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Title: Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle

Author: Victor Appleton

Release Date: February, 2003  [eBook #3777]

[Posted:  09/03/01]





The PGCC Collection eBook: Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle, by Appleton
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Corrected EDITIONS, 10tom11.htm
Separate source VERSION, 10tom10a.htm

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This eBook was produced by Charles Franks, Greg Weeks, and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team.






TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE

OR

Daring Adventures in Elephant Land

by VICTOR APPLETON




CONTENTS

     I   TOM WANTS EXCITEMENT
    II   TRYING THE NEW GUN
   III   A DIFFICULT TEST
    IV   BIG TUSKS WANTED
     V   RUSH WORK
    VI   NEWS FROM ANDY
   VII   THE BLACK HAWK FLIES
  VIII   OFF FOR AFRICA
    IX   ATTACKED BY A WHALE
     X   OFF IN THE AIRSHIP
    XI   ANCHORED TO EARTH
   XII   AMONG THE NATIVES
  XIII   ON THE ELEPHANT TRAIL
   XIV   A STAMPEDE
    XV   LIONS IN THE NIGHT
   XVI   SEEKING THE MISSIONARIES
  XVII   SHOTS FROM ABOVE
 XVIII   NEWS OF THE RED PYGMIES
   XIX   AN APPEAL FOR HELP
    XX   THE FIGHT
   XXI   DRIVEN BACK
  XXII   A NIGHT ATTACK
 XXIII   THE RESCUE
  XXIV   TWO OTHER CAPTIVES
   XXV   THE ROGUE ELEPHANT--CONCLUSION




CHAPTER I

TOM WANTS EXCITEMENT


"Have you anything special to do to-night, Ned?" asked Tom Swift,
the well-known inventor, as he paused in front of his chum's window,
in the Shopton National Bank.

"No, nothing in particular," replied the bank clerk, as he stacked
up some bundles of bills. "Why do you ask?"

"I wanted you to come over to the house for a while."

"Going to have a surprise party, or something like that?"

"No, only I've got something I'd like to show you."

"A new invention?"

"Well, not exactly new. You've seen it before, but not since I've
improved it. I'm speaking of my new electric rifle. I've got it
ready to try, now, and I'd like to see what you think of it. There's
a rifle range over at the house, and we can practice some shooting,
if you haven't anything else to do."

"I haven't, and I'll be glad to come. What are you doing in the
bank, anyhow; putting away more of your wealth, Tom?"

"Yes, I just made a little deposit. It's some money I got from the
government for the patents on my sky racer, and I'm salting it down
here until Dad and I can think of a better investment."

"Good idea. Bring us all the money you can," and the bank clerk, who
held a small amount of stock in the financial institution, laughed,
his chum joining in with him.

"Well, then. I'll expect you over this evening," went on the
youthful inventor, as he turned to leave the bank.

"Yes, I'll be there. Say, Tom, have you heard the latest about Andy
Foger?"

"No, I haven't heard much since he left town right after I beat him
in the aeroplane race at Eagle Park."

"Well, he's out of town all right, and I guess for a long time this
trip. He's gone to Europe."

"To Europe, eh? Well, he threatened to go there after he failed to
beat me in the race, but I thought he was only bluffing."

"No, he's really gone this time."

"Well, I, for one, am glad of it. Did he take his aeroplane along?"

"Yes, that's what he went for. It seems that this Mr. Landbacher,
the German who really invented it, and built it with money which Mr.
Foger supplied, has an idea he can interest the German or some other
European government in the machine. Andy wanted to go along with
him, and as Mr. Foger financed the scheme, I guess he thought it
would be a good thing to have some one represent him. So Andy's
gone."

"Then he won't bother me. Well, I must get along. I'll expect you
over to-night," and with a wave of his hand Tom Swift hurried from
the bank.

The young inventor jumped into his electric runabout which stood
outside the institution, and was about to start off when he saw a
newsboy selling papers which had just come in from New York, on the
morning train.

"Here, Jack, give me a TIMES," called Tom to the lad, and he tossed
the newsboy a nickel. Then, after glancing at the front page, and
noting the headings, Tom started off his speedy car, in which, on
one occasion, he had made a great run, against time. He was soon at
home.

"Well, Dad, I've got the money safely put away," he remarked to an
aged gentleman who sat in the library reading a book. "Now we won't
have to worry about thieves until we get some more cash in."

"Well, I'm glad it's coming in so plentifully," said Mr. Swift with
a smile. "Since my illness I haven't been able to do much, Tom, and
it all depends on you, now."

"Don't let that worry you, Dad. You'll soon be as busy as ever,"
for, following a serious operation for an ailment of the heart, Mr.
Swift, who was a veteran inventor, had not been able to do much. But
the devices of his son, especially a speedy monoplane, which Tom
invented, and sold to the United States Government, were now
bringing them in a large income. In fact with royalties from his
inventions and some gold and diamonds which he had secured on two
perilous trips, Tom Swift was quite wealthy.

"I'll never be as busy as I once was," went on Mr. Swift, a little
regretfully, "but I don't know that I care as long as you continue
to turn out new machines, Tom. By the way, how is the electric rifle
coming on? I haven't heard you speak of it lately."

"It's practically finished, Dad. It worked pretty well the time I
took it when we went on the trip to the caves of ice, but I've
improved it very much since then. In fact I'm going to give it a
severe test to-night. Ned Newton is coming over, and it may be that
then we'll find out something about it that could be bettered. But I
think not. It suits me as it is."

"So Ned is coming over to see it; eh? You ought to have Mr. Damon
here to bless it a few times."

"Yes, I wish I did. And he may come along at any moment, as it is.
You never can tell when he is going to turn up. Mrs. Baggert says
you were out walking while I was at the bank, Dad. Do you feel
better after it?"

"Yes, I think I do, Tom. Oh, I'm growing stronger every day, but it
will take time. But now tell me something about the electric gun."

Thereupon the young inventor related to his father some facts about
the improvements he had recently made to the weapon. It was dinner
time when he had finished, and, after the meal Tom went out to the
shed where he built his aeroplanes and his airships, and in which
building he had fitted up a shooting gallery.

"I'll get ready for the trial to-night," he said "I want to see what
it will do to a dummy figure. Guess I'll make a sort of scarecrow
and stuff it with straw. I'll get Eradicate to help me. Rad! I say,
Rad! Where are you?"

"Heah I is, Massa Tom! Heah I is" called a colored man as he came
around the corner of a small stable where he kept his mule
Boomerang. "Was yo'-all callin' me?"

"Yes, Rad, I want you to help make a scarecrow."

"A scarecrow, Massa Tom! Good land a' massy! What fo' yo' want ob a
scarecrow? Yo'-all ain't raisin' no corn, am yo'?"

"No, but I want something to shoot at when Ned Newton comes over to-
night."

"Suffin t' shoot at? Why Massa Tom! Good land a' massy! Yo'-all
ain't gwine t' hab no duel, am yo'?"

"No, Rad, but I want a life-size figure on which to try my new
electric gun. Here are some old clothes, and if you will stuff them
with rags and straw and fix them so they'll stand up, they'll do
first-rate. Have it ready by night, and set it up at the far end of
the shooting gallery."

"All right, Massa Tom. I'll jest do dat, fo' yo'," and leaving the
colored man to stuff the figure, after he had showed him how, Tom
went back into the house to read the paper which he had purchased
that morning.

He skimmed over the news, thinking perhaps he might see something of
the going abroad of Andy Foger with the German aeroplane, but there
was nothing.

"I almost wish I was going to Europe," sighed Tom. "I will certainly
have to get busy at something, soon. I haven't had any adventure
since I won the prize at the Eagle Park aviaton meet in my sky
racer. Jove! That was some excitement! I'd like to do that over
again, only I shouldn't want to have Dad so sick," for just before
the race, Tom had saved his father's life by making a quick run in
the aeroplane, to bring a celebrated surgeon to the invalid's aid.

"I certainly wish I could have some new adventures," mused Tom, as
he turned the pages of the paper. "I could afford to take a trip
around the earth after them, too, with the way money is coming in
now. Yes, I do wish I could have some excitement. Hello, what's
this! A big elephant hunt in Africa. Hundreds of the huge creatures
captured in a trap--driven in by tame beasts. Some are shot for
their tusks. Others will be sent to museums."

He was reading the headlines of the article that had attracted his
attention, and, as he read, he became more and more absorbed in it.
He read the story through twice, and then, with sparkling eyes, he
exclaimed:

"That's just what I want. Elephant shooting in Africa! My! With my
new electric rifle, and an airship, what couldn't a fellow do over
in the dark continent! I've a good notion to go there! I wonder if
Ned would go with me? Mr. Damon certainly would. Elephant shooting
in Africa! In an airship! I could finish my new sky craft in short
order if I wanted to. I've a good notion to do it!"




CHAPTER II

TRYING THE NEW GUN


While Tom Swift is thus absorbed in thinking about a chance to hunt
elephants, we will take the opportunity to tell you a little more
about him, and then go on with the story.

Many of you already know the young inventor, but those who do not
may be interested it hearing that he is a young American lad, full
of grit and ginger, who lives with his aged father in the town of
Shopton, in New York State. Our hero was first introduced to the
public in the book, "Tom Swift and His Motorcycle."

In that volume it was related how Tom bought a motor-cycle from a
Mr. Wakefield Damon, of Waterford. Mr. Damon was an eccentric
individual, who was continually blessing himself, some one else, or
something belonging to him. His motor-cycle tried to climb a tree
with him, and that was why he sold it to Tom. The two thus became
acquainted, and their friendship grew from year to year.

After many adventures on his motor-cycle Tom got a motor-boat, and
had some exciting times in that. One of the things he and his father
and his chum, Ned Newton, did, was to rescue, from a burning balloon
that had fallen into Lake Carlopa, an aeronaut named John Sharp.
Later Tom and Mr. Sharp built an airship called the Red Cloud, and
with Mr. Damon and some others had a series of remarkable fights.

In the Red Cloud they got on the track of some bank robbers, and
captured them, thus foiling the plans of Andy Foger, a town bully,
and one of Tom's enemies, and putting to confusion the plot of Mr.
Foger, Andy's father.

After many adventures in the air Tom and his friends, in a submarine
boat, invented by Mr. Swift, went under the ocean for sunken
treasure and secured a large part of it.

It was not long after this that Tom conceived the idea of a powerful
electric car, which proved, to be the speediest of the road, and in
it he won a great race, and saved from ruin a bank in which his
father and Mr. Damon were interested.

The sixth book of the series, entitled "Tom Swift and His Wireless
Message," tells how, in testing a new electric airship, which a
friend of Mr. Damon's had invented, Tom, the inventor and Mr. Damon
were lost on an island in the middle of the ocean. There they found
some castaways, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Nestor, parents of Mary
Nestor of Shopton, a girl of whom Tom was quite fond.

Tom Swift, after his arrival home, went on an expedition among a
gang of men known as the "Diamond Makers" who were hidden in the
Rocky Mountains. He was accompanied by Mr. Barcoe Jenks, one of the
castaways of Earthquake Island. They found the diamond makers, and
had some surprising adventures, barely escaping with their lives.

This did not daunt Tom, however, and he once more started off on an
expedition in his airship the Red Cloud to Alaska, amid the caves of
ice. He was searching for a valley of gold, and though he and his
friends found it, they came to grief. The Fogers, father and son,
tried to steal the gold from them, and, failing in that, incited the
Eskimos against our friends. There was a battle, but the forces of
nature were even more to be dreaded than the terrible savages.

The ice cave, in which the Red Cloud was stored, collapsed, crushing
the gallant craft, and burying it out of sight forever under
thousand of tons of the frozen bergs.

After a desperate journey Tom and his friends reached civilization,
with a large supply of gold. Tom regretted very much the destruction
of the airship, but he at once set to work on another--a monoplane
this time, instead of a combined aeroplane and dirigible balloon.
This new craft he called the Humming Bird and it was a "sky racer"
of terrific speed. In it, as we have said, Tom brought a specialist
to operate on his father, when, because of a broken railroad bridge,
the physician could not otherwise have gotten to Shopton. He and Tom
traveled through the air at the rate of over one hundred miles an
hour. Later, Tom took part in a big race for a ten-thousand-dollar
prize, and won, defeating Andy Foger, and a number of well-known
"bird-men" who used biplanes and monoplanes of a more or less
familiar type.

The government became interested in Tom's craft, the Humming Bird,
and, as told in the ninth book of this series, Tom Swift and His Sky
Racer, they secured some rights in the invention.

And now Tom, who had done nothing for several months following the
great race--that is, nothing save to work on his new rifle--Tom, we
say, sighed for new adventures.

"Well, Tom, what is on your mind?" asked his father at the supper
table that evening. "What is worrying you?"

"Nothing is worrying me, Dad."

"You are thinking of something. I can see that. Are you afraid your
electric rifle won't work as well as you hope, when Ned comes over
to try it?"

"No, it isn't that, Dad. But I may as well tell you, I guess. I've
been reading in the paper about a big elephant hunt in Africa, and
I--"

"That's enough, Tom! You needn't say any more," interrupted Mr.
Swift. "I can see which way the wind is blowing. You want to go to
Africa with your new rifle."

"Well, Dad, not exactly--that is--"

"Now, Tom, you needn't deny it," and Mr. Swift laughed. "Well, I
don't blame you a bit. You have been rather idle of late."

"I would like to go, Dad," admitted the young inventor, "only I'd
never think of it while you weren't well."

"Don't worry about me, Tom. Of course I will be lonesome while you
are gone, but don't let that stand in the way. If you want to go to
Africa, you may start to-morrow, and take your new rifle with you."

"The rifle part would be all right, Dad, but if I went I'd want to
take an airship along, and it will take me some little time to
finish the Black Hawk, as I have named my new craft."

"Well, there's no special hurry, is there?" asked Mr. Swift. "The
elephants in Africa are likely to stay there for some time. If you
want to go, why don't you get right to work on the Black Hawk and
make the trip? I'd like to go myself."

"I wish you would, Dad," exclaimed Tom eagerly.

"No, son, I couldn't think of it. I want to stay here and get well.
Then I am going to resume work on my wireless motor. Perhaps I'll
have it finished when you come back from Africa with an airship load
of elephants' tusks."

"Perhaps," admitted the young inventor. "Well, Dad, I'll think of
it. But now I'm going after my rifle, and--"

Tom was interrupted by a ring of the front-door bell, and Mrs.
Baggert, the housekeeper, who was almost like a mother to the youth,
went to answer it.

"It's Ned Newton, I guess," murmured Tom, and, a little later, his
chum entered the room.

"Oh, I guess I'm early," said Ned. "Haven't you had supper yet,
Tom'"

"Yes, we're just finished. Come on out and we'll try the gun."

"And practice shooting elephants," added Mr. Swift with a laugh, as
he mentioned to Ned the latest idea of Tom.

"Say! That would he great!" cried the bank clerk. "I wish I could
go!"

"Come along!" invited Tom cordially. "We'll have more fun than we
did in the caves of ice," for Ned had gone on the voyage to Alaska.

The two youths went out to the shed where the rifle gallery had been
built. The new electric weapon was out there, and Eradicate Sampson,
the colored man, who was a sort of servant and man-of-all-work about
the Swift household, had set up the scarecrow figure at the end of
the gallery.

"Now we'll try some shots," said Tom, as he took the gun out of the
case. "Just turn on a few more lights, will you, Mr. Jackson," and
the engineer, who was employed by Tom and his father to aid them in
their inventive work, did as requested.

The gallery was now brilliantly illuminated, with the reflectors
throwing the beams on the big stuffed figure, which, save for a
face, looked very much like a human being, standing at the end of
the gallery.

"I don't suppose you want to go down there and hold it, while I
shoot at it; do you, Rad?" asked Tom jokingly, as he prepared the
electric rifle for use.

"No indeedy, I don't!" cried Eradicate. "Yo'-all will hab t' scuse
me, Massa Tom. I think I'll be goin' now."

"What's your hurry?" asked Ned, as he saw the colored man hastily
preparing to leave the improvised gallery.

"I spects I'd better fro' down some mo' straw fo' a bed fo' my mule
Boomerang!" exclaimed Eradicate, as he hastily slid out of the door,
and shut it after him.

"Rad is nervous," remarked Tom. "He doesn't like this gun. Well, it
certainly does great execution."

"How does it work'" asked Ned, as he looked at the curious gun. The
electric weapon was not unlike an ordinary heavy rifle in appearance
save that the barrel was a little longer, and the stock larger in
every way. There were also a number of wheels, levers, gears and
gages on the stock.

"It works by electricity," explained Tom.

"That is, the force comes from a powerful current of stored
electricity."

"Oh, then you have storage batteries in the stock?"

"Not exactly. There are no batteries, but the current is a sort of
wireless kind. It is stored in a cylinder, just as compressed air or
gases are stored, and can be released as I need it."

"And when it's all gone, what do you do?"

"Make more power by means of a small dynamo."

"And does it shoot lead bullets?"

"Not at all. There are no bullets used."

"Then how does it kill?"

"By means of a concentrated charge of electricity which is shot from
the barrel with great force. You can't see it, yet it is there. It's
just as if you concentrated a charge of electricity of five thousand
volts into a small globule the size of a bullet. That flies through
space, strikes the object aimed at and--well, we'll see what it does
in a minute. Mr. Jackson, just put that steel plate up in front of
the scarecrow; will you?"

The engineer proceeded to put into place a section of steel armor-
plate before the stuffed figure.

"You don't mean to say you're going to shoot through that, do you?"
asked Ned in surprise.

"Surely. The electric bullets will pierce anything. They'll go
through a brick wall as easily as the x-rays do. That's one valuable
feature of my rifle. You don't have to see the object you aim at. In
fact you can fire through a house, and kill something on the other
side."

"I should think that would be dangerous."

"It would be, only I can calculate exactly, by means of an automatic
arrangement, just how far the charge of electricity will go. It
stops short just at the limit of the range, and is not effective
beyond that. Otherwise, if I did not limit it and if I fired at the
scarecrow, through the piece of steel, and the bullet hit the
figure, it would go on, passing through whatever else was in the
way, until its power was lost. I use the term 'bullet,' though as I
said, it isn't properly one."

"By Jove, Tom, it certainly is a dangerous weapon!"

"Yes, the range-limit idea is a new one. That's what I've been
working on lately. There are other features of the gun which I'll
explain later, particularly the power it has to shoot out luminous
bars of light. But now we'll see what it will do to the image."

Tom took his place at the end of the range, and began to adjust some
valves and levers. In spite of the fact that the gun was larger than
an ordinary rifle, it was not as heavy as the United States Army
weapon.

Tom aimed at the armor-plate, and, by means of an arrangement on the
rifle, he could tell exactly when he was pointing at the scarecrow,
even though he could not see it.

"Here she goes!" he suddenly exclaimed.

Ned watched his chum. The young inventor pressed a small button at
the side of the rifle barrel, about where the trigger should have
been. There was no sound, no smoke, no flame and not the slightest
jar.

Yet as Ned watched he saw the steel plate move slightly. The next
instant the scarecrow figure seemed to fly all to pieces. There was
a shower of straw, rags and old clothes, which fell in a shapeless
heap at the end of the range.

"Say. I guess you did for that fellow, all right!" exclaimed Ned.

"It looks so," admitted Tom, with a note of pride in his voice. "Now
we'll try another test."

As he laid aside his rifle in order to help Mr. Jackson shift the
steel plate there was a series of yells outside the shed.

"What's that?" asked Tom, in some alarm.

"Sounds like some one calling," answered Ned.

"It is," agreed Mr. Jackson. "Perhaps Eradicate's mule has gotten
loose. I guess we'd better--"

He did not finish, for the shouts increased in volume, and Tom and
Ned could hear some one yelling:

"I'll have the law on you for this! I'll have you arrested, Tom
Swift! What do you mean by trying to kill me? Where are you? Don't
try to hide away, now. You were trying to shoot me, and I'm not
going to have it!"

Some one pounded on the door of the shed.

"It's Barney Moker!" exclaimed Tom. "I wonder what can have
happened?"




CHAPTER III

A DIFFICULT TEST


Tom Swift opened the door of the improvised rifle gallery and looked
out. By the light of a full moon, which shone down from a cloudless
sky, he saw a man standing at the portal. The man's face was
distorted with rage, and he shook his fist at the young inventor.

"What do you mean by shooting at me?" he demanded. "What do you
mean, I say? The idea of scaring honest folks out of their wits, and
making 'em think the end of the world has come! What do you mean by
it? Why don't you answer me? I say, Tom Swift, why don't you answer
me?"

"Because you don't give me a chance, Mr. Moker," replied our hero.

"I want to know why you shot at me? I demand to know!" and Mr.
Moker, who was a sort of miserly town character, living all alone in
a small house, just beyond Tom's home, again shook his fist almost
in the lad's face. "Why don't you tell me? Why don't you tell me?"
he shouted.

"I will, if you give me a chance!" fairly exploded Tom. "If you can
be cool for five minutes, and come inside and tell me what happened
I'll be glad to answer any of your questions, Mr. Moker. I didn't
shoot at you."

"Yes, you did! You tried to shoot a hole through me!"

"Tell me about it?" suggested Tom, as the excited man calmed down
somewhat. "Are you hurt?"

"No, but it isn't your fault that I'm not. You tried hard enough to
hurt me. Here I am, sitting at my table reading, and, all at once
something goes through the side of the house, whizzes past my ear,
makes my hair fairly stand up on end, and goes outside the other
side of the house. What kind of bullets do you use, Tom Swift?
that's what I want to know. They went through the side of my house,
and never left a mark. I demand to know what kind they are."

"I'll tell you, if you'll only give me a chance," went on Tom
wearily. "How do you know it was me shooting?"

"How do I know? Why, doesn't the end of this shooting gallery of
yours point right at my house? Of course it does; you can't deny
it!"

Tom did not attempt to, and Mr. Moker went on:

"Now what do you mean by it?"

"If any of the bullets from my electric gun went near you, it was a
mistake, and I'm sorry for it," said Tom.

"Well, they did, all right," declared the excited man. "They went
right past my ear."

"I don't see how they could," declared Tom. "I was trying my new
electric rifle, but I had the limit set for two hundred feet, the
length of the gallery. That is, the electrical discharge couldn't go
beyond that distance."

"I don't know what it was, but it went through the side of my house
all the same," insisted Mr. Moker. "It didn't make a hole, but it
scorched the wall paper a little."

"I don't see how it could," declared Tom. "It couldn't possibly have
gone over two hundred feet with the gage set for that distance." He
paused suddenly, and hurried over to where he had placed his gun.
Catching up the weapon he looked at the gage dial. Then he uttered
an exclamation.

"I'm sorry to admit that you are right, Mr. Moker!" he said finally.
"I made a mistake. The gage is set for a thousand feet instead of
two hundred. I forgot to change it. The charge, after passing
through the steel plate, and the scarecrow figure, destroying the
latter, went on, and shot through the side of your house."

"Ha! I knew you were trying to shoot me!" exclaimed the still angry
man. "I'll have the law on you for this!"

"Oh, that's all nonsense!" broke in Ned Newton "Everybody knows Tom
Smith wouldn't try to shoot you, or any one else, Mr. Moker."

"Then why did he shoot at me?"

"That was a mistake," explained Tom, "and I apologize to you for
it."

"Humph! A lot of good that would do me, if I'd been killed!"
muttered the miser. "I'm going to sue you for this. You might have
put me in my grave."

"Impossible!" exclaimed Tom.

"Why impossible?" demanded the visitor.

"Because I had so set the rifle that almost the entire force of the
electrical bullet was expended in blowing apart the scarecrow figure
I made for a test," explained Tom. "All that passed through your
house was a small charge, and, if it HAD hit you there would have
been no more than a little shock, such as you would feel in taking
hold of an electric battery."

"How do I know this?" asked the man cunningly. "You say so, but for
all I know you may have wanted to kill me."

"Why?" asked Tom, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, so you might get some of my money. Of course I ain't got none,"
the miser went on quickly, "but folks thinks I've got a lot, and I
have to be on the lookout all the while, or they'd murder me for
it."

"I wouldn't," declared the young inventor. "It was a mistake. Only
part of the spent charge passed near you. Why, if it had been a
powerful charge you would never have been able to come over here. I
set the main charge to go off inside the scarecrow, and it did so,
as you can see by looking at what's left of it," and he pointed to
the pile of clothes and rags.

"How do I know this?" insisted the miser with a leer at the two
lads.

"Because if the charge had gone off either before or after it passed
through the figure, it would not have caused such havoc of the cloth
and straw," explained Tom. "First the charge would have destroyed
the steel plate, which it passed through without even denting it.
Why, look here, I will now fire the rifle at short range, and set it
to destroy the plate. See what happens."

He quickly adjusted the weapon, and aimed it at the plate, which,
had again been set up on the range. This time Tom was careful to set
the gage so that even a small part of the spent. charge would not go
outside the gallery.

The young inventor pressed the button, and instantly the heavy steel
plate was bent, torn and twisted as though a small sized cannon ball
had gone through it.

"That's what the rifle will do at short range," said Tom. "Don't
worry, Mr. Moker, you didn't have a narrow escape. You were in no
danger at all, though I apologize for the fright I caused you."

"Humph! That's an easy way to get out of it!" exclaimed the miser.
"I believe I could sue you for damages, anyhow. Look at my scorched
wall paper."

"Oh, I'll pay for that," said Tom quickly, for he did not wish to
have trouble with the unpleasant man. "Will ten dollars be enough?"
He knew that the whole room could be repapered for that, and he did
not believe the wall-covering was sufficiently damaged for such work
to be necessary.

"Well, if you'll make it twelve dollars, I won't say anything more
about it," agreed the miser craftily, "though it's worth thirteen
dollars, if it is a penny. Give me twelve dollars, Tom Swift, and I
won't prosecute you."

"All right, twelve dollars it shall be," responded the young
inventor, passing over the money, and glad to be rid of the
unpleasant character.

"And after this, just fire that gun of yours the other way,"
suggested Mr. Moker as he went out, carefully folding the bills
which Tom had handed him.

"Hum! that was rather queer," remarked Ned, after a pause.

"It sure was," agreed his chum. "This rifle will do more than I
thought it would. I'll have to be more careful. I was sure I set the
gage for two hundred feet. I'll have to invent some automatic
attachment to prevent it being discharged when the gage is set
wrong." Let us state here that Tom did this, and never had another
accident.

"Well, does this end the test?" asked Ned.

"No, indeed. I want you to try it, while I look on," spoke Tom. "We
haven't any more stuffed figures to fire at, but I'll set up some
targets. Come on, try your luck at a shot."

"I'm afraid I might disturb Mr. Moker, or some of the neighbors."

"No danger. I've got it adjusted right now. Come on, see if you can
shatter this steel target," and Tom set up a small one at the end of
the range.

Then, having properly fixed the weapon, Tom handed it to his chum,
and, taking his place in a protected part of the gallery, prepared
to watch the effect of the shot.

"Let her go!" cried Tom, and Ned pressed the button.

The effect was wonderful. Though there was no noise, smoke nor
flame, the steel plate seemed to crumple up, and collapse as if it
had been melted in the fire. There was a jagged hole through the
center, but some frail boards back of it were not even splintered.

"Good shot!" cried Tom enthusiastically. "I had the distance gage
right that time."

"You sure did," agreed Ned. "The electric bullet stopped as soon as
it did its work on the plate. What's next?"

"I'm going to try a difficult test," explained Tom. "You know I said
the gun would shoot luminous charges?" "Yes."

"Well, I'm going to try that, now. I wish we had another image to
shoot at, but I'll take a big dry-goods box, and make believe it's
an elephant. Now, this is going to be a hard test, such as we'd meet
with, if we were hunting in Africa. I want you to help me."

"What am I to do?" asked Ned.

"I want you to go outside," explained Tom, "set up a dry-goods box
against the side of the little hill back of the shed, and not tell
me where you put it. Then I'll go out, and, by means of the luminous
charge, I'll locate the box, set the distance gage, and destroy it."

"Well, you can see it anyhow, in the moonlight," objected Ned.

"No, the moon is under a cloud now," explained Tom, looking out of a
window. "It's quite dark, and will give me just the test I want for
my new electric rifle."

"But won't it be dangerous, firing in the dark? Suppose you misjudge
the distance, and the bullet, or charge, files off and hits some
one?"

"It can't. I'll set the distance gage before I shoot. But if I
should happen to make a mistake the charge will go into the side of
the hill, and spend itself there. There is no danger. Go ahead, and
set up the box, and then come and tell me. Mr. Jackson will help
you."

Ned and the engineer left the gallery. As Tom had, said, it was very
dark now, and if Tom could see in the night to hit a box some
distance away, his weapon would be all that he claimed for it.

"This will do," said the engineer, as he pointed to a box, one of
several piled up outside the shed. The two could hardly see to make
their way along, carrying it to the foot of the hill, and they
stumbled several times. But at last it was in position, and then Ned
departed to call Tom, and have him try the difficult test--that of
hitting an object in the dark.




CHAPTER IV

BIG TUSKS WANTED


"Well, are you all ready for me?" asked the young inventor, as he
took up his curious weapon, and followed Ned out into the yard. It
was so dark that they had fairly to stumble along.

"Yes, we're ready," answered Ned. "And you'll be a good one, Tom, if
you do this stunt. Now stand here, "he went on, as he indicated a
place as well as he could in the dark. The box is somewhere in that
direction," and he waved his hand vaguely. "I'm not going to tell
you any more, and let's see you find it.

"Oh, I will, all right--or, rather, my electric rifle will,"
asserted Tom.

The inventor of the curious and terrible weapon took his position.
Behind him stood Ned and Mr. Jackson, and just before Tom was ready
to fire, his father came stalking through the darkness, calling to
them.

"Are you there, Tom?"

"Yes Dad, is anything the matter?"

"No, but I thought I'd like to see what luck you have. Rad was
saying you were going to have a test in the dark."

"I'm about ready for it," replied Tom. "I'm going to blow up a box
that I can't see. You know how it's done, Dad, for you helped me in
perfecting the luminous charge, but it's going to be something of a
novelty to the others. Here we go, now!"

Tom raised his rifle, and aimed it in the dark. Ned Newton,
straining his eyes to see, was sure the young inventor was pointing
the gun at least twenty feet to one side of where the box was
located, but he said nothing, for from experiences in the past, he
realized that Tom knew what he was doing.

There was a little clicking sound, as the youth moved some gear
wheel on his gun. Then there came a faint crackling noise, like some
distant wireless apparatus beginning to flash a message through
space.

Suddenly a little ball of purplish light shot through the darkness
and sped forward like some miniature meteor. It shed a curious
illuminating glow all about, and the ground, and the objects on it
were brought into relief as by a lightning flash.

An instant later the light increased in intensity, and seemed to
burst like some piece of aerial fireworks. There was a bright glare,
in which Ned and the others could see the various buildings about
the shed. They could see each other's faces, and they looked pale
and ghastly in the queer glow. They could see the box, brought into
bold relief, where Ned and the engineer had placed it.

Then, before the light had died away, they witnessed a curious
sight. The heavy wooden box seemed to dissolve, to collapse and to
crumple up like one of paper, and ere the last rays of the
illuminating bullet faded, the watchers saw the splinters of wood
fall back with a clatter in a little heap on the spot where the dry-
goods case had been.

A silence followed, and the darkness was all the blacker by contrast
with the intense light. At length Tom spoke, and he could not keep
from his voice a note of triumph.

"Well, did I do it?" he asked.

"You sure did!" exclaimed Ned heartily.

"Fine!" cried Mr. Swift.

"Golly! I wouldn't gib much fo' de hide ob any burglar what comed
around heah!" muttered Eradicate Sampson. "Dat box am knocked clean
into nuffiness, Massa Tom."

"That's what I wanted to do," explained the lad. "And I guess this
will end the test for tonight."

"But I don't exactly understand it," spoke Ned, as they all moved
toward the Swift home, Eradicate going to the stable to see how his
mule was. "Do you have two kinds of bullets, Tom, one for night and
one for the daytime?"

"No," answered Tom, "there is only one kind of bullet, and, as I
have said, that isn't a bullet at all. That is, you can't see it, or
handle it, but you can feel it. Strictly speaking, it is a
concentrated discharge of wireless electricity directed against a
certain object. You can't see it any more than you can see a
lightning bolt, though that is sometimes visible as a ball of fire.
My electric rifle bullets are similar to a discharge of lightning,
except that they are invisible."

"But we saw the one just now," objected Ned.

"No, you didn't see the bullet," said Tom.

"You saw the illuminating flash which I send out just before I fire,
to reveal the object I am to hit. That is another part of my rifle
and is only used at night."

"You see I shoot out a ball of electrical fire which will disclose
the target, or the enemy at whom I am firing. As soon as that is
discharged the rifle automatically gets ready to shoot the electric
charge, and I have only to press the proper button, and the
'bullet,' as I call it, follows on the heels of the ball of light.
Do you see?"

"Perfectly," exclaimed Ned with a laugh. "What a gun that would be
for hunting, since most all wild beasts come out only at night."

"That was one object in making this invention," said Tom. "I only
hope I get a chance to use it now."

"I thought you were going to Africa after elephants," spoke Mr.
Swift.

"Well, I did think of it." admitted Tom, "but I haven't made any
definite plans. But come into the house, Ned. and I'll show you more
in detail how my rifle works."

Thereupon the two chums spent some time going into the mysteries of
the new weapon. Mr. Swift and Mr. Jackson were also much interested,
for, though they had seen the gun previously and had helped Tom
perfect it, they had not yet tired of discussing its merits.

Ned stayed quite late that night, and promised to come over the next
day, and watch Tom do some more shooting.

"I'll show you how to use it, too," promised the young inventor, and
he was as good as his word, initiating Ned into the mysteries of the
electric rifle, and showing him to store the charges of death-
dealing electricity in the queer-looking stock.

For a week after that Tom and Ned practiced with the terrible gun,
taking care not to have any more mishaps like the one that had
marked the first night. They were both good shots with ordinary
weapons and it was not long before they had equaled their record
with the new instrument.

It was one warm afternoon, when Tom was out in the meadow at one
side of his house, practicing with his rifle on some big boxes he
had set up for targets, that he saw an elderly man standing close to
the fence watching him. When Tom blew to pieces a particularly large
packing-case, standing a long distance away from it, the stranger
called to the youth.

"I beg your pardon," he said, "but is that a dynamite gun you are
using?"

"No, it's an electric rifle," was the answer.

"Would you mind telling me something about it?" went on the elderly
man, and as Tom's weapon was now fully protected by patents, the
young inventor cordially invited the stranger to come nearer and see
how it worked.

"That's the greatest thing I ever saw!" exclaimed the man
enthusiastically when Tom had blown up another box, and had told of
the illumination for night firing. "The most wonderful weapon I ever
heard of! What a gun it would be in my business."

"What is your trade?" asked Tom curiously, for he had noted that the
man, while aged, was rugged and hearty, and his skin was tanned a
leathery brown, showing that he was much in the open air.

"I'm a hunter," was the reply, "a hunter of big game, principally
elephants, hippos and rhinoceroses. I've just finished a season in
Africa, and I'm going back there again soon. I came on to New York
to get a new elephant gun. I've got a sister living over in
Waterford, and I've been visiting her. I went out for a stroll to-
day, and I came farther than I intended. That's how I happened to be
passing here."

"A sister in Waterford, eh?" mused Tom, wondering whether the
elephant hunter had met Mr. Damon. "And how soon are you going hack
to Africa, Mr.--er--" and Tom hesitated.

"Durban is my name, Alexander Durban," said the old man. "Why, I am
to start back in a few weeks. I've got an order for a pair of big
elephant tusks--the largest I can get for a wealthy New York man,--
and I'm anxious to fulfil the contract. The game isn't what it once
was. There's more competition and the elephants are scarcer. So I've
got to hustle."

"I got me a new gun. but my! it's nothing to what yours is. With
that weapon I could do about as I pleased. I could do night hunting,
which is hard in the African jungle. Then I wouldn't have any
trouble getting the big tusks I'm after. I could get a pair of them,
and live easy the rest of my life. Yes, I wouldn't ask anything
better than a gun like yours. But I s'pose they cost like the
mischief?" He looked a question at Tom.

"This is the only one there is," was the lad's answer. "But I am
very glad to have met you, Mr. Durban. Won't you come into the
house? I'm sure my father will be glad to see you, and I have
something I'd like to talk to you about," and Tom, with many wild
ideas in his head, led the old elephant hunter toward the house.

The dream of the young inventor might come true after all.




CHAPTER V

RUSH WORK


Mr. Swift made the African hunter warmly welcome, and listened with
pride to the words of praise Mr. Durban bestowed on Tom regarding
the rifle.

"Yes, my boy has certainly done wonders along the inventive line,"
said Mr. Swift.

"Not half as much as you have, Dad," interrupted the lad, for Tom
was a modest youth.

"You should see his sky racer," went on the old inventor.

"Sky racer? What's that?" asked Mr. Durban. "Is it another kind of
gun or cannon?"

"It's an aeroplane--an airship," explained Mr. Swift.

"An airship!" exclaimed the old elephant hunter. "Say, you don't
mean that you make balloons, do you?"

"Well, they're not exactly balloons," replied Tom, as he briefly
explained what an aeroplane was, for Mr. Durban, having been in the
wilds of the jungle so much, had had very little chance to see the
wonders and progress of civilization.

"They are better than balloons," went on Tom, "for they can go where
you want them to."

"Say! That's the very thing!" cried the old hunter enthusiastically.
"If there's one thing more than another that is needed in hunting in
Africa it's an airship. The travel through the jungle is something
fierce, and that, more than anything else, interferes with my work.
I can't cover ground enough, and when I do get on the track of a
herd of elephants, and they get away, it's sometimes a week before I
can catch up to them again."

"For, in spite of their size, elephants can travel very fast, and
once they get on the go, nothing can stop them. An airship would be
the very thing to hunt elephants with in Africa--an airship and this
electric rifle. I wonder why you haven't thought of going, Tom
Swift."

"I have thought of it," answered the young inventor, "and that's why
I asked you in. I want to talk about it."

"Do you mean you want to go?" demanded the old man eagerly.

"I certainly do!"

"Then I'm your man! Say, Tom Swift, I'd be proud to have you go to
Africa with me. I'd be proud to have you a member of my hunting
party, and, though I don't like to boast, still if you'll ask any of
the big-game people they'll tell you that not every one can
accompany Aleck Durban."

Tom realized that he was speaking to an authority and a most
desirable companion, should he go to Africa, and he was very glad of
the chance that had made him acquainted with the veteran hunter.

"Will you go with me?" asked Mr. Durban. "You and your electric gun
and your airship? Will you come to Africa to hunt elephants, and
help me get the big tusks I'm after?"

"I will!" exclaimed Tom.

"Then we'll start at once. There's no need of delaying here any
longer."

"Oh, but I haven't an airship ready," said the young inventor. The
face of the old hunter expressed his disappointment.

"Then we'll have to give up the scheme," he said ruefully.

"Not at all," Tom told him. "I have all the material on hand for
building a new airship. I have had it in mind for some time, and I
have done some work on it. I stopped it to perfect my electric
rifle, but, now that is done, I'll tackle the Black Hawk again, and
rush that to completion."-

"The Black Hawk?" repeated Mr. Durban, wonderingly.

"Yes, that's what I will name my new craft. The RED CLOUD was
destroyed, and so I thought I'd change the color this time, and
avoid bad luck."

"Good!" exclaimed the hunter. "When do you think you can have it
finished?"

"Oh, possibly in a month--perhaps sooner, and then we will go to
Africa and hunt elephants!"

"Bless my ivory paper cutter!" exclaimed a voice in the hall just
outside the library. "Bless my fingernails! But who's talking about
going to Africa?"

The old hunter looked at Tom and his father in surprise, but the
young inventor laughing and going to the door, called out:

"Come on in, Mr. Damon. I didn't hear you ring. There is some one
here from your town."

"Is it my wife?" asked the odd gentleman who was always blessing
something. "She said she was going to her mother's to spend a few
weeks, and so I thought I'd come over here and see if you had
anything new on the program. The first thing I hear is that you are
going to Africa. And so there's some one from Waterford in there,
eh? Is it my wife?"

"No," answered Tom with another laugh. "Come on in Mr. Damon."

"Bless my toothpick!" exclaimed the odd gentleman, as he saw the
grizzled elephant hunter sitting between Tom and Mr. Swift. "I have
seen you somewhere before, my dear sir."

"Yes," admitted Mr. Durban, "if you're from Waterford you have
probably seen me traveling about the streets there. I'm stopping
with my sister, Mrs. Douglass, but I can't stand it to be in the
house much, so I'm out of doors, wandering about a good bit of the
time. I miss my jungle. But we'll soon be in Africa, Tom Swift and
me."

"Is it possible, Tom?" asked Mr. Damon. "Bless my diamond mines! but
what are you going to do next?"

"It's hard to say," was the answer. "But you came just in time. Mr.
Damon. I'm going to rush work on the Black Hawk, my newest airship,
and we'll leave for elephant land inside of a month, taking my new
electric rifle along. Will you come"

"Bless my penknife! I never thought of such a thing. I--I--guess--
no, I don't know about it--yes, I'll go!" he suddenly exclaimed.
"I'll, go! Hurrah for the elephants!" and he jumped up and shook
hands in turn with Mr. Durban, to whom he had been formally
introduced, and with Tom and Mr. Swift.

"Then it's all settled but the details," declared the youth, "and
now I'll call in Mr. Jackson, and we'll talk about how soon we can
have the airship ready."

"My, but you folks are almost as speedy as a herd of the big
elephants themselves!" exclaimed Mr. Durban, and with the advent of
the engineer the talk turned to things mechanical among Tom and Mr.
Jackson and Mr. Damon, while Mr. Durban told Mr. Swift hunting
stories which the old inventor greatly enjoyed.

The next day Tom engaged two machinists who had worked for him
building airships before, and in the next week rush work began on
the new Black Hawk. Meanwhile Mr. Durban was a frequent visitor at
Tom's home, where he learned to use the new rifle, declaring it was
even more wonderful than he had at first supposed.

"That will get the elephants!" he exclaimed. It did, as you shall
soon learn, and it also was the means of saving several lives in the
wilds of the African jungle.




CHAPTER VI

NEWS FROM ANDY


Tom Swift's former airship, the Red Cloud, had been such a fine
craft, and had done such good service that he thought, in building a
successor, that he could do no better than to follow the design of
the skyship which had been destroyed in the ice caves. But, on
talking with the old elephant hunter, and learning something of the
peculiarities of the African jungle the young inventor decided on
certain changes.

In general the Black Hawk would be on the lines of the Red Cloud but
it would be smaller and lighter and would also be capable of swifter
motion.

"You want it so that it will rise and descend quickly and at sharp
angles," said Mr. Durban.

"Why," inquired Tom.

"Because in Africa, at least in the part where we will go, there are
wide patches of jungle and forest, with here and there big open
places. If you are skimming along close to the ground, in an open
place, in pursuit of a herd of elephants and they should suddenly
plunge into the forest, you would want to be able to rise above the
trees quickly."

"That's so," admitted Tom. "Then I'll have to use a smaller gas bag
than we had on the other ship, for the air resistance to that big
one made us go slowly at times."

"Will it be as safe with a small bag?" Mr. Damon wanted to know.

"Yes, for I will use a more powerful gas, so that we will be more
quickly lifted," said the young inventor. "I will also retain the
aeroplane feature, so that the Black Hawk will be a combined biplane
and dirigible balloon. But it will have many new features. I have
the plans all drawn for a new style of gas generating apparatus, and
I think it can be made in time."

There were busy days about the Swift home. Mrs. Baggert, the
housekeeper, was in despair. She said the good meals she got ready
were wasted, because no one would come to table when they were
ready. She would ring the bell, and announce that dinner would be
served in five minutes.

Then Tom would shout from his workshop that he could not leave until
he had inserted a certain lever in place. Mr. Jackson would
positively decline to sit down until he had screwed fast some part
of a machine. Even Mr. Swift, who, because of his recent illness,
was not allowed to do much, would often delay his meal to test some
new style of gears.

As for Mr. Damon, it was to be expected that he would be eccentric
as he always was. He was not an expert mechanic, but he knew
something of machinery and was of considerable help to Tom in the
rush work on the airship. He would hear the dinner bell ring, and
would exclaim:

"Bless my napkin ring! I can't come now. I have to fix up this
electrical register first."

And so it would go. Eradicate and Boomerang, his mule, were the only
ones who ate regularly, and they always insisted on stopping at
exactly twelve o'clock to partake of the noonday meal.

"'Cause ef I didn't," explained the colored man, "dat contrary mule
ob mine would lay down in de dust ob de road an' not move a step,
lessen' he got his oats. So dat's why we has t' eat, him an' me."

"Well, I'm glad there's some one who's got sense," murmured Mrs.
Baggert. Eradicate and Boomerang were of great service in the
hurried work that followed, for the colored man in his cart brought
from town, or from the freight depot, many things that Tom needed.

The young inventor was very enthusiastic about his proposed trip,
and at night, after a hard day's work in the shop, he would read
books on African hunting, or he would sit and listen to the stories
told by Mr. Durban. And the latter knew how to tell hunting tales,
for he had been long in his dangerous calling, and had had many
narrow escapes.

"And there are other dangers than from elephants and wild beasts in
Africa," he said.

"Bless my toothbrush!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "Do you mean cannibals,
Mr. Durban?"

"Some cannibals," was the reply. "but they're not the worst. I mean
the red pygmies. I hope we don't get into their clutches."

"Red pygmies!" repeated Tom, wonderingly.

"Yes, they're a tribe of little creatures, about three feet high,
covered with thick reddish hair, who live in the central part of
Africa, near some of the best elephant-hunting ground. They are
wild, savage and ferocious, and what they lack individually in
strength, they make up in numbers. They're like little red apes, and
woe betide the unlucky hunter who falls into their merciless hands.
They treat him worse than the cannibals do."

"Then we'll look out for them," said Tom. "But I fancy my electric
rifle will make them give us a wide berth."

"It's a great gun," admitted the old hunter with a shake of his
head, "but those red pygmies are terrible creatures. I hope we don't
get them on our trail. But tell me, Tom, how are you coming on with
the airship? for I don't know much about mechanics, and to me it
looks as if it would never be put together. I's like one of those
queer puzzles I've seen 'em selling in the streets of London."

"Oh, it's nearer ready than it looks to be," said Tom. "We'll have
it assembled, and ready for a trial in about two weeks more."

Work on the Black Hawk was rushed more than ever in the next few
days, another extra machinist being engaged. Then the craft began to
assume shape and form, and with the gas bag partly inflated and the
big planes stretching out from either side, it began to look
something like the ill-fated Red Cloud.

"It's going to be a fine ship!" cried Tom enthusiastically, one day,
as he went to the far side of the ship to get a perspective view of
it. "We'll make good time in this."

"Are you going to sail all the way to Africa--across the ocean--in
her?" asked Mr. Durban, in somewhat apprehensive tones.

"Oh, no," replied Tom. "I believe she would be capable of taking us
across the ocean, but there is no need of running any unnecessary
risks. I want to get her safely to Africa, and have her do stunts in
elephant land."

"Then what are your plans?" asked the hunter.

"We'll put her together here," said Tom, "give her a good try-out to
see that she works well, and then pack her up for shipment to the
African coast by steamer. We'll go on the same ship, and when we
arrive we'll put the Black Hawk together again, and set sail for the
interior."

"Good idea," commented Mr. Durban. "Now, if you've no objections,
I'm going to do a little practice with the electric rifle."

"Go ahead," assented Tom. "There comes Ned Newton; he'll be glad of
a chance for a few shots while I work on this new propeller motor.
It just doesn't suit me."

The bank clerk, who had arranged to go to Africa with Tom, was seen
advancing toward the aeroplane shed. In his hand Ned held a paper,
and as he saw Tom he called out:

"Have you heard the news?"

"What news?" inquired the young inventor.

"About Andy Foger. He and his aeroplane are lost!"

"Lost!" cried Tom, for in spite of the mean way the bully had
treated him our hero did not wish him any harm.

"Well, not exactly lost," went on Ned, as he held out the paper to
Tom, "but he and his sky-craft have disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"Yes. You know he and that German, Mr. Landbacher, went over to
Europe to give some aviation exhibitions. Well, I see by this paper
that they went to Egypt, and were doing a high-flying stunt there,
when a gale sprang up, they lost control of the aeroplane and it was
swept out of sight."

"In which direction; out to sea?"

"No, toward the interior of Africa."

"Toward the interior of Africa!" cried Tom. "And that's where we're
going in a couple of weeks. Andy in Africa!"

"'Maybe we'll see him there," suggested Ned.

"Well, I certainly hope we do not!" exclaimed Tom, as he turned back
to his work, with an undefinable sense of fear in his heart.




CHAPTER VII

THE BLACK HAWK FLIES


It was with no little surprise that the news of the plight that was
said to have befallen Andy Foger was received by Tom and his
associates. The newspaper had quite an account of the affair, and,
even allowing the usual discount for the press dispatches, it looked
as if the former bully was in rather distressing circumstances.

"He won't have to be carried very far into Africa to be in a bad
country," said the old hunter. "Of course, some parts of the
continent are all right, and for me, I like it all, where there's
hunting to be had. But I guess your young friend Foger won't care
for it."

"He's no friend of ours." declared Ned, as Tom was reading the
newspaper account. "Still, I don't wish him any bad luck, and I do
hope he doesn't become the captive of the red pygmies."

"So do I," echoed the old hunter fervently. There was no news of
Andy in the papers the next day, though there were cable dispatches
speculating on what might have happened to him and the airship. In
Shopton the dispatches created no little comment, and it was said
that Mr. Foger was going to start for Africa at once to rescue his
son. This, however, could not he confirmed.

Meanwhile Tom and his friends were very busy over the Black Hawk.
Every hour saw the craft nearer completion, for the young inventor
had had much experience in this sort of work now, and knew just how
to proceed.

To Mr. Damon were intrusted certain things which he could well
attend to, and though he frequently stopped to bless his necktie or
his shoelaces, still he got along fairly well.

There would be no necessity of purchasing supplies in this country,
for they could get all they needed in the African city of Majumba,
on the western coast, where they planned to land. There the airship
would be put together, stocked with provisions and supplies, and
they would begin their journey inland. They planned to head for Buka
Meala, crossing the Congo River, and then go into the very interior
of the heart of the dark continent.

As we have described in detail, in the former books of this series,
the construction of Tom Swift's airship, the Red Cloud, and as the
Black Hawk was made in a similar manner to that, we will devote but
brief space to it now. As the story proceeds, and the need arises
for a description of certain features, we will give them to you, so
that you will have a clear idea of what a wonderful craft it was.

Sufficient to say that there was a gas bag, made of a light but
strong material, and capable of holding enough vapor, of a new and
secret composition, to lift the airship with its load. This was the
dirigible-balloon feature of the craft, and with the two powerful
propellers, fore and aft (in which particular the Black Hawk
differed from the Red Cloud which had two forward propellers);--with
these two powerful wooden screws, as we have said, the new ship
could travel swiftly without depending on the wing planes.

But as there is always a possibility of the gas bag being punctured,
or the vapor suddenly escaping from one cause or another, Tom did
not depend on this alone to keep his craft afloat. It was a perfect
aeroplane, and with the gas bag entirely empty could be sent
scudding along at any height desired. To enable it to rise by means
of the wings, however, it was necessary to start it in motion along
the ground, and for this purpose wheels were provided.

There was a large body or car to the craft, suspended from beneath
the gas bag, and in this car were the cabins, the living, sleeping
and eating apartments, the storerooms and the engine compartment.

This last was a marvel of skill, for it contained besides the gas
machine, and the motor for working the propellers, dynamos, gages,
and instruments for telling the speed and height, motors for doing
various pieces of work, levers, wheels, cogs, gears, tanks for
storing the lifting gas, and other features of interest.

There were several staterooms for the use of the young captain and
the passengers, an observation and steering tower, a living-room,
where they could all assemble as the ship was sailing through the
air, and a completely equipped kitchen.

This last was Mr. Damon's special pride, as he was a sort of cook,
and he liked nothing better than to get up a meal when the craft was
two or three miles high, and scudding along at seventy-five miles an
hour.

In addition there were to be taken along many scientific
instruments, weapons of defense and offense, in addition to the
electric rifle, and various other objects which will be spoken of in
due time.

"Well," remarked Tom Swift one afternoon, following a hard day's
work in the shop, "I think, if all goes well, and we have good
weather, I'll give the Black Hawk a trial tomorrow."

"Do you think it will fly?" asked Ned.

"There is no telling," was the answer of the young inventor. "These
things are more or less guesswork, even when you make two exactly
alike. As far as I can tell, we have now a better craft than the Red
Cloud was, but it remains to be seen how she will behave."

They worked late that night, putting the finishing touches on the
Black Hawk, and in the morning the new airship was wheeled out of
the shed, and placed on the level starting ground, ready for the
trial flight.

Only the bare machinery was in her, as yet, and the gas bag had not
been inflated as Tom wanted to try the plane feature first. But the
vapor machine was all ready to start generating the gas whenever it
was needed. Nor was the Black Hawk painted and decorated as she
would be when ready to be sent to Africa. On the whole, she looked
rather crude as she rested there on the bicycle wheels, awaiting the
starting of the big propellers. As the stores and supplies were not
yet in, Tom took aboard, in addition to Mr. Damon, Ned, his father,
Mr. Jackson and Mr. Durban, some bags of sand to represent the extra
weight that would have to be carried.

"If she'll rise with this load she'll do," announced the young
inventor, as he went carefully over the craft, looking to see that
everything was in shape.

"If she does rise it will be a new experience for me," spoke the old
elephant hunter. "I've never been in an airship before. It doesn't
seem possible that we can get up in the air with this machine."

"Maybe we won't," spoke Tom, who was always a little diffident about
a new piece of machinery.

"Well, if it doesn't do it the first time, it will the second, or
the fifty-second," declared Ned Newton. "Tom Swift doesn't give up
until he succeeds."

"Stop it! You'll make me blush!" cried the Black Hawk's owner as he
tried the different gages and levers to see that they were all
right.

After what seemed like a long time he gave the word for those who
were to make the trial trip to take their places. They did so, and
then, with Mr. Jackson, Tom went to the engine room. There was a
little delay, due to the fact that some adjustment was necessary on
the main motor. But at last it was fixed.

"Are you all ready?" called Tom.

"All ready," answered Mr. Damon. The old elephant hunter sat in a
chair, nervously gripping the arms, and with a grim look on his
tanned face. Mr. Swift was cool, as Ned, for they had made many
trips in the air. Outside were Eradicate Sampson and Mrs. Baggert.

"Here we go!" suddenly cried Tom, and he yanked over the lever that
started the main motor and propellers. The Black Hawk trembled
throughout her entire length. She shivered and shook. Faster and
faster whirled the great wooden screws. The motor hummed and
throbbed.

Slowly the Black Hawk moved across the ground. Then she gathered
speed. Now she was fairly rushing over the level space. Tom Swift
tilted the elevation rudder, and with a suddenness that was
startling, at least to the old elephant hunter, the new airship shot
upward on a steep, slant.

"The Black Hawk flies!" yelled Ned Newton. "Now for elephant land
and the big tusks!"

"Yes, and perhaps for the red pygmies, too," added Tom in a low
voice. Then he gave his whole attention to the management of his new
machine, which was rapidly mounting upward, with a speed rivalling
that of his former big craft.




CHAPTER VIII

OFF FOR AFRICA


Higher and higher went the Black Hawk, far above the earth, until
the old elephant hunter, looking down, said in a voice which he
tried to make calm and collected, but which trembled in spite of
himself:

"Of course I'm not an expert at this game, Tom Swift, but it looks
to me as if we'd never get down. Don't you think we're high enough?"

"For the time being, yes," answered the young inventor. "I didn't
think she'd climb so far without the use of the gas. She's doing
well."

"Bless my topknot, yes!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "She beats the Red
Cloud, Tom. Try her on a straight-away course."

Which the youth did, pointing the nose of the craft along parallel
to the surface of the earth, and nearly a mile above it. Then,
increasing the speed of the motor, and with the big propellers
humming, they made fast time.

The old elephant hunter grew more calm as he saw that the airship
did not show any inclination to fall, and he noted that Tom and the
others not only knew how to manage it, but took their fight as much
a matter of course as if they were in an automobile skimming along
on the surface of the ground.

Tom put his craft through a number of evolutions, and when he found
that she was in perfect control as an aeroplane, he started the gas
machine, filled the big black bag overhead, and, when it was
sufficiently buoyant, he shut off the motor, and the Black Hawk
floated along like a balloon.

"That's what we'll do if our power happens to give out when we get
over an African jungle, with a whole lot of wild elephants down
below, and a forest full of the red pygmies waiting for us,"
explained Tom to Mr. Durban.

"And I guess you'll need to do it, too," answered the hunter. "I
don't know which I fear worse, the bad elephants wild with rage, as
they get some times, or the little red men who are as strong as
gorillas, and as savage as wolves. It would be all up with us if we
got into their hands. But I think this airship will be just what we
need in Africa. I'd have been able to get out of many a tight place
if I had had one on my last trip."

While the Black Hawk hung thus, up the air, not moving, save as the
wind blew her, Tom with his father and Mr. Jackson made an
inspection of the machinery to find out whether it had been strained
any. They found that it had worked perfectly, and soon the craft was
in motion again, her nose this time being pointed toward the earth.
Tom let out some of the gas, and soon the airship was on the ground
in front of the shed she had so recently left.

"She's all right," decided the young inventor after a careful
inspection. "I'll give her a couple more trials, put on the
finishing touches and then we'll be ready for our trip to Africa.
Have you got everything arranged to go, Ned?"

"Sure. I have a leave of absence from the bank, thanks to your
father and Mr. Damon, most of my clothes are packed, I've bought a
gun and I've got a lot of quinine in case I get a fever."

"Good!" cried the elephant hunter. "You'll do all right, I reckon.
I'm glad I met you young fellows. Well, I've lived through my first
trip in the air, which is more than I expected when I started."

They discussed their plans at some length, for, now that the airship
had proved all that they had hoped for, it would not be long ere
they were under way. In the days that followed Tom put the finishing
touches on the craft, arranged to have it packed up for shipment,
and spent some time practicing with his electric rifle. He got to be
an expert shot, and Mr. Durban, who was a wonder with the ordinary
rifle, praised the young inventor highly.

"There won't many of the big tuskers get away from you, Tom Swift,"
he said. "And that reminds me, I got a letter the other day, from
the firm I collect ivory for, stating that the price had risen
because of a scarcity, and urging me to hurry back to Africa and get
all I could. It seems that war has broken out among some of the
central African tribes, and they are journeying about in the jungle,
on the war path here and there, and have driven the elephants into
the very deepest wilds, where the ordinary hunters can't get at
them."

"Maybe we won't have any luck, either," suggested Ned.

"Oh, yes, we will," declared the hunter. "With our airship, the
worst forest of the dark continent won't have any terrors for us,
for we can float above it. And the fights of the natives won't have
any effect. In a way, this will be a good thing, for with the price
of ivory soaring, we can make more money than otherwise. There's a
chance for us all to get a lot of money."

"Bless my piano keys!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "if I can get just one
elephant, and pull out his big ivory teeth, I'll be satisfied. I
want a nice pair of tusks to set up on either side of my fireplace
for ornaments."

"A mighty queer place for such-like ornaments," said Mr. Durban in a
low voice. Then he added: "Well, the sooner we get started the
better I'll like it, for I want to get that pair of big tusks for a
special customer of mine."

"I'll give the Black Hawk one more trial flight, and then take her
apart and ship her," decided Tom, and the final flight, a most
successful one, took place the following day.

Then came another busy season when the airship was taken apart for
shipment to the coast of Africa by steamer. It was put into big
boxes and crates, and Eradicate and his mule took them to the
station in Shopton.

"Don't you want to come to Africa with us, Rad?" asked Tom, when the
last of the cases had been sent off. "You'll find a lot of your
friends there."

"No, indeedy, I doan't want t' go," answered the colored man,
"though I would like to see dat country."

"Then why don't you come?"

"Hu! Yo' think, Massa Tom, dat I go anywhere dat I might meet dem
little red men what Massa Durban talk about? No, sah, dey might hurt
mah mule Boomerang."

"Oh, I wasn't going to take the mule along," said Tom, wondering how
the creature might behave in the airship.

"Not take Boomerang? Den I SUTTINLY ain't goin," and Eradicate
walked off, highly offended, to give some oats to his faithful if
somewhat eccentric steed.

After the airship had been sent off there yet remained much for Tom
Swift to do. He had to send along a number of special tools and
appliances with which to put the ship together again, and also some
with which to repair the craft in case of accident. So that this
time was pretty well occupied. But at length everything was in
readiness, and with his electric rifle knocked down for
transportation, and with his baggage, and that of the others, all
packed, they set off one morning to take the train for New York,
where they would get a steamer for Africa.

Numerous good-bys had been said, and Tom had made a farewell call on
Mary Nestor, promising to bring her some trophy from elephant land,
though he did not quite know what it would be.

Mr. Damon, as the train started, blessed everything he could think
of. Mr. Swift waved his hand and wished his son and the others good
luck, feeling a little lonesome that he could not make one of the
party. Ned was eager with excitement, and anticipation of what lay
before him. Tom Swift was thinking of what he could accomplish with
his electric rifle, and of the wonderful sights he would see, and,
as for the old elephant hunter, he was very glad to be on the move
again, after so many weeks of idleness, for he was a very active
man.

Their journey to New York was uneventful, and they found that the
parts of the airship had safely arrived, and had been taken aboard
the steamer. The little party went aboard themselves, after a day
spent in sight-seeing, and that afternoon the Soudalar, which was
the vessel's name, steamed away from the dock at high tide.

"Off for Africa!" exclaimed Tom to Ned, as they stood at the rail,
watching the usual crowd wave farewells. "Off for Africa, Ned."

As Tom spoke, a gentleman who had been standing near him and his
chum, vigorously waving his hand to some one on the pier, turned
quickly. He looked sharply at the young inventor for a moment, and
then exclaimed:

"Well, if it isn't Tom Swift! Did I hear you say you were going to
Africa?"

Tom looked at the gentleman with rather a puzzled air for a moment.
The face was vaguely familiar, but Tom could not recall where he had
seen it. Then it came to him in a flash.

"Mr. Floyd Anderson!" exclaimed our hero. "Mr. Anderson of--"

"Earthquake Island!" exclaimed the gentleman quickly, as he extended
his hand. "I guess you remember that place, Tom Swift."

"Indeed I do. And to think of meeting you again, and on this African
steamer," and Tom's mind went back to the perilous days when his
wireless message had saved the castaways of Earthquake Island, among
whom were Mr. Anderson and his wife.

"Did I hear you say you were going to Africa?" asked Mr. Anderson,
when he had been introduced to Ned, and the others in Tom's party.

"That's where we're bound for," answered the lad. "We are going to
elephant land. But where are you going, Mr. Anderson?"

"Also to Africa, but not on a trip for pleasure or profit like
yourselves. I have been commissioned by a missionary society to
rescue two of its workers from the heart of the dark continent."

"Rescue two missionaries?" exclaimed Tom, wonderingly.

"Yes, a gentleman and his wife, who, it is reported, have fallen
into the hands of a race known as the red pygmies, who hold them
captives!"




CHAPTER IX

ATTACKED BY A WHALE


Surprise at Mr. Anderson's announcement held Tom silent for a
moment. That the gentleman whom he had been the means of rescuing,
among others, from Earthquake Island, should be met with so
unexpectedly, was quite a coincidence, but when it developed that he
was bound to the same part of the African continent as were Tom and
his friends, and when he said he hoped to rescue some missionaries
from the very red pygmies so feared by the old elephant hunter--this
was enough to startle any one.

"I see that my announcement has astonished you," said Mr. Anderson,
as he noted the look of surprise on the face of the young inventor.

"It certainly has! Why, that's where we are bound for, in my new
airship. Come down into our cabin, Mr. Anderson, and tell us all
about it. Is your wife with you?"

"No, it is too dangerous a journey on which to take her. I have
little hope of succeeding, for it is now some time since the
unfortunate missionaries were captured, but I am going to do my
best, and organize a relief expedition when I get to Africa."

Tom said nothing at that moment, but he made up his mind that if it
was at all possible he would lend his aid, that of his airship, and
also get his friends to assist Mr. Anderson. They went below to a
special cabin that had been reserved for Tom's party, and there, as
the ship slowly passed down New York Bay, Mr. Anderson told his
story.

"I mentioned to you, when we were on Earthquake Island," he said to
Tom, "that I had been in Africa, and had done some hunting. That is
not my calling, as it is that of your friend, Mr. Durban, but I know
the country pretty well. However, I have not been there in some
time."

"My wife and I are connected with a church in New York that, several
years ago, raised a fund and sent two missionaries, Mr. and Mrs.
Jacob Illingway, to the heart of Africa. They built up a little
mission there, and for a time all went well, and they did good work
among the natives."

"They are established in a tribe of friendly black men, of simple
nature, and, while the natives did not become Christianized to any
remarkable extent, yet they were kind to the missionaries. Mr. and
Mrs. Illingway used frequently to write to members of our church,
telling of their work. They also mentioned the fact that adjoining
the country of the friendly blacks there was a tribe of fierce
little red men,--red because of hair of that color all over their
bodies."

"That's right," agreed Mr. Durban, shaking his head solemnly.
"They're red imps, too!"

"Mr. Illingway often mentioned in his letters," went on Mr.
Anderson, "that there were frequent fights between the pygmies and
the race of blacks, but the latter had no great fear of their small
enemies. However, it seems that they did not take proper
precautions, for not long ago there was a great battle, the blacks
were attacked by a large force of the red pygmies, who overwhelmed
them by numbers, and finally routed them, taking possession of their
country."

"What became of the missionaries?" asked Ned Newton.

"I'll tell you," said Mr. Anderson. "For a long time we heard
nothing, beyond the mere news of the fight, which we read of in the
papers. The church people were very anxious about the fate of Mr.
and Mrs. Illingway, and were talking of sending a special messenger
to inquire about them, when a cablegram came from the headquarters
of the society in London."

"It seems that one of the black natives, named Tomba, who was a sort
of house servant to Mr. and Mrs. Illingway, escaped the general
massacre, in which all his friends were killed. He made his way
through the jungle to a white settlement, and told his story,
relating how the two missionaries had been carried away captive by
the pygmies."

"A terrible fate," commented Mr. Durban.

"Yes, they might better be dead, from all the accounts we can hear,"
went on Mr. Anderson.

"Bless my Sunday hat! Don't say that!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "Maybe
we can save them, Mr. Anderson."

"That is what I am going to try to do, though it may be too late. As
soon as definite news was received, our church held a meeting,
raised a fund, and decided to send me off to find Mr. and Mrs.
Illingway, if alive, or give them decent burial, if I could locate
their bones. The reason they selected me was because I had been in
Africa, and knew the country."

"I made hurried arrangements, packed up, said good-by to my wife,
and here I am. But to think of meeting you, Tom Swift! And to hear
that you are also going to Africa. I wish I could command an airship
for the rescue. It might be more easily accomplished!"

"That's just what I was going to propose!" exclaimed Tom. "We are
going to the land of the red pygmies, and while I have promised to
help Mr. Durban in getting ivory, and while I want to try my
electric rifle on big game, still we can do both, I think. You can
depend on us, Mr. Anderson, and if the Black Hawk can be of any
service to you in the rescue, count us in!"

"Gosh!" cried the former castaway of Earthquake Island. "This is the
best piece of luck I could have! Now tell me all about your plans."
which Tom and the others did, listening in turn, to further details
about the missionaries.

Just how they would go to work to effect the rescue, or how they
could locate the particular tribe of little red men who had Mr. and
Mrs. Illingway, they did not know.

"We may be able to get hold of this Tomba," said Mr. Durban. "If not
I guess between Mr. Anderson and myself we can get on the trail,
somehow. I'm anxious to get to the coast, see the airship put
together again, and start for the interior."

"So am I," declared Tom, as he got out his electric rifle, and began
to put it together, for he wanted to show Mr. Anderson how it
worked.

They had a pleasant and uneventful voyage for two weeks. The weather
was good, and, to tell the truth, it was rather monotonous for Torn
and the others, who were eager to get into activity again. Then came
a storm, which, while it was not dangerous, yet gave them plenty to
think and talk about for three days. Then came more calm weather,
when the Soudalar plowed along over gently heaving billows.

They were about a week from their port of destination, which vas
Majumba, on the African coast, when, one afternoon, as Tom and the
others were in their cabin, they heard a series of shouts on deck,
and the sound of many feet running to and fro.

"Something has happened!" exclaimed the young inventor.

Tom raced for the companionway, and was soon on deck, followed by
Mr. Durban and the others. They saw a crowd of sailors and
passengers leaning over the port rail.

"What's the matter?" asked Tom, of the second mate, who was just
passing.

"Fight between a killer and a whale," was the reply. "The captain
has ordered the ship to lay-to so it can be watched."

Tom made his way to the rail. About a quarter of a mile away there
could be observed a great commotion in the ocean. Great bodies
seemed to be threshing about, beating the water to foam, and, with
the foam could be seen bright blood mingled. Occasionally two jets
of water, as from some small fountain, would shoot upward.

"He's blowing hard!" exclaimed one of the sailors. "I guess he's
about done for!"

"Which one?" asked Tom.

"The whale," was the reply. "The killer has the best of the big
fellow," and the sailor quickly explained how the smaller killer
fish, by the peculiarity of its attack, and its great ferocity,
often bested its larger antagonist.

The battle was now at its height, and Tom and the others were
interested spectators. At times neither of the big creatures could
be seen, because of the smother of foam in which they rolled and
threshed about. The whale endeavored to sound, or go to the bottom,
but the killer stuck to him relentlessly.

Suddenly, however, as Tom looked, the whale, by a stroke of his
broad tail, momentarily stunned his antagonist. Instantly realizing
that he was free the great creature, which was about ninety feet
long, darted away, swimming on the surface of the water, for he
needed to get all the air possible.

Quickly acquiring momentum, the whale came on like a locomotive,
spouting at intervals, the vapor from the blowholes looking not
unlike steam from some submarine boat.

"He looks to be heading this way," remarked Mr. Durban to Tom.

"He is," agreed the young inventor, "but I guess he'll dive before
he gets here. He only wants to get away from the killer. Look, the
other one is swimming this way, too!"

"Bless my harpoon, but he sure is!" called Mr. Damon. "They'll renew
the fight near here."

But he was mistaken, for the killer, after coming a little distance
after the whale, suddenly turned, hesitated for a moment, and then
disappeared in the depths of the ocean.

The whale, however, continued to come on, speeding through the water
with powerful strokes. There was an uneasy movement among some of
the passengers.

"Suppose he strikes the ship," suggested one woman.

"Nonsense! He couldn't," said her husband.

"The old man had better get under way, just the same," remarked a
sailor near Tom, as he looked up at the bridge where the captain was
standing.

The "old man," or commander, evidently thought the same thing, for,
after a glance at the oncoming leviathan, which was still headed
directly for the vessel, he shoved the lever of the telegraph signal
over to "full speed ahead."

Hardly had he done so than the whale sank from sight.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" exclaimed the woman who had first spoken of the
possibility of the whale hitting the ship, "I am afraid of those
terrible creatures."

"They're as harmless as a cow, unless they get angry," said her
husband.

Slowly the great ship began to move through the water. Tom and his
friends were about to go back to their cabin, for they thought the
excitement over, when, as the young inventor turned from the rail,
he felt a vibration throughout the whole length of the steamer, as
if it had hit on a sand-bar.

Instantly there was a jangling of bells in the engine room, and the
Soudalar lost headway.

"What's the matter?" asked several persons.

They were answered a moment later, for the big whale, even though
grievously wounded in his fight with the killer, had risen not a
hundred feet away from the ship, and was coming toward it with the
speed of an express train.

"Bless my blubber!" cried Mr. Damon. "We must have hit the whale, or
it hit us under the water and now it's going to attack us!"

He had no more than gotten the words out of his mouth ere the great
creature of the deep came on full tilt at the vessel, struck it a
terrific blow which made it tremble from stem to stern, and careen
violently.

There was a chorus of frightened cries, sailors rushed to and fro,
the engine-room bells rang violently, and the captain and mates
shouted hoarse orders.

"Here he comes again!" yelled Mr. Durban, as he hurried to the side
of the ship. "The whale takes us for an enemy, I guess. and he's
going to ram us again!"

"And if he does it many times, he'll start the plates and cause a
leak that won't be stopped in a hurry!" cried a sailor as he rushed
past Tom.

The young inventor looked at the oncoming monster for a moment, and
then started on the run for his cabin.

"Here! Where are you going?" cried Mr. Damon, but Tom did not
answer.




CHAPTER X

OFF IN THE AIRSHIP


As Tom Swift hurried down the companionway he again felt the ship
careen as the whale struck it a powerful blow, and he was almost
knocked off his feet. But he kept on.

Below he found some frightened men and women, a number of whom were
adjusting life preservers about them, under the impression that the
ship had struck a rock and was going down. They had not been up on
deck, and did not know of the battle between the killer and the
whale, nor what followed.

"Oh, I know we're sinking!" cried one timid woman. "What has
happened?" she appealed to Tom.

"It will be all right in a little while," he assured her.

"But what is it? I want to know. Have we had a collision."

"Yes, with a whale," replied Tom, as he grabbed up something from
his stateroom, and again rushed up on deck. As he reached it the
whale came on once more, and struck the ship another terrific blow.
Then the monster sank and could be seen swimming back, just under
the surface of the water, getting ready to renew the attack.

"He's going to ram us again!" cried Mr. Damon. "Bless my machine
oil! Why doesn't the captain do something?"

At that moment the commander cried from the bridge:

"Send a man below, Mr. Laster, to see if we are making any water.
Then tell half a dozen of the sailors to get out the rifles, and see
if they can't kill the beast. He'll put us in Davy Jones's locker if
he keeps this up! Lively now, men!"

The first mate, Mr. Laster, called out the order. A sailor went
below to see if the ship was leaking much, and the captain rang for
full speed ahead. But the Soudalar was slow in getting under way
again, and, even at top speed she was no match for the whale, which
was again rushing toward the vessel.

"Quick with those rifles!" cried the captain. "Fire a volley into
the beast!"

"There's no need!" suddenly called Mr. Damon, who had caught sight
of Tom Swift, and the object which the lad carried.

"No need?" demanded the commander. "Why, has the whale sunk, or made
off?"

"No," answered the eccentric man, "the whale is still coming on, but
Tom Swift will fix him. Get there, Tom, and let him have a good
one!"

"What sort of a gun is that?" demanded the commander as the young
inventor took his place at the rail, which was now almost deserted.

Tom did not answer. Bracing himself against the rolling and heaving
of the vessel, which was now under about half speed, Tom aimed his
electric rifle at the oncoming leviathan. He looked at the automatic
gage, noted the distance and waiting a moment until the crest of a
wave in front of the whale had subsided, he pressed the button.

If those watching him expected to hear a loud report, and see a
flash of flame, they were disappointed. There was absolutely no
sound, but what happened to the whale was most surprising.

The great animal stopped short amid a swirl of foam, and the next
instant it seemed to disintegrate. It went all to pieces, just as
had the dummy figure which Tom on one occasion fired at with his
rifle and as had the big packing-cases. The whale appeared to
dissolve, as does a lump of sugar in a cup of hot tea, and, five
seconds after Tom Swift had fired his electric gun, there was not a
sign of the monster save a little blood on the calm sea.

"What--what happened?" asked the captain in bewilderment. "Is--is
that monster gone?"

"Completely gone!" cried Mr. Damon. "Bless my powder horn, Tom, but
I knew you could do it!"

"Is that a new kind of whale gun, firing an explosive bullet?"
inquired the commander, as he came down off the bridge and shook
hands with Tom. "If it is, I'd like to buy one. We may be rammed
again by another whale."

"This is my new, electric rifle," explained the young inventor
modestly, "and it fires wireless charges of electricity instead of
bullets. I'm sorry I can't let you have it, as it's the only one I
have. But I guess no more whales will ram us. That one was evidently
crazed by the attack of the killer, and doubtless took us for
another of its enemies."

Sailors and passengers crowded around Tom, eager to shake his hand,
and to hear about the gun. Many declared that he had saved the ship.

This was hardly true, for the whale could not have kept up its
attacks much longer. Still he might have done serious damage, by
causing a leak, and, while the Soudalar was a stanch craft, with
many water-tight compartments, still no captain likes to be a week
from land with a bad leak, especially if a storm comes up. Then,
too, there was the danger of a panic among the passengers, had the
attacks been kept up, so, though Tom wanted to make light of his
feat, the others would not let him.

"You're entitled to the thanks of all on board," declared Captain
Wendon, "and I'll see that the owners hear of what you did. Well, I
guess we can go on, now. I'll not stop again to see a fight between
a killer and a whale."

The steamer resumed her way at full speed, and the sailor, who had
gone below, came up to report that there was only a slight leak,
which need not cause any uneasiness.

Little was talked of for the next few days but the killing of the
whale, and Tom had to give several exhibitions of his electric
rifle, and explain its workings. Then, too, the story of his
expedition became known, and also the object of Mr. Anderson's
quest, and Tom's offer of aid to help rescue the missionaries, so
that, altogether, our hero was made much of during the remainder of
the voyage.

"Well, if your gun will do that to a whale, what will it do to an
elephant?" asked Mr. Durban one morning, when they were within a
day's steaming of their port. "I'm afraid it's almost too strong,
Tom. It will leave nothing--not even the tusks to pick up."

"Oh, I can regulate the power," declared the lad. "I used full force
on the whale, just to see what it would do. It was the first tine
I'd tried it on anything alive. I can so regulate the charge that it
will kill even an elephant, and leave scarcely a mark on the beast."

"I'd like to see it done," remarked the old. hunter.

"I'll show you, if we sight any sharks," promised Tom. He was able
to keep his word for that afternoon a school of the ugly fish
followed the steamer for the sake of the food scraps thrown
overboard. Tom took his position in the stern, and gave an
exhibition of shooting with his electric gun that satisfied even Mr.
Durban, exacting as he was.

For the lad, by using his heaviest charges, destroyed the largest
sharks so that they seemed to instantly disappear in the water, and
from that he toned down the current until he could kill some of the
monsters so easily and quickly that they seemed to float motionless
on the surface, yet there was no life left in them once the electric
charge touched them.

"We'll use the light charges when we're killing elephants for their
tusks," said Tom, "and the heavy ones when we're in danger from a
rush of the beasts."

He little knew how soon he would have to put his plan into effect.

They arrived safely at Majumba, the African coast city, and for two
days Tom was kept busy superintending the unloading of the parts of
his airship. But it was safely taken ashore, and he and his friends
hired a disused warehouse in which to work at reassembling the Black
Hawk.

Tom had everything down to a system, and, in less than a week the
aircraft was once more ready to be sent aloft. It was given a try-
out, much to the astonishment of the natives, and worked perfectly.
Then Tom and his friends busied themselves laying in a stock of
provisions and stores for the trip into the interior.

They made inquiries about the chances of getting ivory and were told
that they were good if they went far enough into the jungle and
forests, for the big beasts had penetrated farther and farther
inland.

They also tried to get some news regarding the captive missionaries,
but were unsuccessful nor could they learn what had become of Tomba,
who had brought the dire news to civilization.

"It's too soon to hope for anything yet," said Mr. Anderson. "Wait
until we get near the country of the red pygmies."

"And then it may be too late," said Tom in a low voice.

It was two weeks after their arrival in Majumba that Tom announced
that all was in readiness. The airship was in perfect working order,
it was well stocked with food, arms, articles and trinkets with
which to trade among the natives, spare parts for the machinery,
special tools and a good supply of the chemicals needed to
manufacture the lifting gas.

Of course Tom did not leave behind his electric weapon and Mr.
Durban and the others took plenty of ammunition for the ordinary
rifles which they carried.

One morning, after cabling to his father that they were about to
start, Tom gave a last careful look to his airship, tested the motor
and dynamos, took a hasty survey of the storeroom, to see that
nothing had been forgotten, and gave the word to get aboard.

They took their places in the cabin. Outside a crowd of natives, and
white traders of many nationalities had gathered. Tom pulled the
starting lever. The Black Hawk shot across a specially prepared
starting ground, and, attaining sufficient momentum, suddenly arose
into the air.

There was a cheer from the watching crowd, and several superstitious
blacks, who saw the airship for the first time, ran away in terror.

Up into the blue atmosphere Tom took his craft. He looked down on
the city over which he was flying. Then he pointed the prow of the
Black Hawk toward the heart of the dark continent.

"Off for the interior!" he murmured. "I wonder if we'll ever get out
again?"

No one could answer. They had to take their chances with the dangers
and terrors of elephant land, and with the red pygmies. Yet Tom
Swift was not afraid.




CHAPTER XI

ANCHORED TO EARTH


With the voyage on the steamer, their arrival in Africa, the many
strange sights of the city of Majumba, and the refitting of the
airship, our friends had hardly had time to catch their breath since
Tom Swift's determination to go elephant hunting. Now, as the Black
Hawk was speeding into the interior, they felt, for the first time
in many weeks, that they "could take it easy," as Ned Newton
expressed it.

"Thank goodness," said the bank clerk, "I can sit down and look at
something for a while," and he gazed out of the main cabin windows
down at the wild country over which they were then flying.

For, so swiftly had the airship moved that it was hardly any time at
all before it had left Majumba far behind, and was scudding over the
wilderness.

"Bless my camera," exclaimed Mr. Damon, who had brought along one of
the picture machines, "bless my camera! I don't call that much to
look at," and he pointed to the almost impenetrable forest over
which they then were.

"No, it isn't much of a view," said the old elephant hunter, "but
wait. You'll soon see all you want to. Africa isn't all like this.
There are many strange sights before us yet. But, Tom Swift, tell us
how the airship is working in this climate. Do you find any
difficulty managing it?"

"Not at all," answered Tom, who was in the cabin then, having set
the automatic steering apparatus in the pilot house, and come back
to join the others. "It works as well as it did in good old York
State. Of course I can't tell what affect the continual hot and
moist air will have on the gas bag, but I guess we'll make out all
right."

"I certainly hope so," put in Mr. Anderson. "It would be too bad to
be wrecked in the middle of Africa, with no way to get out."

"Oh, you needn't worry about that," said Ned with a laugh. "If the
airship should smash, Tom would build another out of what was left,
and we'd sail away as good as before."

"Hardly that," answered the young inventor.

"But we won't cross a bridge until we hear it coming, as Eradicate
would say. Hello, that looks like some sort of native village."

He pointed ahead to a little clearing in the forest, where a number
of mud and grass huts were scattered about. As they came nearer they
could see the black savages, naked save for a loin cloth, running
about in great excitement, and pointing upward.

"Yes, that's one of the numerous small native villages we'll see
from now on," said Mr. Durban. "Many a night have I spent in those
same grass huts after a day's hunting. Sometimes, I've been
comfortable, and again not. I guess we've given those fellows a
scare."

It did seem so, for by this time the whole population, including
women and children, were running about like mad. Suddenly, from
below there sounded a deep booming noise, which came plainly to the
ears of the elephant hunters through the opened windows of the
airship cabin.

"Hark! What's that?" cried Tom, raising his hand for silence.

"Bless my umbrella! it sounds like thunder," said Mr. Damon.

"No, it's one of their war drums," explained Mr. Durban. "The
natives make large ones out of hollow trees, with animal skins
stretched over the ends, and they beat them to sound a warning, or
before going into battle. It makes a great noise."

"Do you think they want to fight us?" asked Ned, looking anxiously
at Tom, and then toward where his rifle stood in a corner of the
cabin.

"No, probably that drum was beaten by some of the native priests,"
explained the hunter. "The natives are very superstitious, and
likely they took us for an evil spirit, and wanted to drive us
away."

"Then we'll hustle along out of their sight," said Tom, as he went
to the pilot house to increase the speed of the airship, for he had
been letting it drift along slowly to enable the adventurers to view
the country over which they were passing. A few minutes later, under
the increased force of the machinery, the Black Hawk left the native
village, and the crowd of frightened blacks, far behind.

The travelers passed over a succession of wild stretches of forest
or jungle, high above big grassy plains, over low but rugged
mountain ranges, and big rivers. Now and then they would cross some
lake, on the calm surface of which could be made out natives, in big
canoes, hollowed out from trees. In each case the blacks showed
every appearance of fright at the sight of the airship throbbing
along over their heads.

On passing over the lake, Ned Newton looked down and cried out
excitedly:

"Look! Elephants! They're in swimming, and the natives are shooting
them! Now's our chance, Tom!"

Mr. Anderson and Mr. Durban, after a quick glance, drew back
laughing.

"Those are hippopotami!" exclaimed the old elephant man. "Good
hunting, if you don't care what you shoot, but not much sport in it.
It will be some time yet before we see any elephants, boys."

Ned was rather chagrined at his mistake, but the African travelers
told him that any one, not familiar with the country, would have
made it, especially in looking down from a great height.

They sailed along about half a mile above the earth, Tom gradually
increasing the speed of the ship, as he found the machinery to be
working well. Dinner was served as they were crossing a high grassy
plateau, over which could be seen bounding a number of antelopes.

"Some of those would go good for a meal," said Mr. Durban, after a
pause during which he watched the graceful creatures.

"Then we'll go down and get some for supper," decided Tom, for in
that hot climate it was impossible to carry fresh meat on the
airship.

Accordingly, the Black Hawk was sent down, and came to rest in a
natural clearing on the edge of the jungle. After waiting until the
fierce heat of noonday was over, the travelers got out their rifles
and, under the leadership of Mr. Durban and Mr. Anderson, who was
also an experienced hunter, they set off.

Game was plentiful, but as they could only eat a comparatively small
quantity, and as it would not keep, they only shot what they needed.
Tom had his electric rifle, but hesitated to use it, as Mr. Durban
and Mr. Anderson had each already bowled over a fine buck.

However, a chance came most unexpectedly, for, as they were passing
along the banks of a little stream, which was almost hidden from
view by thick weeds and rank grass, there was a sudden commotion in
the bushes, and a fierce wild buffalo sprang out at the party.

There are few animals in Africa more dreaded by hunters than the
wild buffalo, for the beast, with its spreading sharp horns is a
formidable foe, and will seldom give up the attack until utterly
unable to move. They are fierce and relentless.

"Look out!" yelled Mr. Durban. "To cover, everybody! If that beast
gets after you it's no fun! You and I will fire at him, Mr. Anderson!"

Mr. Durban raised his rifle, and pulled the trigger, but, for some
reason, the weapon failed to go off. Mr. Anderson quickly raised
his, but his foot slipped in a wet place and he fell. At that moment
the buffalo, with a snort of rage, charged straight for the fallen man.

"Tom! your electric rifle!" yelled Ned Newton, but he need not have
done so, for the young inventor was on the alert.

Taking instant aim, and adjusting his weapon for the heaviest
charge, Tom fired at the advancing beast. The result was the same as
in the case of the whale, the buffalo seemed to melt away. And it
was stopped only just in time, too, for it was close to the
prostrate Mr. Anderson, who had sprained his ankle slightly, and
could not readily rise.

It was all over in a few seconds, but it was a tense time while it
lasted.

"You saved my life again, Tom Swift," said Mr. Anderson, as he
limped toward our hero. "Once on Earthquake Island, and again now. I
shan't forget it," and he shook hands with the young inventor.

The others congratulated Tom on his quick shot, and Mr. Damon, as
usual blessed everything in sight, and the electric rifle
especially.

They went back to the airship, taking the fresh meat with them, but
on account of the injury to Mr. Anderson's ankle could not make
quick progress, so that it was almost dusk when they reached the
craft.

"Well, we'll have supper, and then start off," proposed Tom, "I
don't think it would be wise to remain on the ground so near the
jungle."

"No' it's safer in the air," agreed Mr. Durban. The meal was much
enjoyed, especially the fresh meat, and, after it was over, Tom took
his place in the pilot house to start the machinery, and send the
airship aloft.

The motor hummed and throbbed, and the gas hissed into the bag, for
the ground was not level enough to permit of a running start by
means of the planes. Lights gleamed from the Black Hawk and the big
search-lantern in front cast a dazzling finger of light into the
black forest.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" called Ned, who heard the
machinery in motion, but who could not feel the craft rising. "Why
don't you go up, Tom?"

"I'm trying to," answered the young inventor. "Something seems to be
the matter." He pulled the speed lever over a few more notches, and
increased the power of the gas machine. Still the Black Hawk did not
rise.

"Bless my handkerchief box!" cried Mr. Damon, "what's the matter?"

"I don't know," answered Tom. "We seem to be held fast."

He further increased the speed of the propellers, and the gas
machine was set to make vapor at its fullest capacity, and force it
into the bag. Still the craft was held to the earth.

"Maybe the gas has no effect in this climate," called Ned.

"It can't be that," replied Tom. "The gas will operate anywhere. It
worked all right today."

Suddenly she airship moved up a little way, and then seemed to be
pulled down again, hitting the ground with a bump.

"Something is holding us!" cried Tom. "We're anchored to earth! I
must see what it is!" and, catching up his electric rifle, he dashed
out of the cabin.




CHAPTER XII

AMONG THE NATIVES


For a moment after Tom's departure the others stared blankly at one
another. They could hear the throbbing and hum of the machinery, and
feel the thrill of the anchored airship. But they could not
understand what the trouble was.

"We must help Tom!" cried Ned Newton at length as he caught up his
rifle. "Maybe we are in the midst of a herd of elephants, and they
have hold of the ship in their trunks."

"It couldn't be!" declared Mr. Durban, yet they soon discovered that
Ned's guess was nearer the truth then any of them had suspected at
the time.

"We must help him, true enough!" declared Mr. Anderson, and he and
the others followed Ned out on deck.

"Where are you Tom?" called his chum.

"Here." was the answer. "I'm on the forward deck."

"Do you see anything?"

"No, it's too dark. Turn the search-light this way."

"I will," shouted Mr. Damon, and a moment later the gleam of the
powerful lantern brought Tom clearly into view, as he stood on the
small forward observation platform in the bow of the Black Hawk.

An instant later the young inventor let out a startled cry.

"What is it?" demanded Mr. Durban.

"An immense snake!" shouted Tom. "It's wound around a tree, and
partly twined around the ship! That's why we couldn't go up! I'm
going to shoot it."

They looked to where he pointed, and there, in the glare of the
light, could be seen an immense python, fully twenty-five feet long,
the forward part of its fat ugly body circled around the slender
prow of the airship, while the folds of the tail were about a big
tree.

Tom Swift raised his electric rifle, took quick aim, and, having set
it to deliver a moderate charge, pressed the button. The result was
surprising, for the snake being instantly killed the folds uncoiled
and the ship shot upward, only, instead of rising on an even keel,
the bow pointed toward the sky, while the stern was still fast to
the earth. Tilted at an angle of forty-five degrees the Black Hawk
was in a most peculiar position, and those standing on the deck
began to slide along it.

"There's another snake at the stern!" cried Mr. Damon as he grasped
a brace to prevent falling off. "Bless my slippers! it's the mate of
the one you killed! Shoot the other one, Tom!"

The young inventor needed no urging. Making his way as best he could
to the stern of the airship, he killed the second python, which was
even larger than the first, and in an instant the Black Hawk shot
upward, this time level, and as it should be. Things on board were
soon righted, and the travelers could stand upright. High above the
black jungle rose the craft, moving forward under the full power of
the propellers, until Tom rushed into the engine room, and reduced
speed.

"Well, talk about things happening!" exclaimed Ned, when they had
somewhat recovered from the excitement. "I should say they were
beginning with a vengeance!"

"That's the way in Africa," declared Mr. Durban. "It's a curious
country. Those pythons generally go in pairs, but it's the first
time I ever knew them to tackle an airship. They probably stay
around here where there is plenty of small game for them, and very
likely they merely anchored to our craft while waiting for a supper
to come along."

"It was a very odd thing," said Tom. "I couldn't imagine what held
us. After this I'll see that all is clear before I try to go up.
Next time we may he held by a troop of baboons and it strains the
machinery to have it pull against dead weight in that way."

However, it was found no harm had resulted from this experience,
and, after reducing the gas pressure, which was taking them too
high, Tom set the automatic rudders.

"We'll keep on at slow speed through the night," he explained, "and
in the morning we'll be pretty well into the interior. Then we can
lay our course for wherever we want to go. Where had we better head
for?"

"I don't want to interfere with your plans," said Mr. Anderson, "but
I would like to rescue those missionaries. But the trouble is, I
don't know just where to look for them. We couldn't get much of a
line in Majumba on where the country of the red pygmies is located.
What do you think about it, Mr. Durban?"

"As far as elephant hunting goes we can probably do as well in the
pygmy land as anywhere else," answered the veteran, "and perhaps it
will be well to head for that place. If we run across any elephant
herds in the meanwhile, we can stop, get the ivory, and proceed."

They discussed this plan at some length, and agreed that it was the
best thing to do. Mr. Durban had a map of the country around the
center of Africa, and he marked on it, as nearly as he could, the
location of the pygmies' country, while Mr. Anderson also had a
chart, showing the location of the mission which had been wiped out
of existence. It was in the midst of a wild and desolate region.

"We'll do the best we can," declared Tom, "and I think we'll
succeed. We ought to be there in about a week, if we have no bad
luck."

All that night the Black Hawk flew on over Africa, covering mile
after mile, passing over jungle, forest, plains, rivers and lakes,
and, doubtless, over many native villages, though they could not be
seen.

Morning found the travelers above a great, grassy plain, dotted here
and there with negro settlements which were separated by rivers,
lakes or thin patches of forest.

"Well, we'll speed up a bit," decided Tom after breakfast, which was
eaten to the weird accompaniment of hundreds of native warning-
drums, beaten by the superstitious blacks.

Tom went to the engine room, and turned on more speed. He was about
to go back to the pilot house, to set the automatic steering
apparatus to coincide with the course mapped out, when there was a
crash of metal, an ominous snapping and buzzing sound, followed by a
sudden silence.

"What's that?" cried Ned, who was in the motor compartment with his
chum.

"Something's gone wrong!" exclaimed the young inventor, as he sprang
back toward the engine. The propellers had ceased revolving, and as
there was no gas in the bag at that time, it having been decided to
save the vapor for future needs, the Black Hawk began falling toward
the earth.

"We're going down!" yelled Ned.

"Yes, the main motor has broken!" exclaimed Tom. "We'll have to
descend to repair it."

"Say!" yelled Mr. Damon, rushing in, "we're right over a big African
village! Are we going to fall among the natives?"

"It looks that way," admitted Tom grimly, as he hastened to the
pilot house to shift the wings so that the craft could glide easily
to the ground.

"Bless my shoe blacking!" cried the eccentric man as he heard the
beating of drums, and the shouts of the savages.

A little later the airship had settled into the midst of a crowd of
Africans, who swarmed all about the craft.




CHAPTER XIII

ON AN ELEPHANT TRAIL


"Get ready with your guns, everybody!" cried the old elephant
hunter, as he prepared to leave the cabin of the Black Hawk. "Tom
Swift, don't forget your electric rifle. There'll be trouble soon!"

"Bless my cartridge belt!" gasped Mr. Damon. "Why? What will happen?"

"The natives," answered Mr. Durban. "They'll attack us sure as fate!
See, already they're getting out their bows and arrows, and
blowguns! They'll pierce the gas bag in a hundred places!"

"If they do, it will be a bad thing for us," muttered Tom. "We can't
have that happen."

He followed the old elephant hunter outside, and Mr. Anderson, Ned
Newton and Mr. Damon trailed after, each one with a gun, while Tom
had his electric weapon. The airship rested on its wheels on some
level ground, just in front of a large hut, surrounded by a number
of smaller ones. All about were the natives, tall, gaunt black men,
hideous in their savagery, wearing only the loin cloth, and with
their kinky hair stuck full of sticks, bones and other odd objects
they presented a curious sight.

 Some of them were dancing about, brandishing their weapons--clubs
spears, bows, and arrows, or the long, slender blowguns, consisting
merely of a hollow reed. Women and children there were, too, also
dancing and leaping about, howling at the tops of their voices.
Above the unearthly din could be heard the noise of the drums and
tom-toms, while, as the adventurers drew up in front of their
airship, there came a sort of chant, and a line of natives, dressed
fantastically in the skins of beasts, came filing out of the large
hut.

"The witch-doctors!" exclaimed Tom, who had read of them in African
travel books.

"Are they going to attack us?" cried Ned.

"Bless my hymn book! I hope not!" came from Mr. Damon. "We wouldn't
have any chance at all in this horde of black men. I wish Eradicate
Sampson and his mule Boomerang were here. Maybe he could talk their
language, and tell them that we meant no harm."

"If there's any talking to be done, I guess our guns will have to do
it," said Tom grimly.

"I can speak a little of their language," remarked Mr. Durban, "but
what in the world are the beggars up to, anyhow? I supposed they'd
send a volley of arrows at us, first shot, but they don't seem to be
going to do that."

"No, they're dancing around us," said Tom.

"That's it!" exclaimed Mr. Anderson. "I have it! Why didn't I think
of it before? The natives are welcoming us!"

"Welcoming us?" repeated Ned.

"Yes," went on the missionary seeker. "They are doing a dance in our
honor, and they have even called out the witch-doctors to do us
homage."

"That's right," agreed Mr. Durban, who was listening to the chanting
of the natives dressed in animal skins. "They take us for spirits
from another land, and are making us welcome here. Listen, I'll see
if I can make out what else they are saying."

The character of the shouts and chants changed abruptly, and the
dancing increased in fervor, even the children throwing themselves
wildly about. The witch-doctors ran around like so many maniacs, and
it looked as much like an American Indian war dance as anything
else.

"I've got it!" shouted Mr. Durban, for he had to call loudly to be
heard above the din. "They are asking us to make it rain. It seems
there has been a dry spell here, and their own rain-makers and
witch-doctors haven't been able to get a drop out of the sky. Now,
they take it that we have come to help them. They think we are going
to bring rain."

"And if we don't, what will happen?" asked Tom.

"Maybe they won't be quite so glad to see us," was the answer.

"Well, if they don't mean war, we might as well put up our weapons,"
suggested Mr. Anderson. "If they're going to be friendly, so much
the better, and if it should happen to rain while we're here, they'd
think we brought it, and we could have almost anything we wanted.
Perhaps they have a store of ivory hidden away, Mr. Durban. Some of
these tribes do."

"It's possible, but the chances for rain are very small. How long
will we have to stay here, Tom Swift?" asked the elephant hunter
anxiously.

"Well, perhaps I can get the motor mended in two or three days,"
answered the young inventor.

"Then we'll have to stay here in the meanwhile," decided Mr. Durban.
"Well, we'll make the best of it. Ha, here comes the native king to
do us honor," and, as he spoke there came toward the airship a
veritable giant of a black man, wearing a leopard skin as a royal
garment, while on his head was a much battered derby hat, probably
purchased at a fabulous price from some trader. The king, if such he
could be called, was accompanied by a number of attendants and
witch-doctors. In front walked a small man, who, as it developed,
was an interpreter. The little cavalcade advanced close to the
airship, and came to a halt. The king made a low bow, either to the
craft or to the elephant hunters drawn up in front of it. His
attendants followed his example, and then the interpreter began to
speak.

Mr. Durban listened intently, made a brief answer to the little man,
and then the elephant hunter's face lighted up.

"It's all right," he said to Tom and the others. "The king takes us
for wonderful spirits from another land. He welcomes us, says we can
have whatever we want, and he begs us to make it rain. I have said
we will do our best, and I have asked that some food be sent us.
That's always the first thing to do. We'll be allowed to stay here
in peace until Tom can mend the ship, and then we'll hit the air
trail again."

The talk between Mr. Durban and the interpreter continued for some
little time longer. Then the king went back to his hut, refusing, as
Mr. Durban said, an invitation to come aboard and see how a modern
airship was constructed. The natives, too, seemed anxious to give
the craft a wide berth.

The excitement had quieted down now, and, in a short tine a crowd of
native women came toward the airship, bearing, in baskets on their
heads, food of various kinds. There were bananas, some wild fruits,
yams, big gourds of goats' milk, some boiled and stewed flesh of
young goats, nicely cooked, and other things, the nature of which
could only be guessed at.

"Shall we eat this stuff, or stick to Mr. Damon's cooking?" asked
Tom.

"Oh, you'll find this very good," explained Mr. Durban. "I've eaten
native cookery before. Some of it is excellent and as this appears
to be very good, Mr. Damon can have a vacation while we are here."

The old elephant hunter proved the correctness of his statement by
beginning to eat, and soon all the travelers were partaking of the
food left by the native women. They placed it down on the ground at
a discreet distance from the airship, and hurriedly withdrew. But if
the women and men were afraid, the children were not, and they were
soon swarming about the ship, timidly touching the sides with their
little black fingers, but not venturing on board.

Tom, with Ned and Mr. Damon to help him, began work on the motor
right after dinner. He found the break to be worse than he had
supposed, and knew that it would take at least four days to repair
it.

Meanwhile the airship continued to be a source of wonder to the
natives. They were always about it, save at night, but their
admiration was a respectful one. The king was anxious for the rain-
making incantations to begin, but Mr. Durban put him off.

"I don't want to deceive these simple natives," he said, "and for
our own safety we can't pretend to make rain, and fail. As soon as
we have a chance we'll slip away from here."

But an unexpected happening made a change in their plans. It was on,
the afternoon of their third day in the native village, and Tom and
his assistants were working hard at the motor. Suddenly there seemed
to be great excitement in the vicinity of the king's hut. A native
had rushed into the village from the jungle, evidently with some
news, for presently the whole place was in a turmoil.

Once more the king and his attendants filed out toward the airship.
Once more the interpreter talked to Mr. Durban, who listened
eagerly.

"By Jove! here's our chance!" he cried to Tom, when the little man
had finished.

"What is it?" asked the young inventor.

"A runner has just come in with news that a large herd of wild
elephants is headed this way. The king is afraid the big beasts will
trample down all their crops, as often occurs, and he begs us to go
out and drive the animals away. It's just what we want. Come on,
Tom, and all of you. The airship will be safe here, for the natives
think that to meddle with it would mean death or enchantment for
then. We'll get on our first elephant trail!"

The old hunter went into the cabin for his big game gun, while Tom
hastened to get out his electric rifle. Now he would have a chance
to try it on the powerful beasts which he had come to Africa to
hunt.

Amid the excited and joyous shouts of the natives, the hunters filed
out of the village, led by the dusky messenger who had brought the
news of the elephants. And, as Tom and the others advanced, they
could hear a distant trumpeting, and a crashing in the jungle that
told of the near presence of the great animals.




CHAPTER XIV

A STAMPEDE


"Look to your guns, everybody!" cautioned Mr. Durban. "It's no joke
to be caught in an elephant herd with an unloaded rifle. Have you
plenty of ammunition, Mr. Damon?"

"Ammunition? Bless my powder bag, I think I have enough for all the
elephants I'll kill. If I get one of the big beasts I'll be
satisfied. Bless my piano keys! I think I see them, Tom!"

He pointed off through the thick jungle. Surely something was moving
there amid the trees; great slate-colored bodies, massive forms and
waving trunks! The trumpeting increased, and the crashing of the
underbrush sounded louder and nearer.

"There they are!" cried Tom Swift joyously.

"Now for my first big game!" yelled Ned Newton.

"Take it easy," advised Mr. Anderson. "Remember to aim for the spot
I mentioned to you as being the best, just at the base of the skull.
If you can't make a head shot, or through the eye, try for the
heart. But with the big bullets we have, almost any kind of a shot,
near a vital spot, will answer."

"And Tom can fire at their TOES and put them out of business,"
declared Ned, who was eagerly advancing. "How about it, Tom?"

"Well, I guess the electric rifle will come up to expectations. Say,
Mr. Durban, they seem to be heading this way!" excitedly cried Tom,
as the herd of big beasts suddenly turned and changed their course.

"Yes, they are," admitted the old elephant hunter calmly. "But that
won't matter. Take it easy. Kill all you can."

"But we don't want to put too many out of business," said Tom, who
was not needlessly cruel, even in hunting.

"I know that," answered Mr. Durban. "But this is a case of
necessity. I've got to get ivory, and we have to kill quite a few
elephants to accomplish this. Besides the brutes will head for the
village and the natives' grain fields, and trample them down, if
they're not headed back. So all together now, we'll give them a
volley. This is a good place! There they are. All line up now. Get
ready!"

He halted, and the others followed his example. The natives had come
to a stop some time before, and were huddled together in the jungle
back of our friends, waiting to see the result of the white men's
shots.

Tom, Ned, Mr. Damon, and the two older hunters were on an irregular
line in the forest. Before them was the mass of elephants advancing
slowly, and feeding on the tender leaves of trees as they came on.
They would reach up with their long trunks, strip off the foliage,
and stuff it into their mouths. Sometimes, they even pulled up small
trees by the roots for the purpose of stripping them more easily.

"Jove! There are some big tuskers in that bunch!" cried Mr. Durban.
"Aim for the bulls, every one, don't kill the mothers or little
ones." Tom now saw that there were a number of baby Elephants in the
herd, and he appreciated the hunter's desire to spare them and their
mothers.

"Here we go!" exclaimed Mr. Durban, as he saw that Tom and the
others were ready. "Aim! Fire!"

There were thundering reports that awoke the echoes of the jungle,
and the sounds of the rifles were followed by shrill trumpets of
rage. When the smoke blew away three elephants were seen prostrate,
or, rather two, and part of another one. The last vas almost blown
to pieces by Tom Swift's electric rifle; for the young inventor had
used a little too heavy charge, and the big beast had been almost
annihilated.

Mr. Durban had dropped his bull with a well-directed shot, and Mr.
Anderson had a smaller one to his credit.

"I guess I missed mine," said Ned ruefully.

"Bless my dress-suit case!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "So did I!"

"One of you hit that fellow!" cried Mr. Durban. "He's wounded."

He pointed to a fair-sized bull who was running wildly about,
uttering shrill cries of anger. The other beasts had gathered in a
compact mass, with the larger bulls, or tuskers, on the outside, to
protect the females and young.

"I'll try a shot at him," said Tom, and raising his electric, gun,
he took quick aim. The elephant dropped in his tracks, for this time
the young inventor had correctly adjusted the power of the wireless
bullet.

"Good!" cried Mr. Durban. "Give them some more! This is some of the
best ivory I've seen yet!"

As he spoke he fired, and bowled over another magnificent specimen.
Ned Newton, determined to make a record of at least one, fired
again, and to his delight, saw a big fellow drop.

"I got him!" he yelled.

Mr. Anderson also got another, and then Mr. Damon, blessing
something which his friends could not make out, fired at one of the
largest bulls in the herd.

"You only nipped him!" exclaimed Mr. Durban when the smoke had
drifted away. "I guess I'll put him out of his misery!"

He raised his weapon and pulled the trigger but no report followed.
He uttered an exclamation of dismay.

"The breech-action has jammed!" he exclaimed. "Drop him, Tom. He's
scented us, and is headed this way. The whole herd will follow in a
minute."

Already the big brute wounded by Mr. Damon had trumpeted out a cry
of rage and defiance. It was echoed by his mates. Then, with
upraised trunk, he darted forward, followed by a score of big
tuskers.

But Tom had heard and understood. The leading beast had not taken
three steps before he dropped under the deadly and certain fire of
the young inventor.

"Bless my wishbone!" cried Mr. Damon when he saw how effective the
electric weapon was.

There was a shout of joy from the natives in the rear. They saw the
slain creatures and knew there would be much fresh meat and feasting
for them for days to come.

Suddenly Mr. Durban cried out: "Fire again, Tom! Fire everybody! The
whole herd is coming this way. If we don't stop them they'll overrun
the fields and village, anti may smash the airship! Fire again!"

Almost as he spoke, the rush, which had been stopped momentarily,
when Tom dropped the wounded elephant, began again. With shrill
menacing cries the score of bulls in the lead came on, followed this
time by the females and the young.

"It's a stampede!" yelled Mr. Anderson, firing into the midst of the
herd. Mr. Durban was working frantically at his clogged rifle. Ned
and Mr. Damon both fired, and Tom Swift, adjusting his weapon to
give the heaviest charges, shot a fusillade of wireless bullets into
the center of the advancing elephants, who were now wild with fear
and anger.

"It's a stampede all right!" said Tom, when he saw that the big
creatures were not going to stop, in spite of the deadly fire poured
into them.




CHAPTER XV

LIONS IN THE NIGHT


Shouting, screaming, imploring their deities