II05-1954-TOM SWIFT and His Atomic Earth Blaster by Victor Appleton II

Author:Victor Appleton II [pseud.] [Appleton, Victor II]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Published: 1954-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

12. A FLIGHT TO ALASKA

TENSELY AWAITING the outcome of the council's vote, a group of friends gathered in Tom's office the next morning.

"If those chowderheads decide to stop you from digging," Bud growled, "the public ought to make them scratch out that tunnel themselves—with spoons and nail files!"

Tom, in spite of his anxiety, gave a wry smile but said nothing.

By eleven o'clock there was still no word from Town Hall. Another fifteen minutes went by, then another.

"Brand my thermopile! What's keepin' them sidewinders?" exclaimed Chow nervously.

"Must be a close fight," Hank Sterling remarked, "which makes me hopeful."

A few minutes before twelve, the phone rang. Everyone jumped but Tom. The young inventor's face was grim and expressionless as he took the call.

"Hello?...Oh, yes, Mayor Drummond....They did, eh? Well, thanks very much for your support....Sure thing....Good-by, sir."

There was dead silence as Tom hung up the phone. For a moment he rubbed his hand over his eyes, and his shoulders seemed to droop.

Finally Bud spoke. "Thumbs down?"

To everybody's surprise, Tom looked up with a grin of relief.

"Thumbs up, pal! They just voted to let us continue digging!"

With the sudden release of tension, everyone began laughing and talking at once, as they gathered around to clap Tom on the back and offer congratulations. But Tom knew the real test was just beginning.

Within twenty-four hours, the bomb damage to the blaster had been repaired, and the digging was resumed. This time, there were few spectators on hand. And the ones who did appear were tight-lipped and unfriendly.

Results of the first day's work, nevertheless, were highly encouraging, and by the end of a full week of operations, the midpoint of the tunnel had been reached.

Now the tide of public opinion in Shopton began to turn in Tom's favor. As work continued on the opposite half of the tube, more and more onlookers were showing up every morning.

On the day scheduled for the final breakthrough, a civic ceremony was staged at Pine Hill. On hand were the mayor and the rest of the Town Council.

With Tom at the controls, the blaster plowed through the last few yards of earth separating the two halves of the tunnel.

The moment the nose of the machine broke through the last remaining barrier, a red light flashed outside the control shack and an alarm bell started ringing. Elated, Tom smiled as the crowd went wild, shouting and clapping their approval.

Mayor Drummond capped the climax with a brief speech praising the young scientist and his achievements. Again the crowd burst into wild applause.

Chow Winkler, however, looked on sourly. He had not forgotten that only a short time ago many of these same people had been calling his beloved young boss a public menace.

Now that the first cut was completed, and a shaft had been driven all the way through the hill, work progressed rapidly in widening the tunnel to full size. Then a construction gang moved in to line the tunnel with steel and concrete.

About a week after the ceremony at Pine Hill,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.