



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 it doesn't come off for three months yet. We are only making
the preliminary arrangements. It is now June, and the meet is scheduled
for early in September. Couldn't you build a new and speedy aeroplane
in that time?"

Eagerly Mr. Gunmore waited for the answer. Tom Swift seemed to be
considering it. There was an increased brightness to his eyes, and one
could tell that he was thinking deeply. The secretary sought to clinch
his argument.

"I believe, from what I have heard of your work in the past, that you
could build an aeroplane which would win the ten-thousand-dollar
prize," he went on. "I would be very glad if you did win it, and, so I
think, would be the gentlemen associated with me in this enterprise. It
would be fine to have a New York State youth win the grand prize. Come,
Tom Swift, build a special craft, and enter the contest!"

As he paused for an answer footsteps were heard coming along the hall,
and a moment later an aged gentleman opened the door of the library.

"Oh! Excuse me, Tom," he said, "I didn't know you had company." And he
was about to withdraw.

"Don't go, father," said Tom. "You will be as much interested in this
as I am. This is Mr. Gunmore, of the Eagle Park Aviation Association.
This is my father, Mr. Gunmore."

"I've heard of you," spoke the secretary as he shook hands with the
aged inventor. "You and your son have made, in aeronautics, a name to
be proud of."

"And he wants us to go still farther, dad," broke in the youth. "He
wants me to build a specially speedy aeroplane, and race for ten
thousand dollars."

"Hum!" mused Mr. Swift. "Well, are you going to do it, Tom? Seems to me
you ought to take a rest. You haven't been back from your gold-hunting
trip to Alaska long enough to more than catch your breath, and now--"

"Oh, he doesn't have to go in this right away," eagerly explained Mr.
Gunmore. "There is plenty of time to make a new craft."

"Well, Tom can do as he likes about it," said his father. "Do you think
you could build anything speedier than your Butterfly, son?"

"I think so, father. That is, if you'd help me. I have a plan partly
thought out, but it will take some time to finish it. Still, I might
get it done in time."

"I hope you'll try!" exclaimed the secretary. "May I ask whether it
would be a monoplane or a biplane?"

"A monoplane, I think," answered Tom. "They are much more speedy than
the double-deckers, and if I'm going to try for the ten thousand
dollars I need the fastest machine I can build."

"We have the promise of one or two very fast monoplanes for the meet,"
went on Mr. Gunmore. "Would yours be of a new type?"

"I think it would," was the reply of the young inventor. "In fact, I am
thinking of making a smaller monoplane than any that have yet been
constructed, and yet one that will carry two persons. The hardest work
will be to make the engine light enough and still have it sufficiently
powerful to make over a hundred miles an hour, if necessary.

"A hundred miles an hour in a small monoplane! It isn't possible!"
cried the secretary.

"I'll make better time than that," said Tom quietly, and with not a
trace of boasting in his tones.

"Then you'll enter the meet?" asked Mr. Gunmore eagerly.

"Well, I'll think about it," promised Tom. "I'll let you know in a few
days. Meanwhile, I'll be thinking out the details for my new craft. I
have been going to build one ever since I got back, after having seen
my Red Cloud crushed in the ice cave. Now I think I had better begin
active work."

"I hope you will soon let me know," resumed the secretary. "I'm going
to put you down as a possible contestant for the ten-thousand-dollar
prize.  That can do no harm, and I hope you win it. I trust--"

He paused suddenly, and listened. So did Tom Swift and his father, for
they all distinctly heard stealthy footsteps under the open windows of
the library.

"Some one is out there, listening," said Tom in low tones.

"Perhaps it's Eradicate Sampson," suggested Mr. Swift, referring to the
eccentric <DW52> man who was employed by the inventor and his son to
help around the place. "Very likely it was Eradicate, Tom."

"I don't think so," was the lad's answer. "He went to the village a
while ago, and said he wouldn't be back until late to-night. He had to
get some medicine for his mule, Boomerang, who is sick. No, it wasn't
Eradicate; but some one was under that window, trying to hear what we
said."

As he spoke in guarded tones, Tom went softly to the casement and
looked out. He could observe nothing, as the night was dark, and the
new moon, which had been shining, was now dimmed by clouds.

"See anything?" asked Mr. Gunmore as he advanced to Tom's side.

"No," was the low answer. "I can't hear anything now, either."

"I'll go speak to Mrs. Baggert, the housekeeper," volunteered Mr.
Swift.  "Perhaps it was she, or she may know something about it."

He started from the room, and as he went Tom noticed, with something of
a start, that his father appeared older that night than he had ever
looked before. There was a trace of pain on the face of the aged
inventor, and his step was lagging.

"I guess dad needs a rest and doctoring up," thought the young inventor
as he turned the electric chandelier off by a button on the wall, in
order to darken the room, so that he might peer out to better
advantage.  "I think he's been working too hard on his wireless motor.
I must get Dr. Gladby to come over and see dad. But now I want to find
out who that was under this window."

Once more Tom looked out. The moon had emerged from behind a thin bank
of clouds, and gave a little light.

"See anything?" asked Mr. Gunmore cautiously.

"No," whispered the youth, for it being a warm might, the windows were
open top and bottom, a screen on the outside keeping out mosquitoes and
other insects. "I can't see a thing," went on Tom, "but I'm sure--"

He paused suddenly. As he spoke there sounded a rustling in the
shrubbery a little distance from the window.

"There's something!" exclaimed Mr. Gunmore.

"I see!" answered the young inventor.

Without another word he softly opened the screen, and then, stooping
down to get under the lower sash (for the windows in the library ran
all the way to the floor), Tom dropped out of the casement upon the
thick grass.

As he did so he was aware of a further movement in the bushes. They
were violently agitated, and a second later a dark object sprang from
them and sprinted along the path.

"Here! Who are you? Hold on!" cried the young inventor.

But the figure never halted. Tom sprang forward, determined to see who
it was, and, if possible, capture him.

"Hold on!" he cried again. There was no answer.

Tom was a good runner, and in a few seconds he had gained on the
fugitive, who could just be seen in the dim light from the crescent
moon.

"I've got you!" cried Tom.

But he was mistaken, for at that instant his foot caught on the
outcropping root of a tree, and the young inventor went flat on his
face.

"Just my luck!" he cried.

He was quickly on his feet again, and took after the fugitive. The
latter glanced back, and, as it happened, Tom had a good look at his
face. He almost came to a stop, so startled was he.

"Andy Foger!" he exclaimed as he recognized the bully who had always
proved himself such an enemy of our hero. "Andy Foger sneaking under my
windows to hear what I had to say about my new aeroplane! I wonder what
his game can be? I'll soon find out!"

Tom was about to resume the chase, when he lost sight of the figure. A
moment later he heard the puffing of an automobile, as some one cranked
it up.

"It's too late!" exclaimed Tom. "There he goes in his car!" And knowing
it would be useless to keep up the chase, the youth turned back toward
his house.




Chapter Two

Mr. Swift is Ill


"Who was it?" asked Mr. Gunmore as Tom again entered the library. "A
friend of yours?"

"Hardly a friend," replied Tom grimly. "It was a young fellow who has
made lots of trouble for me in the past, and who, lately, with his
father, tried to get ahead of me and some friends of mine in locating a
gold claim in Alaska. I don't know what he's up to now, but certainly
it wasn't any good. He's got nerve, sneaking up under our windows!"

"What do you think was his object?"

"It would be hard to say."

"Can't you find him to-morrow, and ask him?"

"There's not much satisfaction in that. The less I have to do with Andy
Foger the better I'm satisfied. Well, perhaps it's just as well I fell,
and couldn't catch him. There would have been a fight, and I don't want
to worry dad any more than I can help. He hasn't been very well of
late."

"No, he doesn't look very strong," agreed the secretary. "But I hope he
doesn't get sick, and I hope no bad consequences result from the
eavesdropping of this Foger fellow."

Tom started for the hall, to get a brush with which to remove some of
the dust gathered in his chase after Andy. As he opened the library
door to go out Mr. Swift came in again.

"I saw Mrs. Baggert, Tom," he said. "She wasn't out under the window,
and, as you said, Eradicate isn't about. His mule is in the barn, so it
couldn't have been the animal straying around."

"No, dad. It was Andy Foger."

"Andy Foger!"

"Yes. I couldn't catch him. But you'd better go lie down, father. It's
getting late, and you look tired."

"I am tired, Tom, and I think I'll go to bed. Have you finished your
arrangements with Mr. Gunmore?"

"Well, I guess we've gone as far as we can until I invent the new
aeroplane," replied Tom, with a smile.

"Then you'll really enter the meet?" asked the secretary eagerly.

"I think I will," decided Tom. "The prize of ten thousand dollars is
worth trying for, and besides that, I'll be glad to get to work again
on a speedy craft. Yes, I'll enter the meet."

"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Gunmore, shaking hands with the young inventor.
"I didn't have my trip for nothing, then. I'll go back in the morning
and report to the committee that I've been successful. I am greatly
obliged to you."

He left the Swift home, after refusing Tom's invitation to remain all
night, and went to his hotel. Tom then insisted that his father retire.

As for the young inventor, he was not satisfied with the result of his
attempt to catch Andy Foger. He had no idea why the bully was hiding
under the library window, but Tom surmised that some mischief might be
afoot.

"Sam Snedecker or Pete Bailey, the two cronies of Andy, may still be
around here, trying to play some trick on me," mused Tom. "I think I'll
take a look outside." And taking a stout cane from the umbrella rack,
the youth sallied forth into the yard and extensive grounds surrounding
his house.

While he is thus looking for possible intruders we will tell you a
little more about him than has been possible since the call of the
aviation secretary.

Tom Swift lived with his father, Barton Swift, in the town of Shopton,
New York State. The young man had followed in the footsteps of his
parent, and was already an inventor of note.

Their home was presided over by Mrs. Baggert, as housekeeper, since
Mrs. Swift had been dead several years. In addition, there was Garret
Jackson, an engineer, who aided Tom and his father, and Eradicate
Sampson, an odd <DW52> man, who, with his mule, Boomerang, worked
about the place.

In the first volume of this series, entitled "Tom Swift and his
Motor-Cycle," here was related how he came to possess that machine. A
certain Mr. Wakefield Damon, an eccentric gentleman, who was always
blessing himself, or something about him, owned the cycle, but he came
to grief on it, and sold it to Tom very cheaply.

Tom had a number of adventures on the wheel, and, after having used the
motor to save a valuable patent model from a gang of unscrupulous men,
the lad acquired possession of a power boat, in which he made several
trips, and took part in many exciting happenings.

Some time later, in company with John Sharp, an aeronaut, whom Tom had
rescued from Lake Carlopa, after the airman had nearly lost his life in
a burning balloon, the young inventor made a big airship, called the
Red Cloud. With Mr. Damon, Tom made several trips in this craft, as set
forth in the book, "Tom Swift and His Airship."

It was after this that Tom and his father built a submarine boat, and
went under the ocean for sunken treasure, and, following that trip Tom
built a speedy electric runabout, and by a remarkable run in that, with
Mr. Damon, saved a bank from ruin, bringing gold in time to stave off a
panic.

"Tom Swift and His Wireless Message" told of the young inventor's plan
to save the castaways of Earthquake Island, and how he accomplished it
by constructing a wireless plant from the remains of the wrecked
airship Whizzer. After Tom got back from Earthquake Island he went with
Mr. Barcoe Jenks, whom he met on the ill-fated bit of land, to discover
the secret of the diamond makers. They found the mysterious men, but
the trip was not entirely successful, for the mountain containing the
cave where the diamonds were made was destroyed by a lightning shock,
just as Mr. Parker, a celebrated scientist, who accompanied the party,
said it would be.

But his adventure in seeking to discover the secret of making precious
stones did not satisfy Tom Swift, and when he and his friends got back
from the mountains they prepared to go to Alaska to search for gold in
the caves of ice. They were almost defeated in their purpose by the
actions of Andy Foger and his father, who in an under-hand manner, got
possession of a valuable map, showing the location of the gold, and
made a copy of the drawing.

Then, when Tom and his friends set off in the Red Cloud, as related in
"Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice," the Fogers, in another airship, did
likewise. But Tom and his party were first on the scene, and
accomplished their purpose, though they had to fight the savage
Indians.  The airship was wrecked in a cave of ice, that collapsed on
it, and the survivors had desperate work getting away from the frozen
North.

Tom had been home all the following winter and spring, and he had done
little more than work on some small inventions, when a new turn was
given his thoughts and energies by a visit from Mr. Gunmore, as
narrated in the first chapter of the present volume.

"Well, I guess no one is here," remarked the young inventor as he
completed the circuit of the grounds and walked slowly back toward the
house. "I think I scared Andy so that he won't come back right away. He
had the laugh on me, though, when I stumbled and fell."

As Tom proceeded he heard some one approaching, around the path at the
side of the house.

"Who's there?" he called quickly, taking a firmer grasp of his stick.

"It's me, Massa Swift," was the response. "I jest come back from town.
I got some peppermint fo' mah mule, Boomerang, dat's what I got."

"Oh! It's you, is it, Rad?" asked the youth in easier tones.

"Dat's who it am. Did yo' t'ink it were some un else?"

"I did," replied Tom. "Andy Foger has been sneaking around. Keep your
eyes open the rest of the night, Rad."

"I will, Massa Tom."

The youth went into the house, having left word with the engineer, Mr.
Jackson, to be on the alert for anything suspicious.

"And now I guess I'll go to bed, and make an early start to-morrow
morning, planning my new aeroplane," mused Tom. "I'm going to make the
speediest craft of the air ever seen!"

As he started toward his room Tom Swift heard the voice of the
housekeeper calling to him:

"Tom! Oh, Tom! Come here, quickly!"

"What's the matter?" he asked, in vague alarm.

"Something has happened to your father!" was the startling reply. "He's
fallen down, and is unconscious! Come quickly! Send for the doctor!"

Tom fairly ran toward his father's room.




Chapter Three

The Plans Disappear


Mr. Swift was lying on the floor, where he had fallen, in front of his
bed, as he was preparing to retire. There was no mark of injury upon
him, and at first, as he knelt down at his father's side, Tom was at a
loss to account for what had taken place.

"How did it happen? When was it?" he asked of Mrs. Baggert, as he held
up his father's head, and noted that the aged man was breathing
slightly.

"I don't know what happened, Tom," answered the housekeeper, "but I
heard him fall, and ran upstairs, only to find him lying there, just
like that. Then I called you. Hadn't you better have a doctor?"

"Yes; we'll need one at once. Send Eradicate. Tell him to run--not to
wait for his mule--Boomerang is too slow. Oh, no! The telephone, of
course! Why didn't I think of that at first? Please telephone for Dr.
Gladby, Mrs. Baggert. Ask him to come as soon as possible, and then
tell Garret Jackson to step here. I'll have him help me get father into
bed."

The housekeeper hastened to the instrument, and was soon in
communication with the physician, who promised to call at once. The
engineer was summoned from another part of the house, and then
Eradicate was aroused.

Mrs. Baggert had the <DW52> man help her get some kettles of hot water
in readiness for possible use by the doctor. Mr. Jackson aided Tom to
lift Mr. Swift up on the bed, and they got off some of his clothes.

"I'll try to see if I can revive him with a little aromatic spirits of
ammonia," decided Tom, as he noticed that his father was still
unconscious. He hastened to prepare the strong spirits, while he was
conscious of a feeling of fear and alarm, mingled with sadness.

Suppose his father should die? Tom could not bear to think of that. He
would be left all alone, and how much he would miss the companionship
and comradeship of his father none but himself knew.

"Oh! but I mustn't think he's going to die!" exclaimed the youth, as he
mixed the medicine.

Mr.