out into the night rushed tom swift and ned newton. they quickly shook the sleep from them and were ready to fight. a noise and commotion in the vicinity of the hangar where the air monarch rested drew them in that direction. several figures were seen rushing about in the gloom, and ned easily made out the form of the giant.
“what’s the row, koku?” yelled tom.
“bad mans!” was all the giant could say, and then tom and his chum saw him start to run after a man who was trying to get away.
“burglars, dat’s what dey is!” shouted eradicate. “tryin’ to steal yo’ new machine, massa tom!”
“they’ll have some job if they try to steal the air monarch!” the young inventor exclaimed. “i’ve got the motor doubly locked. but they may damage her.”
“who?” asked ned, as he ran on beside his chum.
“that bunch from the red arrow concern, i suspect,” was tom’s answer. “there goes one!” he cried as a second figure, besides the one koku was after, started away.
tom sped after this fellow with ned closely following. as the two ran on there came a sliver of flame in the darkness, followed by the report of a shot, and koku yelled.
“they’ve winged the giant!” shouted ned.
“it will take more than one bullet to stop him!” panted tom.
another shot was fired, and then came a yell of fear and terror. but it was not the voice of the giant it was the cry of an ordinary man, and ned guessed what had happened and yelled:
“koku got his man!”
this was proved a moment later as the giant shouted:
“me got ’im! me got ’im!”
tom, however, was too busy chasing after his quarry to pay much attention to his big guard who, he expected, could look after himself.
the fellow tom was chasing was running fast, but he was no match for the young inventor whose anger lent him added speed, and just as the retreating form reached the outer gate of the big fence which surrounded the hangar, tom made a flying football tackle and downed his man.
“let me go! let me go!” the intruder pleaded.
“not much i won’t!” panted tom, as he got a firm hold on his man. “and i think i know who you are, too! here, ned! bring that flashlight!” the inventor shouted.
a moment later the financial manager had joined his chum, aiding him in subduing the rascal. then, when the fellow, thoroughly cowed, was taken in charge by several workmen who had been aroused by the alarm, the light was focused on his face.
“i thought so!” exclaimed tom, as he scanned the features. “hussy! you got trapped again, but in a different way!” chuckled tom.
“if you know what’s good for you, let me go!” snarled the man, endeavoring to break away. but he was too firmly held for that.
“i’ll let you go after i start on my world trip, and not before!” declared tom. “hold him,” he directed to his men. “and we’ll see who koku got!”
the giant and eradicate could be heard approaching, the big man muttering again and again:
“me got ’im! me got ’im!”
while eradicate, not to be left out, added:
“i help cotch him, too! i tripped him up wif mah foot!”
“good work, rad! and you, also, koku!” cried tom. “bring him here!”
the second prisoner was placed alongside of hussy, the latter scowling over his fate. tom looked at the fellow koku and eradicate had caught, but found him a stranger.
“though i don’t doubt,” said tom to ned, “that he’s one of the red arrow gang. well, two in one night isn’t so bad. lock ’em up, men,” he said to his employees, several more of whom came running up, for a general alarm had sounded throughout the works. many of the mechanics lived close to the shops.
“lock us up!” burst out hussy. “you don’t dare do that!”
“don’t i?” cried tom angrily. “you’ll soon see! why shouldn’t i dare, you trespassing, thieving rascal?”
hussy and his companion, the latter saying nothing, were hustled off to one of the shops and locked in a steel enameling oven, where various parts of machinery were baked to give them a high polish. there was no fire under the oven when the prisoners were put in, of course, and the steel cage made a most effective jail.
“in the morning you’ll be locked in regular cells,” tom said.
“you don’t dare hold us!” stormed hussy.
“you’ve got another guess coming,” tom chuckled. then, when a guard had been posted near the prisoners, the young inventor asked koku and eradicate what had happened.
it developed that the two who were on guard had heard a disturbance shortly after midnight, and, investigating, had seen hussy and his companion sneaking into the hangar. at once the colored man and the giant gave the alarm and rushed to capture the intruders, the end of the affair coming about when tom and ned joined the party.
“what was their game?” asked ned, when he and tom had made sure the air monarch had not been tampered with.
“well, they couldn’t hope to steal any of my patent ideas in time to add them to their machine,” decided tom. “there isn’t opportunity for that, with the start of the race almost here. i think they were trying to disable my machine so i couldn’t start. kilborn and his bunch know i’m the most dangerous rival in this globe-circling race, and with me out of the way they stand a good chance to win. they wanted to cripple the air monarch, i’m sure.”
“but they didn’t!” echoed ned.
“no, they didn’t,” echoed tom, “thanks to rad and koku.”
additional guards were placed about the hangar for the remainder of the night, but there was no further disturbance and early in the morning tom had the two prisoners, in spite of their strenuous objections, taken to the shopton jail where they were held in default of heavy bail on a charge of breaking and entering with intent to steal. they had broken a lock on the big gate to get in, but had been detected in time.
“you’d better withdraw this charge against me, swift!” stormed hussy when he was being arraigned before being taken off to jail.
“withdraw nothing!” snapped the young inventor. “you’re going to stay locked up a long time! kilborn will have to get along without you and your pal!”
a dangerous look came into the eyes of the trapped man. he shook his fist at tom when being led back to a cell and muttered:
“you’ll be sorry for this, tom swift!”
but tom was not worried and hastened back to his hangar to make ready for the flight to long island whence the world race would start the following day.
there was little ceremony attendant upon the departure of tom and his friends from shopton, since mr. swift, mary, and mr. damon had arranged to see them off in long island. when the air monarch had been gone over finally by tom and his mechanics, the craft was wheeled out of the hangar, the five who were to make the trip got into the cabin, and tom, at the motor controls and steering levers, called:
“all clear?”
“all clear!” answered mr. jackson.
“let’s go, then!” exclaimed the young inventor, and with a wave of his hand to his father, mary, mr. damon, and the crowd of workmen, tom pulled the starting lever.
the big propellers began whizzing, the machine moved across the smooth aero field with ever increasing speed, and a moment later took the air with the ease and lightness of a regular aeroplane and not like the heavy craft she was.
“starts well!” observed ned in the cabin beside his chum.
“like a sewing machine!” said tom.
up and up he pointed the nose of his craft and they were soon headed for long island.
“never have i ridden in a better craft,” declared peltok who, with brinkley and hartman, was in charge of the machinery. “she is perfect!”
“that remains to be seen,” said tom, though he was much pleased. “we haven’t really started yet.”
no attempt was made to get speed out of the craft on what was, practically, but another trial flight. but tom knew he had plenty of power in reserve. the air monarch had been tried in the air, on land, and in water and had performed perfectly.
under the skilled hands of the three mechanics the machine behaved well and in a comparatively short time she settled gracefully down on the field in long island and took her appointed place. many other machines were already there, and others were constantly arriving. the field was a busy place. all contestants had to start from there, though those going in motor boats, or by trains and steamers would, as has been said, leave in autos which would take them to the beginning of the first leg of their journey. but time would start to be counted when the cannon boomed on the field.
there were two or three free balloons and several small dirigibles, including the one operated by professor modby and his crew. the red arrow hydroplane was floating in long island sound, not far away, and kilborn planned to reach his craft in a speedy auto. he was walking about his car when tom got out of the air monarch.
“so, that’s what you hope to win with, is it?” sneered kilborn.
“that’s the little old bus!” said tom, with a grin. “and i’m afraid you aren’t going to have all the company you counted on to be with you during your trip.”
“company? what do you mean?”
“i mean that hussy and the man you sent with him to tamper with my machine are arrested and locked up in the shopton jail,” said tom.
“hussy arrested?” gasped kilborn. “i told him—i mean i didn’t send him to do anything to your craft!” he cried quickly.
“didn’t you?” asked tom, with a smile. “well, he didn’t get a chance to do anything, though he tried. but if you’re looking for hussy—call up the jail!”
kilborn muttered something under his breath and turned away.
“i guess that will hold him for a while,” chuckled ned.
from then on tom and his crew were kept busy. there were many last-minute things to be done and final adjustments to be made to the motors, as well as food supplies to put on board. so it was not until night that tom and ned found time to rest.
all the other contestants were equally busy, and many police were required to keep back the curious crowds. the start was to be made in the morning, and tom and ned arranged with some workmen from the shops to guard the air monarch zealously during the hours of darkness.
in spite of fears that something might happen, nothing did, and when morning dawned clear and bright it was seen that the day of the start was perfect. tom and his crew were up early, making final changes and adjustments, as all the other contestants were doing.
final instructions were given, and the rules gone over again to make sure all understood. mr. damon, tom’s father, mary and her father and other friends arrived by auto to see the air monarch take off. all the other contestants had scores of friends also, so the field was a mass of humanity.
“there goes the warning gun!” cried ned as a shot boomed out. “are you all ready, tom?”
“all ready!” was the answer.
“stand clear!” came the order from peltok.
“good-bye, mary! good-bye!” called tom to his sweetheart.
“good-bye!” she echoed. “i know you’re going to win!”
“thanks! i hope i shall!”
“tom, remember, i’ve got my money on you!” said mr. swift, with a smile.
“i’ll not forget, dad!”
“bless my liberty bonds, i’ve got a bet on you myself, tom!” exclaimed mr. damon. “oh, dear!” he sighed, as he saw the final preparations for the start, “if it wasn’t for my wife i’d go, even now!”
“you just let me see you get on that ship!” said mrs. damon in a low voice close to her husband’s ear.
“oh, i’m not going to, my dear! i’m not going to!” he said hastily.
“ready?” called the official starter.
“ready!” answered tom swift.
“ready!” came from the other contestants.
“boom!” echoed the big cannon.
“they’re off!” yelled the crowd, and with a roar of her exhaust pipes the air monarch shot across the field, followed by several other craft seeking to beat her.
the globe-circling race had started!
