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Page 56
It was not until the day after the visit of Mr. Gale that Tom,
having concluded some intricate calculations about the strength
of cylinder valves, uttered an exclamation.
"I wonder if he could have meant that?" cried the young
inventor. "I wonder if he could have meant that? I must find out
at once! Queer I didn't think of that before!"
He put in a long distance call to New York, asking to speak to
Mr. Gale. But when, eventually, he was connected with the office
of the Universal Flying Machine Company he was told that Mr. Gale
and Mr. Ware had sailed for France that day, going over as
government representatives to investigate aeroplane motors.
Gale's visit to Tom had been just previous to taking the boat, it
was said.
"This is tough luck!" mused Tom, his suspicions doubly aroused
now. "I can't let this rest here! I've got to get after it! As
soon as I make this final test, and invite Uncle Sam's experts
out to see how my noiseless motor works, I'll get after Gale and
Ware if I have to follow them to the battlefields of France! I
wonder if it was that he was hinting at all the while! I begin to
believe it was!"
Tom Swift had decided on another flight for his new craft
before he would let the government experts see it.
"Silent Sam must do his very best work for Uncle Sam before I
turn him over," said the young inventor.
"And after this flight I'll offer the machine to the
government, and then devote all my time to finding Mr. Nestor,"
said Tom. "I'd do it now, but private matters, however deeply
they affect us, must be put aside to help win the war. But this
will end my inventive work until after Mr. Nestor is found--if
he's alive."
Preparations for the test flight went on apace, and one
afternoon Tom and Jackson took their places in the big, new
aeroplane. He no longer feared daylight crowds in case of an
accident. They made a good start, and the motor was so quiet that
as Tom passed over his own plant the men working in the yard, who
did not know of the flight, did not look up to see what was going
on. They could not hear the engine.
"I think we've got everything just as we want it, Jackson,"
said Tom, much pleased.
"I believe you," answered the mechanician. "It couldn't be
better. Now if--"
And at that moment there came a loud explosion, and Silent Sam
began drifting rapidly toward the earth, as falls a bird with a
broken wing.
CHAPTER XX
QUEER MARKS
"What happened?" cried Jackson to Tom, as he leaned forward in
his seat which was in the rear of the young inventor's.
"Don't know, exactly," was the answer, as Tom quickly shifted
the rudders to correct the slanting fall of his craft. "Sounded
as though there was a tremendous back-fire, or else the muffler
blew up. The engine is dead."
"Can you take her down safely?"
"Oh, yes, I guess so. She's a bit out of control, but the
stabilizer will keep her on a level keel. Good thing we installed
it."
"You're right!" said Jackson.
Now they were falling earthward with great rapidity, but,
thanks to the gyroscope stabilizer, the "side-slipping," than
which there is no motion more dreaded by an aviator, had nearly
ceased. The craft was volplaning down as it ought, and Tom had it
under as perfect control as was possible under the
circumstances.
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