TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS

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He started off early one morning, in the swift little craft
Butterfly, and soon had reached Chester. The diamond brooch was
ready for him.

"It is one of the most beautiful stones we have ever set," the
diamond merchant told him. "Don't forget, if you find any more,
Mr. Swift, to let us have a chance to bid on them."

"I may," Tom promised, rather indefinitely. Then, having
purchased his electrical supplies, he made a quick trip to
Shopton, stopping on the way to call on Miss Nestor.

"Why Tom, I'm delighted to see you!" cried the girl, blushing
prettily. "Did you come for some apple turnovers?" and she
laughed, as she referred to a call Tom had once paid, when a new
cook had been engaged, and when the pastry formed a feature of
the meal.

"No turnovers this time," said the young inventor. "I came to
wish you many happy returns of the day."

"Oh, you remembered my birthday! How nice of you!"

"And here is something else," added our hero, rather awkwardly,
as he handed her the diamond pin.

"Oh, Tom! This for me! Oh, it's too lovely--it's far too much!"

"It isn't half enough!" he declared, warmly. "Oh, what a large
diamond!" Mary cried as she saw the sparkling stone. "I never saw
one so large and beautiful!"

"It's just as easy to make them large as small," explained Tom.

"Make them?" she looked the surprise she felt.

"Yes, I'm about to start for the place where diamonds are
made."

"Oh, Tom! But isn't it dangerous? I mean won't you have to go
to some far country--like Africa--to get to where diamonds are
made?"

"Well, we are going on quite a trip, but not as far as that.
And as for the danger--well, we'll have to take what comes," and
he told her something of the proposed quest.

"Oh, it sounds--sounds scary!" Mary exclaimed, when she had
heard of Mr. Jenks' experience. Do be careful, Tom!"

"I will," he promised, and, somehow he was glad that she had
cautioned him thus--and in such tones as she had used. For Mary
Nestor was a girl that any young chap would have been glad to
have manifest an interest in him.

"Well, I guess I'll have to say good-by," spoke Tom, at length.
"We expect to start in a couple of days, and I may not get
another chance to see you."

"Oh, I--I hope you come back safely," faltered Mary, and then
she held out her hand, and Tom--well, it's none of our affair
what Tom did after that, except to say that he hurried out,
fairly jumped into his monoplane, and completed the trip home.

As the Red Cloud has been fully described in the volume
entitled "Tom Swift and His Airship," we will not go into details
about it now. Sufficient to say that it was a combination of a
biplane and dirigible balloon. It could be used either as one or
the other, and the gas-bag feature was of value when the wind was
too great to allow the use of the planes, or when the motive
power, for some reason stopped. In that event the airship could
remain suspended far above the clouds if necessary. There was
provision for manufacturing the gas on board.

The Red Cloud was fitted up to accommodate about ten persons,
though it was seldom that this number was carried. Two persons
could successfully operate the machinery. There were sleeping
berths, and in the main cabin a sitting-room, a dining-room, and
a kitchen. There was also the motor compartment, and a steering
tower, from which the engines could be controlled.

It was in this craft that the seekers after the diamond makers
proposed undertaking the trip. Mr. Damon came on from his home in
Waterfield about two days before the date set to leave, and Mr.
Jenks, had, three days before this, taken up his abode at the
Swift home. Mr. Parker, as has been stated, was already there,
and he had put in his time making a number of scientific
observations, though he had made no more predictions.

Nothing more had been seen of the mysterious man who had warned
Tom, and the young inventor and Mr. Jenks began to hope that they
had thrown their enemies off the track.

"Though I don't imagine they'll give up altogether," said Mr.
Jenks. "They're too desperate for that. We'll have trouble with
them yet."

"Well, it can't be helped," decided Tom. "We'll try and be
ready for it, when it comes," and then, dismissing the matter
from his mind, he busied himself about the airship.

The food and supplies had all been put aboard, and they
expected to start the next morning. In order to make sure that
any stones which they might succeed in getting from the diamond
makers were real gems, a set of testing apparatus was taken
along. Mr. Parker had had some experience in this line, and, in
spite of the fact that he might make direful predictions, Tom was
rather glad, after all, that the scientist was going to accompany
them.

"But what is worrying me," said Mr. Damon, "is what we are
going to do after we get to Phantom Mountain. What are your
plans, Mr. Jenks? Will you go in, and demand your share of the
diamond-making business?"

"I have a right to it, as I invested a large sum in it, and I
am entitled to more than a half-share. But, of course, I can't
say what I'll do until I get there. We may have to act very
secretly."

"I'm inclined to think we will," said Tom. "My plan would be to
gain access to the cave, if possible, and watch them at work. We
might be able to discover the secret of making diamonds, and,
after all, that's what you want, isn't it, Mr. Jenks?"

"Yes, I paid my money for the secret, and I ought to have it.
If I can get it quietly, so much the better. If not, I'll fight
for my rights!" and he looked very determined.

"Bless my powder horn!" cried Mr. Damon. "That's the way to
talk! And so we're to go cruising about in the air, looking for a
mountain shaped like a man's head."

"That's it," a greed Mr. Jenks, "and when we find it we will be
near Phantom Mountain, and the diamond makers."

The final details were completed that night. The last of the
supplies had been put aboard, the larder was well stocked, the
diamond testing apparatus was stored safely away, and all that
remained was for the adventurers to board the Red Cloud in the
morning, and soar away.

That night Tom was uneasy. Several times he got up, and looked
toward the shed where the airship was stored. He could not rid
himself of the idea that the men to whose interest it was that
the diamond-making secret remain undiscovered, might attempt to
wreck the airship before the start. Consequently both Eradicate
Sampson and Engineer Jackson were on guard. Tom looked from his
window, to the shed where the Red Cloud was housed. He saw
nothing to cause him any uneasiness.

"I guess I'm just nervous," he mused. "But, all the same, I'll
be glad when we've started."

They were all up early the next morning, Mr. Damon beginning
the day by blessing the sunrise, and many other things that
struck his fancy. The airship was wheeled out of the shed, and
Tom gave her a final inspection.

"It's all right," he declared. "All aboard!"

"Now, do be careful," begged Mr. Swift. "Don't take too many
chances, Tom."

"I'll not."

The adventurers were in the forward part of the ship, and Tom
had taken his place at the wheels and levers in the pilot house.
As he was about to start the motor he looked toward the road, and
saw a horse and carriage. In the vehicle was a girlish figure, at
the sight of which Tom blushed and smiled. He waved his hand.

"I came to wish you good luck!" cried Mary Nestor, for it was
she in the carriage.

"Thanks!" cried Tom, leaning from the window of the pilot
house. "It was good of you to get up so early."

"Oh. I'm always up early," she informed him.

"Look out that the motor doesn't scare your horse," Tom warned
her.

"Old Dobbin doesn't mind anything," was her answer. "I'll see
that he doesn't run away with me, as long as you're not on earth
to rescue me. Good-by, Tom!"

"Good-by!" he called, and then he pulled the lever that set in
motion the motor, and whirled the great propellers about. They
whizzed around with a roar, and the Red Cloud, shivering and
trembling with the vibration, rose in the air like some great
bird.

"We're off for the West and Phantom Mountain!" called Tom to
his companions.

As the airship soared upward, Eradicate Sampson ran forward
from where he had been standing near his mule Boomerang. He waved
his hands, and shouted something.

"Bless my hatband! What does he want?" asked Mr. Damon,
watching him curiously.

"It sounds as if he were calling to us to come back," spoke Mr.
Parker.

"It's too late now," decided Tom. "Maybe he forgot to tell us
good-by," but, he felt a vague wonder at Eradicate's odd motions;
for the colored man was pointing toward the stern of the airship,
as if there was something wrong there. But the Red Cloud soared
on.

CHAPTER IX--A WARNING BY WIRELESS

Rapidly the airship ascended, and, when it was high over the
town of Shopton, Tom headed the craft due west. Looking down he
tried to descry Mary Nestor, in her carriage, but the trees were
in the way, their interlocking branches hiding the girl. Tom did
see crowds of other persons, though, thronging the streets of
Shopton, for, though the young inventor had made many flights,
there was always a novelty about them, that brought out the
curious.

"A good start, Tom Swift," complimented Mr. Parker. "Is it
always as easy as this?"

"Starting always is," was the answer, "though, as the Irishman
said, coming down isn't sometimes quite so comfortable."

"Bless my gizzard! That's so," cried the eccentric Mr. Damon.
"Can we vol-plane to earth in the Red Cloud, Tom?"

"Yes, but not as easily as in the Butterfly. However I hope we
will not have to. Now, Mr. Damon, if you will just take charge of
the steering apparatus for a minute, I want to go aft."

"What for?"

"I wish to see if everything is all right. I can't imagine why
Eradicate was making those queer motions."

Mr. Damon, who knew how to operate the Red Cloud, was soon
guiding her on the course, while Tom made his way to the rear
compartments, through the motor room, where the stores of
supplies and food were kept. He made a careful examination,
looking from an after window, and even going out on a small, open
platform, but could discover nothing wrong.

"I guess Rad was just capering about without any special
object," mused Tom, but it was not long after this that they
learned to their dismay, that the colored man had had a method in
his madness.

On his way back through the motor room Tom looked to the
machinery, and adjusted some of the auxiliary oil feeders. The
various pieces of apparatus were working well, though the engine
had not yet been speeded up to its limit. Tom wanted it to "warm-up"
first.

"Everything all right?" asked Mr. Damon, as Tom rejoined them
in the pilot house, which was just forward of the living room in
the main cabin.

"Yes, I can't imagine what made Rad act that way. But I'll set
the automatic steering gear now, Mr. Damon, and then you will be
relieved."

Mr. Jenks was gazing off toward the west--to where he hoped to
discover the secret of Phantom Mountain.

"How do you like it?" asked Tom.

"It's great," replied the diamond man. "I've never been in an
airship before, and it's different than what I expected; but it's
great! It's the only craft that will serve our purpose among the
towering mountain peaks, where the diamond makers are hidden. I
hope we can find them."

In a little while the Red Cloud was skimming along at faster
speed, guided by the automatic rudders, so that no one was needed
in the pilot house, since there was no danger of collisions.
Airships are not quite numerous enough for that, yet, though they
may soon become so.

Tom and the others devoted several hours to arranging their
staterooms and bunks, and getting their clothing stowed away, and
when this was done Mr. Parker and Mr. Jenks sat gazing off into
space.

"It's hard to realize that we are really in an airship,"
observed the diamond man. "At first I thought I would be
frightened, but I'm not a bit. It doesn't seem as if anything
could happen."

"Something is likely to happen soon," said Mr. Parker,
suddenly, as he gazed at some weather instruments on the cabin
wall.

"Bless my soul! Don't say that!" cried Mr. Damon. "What is it?"

"I think, from my observations, that we will soon have a
hurricane," said the scientific man. "There is every indication
of it"'; and he seemed quite delighted at the prospect of his
prediction coming true.

"A hurricane!" cried Mr. Damon. "I hope it isn't like the one
that blew us to Earthquake Island."

"Oh, I think there will be no danger," spoke Tom. "If it comes
on to blow we will ascend or descend out of the path of the
storm. This craft is not like the ill-fated Whizzer. I can more
easily handle the Red Cloud; even in a bad storm."

"I'm glad to hear that," remarked Mr. Jenks. "It would be too
bad to be wrecked before we got to Phantom Mountain."

"Well, I predict that we will have a bad storm," insisted Mr.
Parker, and Tom could not help wishing that the scientist would
keep his gloomy forebodings to himself.

However the storm had not developed up to noon, when Tom, with
Mr. Damon's help, served a fine meal in the dining-room. In the
afternoon the speed of the ship was increased, and by night they
had covered several hundred miles. Through the darkness the Red
Cloud kept on, making good time. Tom got up, occasionally, to
look to the machinery, but it was all automatically controlled,
and an alarm bell would sound in his stateroom when anything went
wrong.

"Bless my napkin!" exclaimed Mr. Damon the next morning, as
they sat down to a breakfast of fruit, ham and eggs and fragrant
coffee, "this is living as well as in a hotel, and yet we are--how
far are we above the earth, Tom?" he asked, turning to the
young inventor.

"About two miles now. I just sent her up, as I thought I
detected that storm Mr. Parker spoke of."

"I told you it would come," declared the scientist, and there
was a small hurricane below them that morning, but only the lower
edge of it caught the Red Cloud, and when Tom sent her up still
higher she found a comparatively quiet zone, where she slid along
at good speed.

That afternoon Tom busied himself about some wires and a number
of complicated pieces of apparatus which were in one corner of
the main cabin.

"What are you doing now?" asked Mr. Jenks, who had been talking
with Mr. Parker, and showing that scientist some of the
manufactured diamonds.

"Getting our wireless apparatus in shape," answered the lad. "I
should have done it before, but I had so much to do that I
couldn't get at it. I'm going to send off some messages. Dad will
want to know how we are doing."

As he worked away, he also made up his mind to send another
message, in care of his father, for there was a receiving station
in the Swift home. And to whom this message was addressed Tom did
not say, but we fancy some of our readers can guess.

Finally, after several hours of work, the wireless was in shape
to send and receive messages. Tom pulled over the lever, and a
crackling sound was heard, as the electricity leaped from the
transmitters into space. Then he clamped the receiver on his ear.

"All ready," he announced. "Has anybody any messages they wish
sent?" For, with the courtesy of a true host he was ready to
serve his guests before he forwarded his own wireless notes.

"Just tell my wife that I'm enjoying myself," requested Mr.
Damon. "Bless my footstool! But this is great! We're off the
earth yet, connected with it."

Mr. Jenks had no one to whom he wanted to send any word, but
Mr. Parker wish to wire to a fellow scientist the result of some
observations made in the upper air.

Tom noted all the messages down, and then, when all was in
readiness he began to call his home station. He knew that either
his father or Mr. Jackson, the engineer, could receive the
wireless.

But, no sooner had the young inventor sent off the first few
dots and dashes representing "S. I."--his home station call--than
he started and a look of surprise came over his face.

"They're calling us!" he exclaimed.

"Who is?" asked Mr. Jenks.

"My house--my father. He--he's been trying to get us ever since
we started, but I didn't have the wireless in shape to receive
messages. Oh, I hope it's not too late!"

"Too late! Bless my soul, too late for what?" gasped Mr. Damon,
somewhat alarmed by Tom's manner.

The lad did not answer at once. He was intently listening to a
series of dots and dashes that clicked in the telephone receiver
clamped to his left ear. On his face there was a look of
worriment.

"Father has just sent me a message," he said. "It's a warning
flashed through space! He's been trying to get it to me since
yesterday!"

"What is it?" asked Mr. Jenks, rising from his seat.

"The mysterious man is aboard the airship--hidden away!" cried
Tom. "That's what Eradicate was trying to call to our attention
as we started off. Eradicate saw his face at a rear window, and
tried to warn us! The mysterious man is a stowaway on board!"

CHAPTER X--DROPPING THE STOWAWAY

Tom's excited announcement startled Mr. Damon and the others as
much as if the young inventor had informed them that the airship
had exploded and was about to dash with them to the earth. The
men leaped to their feet, and stared at the lad.

"A stowaway on board!" cried Mr. Damon.
"Bless my soul! How did he--"

"Are you sure that message is straight?" asked Mr. Jenks. "Did
Eradicate see the man?"

"He says he did," answered Tom. "The man is hidden away on
board now--probably among the stores and supplies."

"Bless my tomato sauce!" exploded Mr. Damon. "I hope he doesn't
eat them all up!"

"We must get him out at once!" declared Mr. Jenks.

"I knew something would happen on this voyage," came from Mr.
Parker. "I predicted it from the first!"

Tom thought considerable, but he did not answer the scientist
just then. Another communication was coming to him by wireless.
He listened intently.

"Father says," the lad told his companions "that Eradicate only
had a glimpse of the man at the last moment. He was looking from
the rear storeroom window--he's the same man who called on me
that time--Rad remembers him very well."

"Bless my shoes! What's to be done?" inquired Mr. Damon,
looking around helplessly.

"We must get him out, that's all," decided Mr. Jenks; with
vigor. "Get him out and drop him overboard!"

"Drop him overboard!" cried Mr. Parker, in horror.

"Not exactly, but get rid of him," proceeded the diamond
seeker. "That man is one of my enemies. He has been sent by the
band of diamond makers hidden among the mountains, to spy on me,
and, if possible, prevent me from seeking to discover their
secret. He tried to work on Tom's Swift's fears, and frighten him
from using his airship on this quest. Then, when he failed, the
man must have sneaked into the shed, and hidden himself in the
ship. We must get rid of him, or he may wreck the Red Cloud!"

"That's so!" cried Tom. "We must try to capture him. I think we
had better--" the lad paused, and again listened to the wireless
message. "Father says Eradicate saw the man have a gun, so we
must be careful," the young inventor translated the dots and
dashes.

"Bless my powder horn!" exploded Mr. Damon.

"We shall have to proceed cautiously then," spoke Mr. Jenks.
"If he is like any others in the gang he is a desperate man."

"Better sneak up on him then, if we can," proposed Mr. Parker.
"There are enough of us to cope with one man, even if he is
armed. You have weapons aboard, haven't you?" he inquired of Tom.

"Yes," was the hesitating answer, "but I don't want to use them
if I can help it. Not only because of the danger, and a dislike
of shedding blood, but because a stray bullet might pierce the
gas bag and damage the ship."

"That's so," agreed Mr. Jenks. "Well, I guess if we go at it
the right way we can capture him without any shooting. But we
must talk more quietly--we ought to have whispered--he may have
heard us."

"I don't think so," replied Tom. "The storeroom is far enough
off so that he couldn't hear us. Besides, the motor makes such a
racket that he couldn't distinguish what we were talking about,
even if he heard our voices. So, unless he heard the wireless
working, and suspects something from that, he probably doesn't
know that we are aware of his presence aboard."

"But why do you think he has remained quiet all this while,
Tom?" asked Mr. Damon.

"Probably he wants to wait until the ship is farther out west,"
suggested Mr. Jenks. "Then he will be nearer his friends, and can
get help, if he needs it."

"And do you really believe he would destroy the Red Cloud?"
asked Mr. Parker.

"I think that all he is waiting for is a favorable chance,"
declared the diamond seeker. "He would destroy the craft, and us
too, if he could prevent us from discovering the secret of
Phantom Mountain, I believe."

"Then we must get ahead of him," decided Tom, quietly. "I have
just flashed to dad a message, telling him that we will heed his
warning. Now to capture the stowaway!"

"And while we're about it, give him a good scare when we do get
him," suggested Mr. Jenks.

"How?" asked Tom.

"Threaten to drop him overboard. Perhaps that will make him
tell how he happened to get in our ship, and what are the plans
of the gang of diamond makers. We may get valuable information
that way."

"I don't believe you can scare such fellows much," was Tom's
opinion, but it was agreed to try.

"How are you going to capture him?" asked Mr. Parker. "If he
has a gun it won't be any too easy to go in the storeroom, and
drag him out."

"We'll have to use a little strategy," decided Tom, and then they
discussed several plans. The one finally adopted was that Tom and Mr.
Damon should enter the storeroom, casually, as if in search of food to
cook for supper. They would discuss various dishes, and Mr. Damon was
to express a preference for something in the food line, the box
containing which, was well hack in the room. This would give the two a
chance to penetrate to the far end of the apartment, without arousing
the suspicions of the hidden man, who, doubtless, would be listening
to the conversation.

"And as soon as we get sight of him, you and I will jump right
at him, Mr. Damon," said Tom. "Jump before he has a chance to use
his gun. Mr. Jenks and Mr. Parker will be waiting outside the
room, to catch him if he gets away from us. I'll have some ropes
ready, and we'll tie him up, and--well, we'll decide later what
to do with him."

"All right. I'm ready as soon as you are, Tom," said the
eccentric man. "Come ahead."

They went softly to the storeroom, and listened at the door.
There was no sound heard save that made by the machinery.

"I wonder if he's really here?" whispered Mr. Damon.

"We'll soon find out," answered Tom. "Let's go in."

They entered, and, in pursuance of their plan, Tom and his
friend talked of various foods.

"I think I'd like some of that canned lobster, with French
dressing on," spoke the eccentric man.

"That's away in the back end of the room," said Tom, in a loud
voice. "It's under a lot of boxes."

"Then I'll help you get it out! Bless my frying pan! but I am
very fond of lobster!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, in as natural tones
as was possible under the circumstances.

He and Tom moved cautiously back among the boxes and barrels.
They were glancing about with eager eyes. Tom switched on an
electric light, and, the instant he did so, he was aware of a
movement in a little space formed by one box which was placed on
top, of two others. The lad saw a dark figure moving, as if to
get farther out of sight.

"I've got him!" cried Tom, making a dive for the shadow.

A moment later the young inventor was bowled over, as a dark
figure leaped over his head.

"Catch him, Mr. Damon!" he cried.

"Bless my hatband! I--I--" Mr. Damon's voice ended in a grunt.
He, too, had been knocked down by the fleeing man.

"Look out, Mr. Jenks!" cried Tom, to warn those on guard at the
door of the storeroom.

There was the report of a gun, some excited shouts, and when
Tom could scramble to his feet, and rush out, he beheld Mr.
Parker calmly sitting on a struggling man, while Mr. Jenks held a
gun, that was still smoking.

"We caught him!" cried the scientist.

"Anybody hurt?" asked Tom, anxiously.

"No, I knocked up his gun as he fired," explained Mr. Jenks.
"Where are the ropes, Tom?"

The cords were produced and the man, who had now ceased to
struggle, was tightly bound. He uttered not a word, but he smiled
grimly when Mr. Damon remarked:

"I guess I'll go back in the storeroom, Tom, and see how much
food he ate."

"Oh, I guess he didn't take much," declared the lad. "He wasn't
there long enough."

"Well, Farley Munson, so it's you, is it?" asked Mr. Jenks, as
he surveyed the prisoner.

"Do you know him?" asked Tom, in some surprise.

"He was in with the diamond makers," said Mr. Jenks. "He was
one of those who took me to the secret cave. But it will be the
last time he ever goes there. How high up are we, Tom?"

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