s as soon as we landed."

"Yes, but if we had rushed over at once we might have caught the
fellows. But I guess it was only a slight accident, and some one was
more frightened than hurt. We'll have to let it go at that."

But the more he thought about it the more Tom Swift thought there was
something queer in that weird cry for help on the lonely meadow in the
darkness of the night.

CHAPTER XIV

THE TELEPHONE CALL

The defect in the motor which had caused Tom Swift to shut off the
power and drift down to earth was soon remedied, once the young
inventor began an examination of the craft. One of the oil feeds had
become choked and this automatically cut down the gasoline supply,
causing one or more cylinders to miss. It was a safety device Tom had
installed to prevent the motor running dry, and so being damaged.

Once the clogged oil feed was cleared the motor ran as before, and just
as silently, though, as Tom had said, he was not entirely satisfied
with the quietness, but intended to do further work toward perfecting
it.

"I'll start the propellers now, Mr. Damon," said Tom, when the trouble
had been remedied. "You know how to throw the switch, don't you?"

"I guess so," was the answer. Mr. Damon and Tom had traveled so often
together in gasoline craft that the young inventor had taught his
friend certain fundamentals about them, and in an emergency the
eccentric man could help start an aeroplane. This he now did, taking
charge of the controls which could be operated from his seat as well as
from Tom's. Tom whirled the propellers, and soon the motor was in
motion.

Mr. Damon, once the big wooden blades were revolving, slowed down the
apparatus until Tom could jump aboard, after which the latter took
charge and soon speeded up the machine, sending it aloft.

As the green meadow, dimly seen in the light of the moon, seemed to
drop away below them, and the clump of trees vanished from sight, both
Tom and Mr. Damon wondered who it was that had called for help, and if
the matter were at all serious. They were inclined to think it was not,
but Tom could not rid himself of a faint suspicion that there might
have been trouble.

However, thoughts of his new silent Air Scout soon drove everything
else from his mind, and as he guided the comparatively silent machine
on its quiet way toward his own home he was thinking how he could best
improve the muffler.

"Well, here we are again, safe and sound," remark