Produced by Anthony Matonac.
TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
or
The Hidden City of the Andes
by
Victor Appleton
CONTENTS
I An Appeal for Aid II Explanations III A Face at the Window IV Tom's Experiments V Mary's Present VI Mr. Nestor's Letter VII Off for Peru VIII The Bearded Man IX The Bomb X Professor Bumper XI In the Andes XII The Tunnel XIII Tom's Explosive XIV Mysterious Disappearances XV Frightened Indians XVI On the Watch XVII The Condor XVIII The Indian Strike XIX A Woman Tells XX Despair XXI A New Explosive XXII The Fight XXIII A Great Blast XXIV The Hidden City XXV Success
TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
Chapter I
An Appeal for Aid
Tom Swift, seated in his laboratory engaged in trying to solve apuzzling question that had arisen over one of his inventions, wasstartled by a loud knock on the door. So emphatic, in fact, was thesummons that the door trembled, and Tom started to his feet in somealarm.
"Hello there!" he cried. "Don't break the door, Koku!" and then helaughed. "No one but my giant would knock like that," he said tohimself. "He never does seem able to do things gently. But I wonder whyhe is knocking. I told him to get the engine out of the airship, andEradicate said he'd be around to answer the telephone and bell. Iwonder if anything has happened?"
Tom shoved back his chair, pushed aside the mass of papers over whichhe had been puzzling, and strode to the door. Flinging it open heconfronted a veritable giant of a man, nearly eight feet tall, and bigin proportion. The giant, Koku, for that was his name, smiled in agood-natured way, reminding one of an overgrown boy.
"Master hear my knock?" the giant asked cheerfully.
"Hear you, Koku? Say, I couldn't hear anything else!" exclaimed Tom."Did you think you had to arouse the whole neighborhood just to let meknow you were at the door? Jove! I thought you'd have it off thehinges."
"If me break, me fix," said Koku, who, from his appearance and from hisimperfect command of English, was evidently a foreigner.
"Yes, I know you can fix lots of things, Koku," Tom went on, kindlyenough. "But you musn't forget what enormous strength you have. That'sthe reason I sent you to take the engine out of the airship. You canlift it without using the chain hoist, and I can't get the chain hoistfast unless I remove all the superstructure. I don't want to do that.Did you get the engine out?"
"Not quite. Almost, Master."
"Then why are you here? Has anything gone wrong?"
"No, everything all right, Master. But man come to machine shop andsay he must have talk with you. I no let him come past the gate, but Isay I come and call you."
"That's right, Koku. Don't let any strangers past the gate. But whydidn't Eradicate come and call me. He isn't doing anything, is he?Unless, indeed, he has gone to feed his mule, Boomerang."
"Eradicate, he come to call you, but that black man no good!" and Kokuchuckled so heartily that he shook the floor of the office.
"What's the matter with Eradicate?" asked Tom, somewhat anxiously. "Ihope you and he haven't had another row?" Eradicate had served Tom andhis father long before Koku, the giant, had been brought back from oneof the young inventor's many strange trips, and ever since then therehad been a jealous rivalry between the twain as to who should bestserve Tom.
"No trouble, Master," said Koku. "Eradicate he start to come and tellyou strange man want to have talk, but Eradicate he no come fastenough. So I pick him up, and I set him down by gate to stand on guard,and I come to tell you. Koku come quick!"
"Oh, I knew it must be something like that!" exclaimed Tom in somevexation. "Now I'll have Eradicate complaining to me that you mauledhim. Picked him up and set him down again."
"Sure. One hand!" boasted the giant. "Eradicate him not be heavy. Moreas a sack of flour now."
"No, poor Eradicate is getting pretty old and thin," commented Tom. "Hecan't move very quickly. But you should have let him come, Koku. Itmakes him feel badly when he thinks he can't be of service to me anymore."
"Man say he in hurry." The giant spoke softly, as though he felt thegentle rebuke Tom administered. "Koku run quick tell you--bang on door."
"Yes, you banged all right, Koku. Well, it can't be helped, I reckon.Where is this strange man? Who is he? Did you ever see him before?"
"Me no can tell, Master. Not sure. But him now be at the outer gate.Eradicate watch."
"All right. I'll go and see who it is. I don't want any strangerspoking around here, especially with the plans of my new gyroscope lyingin plain view."
Before he left the laboratory Tom swept into a desk drawer the mass ofpapers and blue prints, and locked the receptacle.
"No use taking any chances," he remarked. "I've had too much troublewith people trying to get inside information about dad's and mypatents. Now, Koku, I'll go and see this man."
The buildings composing the plant of Tom Swift and his father atShopton were enclosed by a high, board fence, and at one of theentrances was a sort of gate-house, where some one was always on guard.Only those who could give a good account of themselves, workmen in theplant, or those known to the sentinel were admitted.
It happened that the colored man, Eradicate, was on guard at the gatesthis day when the stranger asked to see Tom. Koku, working on theairship engine not far away, saw the stranger. Hearing the man say hewas in a hurry and noting the slow progress of the aged Eradicate, whowas troubled with rheumatism, the giant took matters into his own hands.
Tom Swift entered the gate-house and saw, seated in a chair, a man whowas impatiently tapping the floor with his thick-soled shoe.
"Looks like a detective or a policeman in disguise," thought Tom, for,almost invariably, members of this profession wear very thick-soledshoes. Opposite the stranger sat Eradicate, a much-injured look on hishonest, black face.
"Oh, Massa Tom!" exclaimed Eradicate, as soon as the young inventorentered. "Dat Koku he--he--he done gone and cotch me by de collar obmah coat, an' den he lif' me up, an' he sot me down so hard--sohard--dat he jar loose all mah back teef!" and Eradicate opened hismouth wide to display his gleaming ivories.
"Eradicate, he no can come quick. He walk like so fashion!" and Koku,who had followed the young inventor, imitated the limping gait of thecolored man with such a queer effect that Tom could not help laughing,and the stranger smiled.
"Ef I gits holt on yo'--ef I does, yo' great, big, overgrown lummox,Ah'll--Ah'll--" began the colored man, stammeringly.
"There. That will do now!" interrupted Tom. "Don't quarrel in here.Koku, get back to that engine and lift out the motor. Eradicate, didn'tfather tell you to whitewash the chicken coops to-day?"
"Dat's what he done, Massa Tom."
"Well, go and see about that. I'll stay here for a while, and when Ileave I'll call one of you, or some one else, to be on guard. Skip now!"
Having thus disposed of the warring factions, Tom turned to thestranger and after apologizing for the little interruption, asked:
"You wished to see me?"
"If you're Tom Swift; yes."
"Well, I'm Tom Swift," and the young owner of the name smiled.
"I hope you will pardon a stranger for calling on you," resumed theman, "but I'm in a lot of trouble, and I think you are the only one whocan help me out."
"What sort of trouble?" Tom inquired.
"Contracting trouble--tunnel blasting, to be exact. But if you have afew minutes to spare perhaps you will listen to my story. You will thenbe better able to understand m
y difficulty."
Tom Swift considered a moment. He was used to having appeals for helpmade to him, and usually they were of a begging nature. He was oftenasked for money to help some struggling inventor complete his machine.
In many cases the machines would have been of absolutely no use ifperfected. In other cases the inventions were of the utterly hopelessclass, incapable of perfection, like some perpetual motion apparatus.In these cases Tom turned a deaf ear, though if the inventor were inwant our hero relieved him.
But this case did not seem to be like anything Tom had ever met withbefore.
"Contracting trouble--blasting," repeated the youth, as he mused overwhat he had heard.
"That's it," the man went on. "Permit me to introduce myself" and heheld out a card, on which was the name
MR. JOB TITUS
Down in the lower left-hand corner was a line:
"Titus Brothers, Contractors."
"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Titus," Tom said warmly, offering his hand."I don't know anything about the contracting business, but if you doblasting I suppose you use explosives, and I know a little about them."
"So I have heard, and that's why I came to you," the contractor wenton. "Now if you'll give me a few minutes of your time--"
"You had better come up to the house," interrupted Tom. "We can talkmore quietly there."
Calling a young fellow who was at work near by to occupy thegate-house, Tom led Mr. Titus toward the Swift homestead, and, a littlelater, ushered him into the library.
"Now I'll listen to you," the youth said, "though I can't promise toaid you."
"I realize that," returned Mr. Titus. "This is a sort of last chanceI'm taking. My brother and I have heard a lot about you, and when hewrote to me that he was unable to proceed with his contract oftunneling the Andes Mountains for the Peruvian government, I made up mymind you were the one who could help us if you would."
"Tunneling the Andes Mountains!" exclaimed Tom.
"Yes. The firm represented by my brother and myself have a contract tobuild a railroad for the Peruvian government. At a point some distanceback in the district east of Lima, Peru, we are making a tunnel underthe mountain. That is, we have it started, but now we can't advance anyfurther."
"Why not?"
"Because of the peculiar character of the rock, which seems to defy thestrongest explosive we can get. Now I understand you used a powder inyour giant cannon that--"
Mr. Titus paused in his explanation, for at that moment there arosesuch a clatter out on the front piazza as effectually to drownconversation. There was a noise of the hoofs of a horse, the fall of aheavy body, a tattoo on the porch floor and then came an excited shout:
"Whoa there! Whoa! Stop! Look out where you're kicking! Bless mysaddle blanket! Ouch! There I go!"