TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
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Victor Appleton >> TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
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"Why?"
"Because there are enemies on my track. If they thought I was
seeking aid to discover the secret of Phantom Mountain, my life
might pay the forfeit."
"Are you in earnest, Mr. Jenks?"
"I certainly am, and, while I must apologize for awakening you
at this unseemly hour, and for the mysterious nature of my visit,
if you will let me tell my story, you will see the need of
secrecy."
"Oh, I don't mind being awakened," answered Tom, good-naturedly,
"but I will be frank with you, Mr. Jenks. I hardly can believe what
you have stated to me several times--that you know how diamonds
can be made."
"I can prove it to you," was the quiet answer.
"Yes, I know. For centuries men have tried to discover the
secret of transmuting base metals into gold, and how to make
diamonds by chemical means. But they have all been failures."
"All except this process--the process used at Phantom
Mountain," insisted the queer man. "Do you want to hear my
story?"
"I have no objections."
"Then let me warn you," went on Mr. Jenks, "that if you do hear
it, you will be so fascinated by it that I am sure you will want
to cast your lot in with mine, and aid me to get my rights, and
solve the mystery. And I also want to warn you that if you do,
there is a certain amount of danger connected with it."
"I'm used to danger," answered Tom, quietly. "Let me hear your
story. But first explain how you came to come here, and why you
acted so strangely at the jewelry store."
"Willingly. I tried to attract your attention at the store,
because I saw that you were going to buy a diamond, and I didn't
want you to."
"Why not?"
"Because I want to present you with a beautiful stone, that
will answer your purpose as well or better, than any one you
could buy. That will prove my story better than any amount of
words or argument. But I could not attract your attention without
also attracting that of the jeweler. He became suspicious, gave
chase, and I thought it best to vanish. I hope no one was made to
suffer for what may have been my imprudence."
"No, the lad whom Mr. Track caught was let go. But how did you
happen to come to Shopton?"
"To see you. I got your address from the owner of the yacht
Resolute. I knew that if there was one person who could aid me to
recover my rights, it would be you, Tom Swift. Will you help me?
Will you come with me to discover the secret of Phantom Mountain?
If we go, it will have to be in an airship, for in no other way,
I think, can we come upon the place, as it is closely guarded.
Will you come? I will pay you well."
"Perhaps I had better hear your story," said the young
inventor. "But first let me suggest that we move farther away
from the house. My father, or Mr. Jackson, or the housekeeper,
may hear us talking, and it may disturb them. Come with me to my
private shop," and Tom led the way to a small building where he
did experimental work. He unlocked the door with a key he
carried, turned on the lights, which were run by a storage
battery, and motioned Mr. Jenks to a seat.
"Now I'll hear your story," said Tom.
"I'll make it as short as possible," went on the queer man. "To
begin with, it is now several years ago since a poorly dressed
stranger applied to me one night for money enough to get a meal
and a bed to sleep in. I was living in New York City at the time,
and this was midnight, as I was returning home from my club.
"I was touched by the man's appearance, and gave him some
money. He asked for my card, saying he would repay me some day. I
gave it to him, little thinking I would hear from the man again.
But I did. He called at my apartments about a week later, saying
he had secured work as an expert setter of diamonds, and wanted
to repay me. I did not want to take his money, but the fact that
such a sorry looking specimen of manhood as he had been when I
aided him, was an expert handler of gems interested me. I talked
with the man, and he made a curious statement.
"This man, who gave his name as Enos Folwell, said he knew a place
where diamonds could be made, partly in a scientific manner, and
partly by the forces of nature. I laughed at him, but he told me so
many details that I began to believe him. He said he and some other
friends of his, who were diamond cutters, had a plant in the midst of
the Rocky Mountains, where they had succeeded in making several small,
but very perfect diamonds. They had come to the end of their rope,
though, so to speak, because they could not afford to buy the materials
needed. Folwell said that he and his companions had temporarily
separated, had left the mountain where they made diamonds, and agreed
to meet there later when they had more money with which to purchase
materials. They had all agreed to go out into civilization, and work
for enough funds to enable them to go on with their diamond making.
"I hardly knew whether to believe the man or not, but he
offered proof. He had several small, but very perfect diamonds
with him, and he gave them to me, to have tested in any way I
desired.
"I promised to look into the matter, and, as I was quite
wealthy, as, in fact I am now, and if I found that the stones he
gave me were real, I said I might invest some money in the
plant."
"Were the diamonds good?" asked Tom, who was beginning to be
interested.
"They were--stones of the first water, though small. An expert
gem merchant, to whom I took them, said he had never seen any
diamonds like them, and he wanted to know where I got them. Of
course I did not tell him.
"To make a long story short, I saw Folwell again, told him to
communicate with his companions, and to tell them that I would
agree to supply the cash needed, if I could share in the diamond
making. To this they agreed, and, after some weeks spent in
preparation, a party of us set out for Phantom Mountain."
"Phantom Mountain?" interrupted Tom. "Where is it?"
"I don't know, exactly--it's somewhere in the Rockies, but the
exact location is a mystery. That is why I need your help. You
will soon understand the reason. Well, as I said, myself, Folwell
and the others, who were not exactly prepossessing sort of men,
started west. When we got to a small town, called Indian Ridge,
near Leadville, Colorado, the men insisted that I must now
proceed in secret, and consent to be blindfolded, as they were
not yet ready to reveal the secret of the place where they made
the diamonds.
"I did not want to agree to this, but they insisted, and I gave
in, foolishly perhaps. At any rate I was blindfolded one night,
placed in a wagon, and we drove off into the mountains. After
traveling for some distance I was led, still blindfolded, up a
steep trail.
"When the bandage was taken off my eyes I saw that I was in a
large cave. The men were with me, and they apologized for the
necessity that caused them to blindfold me. They said they were
ready to proceed with the making of diamonds, but I must promise
not to seek to discover the secret until they gave me permission,
nor was I to attempt to leave the cave. I had to agree.
"Next they demanded that I give them a large sum, which I had
promised when they showed me, conclusively, that they could make
diamonds. I refused to do this until I had seen some of the
precious stones, and they agreed that this was fair, but said I
would have to wait a few days.
"Well, I waited, and, all that while, I was virtually a
prisoner in the cave. All I could learn was that it was in the
midst of a great range, near the top, and that one of the peaks
was called Phantom Mountain. Why, I did not learn until later.
"At last one night, during a terrific thunder storm, the
leader of the diamond makers--Folwell--announced that I could now
see the stones made. The men had been preparing their chemicals
for some days previous. I was taken into a small chamber of the
cave, and there saw quite a complicated apparatus. Part of it was
a great steel box, with a lever on it.
"We will let you make some diamonds for yourself," Folwell said
to me, and he directed me to pull the lever of the box, at a
certain signal. The signal came, just as a terrific crash of
thunder shook the very mountain inside of which we were. The box
of steel got red-hot, and when it cooled off it was opened, and
was given a handful of white stones."
"Were they diamonds?" asked Tom, eagerly.
Mr. Jenks held out one hand. In the palm glittered a large
stone--ostensibly a diamond. In the rays of the moon it showed
all the colors of the rainbow--a beautiful gem. "That is one of
the stones I made--or rather that I supposed I had made," went on
Mr. Jenks. "It is one of several I have, but they have not all
been cut and polished as has this one.
"Naturally I was much impressed by what I saw, and, after I had
made certain tests which convinced me that the stones in the
steel box were diamonds, I paid over the money as I had promised.
That was my undoing."
"How?"
"As soon as the men got the cash, they had no further use for
me. The next I remember is eating a rude meal, while we discussed
the future of making diamonds. I knew nothing more until I found
myself back in the small hotel at Indian Ridge, whence I had gone
some time previous, with the men, to the cave in the mountain."
"What happened?" asked Tom, much surprised by the unexpected
outcome of the affair. "I had been tricked, that was all! As soon
as the men had my money they had no further use for me. They did
not want me to learn the secret of their diamond making, and they
drugged me, carried me away from the cave, and left me in the
hotel."
"Didn't you try to find the cave again?"
"I did, but without avail. I spent some time in the Rockies,
but no one could tell where Phantom Mountain was; in fact, few
had heard of it, and I was nearly lost searching for it.
"I came back East, determined to get even. I had given the men
a very large sum of money, and, in exchange, they had given me
several diamonds. Probably the stones are worth nearly as much as
the money I invested, but I was cheated, for I was promised an
equal share in the profits. These were denied me, and I was
tricked. I determined to be revenged, or at least to discover the
secret of making diamonds. It is my right."
"I agree with you," spoke Tom.
"But, up to the time I met you on Earthquake Island, I could
form no plan for discovering Phantom Mountain, and learning the
secret of the diamond makers," went on Mr. Jenks. "I carried the
gems about with me, as you doubtless saw when we were on the
island. But I knew I needed an airship in which to fly over the
mountains, and pick out the location of the cave where the
diamonds are made."
"But how can you locate it, if you were blindfolded when you
were taken there, Mr. Jenks?"
"I forgot to tell you that, on our journey into the mountains,
and just before I was carried into the cave, I managed to raise
one corner of the bandage. I caught a glimpse of a very
peculiarly shaped cliff--it is like a great head, standing out in
bold relief against the moonlight, when I saw it. That head of
rock is near the cave. It may be the landmark by which we can
locate Phantom Mountain."
"Perhaps," admitted the young inventor.
"What I want to know is this," went on Mr. Jenks. "Will you go
with me on this quest--go in your airship to discover the secret
of the diamond makers? If you will, I will share with you
whatever diamonds we can discover, or make; besides paying all
expenses. Will you go, Tom Swift?"
The young inventor did not know what to answer. How far was Mr.
Jenks to be trusted? Were the stones he had real diamonds? Was
his story, fantastical as it sounded--true? Would it be safe for
Tom to go?
The lad asked himself these questions. Mr. Jenks saw his
hesitation.
"Here," said the strange man, "I will prove what I say. Take
this diamond. I intended it for you, anyhow, for what you did for
me on Earthquake Island. Take it, and--and give it to the person
for whom you were about to purchase a diamond to-night. But,
first of all, take it to a gem expert, and get his opinion. That
will prove the truth of what I say, Tom Swift, and I feel sure
that you will cast your lot in with mine, and help me to discover
the secret of Phantom Mountain, and aid me to get my rights from
the diamond makers!"
CHAPTER IV--ANDY FOGER GETS A FRIGHT
Tom Swift considered a few minutes. On the face of it, the
proposition appealed to him. He had been home some time now after
his adventures on Earthquake Island, and he was beginning to long
for more excitement. The search for the mysterious mountain, and
the cave of the diamond makers, might offer a new field for him.
But there came to him a certain distrust of Mr. Jenks.
"I don't like to doubt your word," began Tom, slowly, "but you
know, Mr. Jenks, that some of the greatest chemists have tried in
vain to make diamonds; or, at best, they have made only tiny
ones. To think that any man, or set of men, made real diamonds as
large as the ones you have, doesn't seem--well--" and Tom
hesitated.
"You mean you can hardly believe me?" asked Mr. Jenks.
"I guess that's it," assented Tom.
"I don't blame you a bit!" exclaimed the odd man. "In fact, I
didn't believe it when they told me they could make diamonds. But
they proved it to me. I'm ready now to prove it to you."
"I'll tell you what I'll do. Here's this one stone, cut ready
for setting. Here's another, uncut," and Mr. Jenks drew from his
pocket what looked like a piece of crystal. "Take them to any
jeweler," he resumed--"to the one in whose place I saw you to-night.
I'll abide by the verdict you get, and I'll come here to-morrow
night, and hear what you have to say."
"Why do you come at night?" asked Tom, thinking there was
something suspicious in that.
"Because my life might be in danger if I was seen talking to
you, and showing you diamonds in the daytime--especially just
now.
"Why at this particular time?"
"For the reason that the diamond makers are on my trail. As
long as I remained quiet, after their shabby treatment of me, and
did not try to discover their secret, they were all right. But,
after I realized that I had been cheated out of my rights, and
when I began to make an investigation, with a view to discovering
their secret whereabouts, I received mysterious and anonymous
warnings to stop."
"But I did not. I came East, and tried to get help to discover
the cave of the diamond makers, but I was unsuccessful. I needed
an airship, as I--said, and no person who could operate one,
would agree to go with me on the quest. Again I received a
warning to drop all search for the diamond makers, but I
persisted, and about a week ago I found I was being shadowed."
"Shadowed; by whom?" asked Tom.
"By a man I never remember seeing, but who, I have no doubt, is
one of the diamond-making gang."
"Do you think he means you harm?"
"I'm sure of it. That is the reason I have to act so in secret,
and come to see you at night. I don't want those scoundrels to
find out what I am about to do. On my return from Earthquake
Island, I again endeavored to interest an airship man in my plan,
but he evidently thought me insane. Then I thought of you, as I
had done before, but I was afraid you, too, would laugh at my
proposition. However, I decided to come here, and I did. It
seemed almost providential that my first view of you was in a
jewelry shop, looking at diamonds. I took it as a good omen. Now
it remains with you. May I call here to-morrow night, and get
your answer?"
Tom Swift made up his mind quickly. After all it would be easy
enough to find out if the diamonds were real. If they were, he
could then decide whether or not to go with Mr. Jenks on the
mysterious quest. So he answered:
"I'll consider the matter, Mr. Jenks. I'll meet you here to-morrow
night. In the meanwhile, for my own satisfaction, I'll let
an expert look at these stones."
"Get the greatest diamond expert in the world, and he'll
pronounce them perfect!" predicted the odd man. "Now I'll bid you
goodnight, and be going. I'll be here at this time to-morrow."
As Mr. Jenks turned aside there was a movement among the trees
in the orchard, and a shadowy figure was seen hurrying away.
"Who's that?" asked the diamond man, in a hoarse whisper. "Did
you see that, Tom Swift? Some one was here--listening to what I
said! Perhaps it was the man who has been shadowing me!"
"I think not. I guess it was Eradicate Sampson, a colored man
who does work for us," said Tom. "Is that you, Rad?" he called.
"Yais, sah, Massa Tom, heah I is!" answered the voice of the
negro, but it came from an entirely different direction than that
in which the shadowy figure had been seen.
"Where are you, Rad?" called the young inventor.
"Right heah," was the reply, and the colored man came from the
direction of the stable. "I were jest out seein' if mah mule
Boomerang were all right. Sometimes he's restless, an' don't
sleep laik he oughter."
"Then that wasn't you over in the orchard?" asked Tom, in some
uneasiness.
"No, sah, I ain't been in de orchard. I were sleepin' in mah
shack, till jest a few minutes ago, when I got up, an' went in t'
see Boomerang. I had a dream dat some coon were tryin t' steal
him, an' it sort ob 'sturbed me, laik."
"If it wasn't your man, it was some one else," said Mr. Jenks,
decidedly.
"We'll have a look!" exclaimed Tom. "Here, Rad, come over and
scurry among those trees. We just saw some one sneaking around."
"I'll sure do dat!" cried the colored man. "Mebby it were
somebody arter Boomerang! I'll find 'em."
"I don't believe it was any one after the mule," murmured Mr.
Jenks, "but it certainly was some one--more likely some one after
me."
The three made a hasty search among the trees, but the intruder
had vanished, leaving no trace. They went out into the road,
which the moon threw into bold relief along its white stretch,
but there was no figure scurrying away.
"Whoever it was, is gone," spoke Tom. "You can go back to bed,
Rad," for the colored man, of late, had been sleeping in a shack
on the Swift premises.
"And I guess it's time for me to go, too," added Mr. Jenks.
"I'll be here to-morrow night, Tom, and I hope your answer will
be favorable."
Tom did not sleep well the remainder of the night, for his
fitful slumbers were disturbed by dreams of enormous caves,
filled with diamonds, with dark, shadowy figures trying to put
him into a red-hot steel box. Once he awakened with a start, and
put his hand under his pillow to feel if the two stones Mr. Jenks
had given him, were still there. They had not been disturbed.
Tom made up his mind to find out if the stones were really
diamonds, before saying anything to his father about the chance
of going to seek Phantom Mountain. And the young inventor wished
to get the opinion of some other jeweler than Mr. Track--at
least, at first.
"Though if this one proves to be a good gem, I'll have Mr.
Track set it in a brooch, and give it to Mary for her birthday,"
decided the young inventor. "Guess I'll take a run over to
Chester in the Butterfly, and see what one of the jewelers there
has to say."
In addition to his big airship, Red Cloud, Tom owned a small,
swift monoplane, which he called Butterfly. This had been damaged
by Andy Foger just before Tom left on the trip that ended at
Earthquake Island, but the monoplane had been repaired, and Andy
had left town, not having returned since.
Telling his father that he was going off on a little business
trip, which he often did in his aeroplane, Tom, with the aid of
Mr. Jackson, the engineer, wheeled the Butterfly out of its shed.
Adjusting the mechanism, and seeing that it was in good shape,
Tom took his place in one of the two seats, for the monoplane
would carry two. Mr. Jackson then spun the propellers, and, with
a crackle and roar the motor started. Over the ground ran the
dainty, little aeroplane, until, having momentum enough, Tom
tilted the wing planes and the machine sailed up into the air.
Rising about a thousand feet, and circling about several times
to test the wind currents, Tom headed his craft toward Chester,
a city about fifty miles from Shopton. In his pocket, snugly
tucked away, were the two stones Mr. Jenks had given him.
It was not long before Tom saw, looming up in the distance the
church spires and towering factory chimneys of Chester, for his
machine was a speedy one, and could make ninety miles an hour
when driven. But now a slower speed satisfied our hero.
"I'll just drop down outside of the city," he reasoned, "for
too much of a crowd gathers when I land in the street. Besides I
might frighten horses, and then, too, it's hard to get a good
start from the street. I'll leave it in some barn until I want to
go back."
Tom sent his craft down, in order to pick out a safe place for
a landing. He was then over the suburbs of the city, and was
following the line of a straight country road.
"Looks like a good place there," he murmured. "I'll shut off
the motor, and vol-plane down."
Suiting the action to the word, Tom shut off his power. The
little craft dipped toward the ground, but the lad threw up the
forward planes, and caught a current of air that sent him
skimming along horizontally.
As he got nearer to the ground, he saw the figure of a lad
riding a bicycle along the country highway. Something about the
figure struck Tom as being familiar, and he recognized the
cyclist a moment later.
"It's Andy Foger!" said Tom, in a whisper. "I wondered where he
had been keeping himself since he damaged the Butterfly.
Evidently he doesn't dare venture back to Shopton. Well, here's
where I give him a scare."
Tom's monoplane was making no more noise, now, than a soaring
bird. He was gliding swiftly toward the earth, and, with the plan
in his mind of administering some sort of punishment to the
bully, he aimed the machine directly at him.
Nearer and nearer shot the monoplane, as quietly as a sheet of
paper might fall. Andy pedaled on, never looking up nor behind
him, A moment later, as Tom threw up his headplanes, to make his
landing more easy, and just as he swooped down at one side of the
cyclist, our hero let out a most alarming yell, right into Andy's
ear.
"Now I've got you!" he shouted. "I'll teach you to slash my
aeroplane! Come with me!"
Andy gave one look at the white bird-like apparatus that had
flown up beside him so noiselessly, and, being too frightened to
recognize Tom's voice, must have thought that he had been
overtaken by some supernatural visitor.
Andy gave a yell like an Indian, about to do a stage scalping
act, and fairly dived over the handlebars of his bicycle,
sprawling in a heap on the dusty road.
"I guess that will hold you for a while," observed Tom, grimly,
as he put on the ground-brake and brought his monoplane to a stop
not far from the fallen rider.
CHAPTER V--A MYSTERIOUS MAN
For several minutes Andy Foger did not arise. He remained
prostrate in the dust, and Tom, observing him, thought perhaps
the bully might have been seriously injured. But, a little later,
Andy cautiously raised his head, and inquired in a frightened
voice:
"Is it--is it gone?"
"Is what gone?" asked Tom, grimly.
At the sound of his voice, Andy looked up. "Was that you, Tom
Swift?" he demanded. "Did you knock me off my wheel?"
"My monoplane and I together did," was the reply; "or, rather,
we didn't. It was the nervous reaction caused by your fright, and
the knowledge that you had done wrong, that made you jump over
the handlebars. That's the scientific explanation."
"You--you did it!" stammered Andy, getting to his feet. He
wasn't hurt much, Tom thought.
"Have it your own way," resumed our hero. "Did you think it was
a hob-goblin in a chariot of fire after you, Andy?"
"Huh! Never mind what I thought! I'll have you arrested for
this!"
"Will you? Delighted, as the boys say. Hop in my airship and
I'll take you right into town. And when I get you there I'll make
a charge of malicious mischief against you, for breaking the
propeller of the Butterfly and slashing her wings. I've mended
her up, however, so she goes better than ever, and I can take you
to the police station in jig time. Want to come, Andy?"
This was too much for the bully. He knew that Tom would have a
clear case against him, and he did not dare answer. Instead he
shuffled over to where his wheel lay, picked it up, and rode
slowly off.
"Good riddance," murmured Tom. He looked about, and saw that he
was near a house, in the rear of which was a good-sized barn.
"Guess I'll ask if I can leave the Butterfly there," he murmured,
and, ringing the doorbell, he was greeted by a man.
"I'll pay you if you'll let me store my machine in the barn a
little while, until I go into the city, and return," spoke the
lad.
"Indeed, you're welcome to leave it there without pay," was the
answer. "I'm interested in airships, and, I'll consider it a
favor if you'll let me look yours over while it's here."
Tom readily agreed, and a few minutes later he had caught a
trolley going into the city. He was soon in one of the largest
jewelry stores of Chester.
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