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Page 24
"Sure. I have a leave of absence from the bank, thanks to your
father and Mr. Damon, most of my clothes are packed, I've bought a
gun and I've got a lot of quinine in case I get a fever."
"Good!" cried the elephant hunter. "You'll do all right, I reckon.
I'm glad I met you young fellows. Well, I've lived through my first
trip in the air, which is more than I expected when I started."
They discussed their plans at some length, for, now that the airship
had proved all that they had hoped for, it would not be long ere
they were under way. In the days that followed Tom put the finishing
touches on the craft, arranged to have it packed up for shipment,
and spent some time practicing with his electric rifle. He got to be
an expert shot, and Mr. Durban, who was a wonder with the ordinary
rifle, praised the young inventor highly.
"There won't many of the big tuskers get away from you, Tom Swift,"
he said. "And that reminds me, I got a letter the other day, from
the firm I collect ivory for, stating that the price had risen
because of a scarcity, and urging me to hurry back to Africa and get
all I could. It seems that war has broken out among some of the
central African tribes, and they are journeying about in the jungle,
on the war path here and there, and have driven the elephants into
the very deepest wilds, where the ordinary hunters can't get at
them."
"Maybe we won't have any luck, either," suggested Ned.
"Oh, yes, we will," declared the hunter. "With our airship, the
worst forest of the dark continent won't have any terrors for us,
for we can float above it. And the fights of the natives won't have
any effect. In a way, this will be a good thing, for with the price
of ivory soaring, we can make more money than otherwise. There's a
chance for us all to get a lot of money."
"Bless my piano keys!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "if I can get just one
elephant, and pull out his big ivory teeth, I'll be satisfied. I
want a nice pair of tusks to set up on either side of my fireplace
for ornaments."
"A mighty queer place for such-like ornaments," said Mr. Durban in a
low voice. Then he added: "Well, the sooner we get started the
better I'll like it, for I want to get that pair of big tusks for a
special customer of mine."
"I'll give the Black Hawk one more trial flight, and then take her
apart and ship her," decided Tom, and the final flight, a most
successful one, took place the following day.
Then came another busy season when the airship was taken apart for
shipment to the coast of Africa by steamer. It was put into big
boxes and crates, and Eradicate and his mule took them to the
station in Shopton.
"Don't you want to come to Africa with us, Rad?" asked Tom, when the
last of the cases had been sent off. "You'll find a lot of your
friends there."
"No, indeedy, I doan't want t' go," answered the colored man,
"though I would like to see dat country."
"Then why don't you come?"
"Hu! Yo' think, Massa Tom, dat I go anywhere dat I might meet dem
little red men what Massa Durban talk about? No, sah, dey might hurt
mah mule Boomerang."
"Oh, I wasn't going to take the mule along," said Tom, wondering how
the creature might behave in the airship.
"Not take Boomerang? Den I SUTTINLY ain't goin," and Eradicate
walked off, highly offended, to give some oats to his faithful if
somewhat eccentric steed.
After the airship had been sent off there yet remained much for Tom
Swift to do. He had to send along a number of special tools and
appliances with which to put the ship together again, and also some
with which to repair the craft in case of accident. So that this
time was pretty well occupied. But at length everything was in
readiness, and with his electric rifle knocked down for
transportation, and with his baggage, and that of the others, all
packed, they set off one morning to take the train for New York,
where they would get a steamer for Africa.
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