldn't say, sir. They prefer it that way, and the
captain consented to it from the first."
"But I should think they'd want to get out for a breath of air," put
in Ned. "I can't stay below decks very long."
"They may come out at night," suggested the steward. "Some of our
travelers think they are less likely to be seasick if they come out
at night. They don't see the motion of the waves then."
"Guess that's it," agreed Tom with a wink at Ned. "Much obliged.
Glad we're not seasick," and he linked his arm in that of his chum's
and marched him off.
"Why the wink?" asked Ned, when they were out of earshot of the
steward.
"That was to tip you off to say nothing more. I've got a plan I'm
going to work."
"What is it?"
"Well, we know who the mysterious ones are. anyhow--at least we know
their names--Wilson."
"It may not be the right one."
"That doesn't make any difference. I can find out their stateroom by
looking at the passenger list."
"What good will that do."
"Lots. I'm going to keep a watch on that stateroom until I get a
good look at the people in it. And if they only come out at night,
which it begins to look like, I'm going to do some night watching.
This thing has got to be settled, Ned. Our trip to the city of gold
is too important to risk having a mysterious couple on our trail--
when that same couple may be the Fogers. I'm going to do some
detective work, Ned!"
CHAPTER XI
THE MIDNIGHT ALARM
"Whew! What a lot of 'em!"
"Bless my fish line! It's a big school!"
"Look how they turn over and over, and leap from the water."
"By golly, dere is suttinly some fish dere!"
These were the exclamations made by our four friends a few days
later, as they leaned over the rail of the Maderia and watched a big
school of porpoises gamboling about in the warm waters of the gulf
stream. It was the second porpoise school the ship had come up with
on the voyage, and this was a much larger one than the first, so
that the passengers crowded up to see the somewhat novel sight.
"If they were only good eating now, we might try for a few,"
observed Ned.
"Some folks eat them, but they're too oily for me," observed a
gentleman who had struck up an acquaintance with the boys and Mr.
Damon. "Their skin makes excellent shoe laces though, their oil is
used for delicate machinery--especially some that comes from around
the head, at least so I have heard."
"Wow! Did you see that?" cried Tom, as one large porpoise leaped
clear of the water, turned over several times and fell back with a
loud splash. "That was the biggest leap yet."
"And there goes another," added Ned.
"Say, this ought to bring those two mysterious passengers out of
their room," observed Tom to his chum in a low voice. "Nearly
everyone else seems to be on deck."
"You haven't been able to catch a glimpse of them; eh Tom?"
"Not a peak. I stayed up several nights, as you know, and paced the
deck, but they didn't stir out. Or, if they did, it must have been
toward morning after I turned in. I can't understand it. They must
be either criminals, afraid of being seen, or they ARE the Fogers,
and they know we're on to their game."
"It looks as if it might be one or the other, Tom. But if they are
criminals we don't have to worry about 'em. They don't concern us."
"No, that's right. Split mackerel! Look at that fellow jump. He's
got 'em all beat!" and Tom excitedly, pointed at the porpoises, the
whole school of which was swimming but a short distance from the
steamer.
"Yes, a lot of them are jumping now. I wonder--"
"Look! Look!" cried the man who had been talking to Mr. Damon.
"Something out of the ordinary is going on among those porpoises. I
never saw them leap out of the water like that before."
"Sharks! It's sharks!" cried a sailor who came running along the
deck. "A school of sharks are after the porpoises!" "I believe he's
right," added Mr. Sander, the gentleman with Mr. Damon. "See,
there's the ugly snout of one now. He made a bite for that big
porpoise but missed."
"Bless my meat axe!" cried the odd man. "So he did. Say, boys, this
is worth seeing. There'll be a big fight in a minute."
"Not much of a fight," remarked Mr. Sander. "The porpoise isn't
built for fighting. They're trying to get away from the sharks by
leaping up."
"Why don't they dive, and so get away?" asked Ned.
"The sharks are too good at diving," went on Mr. Sander. "The
porpoises couldn't escape that way. Their only hope is that
something will scare the sharks away, otherwise they'll kill until
their appetites are satisfied, and that isn't going to be very soon
I'm afraid."
"Look! Look!" cried Ned. "A shark leaped half way out of the water
then."
"Yes, I saw it," called Tom.
There was now considerable excitement on deck. Nearly all the
passengers, many of the crew and several of the officers were
watching the strange sight. The porpoises were frantically tumbling,
turning and leaping to get away from their voracious enemies.
"Oh, if I only had my electric rifle!" cried Tom. "I'd make some of
those ugly sharks feel sick!"
"Bless my cartridge belt!" cried Mr. Damon. "That would be a good
idea. The porpoises are such harmless creatures. It's a shame to see
them attacked so."
For the activity of the sharks had now redoubled, and they were
darting here and there amid the school of porpoises biting with
their cruel jaws. The other fish were frantically leaping and
tumbling, but the strange part of it was that the schools of sharks
and porpoises kept about the same distance ahead of the ship, so
that the passengers had an excellent view of the novel and thrilling
sight.
"Rifle!" said Mr. Sander, catching at the word. "I fancy the captain
may have some. He's quite a friend of mine, I'll speak to him."
"Get me one, too, if you please," called Ned as the gentleman
hurried away.
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