CHAPTER XXII
TRAPPED
While Tom Swift was loading the Lucifer for her trip and the fireextinguishing test to occur the next morning, quite a different scenewas taking place in the home of Jasper Blake, the uncle of Mary Nestor,where she had gone to spend a few weeks.
"Well, are you all ready, Mary?" asked her aunt, and it was about thesame time that Ned Newton asked that same question of Tom Swift. OnlyTom was in Shopton, and Mary was in Newmarket, and Tom was setting offon an air voyage, while Mary was only preparing to take a car downtownto do some shopping.
"Yes, Aunt, I'm all ready," Mary answered. "But I may be a bit lategetting home."
"Why?" asked Mrs. Blake.
"I promised Uncle Barton I'd stop and call on him at his office," Maryreplied. "He has something he wants me to take home to mother when I gotomorrow."
"I shall be sorry to see you go back," said Mrs. Blake. "But I imaginethere will be those in Shopton who will be glad to see you return,Mary."
"Yes, mother wrote that she and dad were getting a bit lonesome," thegirl casually replied, as she adjusted her veil.
"Yes, and some one else. Ah, Mary, you are a very lucky girl!" laughedher aunt, while Mary turned aside so she would not see her own blushesin the mirror.
"I thought Tom was going to call and take you home in his airship,Mary," went on her relative.
"So he is, I believe, on his way back from a city where he is going tobe tomorrow making a big fire test. I am to wait for him until tomorrowafternoon. But now I really must go shopping, or all the bargains willbe taken. Is there any word you want to send to Uncle Barton?"
"No," answered Mrs. Blake. "Though you might tell him to stop pokingfun at your Uncle Jasper for having invested money in the LandmarkBuilding. It's getting on your Uncle Jasper's nerves," she added.
"Uncle Barton never can give up a joke, once he thinks he has one,"said Mary. "But I'll tell him to stop pestering Uncle Jasper."
"Please do," urged Mary's aunt, and then the girl left.
Mary's uncle, Barton Keith, with whom Tom Swift had been associatedduring the undersea search, had offices in the Landmark Building, buthis home was in an adjoining suburb.
The girl was pleased with the results of her shopping, and at the closeof the afternoon she stopped at the Landmark Building and was soonbeing shot up in the elevator to the floor where Barton Keith had hisoffices.
Though Mr. Keith had refrained from investing in the Landmark Buildingand though he laughed at Mary's Uncle Jasper for having done so, thisdid not prevent him from having a suite of offices in the big structurewhich, as we already know, was owned in large part by Field and Melling.
"Ah, Mary! Come in!" exclaimed Mr. Keith, welcoming Tom Swift'ssweetheart. "It is so late I was afraid you weren't coming, and I wasabout to close the office and go home."
"You must blame the bargain sales for my delay," laughed Mary. "I hopeI haven't kept you waiting."
"No, I still had a few things to do. One was to write a letter to yourUncle Jasper, telling him I had heard of another fire trap that wasopen to investors."
"Oh, and that reminds me I must tell you not to push Uncle Jasper toofar!" warned Mary.
"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Barton. "He made fun of me for going on theundersea search with Tom Swift. But I made good on that, and that'smore than he can say about his Landmark Building deal!"
"But don't exasperate him too much!" begged Mary. "By the way, what arethey doing to this building? I see the stairways and some of theelevator shafts all littered with building material."
"They are trying to make it fireproof," answered her uncle. "It'srather late to try that now, but they've got either to do it or stand abig increase in insurance rates. I'm glad I'm out of it. But now, Mary,take an easy chair until I finish some work, and then I'll walk outwith you."
Mary took a seat near one of the front windows, whence she could lookdown into the now fast-darkening streets. She could see the suppercrowds hurrying home, and out in the corridor of the big skyscrapercould be heard the banging of elevator doors as the office tenants, oneafter another, left for the day.
Suddenly there was more commotion than usual, followed by the sound ofbroken glass. Then came a cry of:
"Fire! Fire!"
Mary sprang to her feet with a gasp of alarm, and her uncle rushed pasther to the door leading into the hall outside his offices. As he openedthe door a cloud of smoke rushed toward him and Mary, causing them tochoke and gasp.
Mr. Keith closed the door a moment, and when he opened it again thesmoke in the hall seemed less dense.
"It probably is only a slight blaze among some of the material theworkmen are using," he said. "Come, Mary, we'll get out."
Pausing only to swing shut the door of his heavy safe and to stuff somevaluable papers into his pocket, Mr. Keith advanced and, taking Mary bythe arm, led her into the hall. The smoke was increasing again, anddistant shouts and cries could be heard, mingled with the breaking ofglass.
Mr. Keith rang the elevator buzzer several times, but when no car cameup the shaft in response to his summons he turned to his niece and said:
"We'll try the stairs. It's only ten stories down, and going down isn'tanything like coming up."
"Oh, indeed I can walk!" said Mary. "Let's hurry out!"
They turned toward the stairway, which wound around the elevatorshafts, but such a cloud of hot, stifling smoke rolled up that it sentthem back, choking and gasping for breath.
And then, as they stood there, up the elevator shafts, which wereveritable chimneys, came more hot smoke, mingled with sparks of fire.
"Trapped!" gasped Mr. Keith, and he pulled Mary back toward his officesto get away from the choking, stifling smoke. "We're trapped!"
Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters; Or, Battling with Flames from the Air Page 22