Once again they were above the earth, and, desiring to get rid as soon as possible of the presence of the spies, a landing was made near New York City, and the government authorities communicated with.Captain Warner and Lieutenant Marbury took charge of the prisoners, with some Secret Service men, and the foreigners were soon safely locked up.
"And now what are you going to do, Tom?" asked Ned, when, oncemore, they had the airship to themselves.
"I'm going back to Shopton, fix up the gas bag, and give her another government trial," was the answer.
And, in due time, this was done.Tom added some improvements to the aircraft, ****** it better than ever, and when she was given the test required by the government, she was an unqualified success, and the rights to the Mars were purchased for a large sum.In sailing, and in the matter of guns and bombs, Tom's craft answered every test.
"So you see I was right, after all, Dad," the young inventor said, when informed that he had succeeded."We can shoot off even bigger guns than I thought from the deck of the Mars.""Yes, Tom," replied the aged inventor, "I admit I was wrong."Tom's aerial warship was even a bigger success than he had dared to hope.Once the government men fully understood how to run it, in which Tom played a prominent part in giving instructions, they put the Mars to a severe test.She was taken out over the ocean, and her guns trained on an obsolete battleship.Her bombs and projectiles blew the craft to pieces.
"The Mars will be the naval terror of the seas in any future war," predicted Captain Warner.
The Secret Service men succeeded in unearthing all the details of the plot against Tom.His life, at times, had been in danger, but at the last minute the man detailed to harm him lost his nerve.
It was Tom's enemies who had set on fire the red shed, and who later tried to destroy the ship by putting a corrosive acid in one of the propellers.That plot, though, was not wholly successful.Then came the time when one of the spies hid on board, and dropped the copper bar on the motor, short-circuiting it.But for the storage-battery that scheme might have wrought fearful damage.The spy who had stowed himself away on the craft escaped at night by the connivance of one of Tom's corrupt employees.
The foreign spies were tried and found guilty, receiving merited punishment.Of course the governments to which they belonged disclaimed any part in the seizure of Tom's aerial warship.
It came out at the trial that one of Tom's most trusted employees hadproved a traitor, and had the night before the test, allowed the foreign spies to secrete themselves on board, to rush out at an opportune time to overpower our hero and his friends.But luck was with Tom at the end.
"Well, what are you going to tackle next, Tom?" asked Ned, one day about a month after these exciting experiences.
"I don't know," was the slow answer."I think a self-swinging hammock, under an apple tree, with a never-emptying pitcher of ice-cold lemonade would be about the thing.""Good, Tom! And, if you'll invent that, I'll share it with you.""Well, come on, let's begin now," laughed Tom."I need a vacation, anyhow."But it is very much to be doubted if Tom Swift, even on a vacation, could refrain from trying to invent something, either in the line of airships, water, or land craft.And so, until he again comes to the front with something flew, we will take leave of him.
End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of Tom Swift And His Aerial WarshipTHE TOM SWIFT SERIES By VICTOR APPLETON
These spirited tales convey in a realistic way, the wonderful advances in land and sea locomotion.Stories like these are impressed upon the memory and their reading is productive only of good.
TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITYTOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVETHE MOVING PICTURE BOYS SERIES BY VICTOR APPLETONMoving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films are made--the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures to satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures of city affairs, life in the Wild West, among the cowboys and Indians, thrilling rescues along the seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage beasts, and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of earthquakes.The volumes teem with adventures and will be found interesting from first chapter to last.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE WEST THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE COAST THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE JUNGLE THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN EARTHQUAKE LAND THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AND THE FLOOD THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT PANAMA THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS UNDER THE SEA THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE WAR FRONT THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON FRENCH BATTLEFIELDS MOVING PICTURE BOYS FIRST SHOWHOUSE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT SEASIDE PARK MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON BROADWAY THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS OUTDOOR EXHIBITION THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS NEW IDEA
