Several days passed, and the last of the preparations had been made.
“The giant twins will pretend to go off on a hunting trip tomorrow morning,” said the circus man one night, “but they won’t come back. They’ll wait for us at the big hill.”
“Then we must escape the following morning,” decided Tom. “Well, I’m ready for it.”
From their hut, surrounded as it was still by the giant guards, our friends watched the royal brothers start off, seemingly on a hunting expedition.
The day passed slowly. Tom went carefully over the aeroplane, to see that it was in shape for a quick flight, and he looked to the wall of the hut—the wall that was to be pulled from place to afford egress for the air craft.
They went to bed early that night—the night they hoped would be their last in giant land. It must have been about midnight when Tom suddenly awoke. He thought he heard a noise outside the hut and in a moment he had jumped up.
“Repel boarders!” cried Tom.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE AIRSHIP FLIGHT
For a few moments there was confusion inside the hut that was to be the last stronghold of our friends against the approaching force of giants. Confusion and not a little fear were mingled, for Tom’s words sent a chill to every heart. Then, after the first panic, there came a calmer feeling—a feeling that each one would do his duty in the face of danger and, if he had to die, he would die fighting.
“Everyone take a window!” yelled Tom. “Don’t kill any one if you can help it. Shoot to disable, Rad. Mr. Poddington, there’s an extra shotgun somewhere about! See if you can find it. We’ll use the electric rifles. Get those Roman candles somebody!”
Tom was like a general giving orders, and once his friends realized that he was managing things they felt more confidence. Ned grasped his electric rifle, as did Mr. Damon, and they stood ready to use them.
“The strongest stunning charge!” ordered the young inventor. “Something that will lay ’em out for a good while. We’ll teach ’em a lesson!”
Bang!
That was Eradicate’s shotgun going off. It had a double load in it, and the wonder of it was that the barrel did not burst. It sounded like a small cannon, but it had the good effect of checking the first rush of giants, for the electric rifles had not yet been adjusted, and Mr. Poddington, in the light of the single electric torch that had been left burning, could find neither the spare shotgun nor the Roman candles.
Bang!
Eradicate let the other barrel go, almost in the faces of the advancing giants, but over their heads, for he bore in mind Tom’s words not to injure.
“That’s the stuff!” cried Tom. “Come on now, Ned, we’re ready for ’em!”
But the giants had retreated, and could be seen standing in groups about the hut, evidently planning what to do next. Then from back in the village there shone a glare of light.
“Bless my insurance policy! It’s a fire!” cried Mr. Damon. “They’re going to burn us out!”
“Jove! If they do!” exclaimed Ned.
“We mustn’t let ’em!” shouted Tom. “Fire, Ned!”
Together the chums discharged their electric rifles at the enemy and a number of them fell, stunned, and were carried away by their companions.
The glaring light approached and now it could be seen that it was caused by a number of the big men carrying torches of some kind of blazing wood. It did look as though they intended to fire the prison hut.
“Give ’em another taste of it!” shouted Ned, and this time the three electric rifles shot out their streaks of blue flame, for Mr. Damon had his in action. It was still dark in the hut, for to set aglow more of the electric torches meant that Tom and his friends would be exposed to view, and would be the targets for the arrows, or darts from the deadly blow guns.
Several more of the giants toppled over, and then began a retreat to some distance, the first squad of fighters going to meet the men who had come up with the torches. There was no sign of women or children.
“Shall we fire again?” asked Ned.
“No,” answered Tom. “Save your ammunition until they are closer, and we’ll be surer of our marks. Besides, if they let us alone that’s all we ask. We don’t want to hurt ’em.”
“Bless my gizzard!” exclaimed Mr. Damon. “I wonder why they attacked us, anyhow?”
“Maybe it’s about the two giant brothers who have not come back,” suggested Mr. Poddington. “They may imagine that we have them captive, and they want to rescue them.”
“That’s so,” admitted Tom. “Well, if they had only postponed this reception for a few hours we’d have been out of their way, and they wouldn’t have had this trouble,” and he glanced at the aeroplane, that stood in the big hut, ready for instant flight.
“They’re coming back!” suddenly shouted Ned, and a look from the half-opened windows showed the giants again advancing.
“I’ve got the Roman candles!” called Mr. Poddington from a corner where he had been rummaging in that box of Tom’s which contained so many surprises. “What shall I do with ’em?”
“Let ’em go right in their faces!” yelled Tom. “They won’t do much damage, but they’ll throw a scare into the big fellows! Get ready, Ned!”
“They’re dividing!” shouted his chum. “They’re coming at us from two sides!”
“They’re only trying to confuse us,” decided Tom. “Fire at the main body!” And with that he opened up with his electric rifle, an example followed by Mr. Damon and Ned.
With a whizz, and several sharp explosions, the circus man got the Roman candles into action. The glaring fire of them lighted up the scene better than did the flaming torches of the giants, and truly it was a wonderful sight. There, in that lonely hut, in the midst of a South American jungle, four intrepid white persons, and an aged but brave negro, stood against hundreds of giants—mighty men, who, had they come to a personal contact, any one of which would have been more than a match for the combined strength of Tom and his party. It was a weird picture that the young inventor looked out upon, but his heart did not quail.
Giant after giant went down under the fierce rain of the electric bullets, stunned, but not otherwise injured. There was a shower of sparks, and a hail of burning balls from the Roman candles, but still the advance was kept up. Eradicate was banging away with his shotgun.
“Dis suah am hot work!” cried the colored man, as his hand came in contact with the barrel. “Wow! It’s most red hot!” he added with a cry of pain.
“Use the other gun,” advised Tom, never turning his head from the window through which he was aiming. “That one may get choked, and explode in here.”
“All right,” answered Eradicate.
“Duck!” yelled Ned with sudden energy. “They’re going to fire!” A number of the giants could be seen fitting arrows to bow strings, while others raised to their lips the long hollow reeds, from which the blow guns were made. It was the first time the enemy had fired and doubtless they had held back because they hoped to capture Tom and his friends alive. But they did not count on such a stubborn resistance.
Every one moved away from the windows, and not an instant too soon, for, a moment later, a shower of arrows and darts came in, fortunately injuring no one.
Then, above the shouting and yelling of the giants, whose deep, bass voices had a terrorizing effect, there came the din of the tom-toms, making a weird combination of sound.
“We’ve got ’em on the run again!” cried Ned, and so it proved, for the larger body of giants, who had approached the hut from the front and two sides, were running back.
“Guess they’ve given it up,” exclaimed Tom. “I’m glad of it, too, for—”
He paused and glanced behind him. A tiny spurt of flame at the base of the rear wall of the hut had caught his eye. Instantly the flame grew larger, and a puff of smoke followed.
“Fire!” cried Ned. “We’re on fire!”
“Bless my water bucket!” gaspe
d Mr. Damon. “They’ve set fire to the hut!”
It was but too true. While Tom and the others had been standing off the giants in front, a smaller force had crept around to the rear, and set the inflamable side of the hut ablaze.
Desperately Tom looked around. There was no means at hand of fighting fire. Hardly a bucket of water was in the place, and the structure was filled with quick-burning stuff, while the fireworks that remained, and the blasting powder, made it doubly dangerous. Then Tom’s eyes lighted on the big aeroplane, ready for instant service.
“That’s it!” he cried suddenly. “It’s our only hope, and the last one! Come on, everybody! Down with that wall! Pull on the ropes and it will come! We’ve got to go now. In another minute it will be too late. Climb up, Mr. Poddington, Mr. Damon, Ned, and I will start the machine.”
“The wall first! The wall!” cried Ned.
“Sure,” answered Tom. He and his friends grasped the two ropes that had been attached to the key-beams in the structure. It had been so arranged that when the supports were pulled out the wall would fall outward, making a fairly smooth and level gangplank, on which the aeroplane could rush from the hut.
There was a creaking of timbers, a straining of ropes, and then, with a crash, the wall fell. Instantly there was a yell of surprise from the giants, and a brighter glare from the torches, as those carrying them rushed up to see what had happened. The din of the tom-toms was well-nigh deafening. Fortunately the enemy forgot to take advantage of the opening and pour in a flight of arrows or darts.
“Start the motor!” cried Tom to his chum.
There was a rattling, banging noise, like a salvo of small arms, and the big propellers revolved with incredible swiftness. The two white men were already in place, and now Eradicate, still carrying his shotgun, clambered up.
“Up with you, Ned!” yelled Tom. “I’m going to head her around and make a flying start.”
CHAPTER XXV
TOM’S GIANT—CONCLUSION
“I don’t see anything of them, do you?”
“No, and yet this is the place where they said they’d meet us.”
It was Tom who asked the question, and Ned who answered it. It was the day after their sensational escape from the giants’ prison, and they were circling about in the aeroplane which had been the means of getting them away from giant land. For they were safely away from that strange and terrible place, and they were now seeking the two giant brothers who had promised to meet them at a certain big hill.
For an hour that night Tom and his friends had traveled on the wings of the Lark and when a rising moon showed them a level spot for a landing, they had gone down and made a camp. They had provisions with them, and plenty of blankets and it was so warm that more shelter was not necessary.
The next day, leaving Mr. Damon, Eradicate and the circus man in the temporary camp, Tom and Ned had gone aloft to see if they could pick up the giant twins, who were to meet them and have some mules ready for the journey back to civilization.
“Well, we’re in no great hurry,” went on Tom, after vainly scanning the ground below. “They may not have traveled as fast as we thought they could, and the mules may have given trouble. We’ll stick around here a day or so, and—”
“Look!” suddenly exclaimed Ned. “Didn’t you see something moving then.”
“Where?”
“By that big dead tree.”
Tom took a look through a pair of field glasses, while Ned steered the aeroplane. Then the young inventor cried:
“It’s all right. It’s one of the giants, but I can’t tell which one. Ned, I believe they’re hiding because they’re afraid of us. They’ve never seen an aeroplane in action before. I’m going down.”
Quickly and gracefully the Lark was volplaned to a level place near the dead tree. No one was in sight, and Tom, after looking about, called:
“Tola! Koku! Where are you? It is I, Tom Swift! We have escaped! Where are you? Don’t be afraid!”
There was a moment’s silence, and then two big forms rushed from the dense bushes, one of them—Koku—advancing to Tom, and catching him up in what was meant for a loving hug.
“Oh, I say now, Koku!” cried the young inventor, with a laugh. “I’ve got ribs, you know. Easy on that squeeze!”
The two giant twins laughed too, and they were immensely pleased to see their friends again, both talking at once and so fast that not even the circus man could catch what they said.
“Have you got the mules?” asked Tom, for he knew that much depended on the animals. “Is everything all right?”
“All right,” answered Koku, the talk being conducted in the language of the giants of which Tom was now fairly a master when it was spoken slowly. Then the brothers explained that they had gotten safely away, had gathered up the mules, and with a supply of food, had hidden the beasts in a nearby valley. The giant twins were waiting for Tom to arrive, but, though they had seen the aeroplanes in the hut they had no idea that it could fly so nearly like a bird, and when they saw it hovering over them they had become frightened, and hidden, until Tom’s voice had reassured them.
“Well, get the animals,” advised Tom, after he had told of the fight of the night before, and the escape. “I’ll go find the others and we’ll start from here. Then we’ll hike for the United States as fast as we can.”
Mr. Damon, Eradicate and the circus man were soon brought to the place where the giant brothers had made their camp, and it was decided to remain there a few days until the aeroplane could be taken apart for transportation, for Tom had no idea of abandoning it. Of course it could not be packed up very well, as there were no boxes or bales at hand. But it was made small enough so that the parts could be slung across the backs of several mules, there being a number of the pack animals available, some being the same ones Tom had purchased after his native escort had deserted him.
It was the morning they had decided to begin their march for the coast. Everything was in readiness, they had some food, and with the shotguns and the electric rifles which they had brought along, they could get game. All their other things, save a few necessaries, had been left behind. Eradicate, as he had always done, rode his mule up beside Tom, to look after his young master.
Suddenly Koku, who seemed to have become very fond of Tom, strode forward and took his place on the other side of the mule ridden by the young inventor.
“Me stay by you,” he said with a grin on his big face. “Me like you! Me take care of you, Tom—be your servant. Him too old,” and he motioned to Eradicate.
“Eh! What’s dat yo’ done said?” gasped the colored man. “Me too old? Looky heah, giant man, I’d hab yo’ know dat I’s been in de Swift fambly a good many years, an’ I’s jest as spry as I eber was. I kin look after Massa Tom as good as eber. Now yo’ git back where yo’ belongs, giant man, an’ doan’t let me heah no mo’ ob dat foolishness talk. Nobody waits on Massa Tom Swift but me. Does yo’ heah dat, giant man?”
“Me Tom’s man!” exclaimed the big fellow, and in fairly good English. Tom laughed. He had no idea the giant had picked up any words.
“Go on away!” cried Eradicate.
Koku gave the colored man one look, then, with a good natured grin on his face, he reached over one hand, calmly lifted Eradicate from his mule and set him on the ground. Then, with a push, he shoved the mule galloping ahead, and took his place at the side of the young inventor.
“Well, what do you know about that?” gasped Ned.
“Bless my coffee cup!” cried Mr. Damon.
Eradicate stood still for a moment, gazing first at his master and then at the big being who had so ruthlessly plucked him from the mule’s back, as easily as he would have lifted a child. Then Eradicate, with a trace of tears in his eyes, stretched forth his hands toward Tom, and turned aside. That was too much for our hero.
With one leap he was off his animal, and the next minute he had his arms around the faithful old colored man.
“By Jove, Rad!”
cried Tom, and his own eyes were not dry. “I’m not going to be deserted by you in that way. You’re just the same as ever to me, giant or no giant, and don’t you forget it!” and he patted the old man on the back affectionately.
“Praise de Lord fo’ heahin’ yo’ say dat, Massa Tom,” gasped Eradicate. “Praise de dear Lord!”
And then, knowing that he still held a place in his young master’s heart, the colored man was content. And from then on he rode on one side of Tom, while the giant, Koku, strode along on the other. He had established himself as Tom’s bodyguard and even though Eradicate insisted on remaining, Koku would not go away.
“I guess I’ll have to keep ’em both,” said Tom, with a grin, “but I’m going to change Koku’s name.”
“What are you going to call him?” asked Ned.
“Let’s see, what month is this?”
“August,” said Mr. Damon.
“Then August is his name!” exclaimed Tom. “Koku sounds too much like a cocoanut cake. Here, August, shift that package on the white mule,” he called, “it’s cutting her back,” and the giant, with a pleased grin, did as he was bid. And August he was called from then on.
But my story is getting too long, so I must bring it to a close. And really there is not much to tell. The march back to the coast was full of hardships, danger and difficulties, but they accomplished it. The two giants seemed glad that they had left their own country behind and they were simple and affectionate beings. Tom made up his mind he would let the circus man have one and keep the other for his personal attendant.
They traveled by day, and slept at night, shooting game as they needed it. Several times they narrowly escaped getting mixed up in the native conflicts. Tom had one striking evidence of his giant servant’s usefulness. One day he was stalking a small beast, like a deer, when, from a tree overhead, a jaguar sprang down at him. But Koku—I beg his pardon—August was at hand, and, like Sampson of old, the giant slew the beast bare-handed, choking it to death.
In fine time our friends reached a native town and the wonder caused by the giants was no less than the amusement of the big men at the things they saw. They wondered more when they got to a city, and saw more marvels of the white man’s progress.
The Tom Swift Megapack Page 165