sh line a winner, richer by ten
thousand dollars, and, not only that, but he had picked up a mile that
had been lost, and had snatched victory from almost certain defeat.

There was a succession of thundering cheers as he shut off the motor,
and volplaned to earth, but he paid little attention to them. He
brought his craft to a stop just as the wireless on it buzzed again.

He listened with a look of pain on his face.

"My father is dying," he said simply. "I must go to him. Mr. Damon,
will you fill the tanks with oil and gasoline, while I send off a
message?"

"Oil and gasoline," murmured the odd man, while hundreds pressed up to
congratulate Tom Swift "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to my father in the Humming-Bird," said Tom. "It's the only
way I can see him alive," and he began to click off a message to Mr.
Jackson, stating that he had won the race and was going to fly to
Shopton, while Mr. Damon and several others replenished the fuel and
oil of the aeroplane.

Tom Swift had won one race. Could he win the other?

Chapter Twenty-Five

Home Again--Conclusion

Mr. Sharp pushed his way through the crowd.

"The committee has the certified check ready for you, Tom," called the
balloonist. "Will you come and get it?"

"Send it to me, please," answered the young inventor. "I must go to my
father."

"Huh! I'd have beaten him in another round," boasted Andy Foger. No one
paid any attention to him.

"Monsieur ezz plucky!" said the Frenchman, Perique. "I am honaired to
shake his hand! He has broken all ze records!"

"Dot's der best machine I effer saw," spoke the Dutchman, De Tromp,
ponderously. "Shake hands!"

"Ver' fine, ver' good!" came from the little Japanese, and all the
contestants congratulated Tom warmly. Never before had a hundred miles
been covered so speedily.

A man elbowed his way through the press of people.

"Is your machine fully protected by patents?" he inquired earnestly.

"It is," said Tom.

"Then, as a representative of the United States Government, I would
like an option to purchase the exclusive right to use them," said the
man. "Can you guarantee that no one else has any plans of them? It
will mean a fortune to you."

Tom hesitated. He thought of the stolen plans. If he could only get
possession of them! He glanced at Andy Foger, who was wheeling his
machine hack into the tent. But there was no time now to have it out
with the bully.

"I will see you again,