



Produced by Anthony Matonac.









TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER

or

The Quickest Flight on Record


By

VICTOR APPLETON




CONTENTS

     I  The Prize Offer
    II  Mr. Swift Is Ill
   III  The Plans Disappear
    IV  Anxious Days
     V  Building the Sky Racer
    VI  Andy Foger Will Contest
   VII  Seeking a Clue
  VIII  The Empty Shed
    IX  A Trial Flight
     X  A Midnight Intruder
    XI  Tom Is Hurt
   XII  Miss Nestor Calls
  XIII  A Clash with Andy
   XIV  The Great Test
    XV  A Noise in the Night
   XVI  A Mysterious Fire
  XVII  Mr. Swift Is Worse
 XVIII  The Broken Bridge
   XIX  A Nervy Specialist
    XX  Just in Time
   XXI  "Will He Live?"
  XXII  Off to the Meet
 XXIII  The Great Race
  XXIV  Won by a Length
   XXV  Home Again--Conclusion




TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER



Chapter One

The Prize Offer


"Is this Tom Swift, the inventor of several airships?"

The man who had rung the bell glanced at the youth who answered his
summons.

"Yes, I'm Tom Swift," was the reply. "Did you wish to see me?"

"I do. I'm Mr. James Gunmore, secretary of the Eagle Park Aviation
Association. I had some correspondence with you about a prize contest
we are going to hold. I believe--"

"Oh, yes, I remember now," and the young inventor smiled pleasantly as
he opened wider the door of his home. "Won't you come in? My father
will be glad to see you. He is as much interested in airships as I am."
And Tom led the way to the library, where the secretary of the aviation
society was soon seated in a big, comfortable leather chair.

"I thought we could do better, and perhaps come to some decision more
quickly, if I came to see you, than if we corresponded," went on Mr.
Gunmore. "I hope I haven't disturbed you at any of your inventions,"
and the secretary smiled at the youth.

"No. I'm through for to-day," replied Tom. "I'm glad to see you. I
thought at first it was my chum, Ned Newton. He generally runs over in
the evening."

"Our society, as I wrote you, Mr. Swift, is planning to hold a very
large and important aviation meet at Eagle Park, which is a suburb of
Westville, New York State. We expect to have all the prominent
'bird-men' there, to compete for prizes, and your name was mentioned. I
wrote to you, as you doubtless recall, asking if you did not care to
enter."

"And I think I wrote you that my big aeroplane-dirigible, the Red
Cloud, was destroyed in Alaska, during a recent trip we made to the
caves of ice there, after gold," replied Tom.

"Yes, you did," admitted Mr. Gunmore, "and while our committee was very
sorry to hear that, we hoped you might have some other air craft that
you could enter at our meet. We want to make it as complete as
possible, and we all feel that it would not be so unless we had a Swift
aeroplane there."

"It's very kind of you to say so," remarked Tom, "but since my big
craft was destroyed I really have nothing I could enter."

"Haven't you an aeroplane of any kind? I made this trip especially to
get you to enter. Haven't you anything in which you could compete for
the prizes? There are several to be offered, some for distance flights,
some for altitude, and the largest, ten thousand dollars, for the
speediest craft. Ten thousand dollars is the grand prize, to be awarded
for the quickest flight on record."

"I surely would like to try for that," said Tom, "but the only craft I
have is a small monoplane, the Butterfly, I call it, and while it is
very speedy, there have been such advances made in aeroplane
construction since I made mine that I fear I would be distanced if I
raced in her. And I wouldn't like that."

"No," agreed Mr. Gunmore. "I suppose not. Still, I do wish we could
induce you to enter. I don't mind telling you that we consider you a
drawing-card. Can't we induce you, some way?"

"I'm afraid not. I haven't any machine which--"

"Look here!" exclaimed the secretary eagerly. "Why can't you build a
special aeroplane to enter in the next meet? You'll have plenty of
time, as