|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 37
Of course there was some little sound. Even the most perfect
electric motor has a sort of hum which can be detected when one
is close to it. But at a little distance a great dynamo in
operation appears to be silence itself.
"I can go this one better, though," said Tom as he sailed along
in the night. "I see where I've made a few mistakes in the baffle
plate of the silencer. I'll correct that and--"
As he spoke the machine gave a lurch, and the motor, instead of
remaining silent, began to cough and splutter as in the former
days.
"Bless my rubber boots, Tom! what's the matter?" cried Mr.
Damon.
"Something's gone wrong," Tom answered, barely able to hear and
make himself heard above the sudden noise. "I'll have to shut off
the power and glide down. We can make a landing in this big
field," for just then the moon came out from behind a cloud, and
Tom saw, below them, a great meadow, not far from the home of
Mary Nestor. He had often landed in this same place.
"Something has broken in the muffler, I think, letting out some
of the exhaust," he said to Mr. Damon, for, now that the motor
was shut off, Tom could speak in his ordinary tones. "I'll soon
have it fixed, or, if I can't, we can go back in the old style--
with the machine making as much racket as it pleases."
So Tom guided the machine down. It went silently now, of
course, making, with the motor shut off, no more sound than a
falling leaf. Down to the soft, springy turf in the green meadow
Tom guided the machine. As it came to a stop, and he and Mr.
Damon got out, there was borne to their ears a wild cry:
"Help! Help!"
CHAPTER XIII
SOMETHING QUEER
"DiD you hear that?" asked Tom Swift of his companion.
"Hear it? Bless my ear drums, I should say I did hear it! Some
one is in trouble, Tom. Caught in a bog, most likely, the same as
that spy chap who was at your place. That's it--caught in a bog!"
"There isn't any bog or swamp around here, Mr. Damon. If there
was I shouldn't have tried a landing. No, it's something else
besides that. Hark!"
Again the cry sounded, seeming to come from a point behind the
landing place of the silent airship. It was clear and distinct:
"Help! Help! They are--"
The voice seemed to die away in a gurgle, as though the
person's mouth had been covered quickly.
"He's sinking, Tom! He's sinking!" cried Mr. Damon. "I once
heard a man who almost drowned cry out, and it sounded exactly
like that!"
"But there isn't any water around here for any one to drown
in," declared Tom. "It's a big, dry meadow. I know where we are."
"Then what is it?"
"I don't know, but we're going to find out. Some one attacked
by some one else--or something, I should say," ventured the young
inventor.
"Something! do you mean a wild beast, Tom?"
"No, for there aren't any of those here any more than there is
water. Though it may be that some farmer's bull or a savage dog
has got loose and has attacked some traveler. But, in that case I
think we would hear bellows or barks, and all I heard was a cry
for help."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|