“Well, it isn’t all it might be,” said the other. “It’s hard to get good help. A lot of our boys enlisted, and some were taken in the draft. By the way, Tom, have they called on you yet?”
“No. Not yet.”
“You didn’t enlist?”
“Ned Newton tried to,” broke in Mary, “but the quota for this locality was filled, and they told him he’d better wait for the draft. He wouldn’t do that and tried again. Then the bank people heard about it and had him exempted. They said he was too valuable to them, and he has been doing remarkably well in selling Liberty Bonds!” and Mary’s eyes sparkled with her emotions.
“Yes, Ned is a crackerjack salesman!” agreed Tom, no less enthusiastically. “He’s sold more bonds, in proportion, for his bank, than any other in this county. Dad and I both took some, and have promised him more. I am glad now that we let him go, although we valued his services highly. We hope to have him back later.”
“He can put me down for more bonds too!” said Mr. Nestor. “I’m going to see Germany beaten if it takes every last dollar I have!”
“That’s what I say!” Cried Mary. “I took out all my savings, except a little I’m keeping to buy a wedding present for Jennie Morse. Did you know she was going to get married, Tom?” she asked.
“I heard so.”
“Well, all but what I want for a wedding present to her has gone into Liberty Bonds. Isn’t this a history-making time, Tom?”
“Indeed it is, Mary!”
“Everybody who has a part in it—whether he fights as a soldier or only knits like the Red Cross girls—will be telling about it for years after,” went on the girl, and she looked at Tom eagerly.
“Yes,” he agreed. “These are queer times. We don’t know exactly where we’re at. A lot of our men have been called. We tried to have some of them exempted, and did manage it in a few cases.”
“You did?” cried Mr. Nestor, as if in surprise. “You stopped men from going to war!”
“Only so they could work on airship motors for the Government,” Tom quietly explained.
“Oh! Well, of course, that’s part of the game,” agreed Mary’s father. “A lot more of our boys are going off next week. Doesn’t it make you thrill, Tom, when you see them marching off, even if they haven’t their uniforms yet? Jove, if I wasn’t too old, I’d go in a minute!”
“Father!” cried Mary.
“Yes, I would!” he declared. “The German government has got to be beaten, and we’ve got to do our bit; everybody has—man, woman and child!”
“Yes,” agreed Tom, in a low voice, “that’s very true. But every one, in a sense, has to judge for himself what the ‘bit’ is. We can’t all do the same.”
There was a little silence, and then Mary went over to the piano and played. It was a rather welcome relief, under the circumstances, from the conversation.
“Mary, what do you think of Tom?” asked Mr. Nestor, when the visitor had gone.
“What do I think of him?” And she blushed.
“I mean about his not enlisting. Do you think he’s a slacker?”
“A slacker? Why, Father!”
“Oh, I don’t mean he’s afraid. We’ve seen proof enough of his courage, and all that. But I mean don’t you think he wants stirring up a bit?”
“He is going to Washington tomorrow, Father. He told me so tonight. And it may be—”
“Oh, well, then maybe it’s all right,” hastily said Mr. Nestor. “He may be going to get a commission in the engineer corps. It isn’t like Tom Swift to hang back, and yet it does begin to look as though he cared more for his queer inventions—machines that butt down fences than for helping Uncle Sam. But I’ll reserve judgment.”
“You’d better, Father!” and Mary laughed—a little. Yet there was a worried look on her face.
During the next few nights Mr. Nestor made it a habit to take the short cut from the railroad station, coming past the big fence that enclosed one particular building of the Swift plant.
“I wonder if there’s a hole where I could look through,” said Mr. Nestor to himself. “Of course I don’t believe in spying on what another man is doing, and yet I’m too good a friend of Tom’s to want to see him make a fool of himself. He ought to be in the army, or helping Uncle Sam in some way. And yet if he spends all his time on some foolish contraption, like a new kind of traction plow, what good is that? If I could get a glimpse of it, I might drop a friendly hint in his ear.”
But there were no cracks in the fence, or, if there were, it was too dark to see them, and also too dark to behold anything on the other side of the barrier. So Mr. Nestor, wondering much, kept on his way.
It was a day or so after this that Ned Newton paid a visit to the Swift home. Mr. Swift was not in the house, being out in one of the various buildings, Mrs. Baggert said.
“Where’s Tom?” asked the bond salesman.
“Oh, he hasn’t come back from Washington yet,” answered the housekeeper.
“He is making a long stay.”
“Yes, he went about a week ago on some business. But we expect him back today.”
“Well, then I’ll see him. I called to ask if Mr. Swift didn’t want to take a few more bonds. We want to double our allotment for Shopton, and beat out some of the other towns in this section. I’ll go to see Mr. Swift.”
On his way to find Tom’s father Ned passed the big building in front of which Eradicate and Koku were on guard. They nodded to Ned, who passed them, wondering much as to what it was Tom was so secretive about.
“It’s the first time I remember when he worked on an invention without telling me something about it,” mused Ned. “Well, I suppose it will all come out in good time. Anything new, Rad?”
“No, Massa Ned, nuffin much. I’m detectin’ around heah; keepin’ Dutchmen spies away!”
“And Koku is helping you, I suppose?”
“Whut, him? Dat big, good-fo’-nuffin white trash? No, sah! I’s detectin’ by mahse’f, dat’s whut I is!” and Eradicate strutted proudly up and down on his allotted part of the beat, being careful not to approach the building too closely, for that was Koku’s ground.
Ned smiled, and passed on. He found Mr. Swift, secured his subscription to more bonds, and was about to leave when he heard a call down the road and saw Tom coming in his small racing car, which had been taken to the depot by one of the workmen.
“Hello, old man!” cried Ned affectionately, as his chum alighted with a jump. “Where have you been?”
“Down to Washington. Had a bit of a chat with the President and gave him some of my views.”
“About the war, I suppose?” laughed Ned.
“Yes.”
“Did you get your commission?”
“Commission?” And there was a wondering look on Tom’s face.
“Yes. Mary Nestor said she thought maybe you were going to Washington to take an examination for the engineering corps or something like that. Did you get made an officer?”
“No,” answered Tom slowly. “I went to Washington to get exempted.”
“Exempted?” Cried Ned, and his voice sounded strained.
CHAPTER VI
SEEING THINGS
For a moment Tom Swift looked at his chum. Then something of what was passing in the mind of the young bond salesman must have been reflected to Tom, for he said,
“Look here, old man; I know it may seem a bit strange to go to all that trouble to get exempted from the draft, to which I am eligible, but, believe me, there’s a reason. I can’t say anything now, but I’ll tell you as soon as I can—tell everybody, in fact. Just now it isn’t in shape to talk about.”
“Oh, that’s all right, Tom,” and Ned tried to make his voice sound natural. “I was just wondering, that’s all. I wanted to go to the front the worst way, but they wouldn’t let me. I was sort of hoping you could, and come back to tell me about it.”
“I may yet, Ned.”
“You may? Why, I thought—”
> “Oh, I’m only exempted for a time. I’ve got certain things to do, and I couldn’t do ’em if I enlisted or was drafted. So I’ve been excused for a time. Now I’ve got a pile of work to do. What are you up to Ned? Same old story?”
“Liberty Bonds—yes. Your father just took some more.”
“And so will I, Ned. I can do that, anyhow, even if I don’t enlist. Put me down for another two thousand dollars’ worth.”
“Say, Tom, that’s fine! That will make my share bigger than I counted on. Shopton will beat the record.”
“That’s good. We ought to pull strong and hearty for our home town. How’s everything else?”
“Oh, so-so. I see Koku and Eradicate trying to outdo one another in guarding that part of your plant,” and Ned nodded toward the big new building.
“Yes, I had to let Rad play detective. Not that he can do anything—he’s too old. But it keeps him and Koku from quarreling all the while. I’ve got to be pretty careful about that shop. It’s got a secret in it that—Well, the less said about it the better.”
“You’re getting my curiosity aroused, Tom,” remarked Ned.
“It’ll have to go unsatisfied for a while. Wait a bit and I’ll give you a ride. I’ve got to go over to Sackett on business, and if you’re going that way I’ll take you.”
“What in?”
“The Hawk.”
“That’s me!” cried Ned. “I haven’t been in an aircraft for some time.”
“Tell Miles to run her out,” requested Tom. “I’ve got to go in and say hello to dad a minute, and then I’ll be with you.”
“Seems like something was in the wind, Tom—big doings?” hinted Ned.
“Yes, maybe there is. It all depends on how she turns out.”
“You might be speaking of the Hawk or—Mary Nestor!” said Ned, with a sidelong look at his chum.
“As it happens, it’s neither one,” said Tom, and then he hastened away, to return shortly and guide his fleet little airship, the Hawk, on her aerial journey.
From then on, at least for some time, neither Tom nor Ned mentioned the matters they had been discussing—Tom’s failure to enlist, his exemption, and what was being built in the closely guarded shop.
Tom’s business in Sackett did not take him long, and then he and Ned went for a little ride in the air.
“It’s like old times!” exclaimed Ned, his eyes shining, though Tom could not see them for two reasons. One was that Ned was sitting behind him, and the other was that Ned wore heavy goggles, as did the young pilot. Also, they had to carry on their talk through the speaking tube arrangement.
“Yes, it is a bit like old times,” agreed Tom. “We’ve had some great old experiences together, Ned, haven’t we?”
“We surely have! I wonder if we’ll have any more? When we were in the submarine, and in your big airship Say, that big one is the one I always liked! I like big things.”
“Do you?” asked Tom. “Well, maybe, when I get—”
But Tom did not finish, for the Hawk unexpectedly poked her nose into an empty pocket in the air just then, and needed a firm hand on the controls. Furthermore, Tom decided against making the confidence that was on the tip of his tongue.
At last the aircraft was straightened out and the pilot guided her on toward the army encampment.
“That’s the place I’d like to be,” called Ned through the tube as the faint, sweet notes of a bugle floated up from the parade ground.
“Yes, it would be great,” admitted Tom. “But there are other things to do for Uncle Sam besides wearing khaki.”
“Tom’s up to some game,” mused Ned. “I mustn’t judge him too hastily, or I might make a mistake. And Mary mustn’t, either. I’ll tell her so.”
For Mary Nestor had spoken to Ned concerning Tom, and the curiously secretive air about certain of his activities. And the girl, moreover, had spoken rather coldly of her friend. Ned did not like this. It was not like Mary and Tom to be at odds.
Once more the Hawk came to the ground, this time near the airship sheds adjoining the Swift works. Just as Tom and Ned alighted, one of the workmen summoned the young inventor toward the shop, which was so closely guarded by Koku and Eradicate on the outside.
“I’ll have to leave you, Ned,” remarked Tom, as he turned away from his chum. “There’s a conference on about a new invention.”
“Oh, that’s all right. Business is business, you know. I’ve got some bond calls to make myself. I’ll see you later.”
“Oh, by the way, Ned!” exclaimed Tom, turning back for a moment, “I met an old friend the other day; or rather an old enemy.”
“Hum! When you spoke first, I thought you might mean Professor Swyington Bumper, that delightful scientist,” remarked Ned. “But he surely was no enemy.”
“No; but I meant some one I met about the same time. I met Blakeson, one of the rival contractors when I helped dig the big tunnel.”
“Is that so? Where’d you meet him?”
“Right around here. It was certainly a surprise, and at first I couldn’t place him. Then the memory of his face came back to me,” and Tom related the incident which had taken place the day he and Mr. Damon were out in the Hawk.
“What’s he doing around here?” asked Ned.
“That’s more than I can say,” Tom answered.
“Up to no good, I’ll wager!”
“I agree with you,” came from Tom. “But I’m on the watch.”
“That’s wise, Tom. Well, I’ll see you later.”
During the week which followed this talk Ned was very busy on Liberty Bond work, and, he made no doubt, his chum was engaged also. This prevented them from meeting, but finally Ned, one evening, decided to walk over to the Swift home.
“I’ll pay Tom a bit of a call,” he mused. “Maybe he’ll feel more like talking now. Some of the boys are asking why he doesn’t enlist, and maybe if I tell him that he’ll make some explanation that will quiet things down a bit. It’s a shame that Tom should be talked about.”
With this intention in view, Ned kept on toward his chum’s house, and he was about to turn in through a small grove of trees, which would lead to a path across the fields, when the young bond salesman was surprised to hear some one running toward him. He could see no one, for the path wound in and out among the trees, but the noise was plain.
“Some one in a hurry,” mused Ned.
A moment later he caught sight of a small lad named Harry Telford running toward him. The boy had his hat in his hand, and was speeding through the fast-gathering darkness as though some one were after him.
“What’s the rush?” asked Ned. “Playing cops and robbers?” That was a game Tom and Ned had enjoyed in their younger days.
“I—I’m runnin’ away!” panted Harry. “I—I seen something!”
“You saw something?” repeated Ned. “What was it—a ghost?” and he laughed, thinking the boy would do the same.
“No, it wasn’t no ghost!” declared Harry, casting a look over his shoulder. “It was a wild elephant that I saw, and it’s down in a big yard with a fence around it.”
“Where’s that?” asked Ned. “The circus hasn’t come to town this evening, has it?”
“No,” answered Harry, “it wasn’t no circus. I saw this elephant down in the big yard back of one of Mr. Swift’s factories.”
“Oh, down there, was it!” exclaimed Ned. “What was it like?”
“Well, I was walking along the top of the hill,” explained Harry, “and there’s one place where, if you climb a tree, you can look right down in the big fenced-in yard. I guess I’m about the only one that knows about it.”
“I don’t believe Tom does,” mused Ned, “or he’d have had that tree cut down. He doesn’t want any spying, I take it. Well, what’d you see?” he asked Harry aloud.
“Saw an elephant, I tell you!”, insisted the younger boy. “I was in the tree, looking down, for a lot of us kids has tried to peek through the fence and couldn’t I wa
nted to see what was there.”
“And did you?” asked Ned.
“I sure did! And it scared me, too,” admitted Harry. “All at once, when I was lookin’, I saw the big doors at the back of the shed open, and the elephant waddled out.”
“Are you sure you weren’t ‘seeing things,’ like the little boy in the story?” asked Ned.
“Well, I sure did see something!” insisted Harry. “It was a great big gray thing, bigger’n any elephant I ever saw in any circus. It didn’t seem to have any tail or trunk, or even legs, but it went slow, just like an elephant does, and it shook the ground, it stepped so hard!”
“Nonsense!” cried Ned.
“Sure I saw it!” cried Harry. “Anyhow,” he added, after a moment’s thought, “it was as big as an elephant, though not like any I ever saw.”
“What did it do?” asked Ned.
“Well, it moved around and then it started for the fence nearest me, where I was up in the tree. I thought it might have seen me, even though it was gettin’ dark, and it might bust through; so I ran!”
“Hum! Well, you surely were seeing things,” murmured Ned, but, while he made light of what the boy told him, the young bank Clerk was thinking: “What is Tom up to now?”
CHAPTER VII
UP A TREE
“Want to come and have a look?” asked Harry, as Ned paused in the patch of woods, which were in deeper darkness than the rest of the countryside, for night was fast falling.
“Have a look at what?” asked Ned, who was thinking many thoughts just then.
“At the elephant I saw back of the Swift factory. I wouldn’t be skeered if you came along.”
“Well, I’m going over to see Tom Swift, anyhow,” answered Ned, “so I’ll walk that way. You can come if you like. I don’t care about spying on other people’s property—”
“I wasn’t spyin’!” exclaimed Harry quickly. “I just happened to look. And then I seen something.”
“Well, come on,” suggested Ned. “If there’s anything there, we’ll have a peep at it.”
His idea was not to try to see what Tom was evidently endeavoring to conceal, but it was to observe whence Harry had made his observation, and be in a position to tell Tom to guard against unexpected lookers-on from that direction.
The Tom Swift Megapack Page 260