“Finished.” Tom Jesson drew a long sigh, then he wrung1 his cousin’s hand with energy enough to have wrenched3 it loose.
Jack4 Chadwick flung down the “alligator” wrench2 with which he had been going over every nut and bolt, and capered5 about the lofty, bare-raftered shed. Tom’s round face beamed, mirroring the other’s high good humor.
“And the try-out’s going to be a big success, Jack,” he declared positively6. “I can feel it in my bones,—like Jupe when his rheumatics are coming on. My! Jack, that pontoon idea was the biggest thing we’ve ever struck.”
“Wait till we’ve tried it out,” smiled Jack, less impetuously; “it may prove the biggest bump we’ve ever struck.”
“Well, I’m willing to risk it. When shall we make the trial trip?”
“No time like the present. There are a few finishing touches still to be seen to, but by this evening everything will be ready. Besides, night is the best time. We don’t want a crowd around. There has been enough curiosity in what we have been doing, already.”
“I should say so. Look at this Boston sheet, will you? A column of mystery for a cent!”
Tom drew from his pocket a copy of a Boston paper and indicated some staring head-lines.
“’A Mystery of The Night Skies!’” he declaimed vociferously7, waving an arm. “Some class there, eh?”
“Quite enough,” chuckled8 Jack. “We didn’t think that our little spin the other night was going to cause such a stir-up, did we?”
“It was all the fault of those red and green lights you hung out,” protested Tom. “Can you blame a community for getting worked up at the spectacle of colored lights like those on a ship, skimming around above their heads at sixty miles an hour? Hullo!” he broke off, still scanning the paper. “Here’s a letter from one fellow who declares that what was seen was a comet.”
“A comet, eh? Well, that wouldn’t be such a bad name for the new Flying Road Racer,” mused10 Jack reflectively.
“Never heard of a comet that would swim,” retorted Tom.
“Well, we don’t know yet that the new Road Racer will perform the stunts11 we expect her to.”
“In which case, we are in for a cold, cold bath.”
“Cheer up, Tom,” laughed Jack. “Get busy now and finish up the pontoons with that aluminum12 paint. If the trial is set for this evening, we haven’t any too much time.”
Both boys fell to work again with feverish13 energy. The work of many weeks, carried on sometimes in high hope, sometimes in deep despondency, was before them in complete form, except for the final touches. Only the important experiment remained. Would the re-modelled Flying Road Racer do what the boys expected of her? If the answer to that question was in the affirmative, they knew that they had invented and carried to perfection the greatest craft of its kind hitherto known. The new craft would indeed merit her name of Wondership if she did what the boys confidently expected of her.
And what was this Wondership that had for weeks occupied every minute of the Boy Inventors’ time, exclusive of their studies in the Technical College that both attended in Boston? Readers of former volumes of this series will recall the Flying Road Racer, the air and land ship that had carried the boys and their friends faithfully so many miles, and in which they had encountered many stirring adventures. Well, the Wondership, as Jack in his enthusiasm had termed the craft, was nothing more nor less than the Flying Road Racer, altered almost beyond recognition.
The shed in which the changes had been carried out was located on a lonesome part of the seacoast not far from Nestorville, where the boys lived. But, remote as the spot was, it still was not far enough removed from human haunts to escape much speculation15 over what was going forward in the great, gaunt, unpainted shed among the sand-hills.
Inquisitive16 folks had watched wagons17, laden18 with big crates19 and seemingly heavy boxes, making their way to the place at intervals20; but so carefully had the shed been guarded and locked that nobody had as yet discovered the boys’ secret. Had anyone done so, it is certain that the two lads would have been besieged21 by curiosity seekers, for the craft on which they were working was the most ambitious thing that they had undertaken. The Wondership was nothing more nor less than an invention capable of travel by land, air and water. On land it rolled along on wheels, above the earth it depended on a large, gas-filled bag for buoyancy, while on the water (and this was the feature still untested), the boys hoped to make it float like a boat by means of pontoons.
Of course, the idea of pontoons as applied22 to aerial craft was by no means a novelty. Glen Curtiss, pioneer in this field, already had a fleet of successful hydro-aeroplanes, and many other inventors were laboring23 along these lines. It was in the application of the idea that the boys had radically24 departed from anything hitherto known. At the risk of being tedious we must now describe the Wondership at some length, in order that what is to follow of her marvelous adventures may be clear.
Readers of former books relating the experience of the Boy Inventors know that the Flying Road Racer was a craft built like an immense automobile25 with a semi-cylindrical26 body. It seated six persons, and at a pinch could accommodate more. The lower part of the cylinder27 was a big tank in which gas was generated from a concentrated powder which, upon being mixed with water, formed a vapor28 of extraordinary buoyancy. In the upper part were padded seats, storage chambers30 for food and supplies, and a machinery31 chamber29 housed under a hood32.
Above this auto-like structure rose a framework of vanadium and aluminum alloy33, on which was folded, when not in use, the gas-bag which lifted the Flying Road Racer from the earth when it was desired to fly. Pumps filled the bag with gas, or withdrew it, as was desired. Provision allowing for the expansion and contraction34 of the bag had also been made, as was fully14 described in another volume.
What the boys had done was this: They had extended the semi-cylindrical formation till they had formed a full cylinder of light but strong metal. Roughly, the Flying Road Racer now resembled a huge, gleaming white cigar on wheels. Along her sides stretched hollow aluminum planes, or wings.
In the air these took the place of the former planes used in ascending35 or descending36. On the water it was hoped that they would act as hydroplanes, buoying38 up the craft. But for buoyancy they did not depend on these hydroplanes, or pontoons, alone. The body of the Flying Road Racer was, by a singular stroke of inventive ingenuity39, made to be in itself a buoyant craft.
When running along the road, or while flying, the top of the cylindrical body could be opened for air and observation. On a calm sea or lake the boys believed also that the craft, with the aid of the hydroplanes, would float, just like a boat. The hydroplanes at the side would, of course, correct a tendency to roll over, which an unsupported cylindrical body would naturally have. But in case of rough water, during which they might, in the course of the long flights they meant to take, be compelled to descend37, the waves would be apt to break over the craft and swamp it.
To provide against such an emergency the ingenuity of the boys had been called into full play. It took many sleepless40 nights and days of anxious thought to solve the problem. But they believed that they had found a solution. The open space on the top of the cylinder was provided with metal doors which could be closed and screwed down, forming a water-tight compartment41. Thus, the Flying Road Racer would, in a rough sea, be a water-tight cylinder, practically unsinkable unless the light metal hull9 was punctured42.
The next problem had been a difficult one likewise. The question of how to ventilate an air-tight and water-tight cylinder was a vexing43 one. It was Jack who hit upon a plan. Like most big ideas it was simple, and was suggested to him by a recollection of the periscope44 tube on the submarine Peacemaker, which, as told in “The Boy Inventors and the Diving Torpedo45 Boat,” they had helped to construct. Jack’s solution, then, was this: A collapsible twin tube was made which when extended fully would reach upward, above the air-tight cylinder, to a height of twenty-five feet. At the bottom of this tube, and inside the cylinder, was a chamber containing two tiny fans. One of these fans, driven by storage batteries, sucked in fresh air from the top of the tube; the other drew out the foul46 fumes47 and sent them up the other channel of the extension pipe.
The Wondership was driven in the air and on land and water by the same power, the gas from the storage chamber which formed the lower section of the cylinder. But to fit her for her new work extra powerful engines had been installed, and a propeller48 of different pattern added. The propeller-shaft was connected to the motor through a water-tight stuffing box, as on a motor boat. The rudder lines, too, led through water-tight connections to the steering49 wheel. The aerial rudder, being of light metal like the propeller, was capable of use both in the air and water. In place of the old driving mechanism50, too, the boys had simplified the Flying Road Racer by their new form of propeller. This did away with the cumbrous connections and clutches to the rear axle. The new form of propeller drew the Wondership along the roads almost as swiftly as it pulled her through the air.
As for the boys themselves, as readers of earlier volumes of this series know, they both lived at High Towers, the estate of Jack’s father, near Nestorville. Jack’s father was an inventor of note, and in our first story, “The Boy Inventors’ Wireless51 Triumph,” it was described how the boys aided him in many stirring adventures in Yucatan and in the discovery of Tom Jesson’s long missing father, an explorer and naturalist52. Since that time Mr. Jesson had made his home with his brother-in-law who, like himself, was a widower53. The next volume detailed54 how Jack and Tom helped an inventor in trouble, and how, after many perils55 and difficulties, a wonderful vanishing gun was at length brought to perfection in spite of the machinations of a gang of rascals56. This volume was called “The Boy Inventors’ Vanishing Gun.”
The third volume has already been referred to. It told how the boys had many exciting times under the ocean and on the surface. The Peacemaker was a wonderful craft and proved of material aid to some Americans beleaguered57 by blood-thirsty negro revolutionists in Cuba. Through the experiences related in this book both the boys increased their mechanical ability and learned self-reliance and manliness58 in many a hard test of both those sterling59 qualities. Had this not been so, it is doubtful if they would ever have had the grit60 to bring to a triumphant61 conclusion the construction of the Wondership, beset62 as their way was oftentimes by apparently63 insurmountable difficulties. But now, as we know, the Wondership lay finished before them. Already they had tested her in flight to ascertain64 how she bore the added weight. It was this trial, on which she carried side lights, like a ship, that had caused the flurry in the city papers. It had been a complete success, and only the trial by water remained.
Although Mr. Chadwick and Mr. Jesson knew that the boys were engaged on a supreme65 task, neither had interfered66 or asked questions. Jack’s father believed in letting his son solve his own problems. He knew that if occasion arose his advice would be called for. But the boys meant to fight out their battle alone. Even the test to take place that evening was to be unwitnessed, or so they hoped. Not till all was an assured success did they intend to invite their parents to inspect their work.
As the term at the Technical College was over, both boys had full time to devote to their work. All day they labored67 with paint brush and wrench, testing and finishing. They gave themselves little time for lunch, eating with one hand and working with the other. So engrossed68 were they on their tasks that they did not notice that the brightness of the day outside was being dimmed rapidly. A spring storm was rolling up from seaward.
Neither did they know that their work was going forward with attention other than their own concentrated upon it. The unseen observer had alighted from a car at its terminal some miles away and tramped across the sand dunes69 toward the big shed. Keeping warily70 out of sight he made his way up to the structure and, boring a hole in the planking, watched with burning interest all that was going on within. He was an odd-looking figure, dressed in a loud checked suit and sporting a gaudy71 necktie and a hat cocked to one side. But his youthful face bore an inquiring, good-humored expression that belied72 his aggressive way of dressing73. Over one shoulder was slung74 a camera. As he watched the boys through the small hole he had bored with a gimlet that he carried in his pocket, the unseen observer muttered strangely to himself.
“By the double-jointed hoorah of the Sahara Desert!” he exclaimed from time to time. “Dick, my boy, you’ve struck it! Instead of being fired for incompetency75, you’ll be the biggest reporter in Boston to-morrow. You’ve run the Mystery of the Skies to its roost,—by the long-legged Llama of Thibet, you have!”
All day he watched, his joints76 stiff and aching from holding the one position, but he never budged77. It was growing toward dusk before he observed the change in the weather that had come with startling suddenness. The sea, calm before, was now roaring angrily on the beach beyond the dunes. The sky was covered with scurrying78 clouds. The wind moaned ominously79.
The unseen watcher made a grimace80.
“In for a wetting and three miles to that car,” he muttered, “but by the crooked81 cantelope of Cambodia, it’s worth it! Hullo! What’s that?”
From seaward there had come the heavy boom of a gun. About four miles off shore, dangerously close for that coast, there lay a white, yacht-like craft. Clearly she had fired the gun. Now she ran up some sort of signal.
“By the scampering82 snakes of Senegambia, there’s another story!” gasped83 the watcher. “I’ll be made a managing editor at least, by the time I get through.”
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1
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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capered
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| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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vociferously
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| adv.喊叫地，吵闹地 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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stunts
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| n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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aluminum
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| n.(aluminium)铝 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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crates
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| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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radically
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| ad.根本地，本质地 | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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alloy
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| n.合金，(金属的)成色 | |
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contraction
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| n.缩略词，缩写式，害病 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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buoying
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| v.使浮起( buoy的现在分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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punctured
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| v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气 | |
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vexing
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| adj.使人烦恼的，使人恼火的v.使烦恼( vex的现在分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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44
periscope
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| n. 潜望镜 | |
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45
torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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48
propeller
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| n.螺旋桨，推进器 | |
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49
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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50
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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51
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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53
widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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54
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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beleaguered
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| adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰 | |
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manliness
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| 刚毅 | |
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sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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61
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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64
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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67
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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dunes
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| 沙丘( dune的名词复数 ) | |
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70
warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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72
belied
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| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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73
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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74
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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75
incompetency
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| n.无能力，不适当 | |
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76
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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77
budged
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| v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步 | |
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78
scurrying
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 ) | |
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79
ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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80
grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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81
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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82
scampering
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 ) | |
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83
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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