FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100  
101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   >>  
I guess we'll be a long time waiting," agreed Tom. They were about to land in a very lonely spot. It was one he had never before visited, though he knew it could not be much more than twenty miles from his own home, as they had not flown much farther than that distance. But, somehow or other, Tom had not visited this particular section, and knew nothing of it. He saw below him, as Jackson had seen, a lonely stretch of country--a big field, once a wood-lot, evidently, as scattered about were some stumps and some second growth trees. There were also a number of evergreens--Christmas trees Jackson called them. And this was the only open place for miles, the surrounding country being a densely wooded one. There did not appear to be a house or other building in sight where they might seek help. "But maybe we can make the repairs ourselves and keep on," the lad thought. With practiced eye he picked out a smooth, grassy, level spot, in the midst of scattered evergreen trees, and there Tom Swift skillfully brought his Air Scout to rest. With a gentle thud the rubber-tired wheels struck the Earth, rolled along a little distance, and then called to a stop. Hardly had the aeroplane ceased moving when Tom and his companion jumped out and began eagerly to examine the machinery to see the extent of damage. "I thought so!" Tom exclaimed. "The silencer cracked under the strain. Those exhaust gases have more pressure that I believed possible. I increased the margin of safety on this muffler, too. But she's cracked, and I can't use the machine until I put on a new one. Good thing I didn't ask for a government inspection until after this trial flight." "That's so," agreed Jackson. "But can't you patch it up, or go on without a muffler, so we can get back home?" "I'm afraid not," Tom answered. "You see I removed all the old exhaust pipe fittings when I put on my new silencer. Now if I took off my attachment there wouldn't be anything to carry off the discharged gases, and they'd form a regular cloud about us. We couldn't stand it without gas masks, such as they use in the trenches, and we haven't any of those with us." "That's right," agreed Jackson. "Well, what do you want to do? Have me stay here and guard the machine while you go for help? Or shall I go?" "I don't know why we both can't go," said Tom. "There is no use trying to patch up this machine here. I'll have to send a truck after it, and dismantle it bef
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100  
101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   >>  



Top keywords:
Jackson
 
machine
 
agreed
 
thought
 

country

 

muffler

 

scattered

 

called

 

lonely

 

visited


cracked

 

silencer

 

distance

 

exhaust

 

inspection

 

flight

 

believed

 
increased
 
margin
 

pressure


strain

 

safety

 
dismantle
 

government

 

trenches

 

couldn

 
fittings
 

attachment

 

answered

 
removed

wouldn

 
regular
 

discharged

 

afraid

 
stumps
 

evidently

 

growth

 

stretch

 

number

 

evergreens


surrounding

 
densely
 
wooded
 

Christmas

 

waiting

 

twenty

 

section

 

farther

 

rolled

 
struck