CHAPTER IV
SEARCHING FOR SMUGGLERS.
"Well, of all things!"
"Who in the world would think such a thing?"
"Andy going to start out with his airship again!"
"And going to sail it off the roof of his house!"
These were the alternate expressions that came from Tom and Ned, asthey stood gazing at each other after the startling informationgiven them by Mr. Dillon, the carpenter.
"Do you really think he means it?" asked Tom, after a pause, duringwhich they watched the retreating figure of the carpenter. "Maybe hewas fooling us."
"No, Mr. Dillon seldom jokes," replied Ned, "and when he does, youcan always tell. He goes to our church, and I know he wouldn'tdeliberately tell an untruth. Oh. Andy's up to some game all right."
"I thought he must be hanging around here the way he has been,instead of being home. But I admit I may have been wrong about thepolice being after him. If he'd done something wrong, he wouldhardly hire a man to work on the house while he was hiding in it. Iguess he just wants to keep out of the way of everybody but his ownparticular cronies. But I wonder what he is up to, anyhow; gettinghis airship in shape again?"
"Give it up, unless there's an aero meet on somewhere soon," repliedNed. "Maybe he's going to try a race again."
Tom shook his head.
"I'd have heard about any aviation meets, if there were anyscheduled," he replied. "I belong to the national association, andthey send out circulars whenever there are to be races. None are onfor this season. No, Andy has some other game."
"Well, I don't know that it concerns us," spoke Ned.
"Not as long as he doesn't bother me," answered the young inventor."Well, Ned, I suppose you'll be over in the morning and help me tryout the noiseless airship?"
"Sure thing. Say, it was queer, about that government agent, wasn'tit? suspecting you of supplying airships to the smugglers?"
"Rather odd," agreed Tom. "He might much better suspect Andy Foger."
"That's so, and now that we know Andy is rebuilding his old airship,maybe we'd better tell him."
"Tell who?"
"That government agent. Tell him he's wrong in thinking that Andy isout of the game. We might send him word that we just learned thatAndy is getting active again. He has as much right to suspect andquestion him, as he had you."
"Oh, I don't know," began Tom slowly. He was not a vindicativeyouth, nor, for that matter, was Ned. And Tom would not go out ofhis way to give information about an enemy, when it was not certainthat the said enemy meant anything wrong. "I don't believe there'sanything in it," finished our hero. "Andy may have a lot of time onhis hands, and, for want of something better to do, he's fixing uphis aeroplane."
"Look!" suddenly exclaimed Ned. "There's that agent now! He's goingto the depot to get a train, I guess," and he pointed to thegovernment man, who had so lately interviewed Tom. "I'm going tospeak to him!" impulsively declared Ned.
"I wouldn't," objected Tom, but his chum had already hastened onahead, and soon was seen talking excitedly to Mr. Whitford. Tomsauntered up in time to hear the close of the conversation.
"I'm much obliged to you for your information," said the customofficer, "but I'm afraid, just as you say your chum felt about it,that there's nothing in it. This Foger chap may have been bad in thepast, but I hardly think he's in with the smugglers. What I'mlooking for is not a lad who has one airship, but someone who ismaking a lot of them, and supplying the men who are running goodsover the border. That's the sort of game I'm after, and if this AndyFoger only has one aeroplane I hardly think he can be verydangerous."
"Well, perhaps not," admitted Ned. "But I thought I'd tell you."
"And I'm glad you did. If you hear anything more, I'll be glad tohave you let me know. Here's my card," and thanking the boys fortheir interest Mr. Whitford passed on.
Tom and Ned gave the noiseless airship a test the next day. Thecraft, which was the stanch Falcon, remodeled, was run out of theshed, Koku the giant helping, while Mr. Swift stood looking on, aninterested spectator of what his son was about to do. Eradicate, theold colored man, who was driving his mule Boomerang, hitched to awagon in which he was carting away some refuse that had been rakedup in the garden, halted his outfit nearby.
"I say, Massa Tom!" he called, as the young inventor passed nearhim, in making a tour of the ship.
"Well, Rad, what is it?"
"Doan't yo'-all want fo' ma an' Boomerang t' gib yo'-all a tow?Mebby dat new-fangled contraption yo'-all has done put on yo' shipwon't wuk, an' mebby I'd better stick around t' pull yo'-all home."
"No, Rad, I guess it will work all right. If it doesn't, and we getstuck out a mile or two, I'll send you a wireless message."
"Doan't do dat!" begged the colored man. "I neber could read demwireless letters anyhow. Jest gib a shout, an' me an' Boomerang willcome a-runnin'."
"All right, Rad, I will. Now, Ned, is everything in shape?"
"I think so, Tom."
"Koku, just put a little more wind in those tires. But don't pump ashard as you did the other day," Tom cautioned.
"What happened then?" asked Ned.
"Oh, Koku forgot that he had so much muscle, and he kept on pumpingair into the bicycle wheel tires until he burst one. Go easy thistime, Koku."
"I will, Mr. Tom," and the giant took the air pump.
"Is he going along?" asked Ned, as he looked to see that all the guywires and stays were tight.
"I guess so," replied Tom. "He makes good ballast. I wish Mr. Damonwas here. If everything goes right we may take a run over, andsurprise him."
In a little while the noiseless airship was ready for the start.Tom, Ned and Koku climbed in, and took their positions.
"Good luck!" Mr. Swift called after them. Tom waved his hand to hisfather, and the next moment his craft shot into the air. Up and upit went, the great propeller blades beating the air, but, save for asoft whirr, such as would be made by the wings of a bird, there wasabsolutely no sound.
"Hurrah!" cried Tom. "She works! I've got a noiseless airship atlast!"
"Say, don't yell at a fellow so," begged Ned, for Tom had been closeto his chum when he made his exulting remark.
"Yell! I wasn't yelling," replied Tom. "Oh, I see what happened. I'mso used to speaking loud on the other airships, that make such aracket, that I didn't realize how quiet it was aboard the newFalcon. No wonder I nearly made you deaf, Ned. I'll be careful afterthis," and Tom lowered his voice to ordinary tones. In fact it wasas quiet aboard his new craft, as if he and Ned had been walking insome grass-grown country lane.
"She certainly is a success," agreed Ned. "You could creep up onsome other airship now, and those aboard would never know you werecoming."
"I've been planning this for a long time," went on our hero, as heshifted the steering gear, and sent the craft around in a long,sweeping curve. "Now for Waterford and Mr. Damon."
They were soon above the town where the odd man lived, and Tom,picking out Mr. Damon's house, situated as it was in the midst ofextensive grounds, headed for it.
"There he is, walking through the garden," exclaimed Ned, pointingto their friend down below. "He hasn't heard us, as he would havedone if we had come in any other machine."
"That's so!" exclaimed Tom. "I'm going to give him a sensation. I'llfly right over his head, and he won't know it until he sees us. I'llcome up from behind."
A moment later he put this little trick into execution. Along sweptthe airship, until, with a rush, it passed right over Mr. Damon'shead. He never heard it, and was not aware of what was happeninguntil he saw the shadow it cast. Then, jumping aside, as if hethought something was about to fall on him, he cried:
"Bless my mosquito netting! What in the world--"
Then he saw Tom and Ned in the airship, which came gently to earth afew yards further on.
"Well of all things!" cried Mr. Damon. "What are you up to now, TomSwift?"
"It's my noiseless airship," explained our hero.
"She doesn't make asound. Get aboard, and have a ride."
Mr. Damon looked toward the house.
"I guess my wife won't see me," he said with a chuckle. "She's morethan ever opposed to airships, Tom, since we went on that triptaking moving pictures. But I'll take a chance." And in he sprang,when the two lads started up again. They made quite a flight, andTom found that his new motor exceeded his expectations. True, itneeded some adjustments, but these could easily be made.
"Well, what are you going to do with it, now that you have it?"asked Mr. Damon, as Tom once more brought the machine around to theodd man's house, and stopped it. "What's it for?"
"Oh, I think I'll find a use for it," replied the young inventor."Will you come back to Shopton with us?"
"No, I must stay here. I have some letters to write. But I'll runover in a few days, and see you. Then I'll go on another trip, ifyou've got one planned."
"I may have," answered Tom with a laugh. "Good-bye."
He and Ned made a quick flight home, and Tom at once started onmaking some changes in the motor. He was engaged at this work thenext day, when he noticed a shadow pass across an open window. Helooked up to see Ned.
"Hello, Tom!" cried his chum. "Have you heard the news?"
"No, what news? Has Andy Foger fallen out of his airship?"
"No, but there are a whole lot of Custom House detectives in town,looking for clews to the smugglers."
"Still at it, eh? Shopton can't seem to keep out of the limelight.Has anything new turned up?"
"Yes. I just met Mr. Whitford. He's back on the case and he hasseveral men with him. They received word that some smuggled goodscame to Shopton, and were shipped out of here again."
"How, by airship?"
"No, by horse and wagon. A lot of cases of valuable silks importedfrom England to Canada, where the duty is light, were slipped overthe border somehow, in airships, it is thought. Then they came hereby freight, labeled as calico, and when they reached this town theywere taken away in a wagon."
"But how did they get here?"
"On the railroad, of course, but the freight people had no reason tosuspect them."
"And where were they taken from the freight station?"
"That's what the customs authorities want to find out. They thinkthere's some secret place here, where the goods are stored andreshipped. That's why so many detectives are here. They are after thesmugglers hot-footed."