CHAPTER XXV
THE CAPTURE--CONCLUSION
"Do you think they know we are here, Tom?" asked Mr. Whitford, as hestood at the side of the young inventor in the motor room.
"I don't believe so, as yet. They can't hear us, and, unless theyhave pretty powerful glasses, they can't pick us up. We can soontell however, if they are aware that we are following them."
"Have you made any plan about capturing them?"
"No, I'm going to wait and see what turns up. I can't certainlychase two of them, if they separate, and that's why I'm going tocripple one if I have to."
"But won't that be dangerous? I don't want to see any of themkilled, or even hurt, though they are smugglers."
"And I don't want to hurt them, either. If worst comes to worst I'mgoing to put a few holes in the wing planes of the smaller craft.That will cause her to lose headway, and she can't keep up. They'llhave to volplane to earth, but, if they know anything at all aboutairships, they can do that easily, and not get a bit hurt. That willput them out of the race, and I can keep on after the big ship. Ifancy that carries the more valuable cargo."
"I presume so. Well, don't bring the one to earth until you get overUncle Sam's territory, and then maybe there will be a chance tocapture them, and the goods too."
"I will," promised Tom. They were still over Canadian territory, butwere rapidly approaching the border.
"I think I will send a wireless to my men in Logansville, to startout and try to pick up the crippled airship after you disable her,"decided Mr. Whitford, and as Tom agreed that this was a good plan,the wireless was soon cracking away, the government agent being anadept in its use.
"I've told them we'd give another signal to tell them, as nearly aspossible where we made them take to earth," he said to Tom, and theyoung inventor nodded in agreement.
"Ned in them ship?" asked Koku, as he came back from the pilot houseto report that Mr. Damon was all right, and needed no help.
"Yes, I think Ned is in one of them," said Tom. "The big one mostlikely. Poor Ned a prisoner! Well, I'll soon have him away fromthem--if nothing happens," and Tom looked about the motor room, tomake sure that every piece of apparatus was working perfectly.
The two airships of the smugglers were hanging close together, andit was evident that the larger one had to make her pace slow, so asnot to get ahead of the small craft. Tom followed on relentlessly,not using half his speed, but creeping on silently in the darkness.
"We're over the United States now," said Mr. Whitford, after aglance earthward through the binoculars. "Let 'em get a littlefarther over the line before you pop 'em with your electric rifle,Tom."
Our hero nodded, and looked out of a side window to note theprogress of the smugglers. For several miles the chase was thus keptup, and then, suddenly the smaller craft was seen to swerve to oneside.
"They are separating!" cried Mr. Whitford, at the same time Mr.Damon called through the tube from the pilot house:
"Which one shall I follow, Tom?"
"The big one," the youth answered. "I'll take care of the other!"With a quick motion he flashed the current into the greatsearchlight, and, calling to Mr. Whitford to hold it so that thebeams played on the small aeroplane, Tom leveled his wonderfulelectric rifle at the big stretch of canvas. He pressed the lever, astreak of blue flame shot out through an opened port, and, aninstant later, the small craft of the smugglers was seen to staggerabout, dipping to one side.
"There they come!" cried Mr. Whitford. "They're done for!"
"One shot more," said Tom grimly. "It won't hurt 'em!"
Again the deadly electric rifle sent out its wireless charge, andthe airship slowly fluttered toward the earth.
"They're volplaning down!" cried Tom. "That's the end of them. Nowto catch the other!"
"Take the lantern!" cried Mr. Whitford. "I'm going to send awireless to my men to get after this disabled craft."
Tom swung the beam of the searchlight forward and a moment later hadpicked up the big aeroplane. It was some distance in advance, andgoing like the wind. He heard the automatic camera clicking away.
"They speeded her up as soon as they saw what was on!" cried Tom."But we haven't begun to go yet!"
He signalled to Mr. Damon, who pulled over the accelerating leverand instantly the Falcon responded. Now indeed the race was on inearnest. The smugglers must have understood this, for they tried alltheir tactics to throw the pursuing airship off the track. Theydodged and twisted, now going up, and now going down, and eventrying to turn back, but Tom headed them off. Ever the great beam oflight shone relentlessly on them, like some avenging eye. They couldnot escape.
"Are we gaining?" cried Mr. Whitford.
"A little, and slowly," answered Tom. "They have a bigger load onthan when we chased them before, but still they have a speed almostequal to ours. They must have a magnificent motor."
Faster and faster sped on the Falcon. The other craft kept ahead ofher, however, though Tom could see that, inch by inch, he wasoverhauling her.
"Where do they seem to be heading for?" asked the government agent.
"Shopton, as near as I can make out," replied the youth. "Theyprobably want to get there ahead of us, and hide the goods. I mustprevent that. Mr. Damon is steering better than he ever did before."
Tom shifted the light to keep track of the smugglers, who had dippeddownward on a steep slant. Then they shot upward, but the Falcon wasafter them.
The hours of the night passed. The chase was kept up. Try as thesmugglers did, they could not shake Tom off. Nearer and nearer hecrept. There was the gray dawn of morning in the sky, and Tom knew,from the great speed they had traveled that they must be nearShopton.
"They're slowing up. Tom!" suddenly cried Mr. Whitford who waswatching them through an open port.
"Yes, I guess they must have heated some of their bearings. Well,here's where I capture them, if it's ever to be. Koku, let down thegrappling anchor."
"Are you really going to capture them, Tom?" asked the customofficer.
"I'm going to try," was the answer, as Koku came back to say thatthe anchor was dragging over the stern by a long rope.
"You work the light, Mr. Whitford," cried Tom. "I'm going to relieveMr. Damon in the pilot house. He can help you here. It will be allover in another minute."
In the pilot house Tom grasped the steering levers. Then in a finalburst of speed he sent his craft above, and past that of thesmugglers.
Suddenly he felt a shock. It was the grappling anchor catching inthe rail of the other air craft. A shout of dismay arose from thesmugglers.
"You've got 'em! You've got 'em, Tom!" yelled Mr. Whitford.
"Bless my hasty pudding! So he has!" gasped Mr. Damon.
Changing the course of his craft Tom sent the Falcon toward theearth, pulling the other aeroplane with him. Down and down he went,and the frantic efforts of the smugglers to release themselves wereuseless. They were pulled along by the powerful airship of our hero.
A few minutes later Tom picked out a good landing place in the dimlight of the breaking dawn, and went to earth. Jamming on the brakeshe leaped from the pilot house to the stern of his own craft,catching up his electric rifle. The other airship, caught by thegrappling anchor at the end of a long rope, was just settling down,those in her having the good sense to shut off their power, andvolplane when they found that they could not escape.
As the smugglers' craft touched the earth, several figures leapedfrom her, and started to run away.
"Hold on!" cried Tom. "I've got you all covered with the electricrifle! Don't move! Koku, you, and Mr. Whitford and Mr. Damon takecare of them. Tie 'em up."
"Bless my hat band!" cried the eccentric man. "What a great capture!Where are we?"
"Not far from Shopton," answered Tom. "But look after theprisoners."
There was a cry of astonishment from Mr. Whitford as he reached thesullen occupants of the smugglers' craft.
"Here are the Fogers--father and son!" the agent cal
led to Tom."They were in it after all. Great Scott! What a surprise. And hereare a lot of men whom I've been after for some time! Oh, Tom Swift,this IS a capture."
"What right have you to use these high-handed methods on us?"demanded Mr. Foger pompously.
"Yes, dad make 'em let us go; we haven't done anything!" snarledAndy.
"I guess you won't go yet a while," said the agent. "I'll have alook inside this craft. Keep 'em covered, Tom."
"I will. I guess Andy knows what this rifle can do. See if Ned is aprisoner."
There was a few moments of waiting during which Koku and Mr. Damonsecurely bound the prisoners. Then Mr. Whitford reappeared. He wasaccompanied by some one.
"Hello, Tom!" called the latter. "I'm all right. Much obliged forthe rescue."
"Are you all right, Ned?" asked Tom, of his chum.
"Yes, except that they kept me gagged. The men who captured me tookme for you, and, after the Fogers found out the mistake, theydecided to keep me anyhow. Say, you've made a great haul."
And so it proved, for in the airship was a quantity of valuablesilks and laces, while on the persons of the smugglers, includingMr. Foger, were several packets of diamonds. These were takenpossession of by Mr. Whitford, who also confiscated the bales andpackages.
Ned was soon aboard the Falcon, while the prisoners, securely tiedwere laid in the cabin of their own craft with Koku to stand guardover them. Mr. Damon went to Shopton, which was the nearest town,for police aid, and soon the smugglers were safe in jail, though Mr.Foger protested vigorously against going.
Ned explained how he had been pounced upon by two men when he wasfishing, and told how without a chance to warn his friends, he hadbeen gagged and bound and taken to the headquarters of the smugglersin Canada, just over the border. They went by carriages. Then theFogers, who, it seemed, were hand in glove with the law violators,saw him, and identified him. The smugglers had thought they werecapturing Tom.
"It was your coat and hat that did it, Tom," explained Ned. "Ifought against being taken away, but when I happened to think ifthey took me for you it might be a trick against them. And it was.The Fogers didn't discover the mistake until just before we started."
"They planned for a big shipment of goods last night and used twoairships. I don't know what became of the other."
"We've got her, and the men, too," interposed Mr. Whitford, as thisconversation was taking place several hours later in the Swift home."I just had a wire from my deputy. They got right after the damagedairship, and reached her just as the men were hiding the goods, andpreparing to dismantle the craft. We have them all, thanks to you,Tom!"
"And to think that the Fogers were in it all the while!" remarkedTom. "They certainly fooled us."
"I'm not done with them yet," said Mr. Whitford. "I'm going to haveanother look at their house, and the gardener's home."
"The Fogers were in dire straits, that's why they went in with thesmugglers," explained Ned. "Though they gagged me, they didn't stopup my ears, and when they hid me in a little room on the airship, Icould hear them talking together. It seems that the smugglers put upthe money to buy the airships, and just happened to stumble on Andyto run the machinery for them. His father helped, too. They sharedin the proceeds, and they must have made considerable, for thesmuggling has been going on for some time."
"Well, they'll lose all they made," declared the agent. Later he,Tom and Ned made another inspection of the Foger premises. Down inthe cellar of the gardener's house they found, behind a cunninglyconcealed door, a tunnel leading into the old mansion. Later it waslearned that the smugglers had been in the habit of bringing goodsacross the border in airships, landing them in a lonely stretch ofwoods outside of Shopton, and later bringing them by wagon to themansion.
Inside there, in some secret rooms that had been constructed off ofthe main apartments, the goods would be unpacked, put in differentboxes, carried through the tunnel to the gardener's house, andthence shipped as "old furniture" to various unscrupulous agents whodisposed of them.
The hiring of Mr. Dillon had been only a blind. Later the smugglers,in the guise of carpenters, made the desired changes. So cunninglyhad the opening of the tunnel in the cellar of the gardener's housebeen concealed, that it was only discovered after a most carefulsearch.
There is little more to tell. With the capture of the two airships,an end was put to the smuggling operations, especially since nearlyall the gang was captured. A few, those who brought the goods up theSt. Lawrence, from the ocean steamers, managed to escape, but theyhad to go into hiding.
The goods captured proved very valuable, and partly made up to UncleSam's treasury the losses sustained. Tom was offered a big reward,but would not take it, accepting only money for his expenses, andrequesting that the reward be divided among the agents of Mr.Whitford's staff, who needed it more than Tom did.
There was no difficulty about convicting the prisoners, includingthe Fogers, for Tom's wizard camera had taken pictures of the chaseand capture, and the men were easily identified. Mr. Period wasquite delighted with the roll of films that Tom gave him. Some ofthe smugglers were sent to prison for long terms, and others,including Andy and his father, had to pay heavy fines.
"Well, Tom Swift, I can't thank you enough," said Mr. Whitford, oneday as he called to pay the young inventor a visit. "I'm ordered tothe Pacific coast and I may have to send for you with your airship,and great searchlight."
"I don't believe I'll come," laughed the lad. "I'm going to take along rest and settle down."
"He's going to get married!" exclaimed Ned, taking care to getbehind a chair.
"If Mr. Tom marry, he keep Koku for servant?" asked the giantanxiously.
"Oh, I'm not going to get married, just yet, Koku!" exclaimed Tom,who was blushing furiously. "I'm going to invent something new."
"Bless my fountain pen!" cried Mr. Damon.
"Oh, Tom, it seems good to have you home again," said aged Mr. Swiftsoftly.
"Dat's what it do!" added Eradicate. "Boomerang hab been monstrouslonely sence yo'-all been gone, Massa Tom."
"Well, I'm going to stay home--for a while," said Tom. And thus,surrounded as he is by his friends and relatives, we will take leaveof Tom Swift.
THE END
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