Chapter I A Strange Request Tom Swift closed the book of adventures he had been reading, tossed it on the table, and got up. Then he yawned. "What's the matter?" asked his chum, Ned Newton, who was deep in another volume. "Oh, I thought this was going to be something exciting," replied Tom, motioning toward the book he had discarded. "But say! the make-believe adventures that fellow had, weren't anything compared to those we went through in... more...

CHAPTER I A STRANGE OFFER "Some one to see you, Mr. Tom." It was Koku, or August, as he was sometimes called, the new giant servant of Tom Swift, who made this announcement to the young inventor. "Who is it, Koku?" inquired Tom, looking up from his work-bench in the machine shop, where he was busy over a part of the motor for his new noiseless airship. "Any one I know? Is it the 'Blessing Man?'" for so Koku had come to call Mr. Damon, an... more...

THE NEW PROJECT Tom Swift appeared to be calm, although in reality he was about as excited over his latest invention as he ever had been about anything in his life. "I'm sure it's going to work, Ned!" he said eagerly to his chum as they neared Tom's private laboratory. "With my new device I hope to learn more about the planets. I want to start soon—" "Listen here!" broke in Ned Newton. "If you're thinking of going to Mars or the moon,... more...

CHAPTER I ON A LIVE WIRE "Now, see here, Mr. Swift, you may think it all a sort of dream, and imagine that I don't know what I'm talking about; but I do! If you'll consent to finance this expedition to the extent of, say, ten thousand dollars, I'll practically guarantee to give you back five times that sum." "I don't know, Alec, I don't know," slowly responded the aged inventor. "I've heard those stories before, and in my experience nothing... more...

CHAPTER I TOM HOPES FOR A PRIZE "Father," exclaimed Tom Swift, looking up from a paper he was reading, "I think I can win that prize!" "What prize is that?" inquired the aged inventor, gazing away from a drawing of a complicated machine, and pausing in his task of making some intricate calculations. "You don't mean to say, Tom, that you're going to have a try for a government prize for a submarine, after all." "No, not a submarine prize,... more...

CHAPTER I A SKY RIDE "Oh Tom, is it really safe?" A young lady—an exceedingly pretty young lady, she could be called—stood with one small, gloved hand on the outstretched wing of an aeroplane, and looked up at a young man, attired in a leather, fur-lined suit, who sat in the cockpit of the machine just above her. "Safe, Mary?" repeated the pilot, as he reached in under the hood of the craft to make sure about one of the controls.... more...

CHAPTER I A BREAKDOWN "Well, Ned, are you ready?" "Oh, I suppose so, Tom. As ready as I ever shall be." "Why, Ned Newton, you're not getting afraid; are you? And after you've been on so many trips with me?" "No, it isn't exactly that, Tom. I'd go in a minute if you didn't have this new fangled thing on your airship. But how do you know how it's going to work—or whether it will work at all? We may come a cropper." "Bless my insurance... more...

CHAPTER I A WONDERFUL STORY Tom Swift, who had been slowly looking through the pages of a magazine, in the contents of which he seemed to be deeply interested, turned the final folio, ruffled the sheets back again to look at a certain map and drawing, and then, slapping the book down on a table before him, with a noise not unlike that of a shot, exclaimed: "Well, that is certainly one wonderful story!" "What's it about, Tom?" asked his chum,... more...

Chapter I Wonderful News "Letter for you, Tom Swift." "Ah, thanks, Mr. Wilson. This is the first mail I've had this week. You've been neglecting me," and the young inventor took the missive which the Shopton postman handed to him over the gate, against which Tom was leaning one fine, warm Spring day. "Well, I get around as often as I can, Tom. You're not home a great deal, you know. When you're not off in your sky racer seeing how much you can... more...

ERADICATE IN AN AIRSHIP "Well, Massa Tom, am yo' gwine out in yo' flyin' machine ag'in to-day?" "Yes, Rad, I think I will take a little flight. Perhaps I'll go over to Waterford, and call on Mr. Damon. I haven't seen very much of him, since we got back from our hunt after the diamond-makers." "Take a run clear ober t' Waterfield; eh, Massa Tom?" "Yes, Rad. Now, if you'll help me, I'll get out the Butterfly, and see what trim she's in for a... more...