s possible. It is humanly
possible. It is coming."

"Then you must be the fellow to first accomplish it, Tom Swift," Ned
declared.

"Of course, if anybody can do it, you can, Tom," agreed the girl
complacently.

"Thanks--many, many thanks," laughed the young inventor. "I'd be able
to harness the sun and stars, and put a surcingle around the moon if I
came up to my friends' opinion of my ability.

"Nevertheless, two-miles-a-minute is my objective point, and I do not
believe it is visionary. Consider the motor-cycle. Ninety miles an hour
has long been possible with that, and some tests have shown a speed of
over a hundred and ten. That is not far from my mark.

"Some Mallet locomotives of the oil-burning type have achieved from
eighty-five to ninety-five miles an hour with a heavy load behind them.
They are very powerful machines. The Mogul mountain climbers are
powerful, too, although they are not built for speed.

"The electric Goliaths built for the C. M. & St. P., and the Jandels,
are both very speedy under certain conditions. The former has a maximum
speed of sixty-five miles and the Jandel slightly faster."

"But that is only half what that Mr. Bartholomew demands of your
invention, Tom!" Mary cried.

"That is a fact. I must reach twice sixty miles an hour, anyway, to
meet his demand and gain that hundred thousand bonus. But I have the
advantage of a knowledge of all that has been done before my time in
the matter of electrical locomotive construction."

"The world do move," repeated Ned. "You believe that you have the edge
on all the other inventors?"

"Along the line of this development--yes," said Tom. "I am taking up
the work where former experimenters ended theirs. Why shouldn't I find
the right combination to bring about a two-miles-a-minute drive?"

"Oh, Tom!" cried Mary, with clasped hands, "I hope you do."

"I hope I do, too," said Tom, grimly. "At least, if trying will bring
it, success is going to come my way."

Chapter XIV

Speed

More than four months had passed since the contract had been signed,
when Tom made his first yard-test of the Hercules 0001. For a month
nothing had been seen or heard of Andy O'Malley, whose identity as the
spy, set by Montagne Lewis to cripple Tom's attempt to help the
Hendrickton & Pas Alos Railroad, had been determined beyond any doubt.

The private inquiry agent that Tom had engaged to find O'Malley had
been unsuccessful in his work. The spy