ng for breath.

Dazed, shaken in every bone, with their muscles sore, they picked
themselves up from the ground, along which they had been blown with
great force in the direction of the bomb-proof. Even as Tom struggled
to his feet, intending to run to safety in fear of other explosions, he
realized what had happened.

"What--what was it?" cried Ned, as he, too, arose.

"The gun burst!" yelled Tom.

He looked to the left and saw General Waller picking himself up, his
uniform torn, and blood streaming from a cut on his face. At the same
instant Tom was aware of the body of a man flying through the air
toward a distant grass plot, and the young inventor recognized it as
that of the soldier who had been detailed to fire the great cannon.

Almost instantaneously as everything happened, Tom was aware of
noticing several things, as though they took place in sequence. He
looked toward where the gun had stood. It was in ruins. The young
inventor saw something, which he took to be the projectile, skimming
across the sea waves, and he had a fleeting glimpse of the greater
portion of the immense weapon itself sinking into the depths of the
ocean.

Then, coming down from a great height in the air, he saw a dark object.
It was another piece of the cannon that had been hurled skyward.

"Look out!" Tom yelled, instinctively, as he staggered toward the
bomb-proof, Ned following.

He saw a number of officers running out to assist General Waller, who
seemed too dazed to move. Many of them had torn uniforms, and not a few
were bleeding from their injuries. Then the air seemed filled with a
rain of small missiles--stones, dirt, gravel and pieces of metal.

CHAPTER VIII

A BIG PROBLEM

"Are you much hurt, Ned?"

Tom Swift bent anxiously over the prostrate form of his chum. A big
piece of the burst gun had fallen close to Ned--so close, in fact, that
Tom, who saw it as he neared the entrance to the bomb-proof, shuddered
as he raced back. But there was no sign of injury on his chum.

"Are you much hurt, Ned?"

The lad's eyes opened. He seemed dazed.

"No--no, I guess not," he answered, slowly. "I--I guess I'm as much
scared as hurt, Tom. It was the wind from that big piece that knocked
me down. It didn't actually hit me."

"No, I should say not," put in Captain Badger, who had run out toward
the two lads. "If it had hit you there wouldn't have been much of you
left to tell the tale," and he nodded toward the big