CHAPTER IV
HELD FAST
"Here, Tom! Come back! Where are you going?" cried aged Mr. Swift, ashis son started toward the window.
"I'm going to see what's up, and who it is that Koku is chasing,"replied the young inventor.
As he spoke he opened the window, which went all the way down to thefloor. He stepped out on a small balcony, put his hand on the railing,and was about to leap over. Back of him was his father, Mr. Period andNed.
"Come back! You may get hurt!" urged Mr. Swift. He had aged rapidly inthe last few months, and had been obliged to give up most of hisinventive work. Naturally, he was very nervous about his son.
"Don't worry, dad," replied the youth. "I'm not in much danger whenKoku is around."
"That's right," agreed the moving picture man. "I'd sooner have thatgiant look after me than half a dozen policemen."
The noise had now grown fainter, but the sound of the pursuit couldstill be heard. Koku was shouting in his hearty tones, and there wasthe noise of breaking twigs as the chase wound in and out of the gardenshrubbery.
Tom paused a moment, to let his eyes get somewhat used to the darkness.There was a crescent moon, that gave a little light, and the snow onthe ground made it possible to notice objects fairly well.
"See anything?" asked Ned, as he joined his chum on the balcony.
"No, but I'm going to have a closer look. Here goes!" and Tom leaped tothe ground.
"I'm with you," added Ned, as he followed.
Then came another voice, shouting:
"Dat's de way! Catch him! I'se comm', I is! Ef we gits him we'll tiehim up, an' let Boomerang walk on him!"
"Here comes Eradicate," announced Tom, with a look back toward hischum, and a moment later the aged colored man, who had evidentlystarted on the chase with Koku, but who had been left far behind, swungtotteringly around the corner of the house.
"Did ye cotch him, Massa Tom?" asked Eradicate. "Did ye cotch deraskil?"
"Not yet, Rad. But Koku is after him. Who was he, and what did he do?"
"Didn't do nuffin yit, Massa Tom, 'case as how he didn't git nochance," replied the colored man, as he hurried along as rapidly as hecould beside the two youths. "Koku and I was too quick for him. Kokuan' me was a-sittin' in my shack, sort of talkin' togedder, when wehears a racket neah de chicken house. I'se mighty partial t' dechickens, an' I didn't want nobody t' 'sturb 'em. Koku was jes' desame, an' when we hears dat noise, up we jumps, an' gits t' chasm.' Herunned dis way, an' us was arter him, but land lub yo', ole Eradicateain't so spry as he uster be an' Koku an' de chicken thief got ahead obme. Leastwise he ain't no chicken thief yit, 'case as how he didn't gitin de coop, but he meant t' be one, jes' de same."
"Are you sure he was after the chickens?" asked Tom, with quicksuspicion in his mind, for, several times of late, unscrupulous personshad tried to enter his shop, to get knowledge of his valuableinventions before they were patented.
"Course he were arter de chickens," replied Eradicate. "But he didn'tgit none."
"Come on, Ned!" cried Tom, breaking into a run. "I want to catchwhoever this was. Did you see him, Rad?"
"Only jes' had a glimpse ob his back."
"Well, you go back to the house and tell father and Mr. Period aboutit. Ned and I will go on with Koku. I hope to get the fellow."
"Why, Tom?" asked his chum.
"Because I think he was after bigger game than chickens. My noiselessmotor, for the new airship, is nearly complete, and it may have beensome one trying to get that. I received an offer from a concern theother day, who wished to purchase it, and, when I refused to sell, theyseemed rather put out."
The two lads raced on, while Eradicate tottered back to the house,where he found Mr. Swift and the picture man awaiting him.
"I guess he got away," remarked Ned, after he and his chum had coverednearly the length of the big garden.
"I'm afraid so," agreed Tom. "I can't hear Koku any more. Still, I'mnot going to give up."
Pantingly they ran on, and, a little later, they met the big man comingback.
"Did he get away?" asked Tom.
"Yes, Mr. Tom, he scaped me all right."
"Escaped you mean, Koku. Well, never mind. You did your best."
"I would like to have hold of him," spoke the giant, as he stretchedout his big arms.
"Did you know who he was?" inquired Ned.
"No, I couldn't see his face," and he gave the same description of theaffair as had Eradicate.
"Was it a full grown man, or some one about my size?" Tom wanted toknow.
"A man," replied the giant.
"Why do you ask that?" inquired Ned, as the big fellow went on toresume his talk with Eradicate, and the two chums turned to go into thehouse, after the fruitless chase.
"Because, I thought it might be Andy Foger," was Tom's reply. "Itwould be just like him, but if it was a man, it couldn't be him. Andy'srather short."
"Besides, he doesn't live here any more," said Ned.
"I know, but I heard Sam Snedecker, who used to be pretty thick withhim, saying the other day that he expected a visit from Andy. I hope hedoesn't come back to Shopton, even for a day, for he always tries tomake trouble for me. Well, let's go in, and tell 'em all about ourchase after a chicken thief."
"And so he got away?" remarked Mr. Swift, when Tom had completed hisstory.
"Yes," answered the young inventor, as he closed, and locked, the lowlibrary window, for there was a chilly breeze blowing. "I think I willhave to rig up the burglar alarm on my shop again. I don't want to takeany chances."
"Do you remember what we were talking about, when that interruptioncame?" asked Mr. Period, after a pause. "You were saying, Tom, that youhad made up your mind, and that was as far as you got. What is youranswer to my offer?"
"Well," spoke the lad slowly, and with a smile, "I think I will--"
"Now don't say 'no'"; interrupted the picture man. "If you are going tosay 'no' take five minutes more, or even ten, and think it overcarefully. I want you--"
"I wasn't going to say 'no,'" replied Tom. "I have decided to acceptyour offer, and I'll get right at work on the electrical camera, andsee what I can do in the way of getting moving pictures for you."
"You will? Say, that's great! That's fine! I knew you would accept, butI was the least bit afraid you might not, without more urging."
"Of course," began Tom, "it will take--"
"Not another word. Just wait a minute," interrupted Mr. Period in hisbreezy fashion. "Take this."
He quickly filled out a check and handed it to Tom.
"Now sign this contract, which merely says that you will do your bestto get pictures for me, and that you won't do it for any other concern,and everything will be all right. Sign there," he added, pointing to adotted line, and thrusting a fountain pen into Tom's hand. The lad readover the agreement, which was fair enough, and signed it, and Nedaffixed his name as a witness.
"Now when can you go?" asked Mr. Period eagerly.
"Not before Spring, I'm afraid," replied Torn. "I have first to makethe camera, and then my airship needs overhauling if I am to go on suchlong trips as will be necessary in case I am to get views of wildbeasts in the jungle."
"Well, make it as soon as you can," begged Mr. Period. "I can have thefilms early next Fall then, and they will be in season for the Winterruns at the theatres. Now, I'm the busiest man in the world, and Ibelieve I have lost five hundred dollars by coming here to-night.Still, I don't regret it. I'm going back now, and I'll expect to hearfrom you when you are ready to start. There's my address. Good-bye,"and thrusting a card into Tom's hand he hurried out of the room.
"Won't you stop all night?" called Mr. Swift after him.
"Sorry. I'd like to but can't. Got a big contract I must close in NewYork to-morrow morning. I've ordered a special train to be at theShopton station in half an hour, and I must catch that. Good night!"and Mr. Period hurried away.
"Say, he's a hustler all right!" exclaime
d Ned.
"Yes, and I've got to hustle if I invent that camera," added Tom. "It'sgot to be a specially fast one, and one that can take pictures from along distance. Electricity is the thing to use, I guess."
"Then you are really going off on this trip. Tom?" asked his father,rather wistfully.
"I'm afraid I am," replied his son. "I thought I could stay at home fora while, but it seems not."
"I was in hopes you could give me a little time to help me on mygyroscope invention," went on the aged man. "But I suppose it will keepuntil you come back. It is nearly finished."
"Yes, and I don't like stopping work on my noiseless motor," spoke Tom."But that will have to wait, too."
"Do you know where you are going?" inquired Ned.
"Well, I'll have to do considerable traveling I suppose to get all thefilms he wants. But once I'm started I'll like it I guess. Of courseyou're coming, Ned."
"I hope so."
"Of course you are!" insisted Tom, as if that settled it. "And I'm sureMr. Damon will go also. I haven't seen him in some time. I hope heisn't ill."
Tom started work on his Wizard Camera, as he called it, the nextday--that is he began drawing the designs, and planning how toconstruct it. Ned helped him, and Koku was on hand in case he wasneeded, but there was little he could do, as yet. Tom made aninspection of his shop the morning after the chicken thief scare, butnothing seemed to have been disturbed.
A week passed, and Tom had all the plans drawn for the camera. He hadmade several experiments with different forms of electricity foroperating the mechanism, and had decided on a small, but very powerful,storage battery to move the film, and take the pictures.
This storage battery, which would be inside the camera, would operateit automatically. That is, the camera could be set up any place, in thejungle, or on the desert, it could be left alone, and would takepictures without any one being near it. Tom planned to have it operateat a certain set time, and stop at a certain time, and he could set thedials to make this time any moment of the day or night. For there wasto be a powerful light in connection with the camera, in order thatnight views might be taken. Besides being automatic the camera could beworked by hand.
When it was not necessary to have the camera operate by the storagebattery, it could be connected to wires and worked by an ordinary setof batteries, or by a dynamo. This was for use on the airship, wherethere was a big electrical machine. I shall tell you more about thecamera as the story proceeds.
One afternoon Tom was alone in the shop, for he had sent Koku on anerrand, and Eradicate was off in a distant part of the grounds, doingsome whitewashing, which was his specialty. Ned had not come over, andMr. Swift, having gone to see some friends, and Mrs. Baggert being atthe store, Tom, at this particular time, was rather isolated.
He was conducting some delicate electrical experiments, and to keep themeasuring instruments steady he had closed all the windows and doors ofhis shop. The young inventor was working at a bench in one corner, andnear him, standing upright, was a heavy shaft of iron, part of hissubmarine, wrapped in burlap, and padded, to keep it from rusting.
"Now," said Tom to himself, as he mixed two kinds of acid in a jar, toproduce a new sort of electrical current, "I will see if this is anybetter than the first way in which I did it."
He was careful about pouring out the powerful stuff, but, in spite ofthis, he spilled a drop on his finger. It burned like fire, and,instinctively, he jerked his hand back.
The next instant there was a series of happenings. Tom's elbow came incontact with another jar of acid, knocking it over, and spilling itinto the retort where he had been mixing the first two liquids. Therewas a hissing sound, as the acids combined, and a thick, white vaporarose, puffing into Tom's face, and making him gasp.
He staggered back, brushed against the heavy iron shaft in the corner,and it fell sideways against him, knocking him to the floor, anddropping across his thighs. The padding on it saved him from brokenbones, but the shaft was so heavy, that after it was on him, Tom couldnot move. He was held fast on the floor of his shop, unable to use hislegs, and prevented from getting up.
For a moment Tom was stunned, and then he called:
"Help! Help! Eradicate! Koku! Help!"
He waited a moment, but there was only a silence.
And then Tom smelled a strange odor--an odor of a choking gas thatseemed to smother him.
"It's the acids!" he cried. "They're generating gas! And I'm held fasthere! The place is closed up tight, and I can't move! Help! Help!"
But there was no one at hand to aid Tom, and every moment the fumes ofthe gas became stronger. Desperately the youth struggled to rid himselfof the weight of the shaft, but he could not. And then he felt hissenses leaving him, for the powerful gas was making him unconscious.
Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera; Or, Thrilling Adventures While Taking Moving Pictures Page 4