CHAPTER XIII
THE CAPTURE
Tom Swift was something like a fireman. He had lived so long in anatmosphere of constant alarms and danger, that he was always ready foralmost any emergency. His room was equipped with the end in view thathe could act promptly and effectively.
So, when he heard Eradicate's alarm, though he wondered what the oldcolored man was doing out of bed at that hour, Tom did not stop toreason out that puzzle. He acted quickly.
His first care was to throw on the main switch, connected with a bigstorage battery, and to which were attached the wires of the lightingsystem. This at once illuminated every shop in the plant, and also thegrounds themselves. Tom wanted to see what was going on. The use of astorage battery eliminated the running of the dynamo all night.
And once he had done this, Tom began pulling on some clothes and a pairof shoes. At the same time he reached out with one hand and pressed abutton that sounded an alarm in the sleeping quarters of Koku, thegiant, and in the rooms of some of the older and most trusted men.
All this while Eradicate was shouting away, down in the yard.
"Massa Tom! Massa Tom!" he called. "Hurry! Hurry! Dey is killin' Koku!"
"Killing Koku!" exclaimed Tom, as he finished his hasty dressing. "Thenmy giant must already be in the fracas. I wonder what it's all about,anyhow."
"What's up, Tom?" came Ned's voice from the adjoining room. "I thoughtI heard a noise."
"Your thoughts do you credit, Ned!" Tom answered. "If you listen rightclose, you'll hear several noises."
"By Jove! You're right, old man!"
Tom could hear his chum bound out of bed to the floor, and, at the sametime, from the big shed where Tom was building his aerial warship camea series of yells and shouts.
"That's Koku's voice!" Tom exclaimed, as he recognized the tones of thegiant.
"I'm coming, Tom!" Ned informed his chum. "Wait a minute."
"No time to wait," Tom replied, buttoning his coat as he sped down thehall.
"Oh, Tom, what is it?" asked Mrs. Baggert, the housekeeper, lookingfrom her room.
"I don't know. But don't let dad get excited, no matter what happens.Just put him off until I come back. I think it isn't anything serious."
Mr. Damon, who roomed next to Ned, came out of his own apartmentpartially dressed.
"Bless my suspenders!" he cried to Tom, those articles just thendangling over his hips. "What is it? What has happened? Bless my steamgauge, don't tell me it's a fire!"
"I think it isn't that," Tom answered. "No alarm has rung. Koku seemsto be in trouble."
"Well, he's big enough to look after himself, that's one consolation,"chuckled Mr. Damon. "I'll be right with you."
By this time Ned had run out into the hall, and, together, he and Tomsped down the corridor. They could not hear the shouts of Eradicate soplainly now, as he was on the other side of the house.
But when the two young men reached the front porch, they could hear theyells given with redoubled vigor. And, in the glare of the electriclights, Tom saw Eradicate leading along Boomerang, the old mule.
"What is it, Rad? What is it?" demanded the young inventor breathlessly.
"Trouble, Massa Tom! Dat's what it am! Trouble!"
"I know that--but what kind?"
"De worstest kind, I 'spects, Massa Tom. Listen to it!"
From the interior of the big shed, not far from the house, Tom and Nedheard a confused jumble of shouts, cries and pleadings, mingled withthe rattle of pieces of metal, and the banging of bits of wood. And,above all that, like the bellowing of a bull, was noted the rumblingvoice of Koku, the giant.
"Come on, Ned!" Tom cried.
"It's suah trouble, all right," went on Eradicate. "Mah mule,Boomerang, had a touch ob de colic, an' I got up t' gib him some hotdrops an' walk him around, when I heard de mostest terrificracket-sound, and den I 'spected trouble was comm."
"It isn't coming--it's here!" called Tom, as he sped toward the bigshop. Ned was but a step behind him. The big workshop where the aerialwarship was being built was, like the other buildings, brilliantlyilluminated by the lights Tom had switched on. The young inventor alsosaw several of his employees speeding toward the same point.
Tom was the first to reach the small door of the shed. This was builtin one of the two large main doors, which could be swung open when itwas desired to slide the Mars in from the ground, and not admit itthrough the roof.
"Look!" cried Tom, pointing.
Ned looked over his chum's shoulder and saw the giant, Koku, strugglingwith four men--powerful men they were, too, and they seemed bent onmischief.
For they came at Koku from four sides, seeking to hold his hands andfeet so that he could not fight them back. On the floor near where thestruggle was taking place was a coil of rope, and it was evident thatit had been the intention of the men to overcome Koku and truss him up,so that he would not interfere with what they intended to do. But Kokuwas a match for even the four men, powerful as they were.
"We're here, Koku!" cried Tom. "Watch for an opening, Ned!" he calledto his chum.
The sound of Tom's voice disconcerted at least two of the attackers,for they looked around quickly, and this was fatal to their chances.
Though such a big man, Koku was exceptionally quick, and no sooner didhe see his advantage, as two of the men turned their gaze away fromhim, than he seized it.
Suddenly tearing loose his hands from the grip of the two men who hadlooked around, Koku shot out his right and left fists, and secured goodhold on the necks of two of his enemies. The other two, at his back,were endeavoring to pull him over, but the giant's sturdy legs stillheld.
So big was Koku's hands that they almost encircled the necks of hisantagonists. Then happened a curious thing.
With a shout that might have done credit to some ancient cave-dwellerof the stone age, Koku spread out his mighty arms, and held apart thetwo men he had grasped. In vain they struggled to free themselves fromthat terrible grip. Their faces turned purple, and their eyes bulgedout.
"He's choking them to death!" shouted Ned.
But Koku was not needlessly cruel.
A moment later, with a quick and sudden motion he bent his arms,bringing toward each other the two men he held as captives. Theirheads came together with a dull thud, and a second later Koku allowedtwo limp bodies to slip from his grip to the floor.
"He's done for them!" Tom cried. "Knocked them unconscious. Good foryou, Koku!"
The giant grunted, and then, with a quick motion, slung himself around,hoping to bring the enemies at his back within reach of his powerfularms. But there was no need of this.
As soon as the other two ruffians had seen their companions fall to thefloor of the shop they turned and fled, leaping from an open window.
"There they go!" cried Ned.
"Some of the other men can chase them," said the young inventor. "We'lltie up the two Koku has captured."
As he approached nearer to the unconscious captives Tom uttered a cryof surprise, for he recognized them as two of the new men he hademployed.
"What can this mean?" he asked wonderingly.
He glanced toward the window through which the two men had jumped toescape, and he was just in time to see one of them run past the opendoor. The face of this one was under a powerful electric light, and Tomat once recognized the man as Feldman, the worker who had had so muchtrouble with the trip-hammer.
"This sure is a puzzle," marveled Tom. "My own men in the plot! Butwhy did they attack Koku?"
The giant, bending over the men he had knocked unconscious by beatingtheir heads together, seemed little worse for the attack.
"We tie 'em up," he said grimly, as he brought over the rope that hadbeen intended for himself.