FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   >>  
, and the last part of the tunnel had only to be dug through sand-stone and soft dirt, an easy undertaking. So the big bore was finished on time--ahead of time in fact, and Titus Brothers received from Senor Belasdo, the Peruvian representative, a large bonus of money, in which Tom Swift shared. "So our rivals didn't balk us after all," said Walter Titus, "though they tried mighty hard." The big tunnel was finished--at least Tom Swift's work on it. All that remained to do was to clear away the debris and lay the connecting rails. Tom and Mr. Damon prepared to go back home. The latter's work was done. As for Professor Bumper, nothing could take him from Pelone. He said he was going to live there, and, practically, he did. Tom, Koku and Mr. Damon returned to Lima, thence to go to Callao to take the steamer for San Francisco. One day the manager of the hotel spoke to them. "You are Americans, are you not?" he asked. "Yes," answered Tom. "Why?" "Because there is another American here. He is friendless and alone, and he is dying. He has no friends, he says. Perhaps--" "Of course we'll do what we can for him," said Tom, impulsively. "Where is he?" With Mr. Damon he entered the room where the dying man lay. He had caught a fever, the hotel manager said, and could not recover. Tom, catching sight of the sufferer, cried: "The bearded man! Waddington!" He had recognized the mysterious person who had been on the Bellaconda, and the man whose face had stared at him through the secret shaft of the tunnel. "Yes, the 'bearded man' now," said the sufferer in a hoarse voice, "and some one else too. You are right. I am Waddington!" And so it proved. He had grown a beard to disguise himself so he might better follow Tom Swift and Mr. Titus. And he had followed them, seeking to prevent the completion of the tunnel. But he had not been successful. Waddington it was who had thrown the bomb, though he declared he only hoped to disable Tom and Mr. Titus, and not to injure them. He was fighting for delay. And it was Waddington, working in conjunction with the rascally foreman Serato, who had induced the tunnel workers to desert so mysteriously, hoping to scare the other Indians away. He nearly succeeded too, had it not been for the gratitude of the woman whose baby Tom had saved from the condor. Waddington had been an actor before he became involved with the rival contractors. He was smooth shaven when first
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   >>  



Top keywords:

Waddington

 

tunnel

 

finished

 

manager

 

bearded

 
sufferer
 

caught

 

disguise

 

entered

 
proved

recognized

 
secret
 

mysterious

 

stared

 

person

 

Bellaconda

 

catching

 

hoarse

 

recover

 

prevent


succeeded

 

gratitude

 

Indians

 

mysteriously

 

hoping

 

condor

 

smooth

 

shaven

 

contractors

 

involved


desert

 
workers
 

successful

 

thrown

 

completion

 
follow
 

seeking

 

declared

 

rascally

 

foreman


Serato

 

induced

 

conjunction

 

working

 

disable

 

injure

 
fighting
 

remained

 

debris

 

mighty