A ROBBER
"Loose the winches a little!" ordered Captain Britten sharply. "The air-hoses are strained almost to the breaking point."
"Si," mumbled the engineer, easing off the brake a trifle.
"What's the trouble, in your opinion, Captain?" asked Tom.
The Engineer Eased the Brake
"Hard to say, young fellow," came the worried reply. "What I'm afraid of is that a huge octopus or some such monster has attacked the poor divers. Whatever it is, I fear it's the end for 'em, as there's not another diver aboard and we can't haul the men up for fear of breakin' their air-lines."
"Have you another diving suit?" asked Tom rapidly. "I've had considerable experience in undersea work and can't let those boys drown without trying to help 'em!"
"I'm Afraid It Is an Octopus!"
"Can you do it, lad? Yes, I've a brand-new outfit aboard that's of the latest type. But what'll I say to your father if anything happens to you?"
"Dad wouldn't want me to stand back at a time like this," rejoined the young inventor. "I sent these men down and it's up to me to see they get back safely!"
"But, Tom!" cried Ned. "What of the octopus? You may be trapped too, and not save Manuel and Alvarez either!"
"It's up to Me!"
"You forget, or maybe you didn't know, that I brought my electric rifle with me. That'll polish off any devil-fish I'm likely to meet!"
"Well, at least let me go too!"
"Isn't but one suit," said Captain Britten. "Now, Tom Swift, if you're ready, here's the suit."
"All set," said the young inventor calmly. He began to remove his outer clothing. "Ned, please bring up my rifle."
By the time the young scientist had been helped into the massively armored suit, Ned was back on deck carrying a peculiar-looking gun. Unlike other weapons, this one could discharge a bolt of electricity which would slay the largest animal or merely tickle a baby, according to the adjustment. Tom set it to its highest power.
They Helped Tom into the Suit
"Good luck!" cried Ned as the heavy helmet was lowered into place.
Tom attempted to wave in reply but the gear was too weighty. Later, when he got into the depths, the buoyant effect of the water would enable him to move more freely.
Ned Carried a Peculiar Gun
Clutching his gun in his armored hand, Tom crept slowly on to the platform suspended over the sea. As it was lowered to the water he got a last glimpse of Ned Newton's face staring down at him.
The young business manager paced the deck of the barge, at every step reproaching himself for allowing his chum to undertake so hazardous a venture. As his watch told him that Tom must be nearing the bottom he seated himself by the switchboard, headphones clamped over his ears.
Tom Crept Slowly to the Platform
"Ground floor," announced Tom at last. "Pretty dark down here. I'll switch on my flash. Now—by George!"
Ned heard a muffled silence.
"Tom! Tom!" he shouted frantically. "What's happened? Are you all right?"
For nearly ten minutes Ned crouched by the instrument trying to get in touch with his friend. Just as he was giving up hope he heard a weak voice gasp:
"Ground Floor," Announced Tom
"Not so loud, old man! You've nearly broken my ear-drums. Everything's under control!"
"Hurray!" shouted Ned. "He's found 'em, Captain Britten!"
"Easy!" protested Tom from the depths. "Don't shout like that so near the phone! Yes, the men are O.K. A big fish had 'em—don't know what it was, as I never heard of anything like it. But a couple of shots from the rifle killed it."
"A Big Fish Had 'Em!"
"Tell Captain Britten to send down some heavy chains. We've found the meteorite!"
The now jubilant crew, who had feared their companions lost, scurried about. In a few minutes the stout chain was snaking its way down through the blue-green ocean.
"Seems to me they're taking a mighty long time about it," said Ned to Captain Britten after an hour had passed with no word from the three divers.
A Chain Snaked Its Way Down
"You're right," agreed the other. "Working at that depth it's decidedly unsafe to stay below so long. I'll warn Tom."
"Can't be done!" was that young man's decisive answer to the old salvage expert's warning. "This is a tougher job than I thought, for the bottom of the stone seems to be sinking slowly. If we can't finish our job now I'm afraid we'll lose our prize. But don't worry. We ought to be through in another twenty minutes."
"This Is a Tough Job."
The twenty minutes passed, and another like period was nearly run through before Tom announced himself and the other two ready to come to the surface.
To avoid the dreaded "bends," an affliction suffered by divers drawn to the surface too rapidly, they made their ascent as slowly as their descent. Thus it was that the great meteorite reached the top long before Tom and the two natives did.
They Made Their Ascent Slowly
"What in the name o' tarnation did he want with that?" demanded Captain Britten as the giant stone was lowered cautiously to the deck. Weighing many tons, it had tilted the barge far over to one side as the powerful derrick drew it up. "It looks like some old rock a man might pick up 'most any place."
"Oh, Tom Swift usually has a good reason for everything he does," smiled Ned noncommittally. "I'm no scientist, but he is, so perhaps he wants to experiment with this stone from another planet."
The Powerful Derrick Drew It Up
At last the three divers reached the surface and were hauled rapidly up to the deck of the barge. All of them appeared exhausted, but Tom's eyes expressed the greatest satisfaction when he saw the meteorite safely aboard.
At his request the tug was put under way and the "Betsy B." started back to her home port in Key West. During the trip Tom managed to cut from the meteorite a fifty-pound chunk.
Tom Cut off a Large Chunk
"I'm very eager to see if this stone contains more X," he explained to Ned, "so I'm planning to fly straight home with this sample to analyze it. I want you to put the rest of the meteorite on a fast freight train and travel north with it."
The sun was setting when the dock at Key West was reached. Tom waited no longer than was necessary to take on a supply of gasoline for the "Winged Arrow." He paid Captain Britten a generous fee and added a bonus for the divers who had helped him. Then with a hasty good-bye the excited young inventor roared off in the gathering darkness toward his distant home.
He Paid Captain Britten
After an uneventful flight he reached Shopton at about half-past one the following morning. The wheels of the plane had barely stopped turning when the tall figure of Koku came rushing out of the shadows of the hangar to greet his master.
Koku Came Rushing Out
"You're right on the job!" exclaimed Tom, climbing stiffly from the cabin. "How is everything?"
"All thing good!" declared the giant, grinning to see the young inventor back. "Catchum skystone?"
"We caught it, all right. You might tote this sample of it over to the lab." Tom handed his servant the segment he had chiseled from the main mass.
"Master knows 'bout secret cave under lab'tory?" questioned the giant as the two walked across the field in the moonlight.
"Tote This Sample to the Lab."
"Cave? Oh, you mean the vault?" asked Tom, who had been thinking of other matters.
"Night you go 'way in sky-bird, Koku watch. Koku hear bell go ting-ting-ting!"
Suddenly Tom was paying strict attention.
"Great Scott! D'you mean to say someone broke into my Chest of Secrets? Tell me about it quickly!"
Tom Paid Strict Attention
SUCCESS
"Me tell!" said Koku. "Hear bell, know bad mans hide in cave. I creep up an' watch!" His dramatic pause might have seemed funny at any other time but Tom was badly worried.
Tom Swift Was Worried
"Hurry up!" commanded the young inventor sharply, grabbing the giant's arm. "What happened?"
"Nothing happen US," answered Koku. "Plenty happen HIM! I catchum fella, crawl up fum cave, knockum out, callum policemans."
"Good boy! You rate a new suit for that. You can tell the tailor to make it as loud as you like!"
Nothing could have pleased the simple giant more, for he loved to dress up in gaudy clothes, a trait left over from his savage life before the young inventor had brought him to America.
"I Catchum Fella!"
Too excited to sleep, Tom Swift went straight to his office and called the police station. The desk sergeant verified what Koku had said and asked the young scientist to come down and prefer charges.
As he was about to leave he saw on top of his accumulated mail a letter from the Apex Glass Works. It was from Mr. Stern. The man advised Tom that he suspected two discharged workmen as the pair who had attempted to rob him. Photographs were enclosed.
Photographs Were Enclosed
"That he, Master!" suddenly boomed Koku, who had been gazing at the photos. "That man steal green glass thing I ketch back!"
"By Jove, I believe you're right!" declared Tom. "This picture most certainly resembles the fellow you dragged in here. Come on, you and I will go over to the jail and check up."
Late as the hour was, the two took out a car and hastened over to the county prison. No sooner had the sleepy officer on duty conducted them back to the prisoner's cell than Tom immediately recognized the man as the one Koku had captured with the green disk.
They Drove to the County Prison
Eager to get off as lightly as possible, the fellow, who had been a confidential clerk in the main offices of the glass works, made a full confession.
"It was Hammer who got me into this, Mr. Swift," whined Anton. "He overheard Mr. Stern talking about your experiments with bendable glass. He said you'd surely succeed and that the invention would be worth a fortune. So we decided to steal your formula. I've got a sick wife, Mr. Swift—"
Hammer Overheard Mr. Stern
"A pack of lies!" roughly interrupted the policeman. "He's a single man, Mr. Swift, and has a police record to boot!"
"Well, hold him. And I hope you will catch his confederate."
"Don't worry. The boys'll bring him in!"
"He Has a Police Record."
Although the hour was late, Tom decided to return to the laboratory and inspect the vault. There had been a certain sly expression in Anton's eyes which had vaguely disturbed the inventor. It was as if the man were holding something back and grinning over it.
In a few minutes Tom's feeling was proven correct, for the formula dealing with the flexible glass was gone! Koku, when questioned, admitted that he had seen some papers drop from Anton's pocket when he had seized him just outside the laboratory, but the simple giant had paid no attention to them. There followed a frantic search with a flashlight by Tom but there was no trace of the missing documents.
The Formula Was Gone
"They couldn't have blown away!" he declared. "They were clipped together by a special heavy binder. Somebody must have picked them up!"
He Made a Frantic Search
When Tom visited Anton in jail the next day, the fellow denied loudly that he had taken anything. The police promised to redouble their efforts to capture Hammer. With that assurance the inventor was forced to content himself.
The next few days Tom was so busy that he gave only an occasional thought to his loss. Analysis of the sample cut from the meteorite showed that it was even richer than he had hoped in the new substance, X. Immediately he telegraphed a large science supply house for huge flasks, beakers, retorts and other paraphernalia necessary to extract and refine the material.
The Sample Was Rich in X
This done, he arranged for the loan of a large refracting telescope from a near-by observatory to be used in conjunction with the big green disk he proposed to make. Professor Standish of the college was so interested in the project that Tom invited him to the forthcoming test.
Work was begun on an improvised observatory to be erected on a mountain in the Adirondacks. This would place the telescope above most of the blurring effects of the dense, lower atmosphere, filled as it is with smoke and dust.
Work Was Begun on the Observatory
Ned Newton wired that the meteorite had been safely placed on a fast freight train. He added that he was traveling in the caboose of the same train by special arrangement with the road officials. Tom met his chum at the station.
"How do you like riding in style?" he teased.
Ned Traveled in the Caboose
"Humph!" grunted Ned. "I'll take a plane next time."
A huge truck transported the planet stone to the shops of the Swift Construction Company. One of the buildings had been cleared of all other work, and in it a very large furnace had been erected to cast the green disk. Powerful mechanisms crushed the meteorite to a fine powder which was dissolved by strong acids, then separated into its various ingredients.
The Meteorite Was Crushed
"The furnace will have to be enlarged!" declared Tom. "I had planned to make a disk twenty feet long but there is so much X that we can easily make it thirty-five feet. There'll still be several hundred pounds left."
"Why not use it all and make the biggest 'scope you can?" suggested Ned Newton.
"I believe this will be large enough. Besides, I have an idea that the X has other and even more remarkable powers. I don't want to use it all up in this device."
"We Can Make a Larger Disk!"
A gang of men had been employed to clear a trail up the side of the mountain in the Adirondacks and construct a road to the summit as none ever had been made to the spot Tom intended to use. A specially large motor truck was built to carry first the telescope, then the giant green disk.
It may well be supposed that all these preparations ran into money. Many a groan did Ned give when he studied the mounting cost sheets. Tom, however, was deaf to all his chum's protestations.
A Special Truck Was Built
"I had hoped your new bendable glass would more than repay the cost of your telescope," grumbled Ned. "That's gone, and it looks to me as though everything else'll go too. The Swift Construction Company will soon be bankrupt, Tom Swift, if you don't slow down!"
"What do you mean, my flexible glass is gone? Why, I've had an application on file in the Patent Office for several months."
"Well, for Pete's sake, why didn't you tell me? Here I've been worrying my head off for nothing!"
"You'll Be Bankrupt!" Warned Ned
"Sorry, old man. But you know I've had a lot on my mind. However, we must get back the papers, for the thief can make things pretty uncomfortable if he chooses to."
As Tom had found out, X would be useful only in an absolutely pure state. To refine it to the proper degree was a painfully slow process, taking in this case a full six weeks. While his chemists labored away under the young inventor's supervision, everything else had been made ready. At last the new element was prepared. The tons of yellow powder were dumped into the heated furnace.
His Chemists Worked Away
Three days later the stuff had cooled sufficiently for an inspection to be made. A traveling crane slowly hoisted the massive iron lid of the electric furnace. Tom climbed a ladder and peered down.
"It's perfect!" he shouted a moment later. Mr. Damon and Barton Swift were standing anxiously with Ned and the workmen to hear the verdict. At the young inventor's words the group gave a cheer.
Tom Peered Down at the Disk
"Bless my stars and planets!" cried Mr. Damon, capering about like a boy. "I can hardly wait till you have your big glass set up!"
"It won't be long now," promised Tom, much pleased himself.
While the giant disk was being given a final electrical treatment, the youthful inventor was called to the police station. The fugitive crook, Hammer, had finally been nabbed, still with the formula for the bendable glass in his possession. Tom was glad to get this back, even though patent proceedings were under way, for anyone holding the papers could have instituted a costly legal contest.
Hammer Had Been Nabbed
At last the time arrived when the great disk was wrapped in hundreds of bales of cotton, suspended on racks and loaded onto the great truck. Tom insisted upon riding with his precious creation. The rest of his party, including his father, Ned Newton, Mr. Damon, Professor Standish, Koku and Rad, traveled by train to the foot of the mountain.
The Disk Was Loaded on the Truck
"Massa Tom gonna look about six scrillion miles froo space," confided Eradicate Sampson to Koku. The old Negro leaned heavily upon the massive arm of his huge companion. "He see wonderful things!"
"He sure make big medicine!" declared the giant, for once agreeing with his old rival. He had only the vaguest idea about what his master was attempting.
Koku and Rad Went Along
When the entire group assembled on top the mountain there was a sudden hush. The sun had set in a fiery glow that presaged a clear night, and now darkness overtook the expectant onlookers.
At last Tom stepped to the giant telescope and adjusted it upon the planet Mars. He electrified the immense disk, which glowed, then could not be seen at all.
Looking through the eyepiece, the young inventor stood as though transfixed. One minute! Two!
Tom Stepped to the Telescope
"Tom! How does it work?" asked Ned finally, unable to restrain himself any longer.
"Look for yourself!" cried Tom, turning from the instrument. His face wore an expression of awe.
Ned quickly took his place.
"Marvelous!" he exclaimed.
Before his eyes were revealed a great city, nearly seventy-five million miles distant!
Peculiar people surged along the avenues, weird aircraft thronged the upper atmosphere, and gigantic buildings and palaces dotted the place. All on far-distant Mars!
He Saw a Gigantic City
As each one in Tom's party saw the wonderful sight, he in turn congratulated the youthful inventor in his own way. Ned grasped his chum's hand but could say nothing. Mr. Damon blessed the distant stars. Koku and Rad fell upon their knees. Into the eyes of Barton Swift came tears as he said:
"Tom, my son, you have performed the greatest miracle of the Age!"
"You Have Performed a Miracle!"
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Read These INTERESTING BOOKS Too!
Airplanes!—War!—Superscience!
TOM SWIFT and His Giant Telescope
MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN and the Midnight Monster
MEN WITH WINGS: Thrilling Story of Flyers
TAILSPIN TOMMY and the Sky Bandits
Captain Frank Hawks, Famous AIR ACE, and the League of Twelve
PAT NELSON, Ace of Test Pilots
MAC OF THE MARINES in War-Torn China
BARNEY BAXTER in the Air With the Eagle Squadron
BUCK ROGERS, 25th Century A.D., in the War With the Planet Venus
FLASH GORDON in the Forest Kingdom of Mongo
SKYROADS, with Clipper Williams of the Flying Legion
DON WINSLOW of the Navy vs. the Scorpion Gang
Read These THRILLING BOOKS Too!
Cowboys!—Indians!—Horses!
THE LONE RANGER and the Red Renegades (With Silver and Tonto)
JARAGU, Indian Boy of the Jungle (Rex Beach)
TIM McCOY on the Tomahawk Trail
BUCK JONES in the Rock Creek Cattle War
TOM MIX and the Hoard of Montezuma
KEN MAYNARD in Western Justice
BRONC PEELER, the Lone Cowboy
FLAME BOY and the INDIANS' SECRET
TEX THORNE Comes out of the West
The TEXAS KID
GUNS in the Roaring West
KING of the ROYAL MOUNTED Gets His Man (Zane Grey)
Read These EXCITING BOOKS Too!
Mysteries!—Thrills!—Adventures!
The PHANTOM and the Sign of the Skull
TERRY and the Pirates and the Giant's Vengeance
JANE ARDEN and the Vanished Princess
MYRA NORTH, Special Nurse, and Foreign Spies
Little ORPHAN ANNIE and the Mysterious Shoemaker
TARZAN'S Revenge (Edgar Rice Burroughs)
KAY DARCY and the Mystery Hideout
Blaze Brandon With the FOREIGN LEGION
Little ANNIE ROONEY on the Highway to Adventure
MARY LEE and the Indian Bead Mystery
WASH TUBBS and Capt. Easy Hunting for Whales
JACK ARMSTRONG, All-American Boy, and the Ivory Treasure
BRICK BRADFORD Fighting Brocco the Modern Buccaneer