Tom nodded. "Sure. And I also remember the findings of the official report.

Ted's father got into a slip stream so strong that the servo unit on one of the elevators couldn't stand the high speed. Its booster-control action went out.

Without it, Mr. Spring didn't have the strength to control the wheel, rudders, etc.

The report concluded that the plane failed under stress, not that any part had been faulty or tampered with."

"Just the same," Bud grumbled, "that guy Hampshire's out to make trouble, and if he tries hard enough, he'll succeed in throwing suspicion on Enterprises."

Tom continued eating his apple for a few mo- 30 .

ments. "Bud, let's suppose some enemy did tamper with one of the servo units and caused the crash on purpose."

"Okay, let's suppose," his chum retorted.

"If Hampshire does know something, it could be that the same person who slipped him the ir. formation, may have been responsible for the tampering. In fact, that same enemy may even have planned the whole thing to pry out information on our latest plans and inventions."

"You mean," said Bud, "that Hampshire may be the front man for someone a lot more dangerous?"

"Right!" Tom tossed his apple core away and stared, frowning, out the window at the desert landscape. "It's something to think about, Bud. We'd better be on our guard."

The conversation was interrupted by a "Hi, skipper! How are you feeling?"

The two boys turned to see Ted Spring enter the room. Both Tom and Bud wondered if the telephone call from Hampshire the previous evening might have stirred up any feelings in him of suspicion or resentment against the Swifts. But Ted wore a cheerful smile.

"How's the patient this morning?" Ted inquired.

"Tops!" Tom grinned back. "I can hardly wait till they peel off these bandages."

"Going back to work right away?" Ted asked.

"The sooner the better," Tom declared.

DANGER ZONE 31.

"Swell! I'm eager to see how new tests on your matter-making machine pan out."

"Ditto!" Bud put in. "Boy, if you get that gadget perfected, Tom, we can really take off for the wild blue yonder-Mars next stop!"

"Slow down, s.p.a.ceman." Tom chuckled. "It'll take a while yet before we're ready to go planet-hopping. If you fellows really want to help, though, there's one thing you can do."

"Name it," Bud said.

Tom reached out to the night stand beside his bed and picked up several papers covered with pencil sketches. "I've designed a cooling apparatus to keep those aluminum conductor bars from overheating," he said. "You two might rig it up this morning."

Tom explained the drawings, and his friends eagerly promised to tackle the job.

"Consider it done, skipper." Bud clicked his heels and snapped a quick salute.

Between them, Bud and Ted a.s.sembled and installed the apparatus in a couple of hours. When they returned to the infirmary after lunch, the boys found Tom dressed and his bandages removed.

"Hey! The patient's fully recovered!" Bud chortled, grabbing his pal in a bear hug.

"Ouch! Take it easy!" Tom's face a.s.sumed a comical expression of agony.

"The nurse says I'm to be treated extra delicately."

"Okay. I'll put on kid gloves for our next 32 .

match," Bud bantered. "Just incidentally, the cooling apparatus is all set up for your test run."

"Swell!" Tom's eyes lighted up. "Let's go, pals. I want to give that machine a real workout! Why, for Pete's sake! Chow!"

"Whoa! Slow down, buckaroos!" Chow's foghorn voice boomed from the doorway. He stumped into the room on his high-heeled boots. "Brand my prairie pork chops, what's goin' on here?" He took off his ten-gallon hat and scratched his bald head.

As the cook waited for an answer, the three youths stared at him in sheer dazzlement. Chow, who had a weakness for fancy Western shirts, had outdone himself.

"Quick! My sungla.s.ses!" Bud gasped, shielding his eyes.

Chow's shirt was of a brilliant orange hue, and decorated in yellow and red.

Over the shirt was a beaded buckskin vest.

''I reckoned this here fancy li'l number would catch your eye, but never mind tryin' to b.u.t.ter me up!" said Chow, who sincerely believed his shirts were admired by everyone. "What I want to know is, who spread the hogwash about Tom bein'

all laid up with ee-lectric burns?"

"It's true, old-timer," said Tom. "I did get a bit scorched yesterday."

Chow looked at his young boss more closely. His face showed quick concern when he saw the reddened patches of skin left from yesterday's accident.

DANGER ZONE 33.

"The doctor just took off the dressings," Tom explained. "Whatever he put on really did the trick-everything healed up fine."

"I was sure worried plumb stiff!" the cook admitted. "Soon as I heard it, I ra.s.sled up some o' your favorite grub an' hopped the first plane comin' to the Citadel. But I'm sure glad you're better now."

"Thanks, Chow." Tom threw an arm warmly around the chef's shoulders and in a Texas drawl said, "I know I can always count on you when things go wrong, pardner. How about sashayin' over to the lab with us?"

"Sure thing, boss," Chow agreed, his leathery face breaking into a pleased smile.

Bud and Ted had driven to the infirmary in a jeep, but Tom vetoed this form of transportation to the laboratory. "Let's walk," he suggested. "I need to stretch my legs."

"Ought to keep a string o' saddle horses around here," Chow grumbled.

"Feller might catch his boot heel in a prairie-dog hole!"

"Well, if you insist upon wearing shoes with heels like a woman's what do you expect?" Tom chuckled. "Come on. I know a short cut."

He led the way through a cl.u.s.ter of workshops and laboratory buildings, then headed across a bare expanse of sun-baked sand toward his private lab.

Suddenly his companions were startled by a loud buzz.

"What's that?" Ted asked.

"My pocket radio," Tom explained. He pulled

34.

out the tiny transistor set and clipped the receiver to his ear. "Tom Swift here."

The next instant Tom's face turned pale. "Run!" he yelled to the others.

Following Tom's command, his three friends broke into a headlong sprint, dashing with him toward the laboratory.

"What in tarnation's the idea?" Chow panted as he ran. "Walkin' ain't bad enough, so we got to race? I ain't no Texas quarter horse-!"

DANGER ZONE.

35.

His words were drowned out by a rumbling noise underfoot. Then the ground exploded beneath the group! Tom and his friends were hurtled helter-skelter amid a shower of sand, dirt, and flying rocks!

As the shock of the blast died away, scientists and crewmen came rushing from the nearby buildings. They ran to aid the four victims, who lay momentarily stunned. Fortunately, none of them had any serious injuries.

"Wow!" said Bud in a dazed voice, as someone helped him upright. "Am I still in one piece?"

"Must be," joked Chris Barlow, a reactor technician. "I don't see any loose fragments lying around."

Nearby, Dr. Arndt Henry, the chief atomic scientist at the Citadel, was apologizing to Tom.

36 .

"Sorry, skipper, I should have warned you beforehand that this area was off limits. But I thought you were still in the infirmary. We were carrying out an underground test."

He now turned to the other boys and Chow. "Surely you saw the sign posted in your dorm?"

Sheepishly Bud confessed they had failed to read the bulletin board. Chow, having recently arrived, had not seen the notice.

"It sure has taught me a lesson," Bud remarked woefully.

"Come near bein' a short cut to the next world!" Chow grunted as he staggered to his feet.

Ted grinned wryly. "Guess we're tougher than we thought, fellows."

Rea.s.sured that no one was injured, the group dispersed. At the lab a few minutes later, Tom started to make preparations for a test of his matter-making machine.

"Nice job you fellows did," he congratulated Bud and Ted after checking the cooling apparatus for the aluminum bars.

"Maybe we'd better stand well back-just in case," Bud said half-jokingly.

"Suit yourself." Tom smiled. "Here goes!" He closed the switch, feeding power to the machine, and adjusted the control k.n.o.bs.

There was a steady hum of current as the machine throbbed into action. To everyone's relief, the cooling apparatus did its job effectively and the aluminum bars stood firm. Tom settled down to tending the dials in silent absorption. Bud, DANGER ZONE 37.

Ted, and Chow watched in fascination as an hour, then another, went by.

Finally, they left to attend to other tasks.

To everyone's amazement, Tom continued to run the machine throughout the night and into the next day. He broke off his vigil only long enough to eat a few bites of the hot, tempting food which Chow brought him at intervals.

It was late afternoon of the next day when Tom finally called a halt, after operating the machine to the limit of its capacity. Thirty hours had elapsed since the start of the test!

Bud, Chow, and Ted rejoined Tom and gathered around to watch in fascination as he drew off a tiny quant.i.ty of gas. He a.n.a.lyzed it in the Swift spectroscope, then measured its ma.s.s on a microbalance.

Bud saw the young inventor's face turn bleak. "Failure?" he asked.

Tom shook his head. "Not exactly, fellows. But . . ." His voice trailed off in discouragement.

CHAPTER V.

EXCITING PLANS.

"WHAT'S wrong, boss?" Chow anxiously asked Tom.

The young inventor smiled wanly. "A million watts of electrical energy! And all my invention produced was this measly amount of gas!"