CHAPTER II
A DARING PROJECT
While Tom and his chum are in the house of the Russian, who sostrangely produced the platinum just when it was most needed, I amgoing to take just a little time to tell you something about the heroof this story. Those who have read the previous books of this seriesneed no introduction to him, but in justice to my new readers I mustmake a little explanation.
Tom Swift was an inventor, as was his father before him. But Mr. Swiftwas getting too old, now, to do much, though he had a petinvention--that of a gyroscope--on which he worked from time to time.Tom lived with his father in the village of Shopton, in New York state.His mother was dead, but a housekeeper, named Mrs. Baggert, lookedafter the wants of the inventors, young and old.
The first book of the series was called "Tom Swift and HisMotor-Cycle," and in that I related how Tom bought the machine from aMr. Wakefield Damon, of Waterford, after the odd gentleman hadunintentionally started to climb a tree with it. That disgusted Mr.Damon with motor-cycling, and Tom had lots of fun on the machine, andnot a few daring adventures.
He and Mr. Damon became firm friends, and the oddity of thegentleman--mainly that of blessing everything he could think of--was noobjection in Tom's mind. The young inventor and Ned Newton went on manytrips together, Mr. Damon being one of the party.
In Shopton lived Andy Foger, a bullying sort of a chap, who acted verymeanly toward Tom at times. Another resident of the town was a Mr.Nestor, but Tom was more interested in his daughter Mary than in thehead of the household. Add Eradicate Sampson, an eccentric colored manwho said he got his name because he "eradicated" dirt, and his mule,Boomerang, and I think you have met the principal characters of thesestories.
After Tom had much enjoyment out of his motor-cycle, he got a motorboat, and one of his rivals on Lake Carlopa was this same Andy Foger,but our hero vanquished him. Then Tom built an airship, which had beenthe height of his ambition for some years. He had a stirring cruise inthe Red Cloud, and then, deserting the air for the water, Tom and hisfather built a submarine, in which they went after sunken treasure. Inthe book, "Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout," I told how, in thespeediest car on the road, Tom saved his father's bank from ruin, andin the book dealing with Tom's wireless message I related how he savedthe Castaways of Earthquake Island.
When Tom went among the diamond makers, at the request of Mr. BarcoJenks, and discovered the secret of phantom mountain the lad fanciedthat might be the end of his adventures, but there were more to follow.Going to the caves of ice, his airship was wrecked, but he and hisfriends managed to get back home, and then it was that the younginventor perfected his sky racer, in which he made the quickest flighton record.
Most startling were his adventures in elephant land whither he wentwith his electric rifle, and he was the means of saving a missionary,Mr. Illingway and his wife, from the red pygmies.
Tom had not been home from Africa long before he got a letter from thismissionary, telling about an underground city in Mexico that was saidto be filled with gold. Tom went there, and in the book, entitled, "TomSwift in the City of Gold," I related his adventures.
How he and his friends were followed by the Fogers, how they eludedthem, made their way to the ruined temple in a small dirigible balloon,descended to the secret tunnel, managed to turn aside the undergroundriver, and reach the city of gold with its wonderful gold statues--allthis is told in the volume.
Then, after pulling down, in the centre of the underground city, thebig golden statue, the door of rock descended, and made our friendsprisoners. They almost died, but Andy Foger and his father, in leaguewith some rascally Mexicans and a tribe of head-hunters, finally madetheir way to the tunnel, and most unexpectedly, released Tom and hisfriends.
There was a fight, but our hero's party escaped with considerable goldand safely reached Shopton. Now, after a winter spent in work, fixingover an old aeroplane, we again meet Tom.
"Would you mind telling me something about where this platinum comesfrom, and if you can get any more of it?" asked Tom, after a pause,following the strange statement made by the Russian.
"I will gladly tell you the story," spoke Mr. Petrofsky, "for I am muchinterested in inventions, and I formerly did something in that linemyself, and I have even made a small aeroplane, so you see I know theneed of platinum in a high power magneto."
"But where did you get such pure metal?" asked Tom. "I have never seenit's equal."
"There is none like it in all the world," went on the Russian, "andperhaps there never can be any more. I have only a small supply. But inSiberia--in the lost mine--there is a large quantity of it, as pure asthis, needing only a little refining.
"Can't we get some from there?" asked the young inventor eagerly. "Ishould think the Russian government would mine it, and export it."
"They would--if they could find it," said Ivan Petrofsky dryly, "butthey can't--no one can find it--and I have tried very hard--so hard, infact, that it is the reason for my coming to this country--that and thedesire to find and aid my brother, who is a Siberian exile."
"This is getting interesting," remarked Ned to Tom in a low voice, andthe young inventor nodded.
"My brother Peter, who is younger than I by a few years, and I, are thelast of our family," began Mr. Petrofsky, motioning Tom and Ned to takechairs. "We lived in St. Petersburg, and early in life, though we wereof the nobility, we took up the cause of the common people."
"Nihilists?" asked Ned eagerly, for he had read something of thesedesperate men.
"No, and not anarchists," said Mr. Petrofsky with a sad smile. "Ourparty was opposed to violence, and we depended on education to aid ourcause. Then, too, we did all we could in a quiet way to help the poor.My brother and I invented several life-saving and labor-saving machinesand in this way we incurred the enmity of the rich contractors andgovernment officials, who made more money the more people they couldhave working for them, for they made the people buy their food andsupplies from them.
"But my brother, and I persisted, with the result that we were botharrested, and, with a number of others were sent to Siberia.
"Of the horrors we endured there I will say nothing. However, you haveprobably read much. In the country near which we were quartered therewere many mines, some of salt and some of sulphur. Oh, the horrors ofthose mines! Many a poor exile has been lost in the windings of a saltmine, there to die miserably. And in the sulphur mines many die also,not from being lost so much as being overcome by stifling gases. It isterrible! And sometimes they are purposely abandoned by their guides,for the government wants to get rid of certain exiles.
"But you are interested in platinum. One day my brother and I who hadbeen sent to work in the salt mines, mistook a turning and wandered onand on for several miles, finally losing our way. We had food and waterwith us, or we would have perished, and, as it was, we nearly diedbefore we finally found our way out of an abandoned opening.
"We came out in the midst of a terrible snowstorm, and wandered aboutalmost frozen. At last we were found by a serf who, in his sled, tookus to his poor cottage. There we were warmed and fed back to life.
"We knew we would be searched for, as naturally, our absence would leadto the suspicion that we had tried to escape. So as soon as we wereable, we started back to the town where we were quartered. The serfwanted to take us in his sled, but we knew he might be suspected ofhaving tried to aid us to get away, and he might be arrested. So wewent alone.
"As might have been expected, we became lost again, and wandered aboutfor several days. But we had enough food to keep us alive. And it wasduring this wandering that I came upon the platinum mine. It was downin a valley, in the midst of a country densely wooded and verydesolate. There was an outcropping of the ore, and rather idly I putsome of it in my pockets. Then we wandered on, and finally after awfulsuffering in terrific storms, were found by a searching party andbrought back to the barracks."
"Did they think you had escaped?" asked Tom.
"They did," replied the Russian, "and they punished us severely for it,in spite of our denials. In time I managed secretly to smelt theplatinum ore, and I found I had some of the purest metal I had everseen. I was wishing I could find the mine, or tell some of my friendsabout it, when one of the officers discovered the metal in my bed.
"He demanded to know where I had gotten it, and knowing that refusalwould only make it the worse for me I told him. There was considerableexcitement, for the value of the discovery was recognized, and a searchwas at once made for the mine.
"But, even with the aid we were able to give, it could not be located.Many expeditions went out to hunt for it but came back baffled. Theycould not penetrate that wild country."
"They should have used an aeroplane," suggested Tom.
"They did," replied the Russian quickly, "but it was of no use."
"Why not?" the young inventor wanted to know.
"Because of the terrific winds that almost continually sweep over thatpart of Siberia. They never seem to cease, and there are treacherousair currents and 'pockets' that engulfed more than one lucklessaviator. Oh, you may be sure the Russian government spared no means offinding the lost platinum mine, but they could not locate it, or evenget near the place where they supposed it to be.
"Then, perhaps thinking that my brother and I were concealingsomething, they separated us. Where they sent him I do not know, but Iwas doomed to the sulphur mines. I was heartbroken, and I scarcelycared whether I lived or died. But an opportunity of escape came, and Itook it. I wanted to save my brother, but I did not know where he was,and I thought if I could make my way to some civilized country, or tofree America, I might later be able to save my brother.
"I went to England, taking some of my precious platinum with me, andstayed there for two years. I learned your language, but my efforts toorganize an expedition to search for the lost mine, and for my brother,failed. Then I came here, and--well, I am still trying."
"My! That is certainly interesting!" exclaimed Ned, who had been allattention during the telling of the story.
"And you certainly had a hard time," declared Tom. "I am much obligedfor this platinum. Have you set a price on it? It is worth much morethan the ordinary kind."
"The price is nothing to you," replied the Russian, with a smile. "I amonly too glad to help you fix your aeroplane. Will it take long? Ishould like to watch you."
"Come along," invited Tom. "I can soon have it going again, and I'llgive you a ride, if you like."
"No, thank you, I'm hardly up to that yet, though I may be some day.The machine I made never flew well and I had several bad falls."
Tom and Ned worked rapidly on the magneto, and soon had replaced thedefective bits of platinum.
"If the Russians had such a machine as this maybe they could havegotten to that mine," suggested Ned, who was very proud of Tom's craft.
"It would be useless in the terrific winds, I fear," answered IvanPetrofsky. "But now I care little for the mine. It is my brother whom Iwant to save. He must be in some of the Siberian mines, and if I hadsuch a craft as this I might be able to rescue him."
Tom Swift dropped the file he was using. A bright light sparkled in hiseyes. He seemed strangely excited.
"Mr. Petrofsky!" he cried, "would you let me have a try at finding yourbrother, and would you come with me?"
"Would I?" asked the Russian eagerly. "I would be your debtor for life,and I would always pray for you, if you could help me to save mybrother Peter."
"Then we'll have a try at it!" cried Tom. "I've got a different airshipthan this--one in which I can travel three thousand miles withoutcoming down. I haven't had any excitement since I got back from thecity of gold. I'm going to Russia to help you rescue your brother fromexile, and I'm also going to have a try for that lost platinumtreasure!"
"Thank heaven, there is some hope for poor Peter at last," murmured Mr.Petrofsky earnestly.
"You never can get to the platinum mine," said Ned. "The winds willtear your airship to pieces."
"Not the kind I'm going to make," declared Tom. "It's going to be anair glider, that will fairly live on high winds. Ho! for Siberia andthe platinum mines. Will you come?"
"I don't know what you mean by an air glider, Tom Swift, but I'll go tohelp rescue my brother," was the quick answer, and then, with the lightof a daring resolve shining in his eyes, the young inventor proceededto get his aeroplane in shape for the trip back to Shopton.