Tom Swift in Captivity by Victor Appleton.pdf

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER V

CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VII

CHAPTER VIII

CHAPTER IX

CHAPTER X

CHAPTER XI

CHAPTER XII

CHAPTER XIII

CHAPTER XIV

CHAPTER XV

CHAPTER XVI

CHAPTER XVII

CHAPTER XVIII

CHAPTER XIX

CHAPTER XX

CHAPTER XXI

CHAPTER XXII

CHAPTER XXIII

CHAPTER XXIV

CHAPTER XXV

Tom Swift in Captivity

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Title: Tom Swift in Captivity

Author: Victor Appleton

Release Date: November, 2003 [Etext #4608] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file

was first posted on February 17, 2002]

Edition: 10

Language: English

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CHAPTER I

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TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY

A Daring Escape by Airship

BY VICTOR APPLETON

AUTHOR OF "TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR-CYCLE," "TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS

MESSAGE," "TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

CONTENTS

I A STRANGE REQUEST II THE CIRCUS MAN III TOM WILL GO IV "LOOK OUT FOR MY RIVAL!"

V ANDY FOGER LEARNS SOMETHING VI ALARMING NEWS VII FIRE ON BOARD VIII A

NARROW ESCAPE IX "FORWARD MARCH!" X A WILD HORSE STAMPEDE XI CAUGHT IN A

LIVING ROPE XII A NATIVE BATTLE XIII THE DESERTION XIV IN GIANT LAND XV IN THE

"PALACE" OF THE KING XVI THE RIVAL CIRCUS MAN XVII HELD CAPTIVES XVIII TOM'S

MYSTERIOUS BOX XIX WEAK GIANTS XX THE LONE CAPTIVE XXI A ROYAL CONSPIRACY

XXII THE TWIN GIANTS XXIII A SURPRISE IN THE NIGHT XXIV THE AIRSHIP FLIGHT XXV

TOM'S GIANT--CONCLUSION

CHAPTER I

A STRANGE REQUEST

Tom Swift closed the book of adventures he had been reading, tossed it on the table, and got up. Then he

yawned.

"What's the matter?" asked his chum, Ned Newton, who was deep in another volume.

"Oh, I thought this was going to be something exciting," replied Tom, motioning toward the book he had

discarded. "But say! the make- believe adventures that fellow had, weren't anything compared to those we

went through in the city of gold, or while rescuing the exiles of Siberia."

"Well," remarked Ned, "they would have to be pretty classy adventures to lay over those you and I have had

lately. But where are you going?" he continued, for Tom had taken his cap and started for the door.

"I thought I'd go out and take a little run in the aeroplane. Want to come along? It's more fun than sitting in the

house reading about exciting things that never have happened. Come on out and--"

"Yes, and have a tumble from the aeroplane, I suppose you were going to say," interrupted Ned with a laugh.

"Not much! I'm going to stay here and finish this book."

CHAPTER I

"Say," demanded Tom indignantly. "Did you ever know me to have a tumble since I knew how to run an

airship?"

"No, I can't say that I did. I was only joking."

"Then you carried the joke too far, as the policeman said to the man he found lugging off money from the

bank. And to make up for it you've got to come along with me."

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, anywhere. Just to take a little run in the upper regions, and clear some of the cobwebs out of my head. I

declare, I guess I've got the spring fever. I haven't done anything since we got back from Russia last fall, and

I'm getting rusty."

"You haven't done ANYTHING!" exclaimed Ned, following his chum's example by tossing aside the book.

"Do you call working on your new invention of a noiseless airship nothing?"

"Well, I haven't finished that yet. I'm tired of inventing things. I just want to go off, and have some good fun,

like getting shipwrecked on a desert island, or being lost in the mountains, or something like that. I want

action. I want to get off in the jungle, and fight wild beasts, and escape from the savages!"

"Say! you don't want much," commented Ned. "But I feel the same way, Tom."

"Then come on out and take a run, and maybe we'll get on the track of an adventure," urged the young

inventor. "We won't go far, just twenty or thirty miles or so."

The two youths emerged from the house and started across the big lawn toward the aeroplane sheds, for Tom

Swift owned several speedy aircrafts, from a big combined aeroplane and dirigible balloon, to a little

monoplane not much larger than a big bird, but which was the most rapid flier that ever breathed the fumes of

gasolene.

"Which one you going to take, Tom?" asked Ned, as his chum paused in front of the row of hangars.

"Oh, the little double-seated monoplane, I guess that's in good shape, and it's easy to manage. When I'm out

for fun I hate to be tinkering with levers and warping wing tips all the while. The Lark practically flies herself,

and we can sit back and take it easy. I'll have Eradicate fill up the gasolene tank, while I look at the magneto.

It needs a little adjusting, though it works nearly to perfection since I put in some of that new platinum we got

from the lost mine in Siberia."

"Yes, that was a trip that amounted to something. I wouldn't mind going on another like that, though we ran

lots of risks."

"We sure did," agreed Tom, and then, raising his voice he called out: "Rad, I say Rad! Where are you? I want

you!"

"Comin', massa Tom, comin'," answered an aged colored man, as he shuffled around the corner of the shed.

"What do yo'-all want ob me?"

"Put some gasolene in the Lark, Rad. Ned and I are going to take a little flight. What were you doing?"

"Jest groomin' mah mule Boomerang, Massa Tom, dat's all. Po' Boomerang he's gittin' old jest same laik I be.

He's gittin' old, an' he needs lots ob 'tention. He has t' hab mo' oats dan usual, Massa Tom, an' he doan't feel

CHAPTER I

'em laik he uster, dat's a fac', Massa Tom."

"Well, Rad, give him all he wants. Boomerang was a good mule in his day."

"An' he's good yet, Massa Tom, he's good yet!" said Eradicate Sampson eagerly. "Doan't yo' all forgit dat,

Massa Tom." And the colored man proceeded to fill the gasolene tank, while Tom adjusted the electrical

mechanism of his aeroplane, Ned assisting by handing him the tools needed. Eradicate, who said he was

named that because he "eradicated" dirt, was a colored man of all work, who had been in the service of the

Swift household for several years. He and his mule Boomerang were fixtures.

"There, I guess that will do," remarked Tom, after testing the magneto, and finding that it gave a fat, hot

spark. "That ought to send us along in good shape. Got all the gas in, Rad?"

"Every drop, Massa Tom."

"Then catch hold and help wheel the Lark out. Ned, you steady her on that side. How are the tires? Do they

need pumping up?"

"Hard as rocks," answered Tom's chum, as he tapped his toe against the rubber circlets of the small bicycle

wheels on which the aeroplane rested.

"Then they'll do, I guess. Come on now, and we'll give her a test before we start off. I ought to get a few

hundred more revolutions per minute out of the motor with the way I've adjusted the magneto. Rad, you and

Ned hold back, while I turn the engine over."

The youth and the colored man grasped the rear supports of the long, tail-like part of the monoplane while

Tom stepped to the front to twist the propeller blades. The first two times there was no explosion as he swung

the delicate wooden blades about, but the third time the engine started off with a roar, and a succession of

explosions that were deafening, until Tom switched in the muffler, thereby cutting down the noise. Faster and

faster the propeller whirled about as the motor warmed up, until the young inventor exclaimed:

"That's the stuff! She's better than ever! Climb up Ned, and we'll start off. You can turn her over, Rad; can't

you?"

"Suah, Massa Tom," was the reply, for Eradicate had been on so many trips with Tom, and had had so much

to do with airships, that to merely start one was child's play for him.

The two youths had scarcely taken their seats, and the colored man was about to twist around the fan-like

blades of the big propeller in front, when from behind there came a hail.

"Hold on there! Wait a minute, Tom Swift! Bless my admission ticket, don't go! I've got something important

to tell you! Hold on!"

"Humph! I know who that is!" cried Tom, motioning to Eradicate to cease trying to start the motor.

"Mr. Damon, of course," agreed Ned. "I wonder what he wants?"

"A ride, maybe," went on Tom. "If he does we've got to take the Scooter instead of this one. That holds four.

Well, we may as well see what he wants."

He jumped lightly from his seat in the monoplane and was followed by Ned. They saw coming toward them,

from the direction of the house, a stout man, who seemed very much excited. He was walking so fast that he

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