第15章

Tom rushed from his private office, and when he reached the outer door he heard with more distinctness the sounds that had alarmed him.They seemed to come from a small building given over to electrical apparatus, and which, at the time, was not supposed to be in use.It had been Tom's workroom, so to speak, when he was developing his electric runabout and rifle, but of late he had not spent much time in it.

"Somebody's in there !" reflected the young inventor, as he heard yells coming from the open door of the place."And if it isn't Koku and Eradicate I miss my guess! Wonder what they can be doing there."He crossed the yard between his private office and the electrical shop in a few rapid strides, and, as he entered the latter place, he was greeted with a series of wild yells.

"Good volume of sound here, at all events," mused Tom."Almost as much as my motor made when I was trying to talk to Mary.Hello there! What's going on? Is any one hurt? What's the matter?" he cried, for, at first, he could see no one in the dim light of the place.The interior was a maze of electrical apparatus.

"Who's here?" demanded Tom, as he advanced.

"Oh, Master! Come quick! Koku 'most dead an' no can let go!" was thecry.

"Yo' jest bet yo' cain't let go!" chimed in the voice of Eradicate."Idone knowed yo would git into trouble ef yo' come heah, an' I'se glad ob it! So I is!""What is it, Rad? What has happened to Koku?" cried Tom, running forward, for though no very powerful current could be turned on in the electrical shop at this period of unuse, there was enough to be very painful."What is it, Rad?""Oh, dat big foolish giant, Koku, done got his se'f into trouble!" chuckled the colored man."He done got holt ob one ob dem aircontraptions, Massa Tom, an' he cain't let go! Ha! Ha! Golly! Look at him squirm!" and Rad laughed shrilly, which accounted for some of the sounds Tom had heard.

Then came yells of rage and pain from the giant, and they were so loud and vigorous, mingling with Eradicate's as they did, that it was no wonder Tom was startled.The sounds were heard in the other shops, and men came running out.But before then Tom had put an end to the trouble.

One look showed him what had happened.Just how or why Koku and Eradicate had entered the electrical shop Tom did not then stop to inquire.But he saw that the giant had grasped the handles of one of the electric machines, designed for charging Leyden jars used in Tom's experiments, and the powerful, though not dangerous, current had so paralyzed, temporarily, the muscles of the giant's hands and arms that he could not let go, and there he was, squirming, and not knowing how to turn off the current, and unable to ease himself, while Eradicate stood and laughed at him, fairly howling with delight.

"Ha! Guess yo' won't do no mo' spadin' in' Massa Tom's garden right away, big man!" taunted Eradicate.

"Be quiet, Rad!" ordered Tom, as he reached up and pulled out the switch, thus shutting off the current."This isn't anything to laugh at.""But he done look so funny, Massa Tom!" pleaded the colored man."He done squirm laik--"But Eradicate did not finish what he intended to say.Once free from the powerful current, the giant looked at his numb hands, and then, seeming to think that Eradicate was the cause of it all, he sprang at the colored man with a yell.But Eradicate did not stay to see what would happen.With a howl of terror, he raced out of the door, and, old and rheumatic as he was, he managed to gain the stable of his mule, Boomerang, over which he had his humble but comfortable quarters.

"Well, I guess he's safe for a while!" laughed Tom, as he saw the giant turn away, shaking his fist at the closed door, for Koku, big as he was, stood in mortal terror of the mule's heels.

Tom locked the door of the electrical shop and Went back to his interrupted problem.From Jackson he learned that Koku and Eradicatehad merely happened to stroll into the forbidden place, which had been left open by accident.There, it appeared, Koku had handled some of the machinery, ending by switching on the current of the machine the handles of which he later unsuspectingly picked up.Then he received a shock he long remembered, and for many days he believed Eradicate had been responsible for it, and there was more than the usual hostile feeling between the two.But Eradicate was innocent of that trick, at all events.

"Though," said Tom, telling his father about it later, "Rad would have turned on the current if he had known he could make trouble for Koku by it.I never saw their like for having disagreements!""Yes, but they are both devoted to you, Tom," said the aged inventor."But what is this you hinted at--a silent motor you called it, I believe? Are you really serious in trying to invent one?""Yes, Dad, I am.I think there's a big field for an aeroplane that could travel along over the enemy's lines--particularly at night--and not be heard from below.Think of the scout work that could be done.

"Well, yes, it could be done if you could get a silent motor, or propellers that made no noise, Tom.But I don't believe it can be done.""Well, maybe not, Dad.But I'm going to try!" and Tom, after a further talk with his father, began work in earnest on the big problem.That it was a big one Tom was not disposed to deny, and that it would be a valuable invention even his somewhat skeptical father admitted.

"How are you going to start, Tom?" asked Mr.Swift, several days after the big idea had come to the young man.

"I'm going to experiment a bit, at first.I've got a lot of old motors, that weren't speedy enough for any of my flying machines, and I'm going to make them over.If I spoil them the loss won't amount to anything, and if I succeed --well, maybe I can help out Uncle Sam a bit more."As Tom had said he would do, he began at the very foundation, and studied the fundamental principles of sound.