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Page 53
"I certainly will! I only wish we could find him, though. I'd
go with a better heart."
"Oh! Mr. Nestor?"
"Yes, I can't imagine what has become of him. It is almost as
if the earth had opened and swallowed him. His disappearance is a
great mystery."
"It surely is," agreed Tom. "Can't seem to get any trace of
him. But if we hear another cry for help, when we have to land,
you can make up your mind I'll investigate more quickly than I
did at first."
"I agree with you," said Mr. Damon.
It was nearly evening then, and until it was dark enough for
his flight Tom spent the time tuning up the engine and seeing
that all was in readiness for the latest test. He had decided not
to go aloft while it was light enough for curiosity seekers to
note the flight.
Tom rather wished Mary Nestor might have a sail with him in his
latest improved silent Air Scout, but the girl was too much
occupied at home and in trying to find some trace of her father.
Tom, his father, and Mr. Damon had helped all they could, but
there were no results. A private detective had been engaged, but
he had no more of a clew than the regular police.
At last it was dark enough for the flight, and Tom and Mr.
Damon took their places in the machine. Once more the propellers
were turned around, and when the compression had been made, and
the spark switched on, around spun the big wooden blades, and the
great craft moved over the grass.
On and on and up and up sailed Tom and Mr. Damon, and as they
left behind them the shops and the Swift homestead, the two
passengers were aware of their almost silent flight. The big
aeroplane, the exhaust of which, ordinarily, would have nearly
deafened them, was now as silent as a bird.
"Silent Sam for Uncle Sam!" cried Tom in delight, as he went on
faster. "I'm sure the government ought to be glad to get this
plane for air scout work. It's a success! A great success!"
"Yes, so it is!" agreed Mr. Damon. "You do well to speak of it
so, Tom."
For, modest as the young inventor was, he felt, in justice to
himself, that he must acknowledge the fact that his craft was a
success. For it rose and sailed almost as silently as a bat, and
a few hundred feet away no one, not seeing it, would have
believed a big aeroplane was in motion.
Tom and Mr. Damon flew about twenty miles at a swift pace, and
all the fault Tom had to find was that the machine was not as
steady in flight as she should have been.
"But I can remedy that with the use of some of dad's gyroscope
stabilizers," he told Mr. Damon.
They returned to the hangar safely, and the first trip of the
new Silent Sam was an assured success.
It was the following day, when Tom was busy in the machine shop
installing the gyroscopes spoken of, that Jackson came to tell
him there was a visitor to see him.
"Who is it?" asked the young inventor.
"Mr. Gale of the Universal Company," was the answer.
"I don't want to see him!" declared Tom quickly. "I have
nothing to say to him after his clumsy threats."
"He seems very much in earnest," said Jackson. "Better see him,
if only for a minute or so."
"All right, I will," assented Tom. "Show him in."
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