"What's the big idea?" Tom asked.
"Shut up and hoist3 your mitts4!" the bigger of the men snarled5. As the boys obeyed, he muttered to his partner, "Keep these two punks covered, Mugs, while I take their cash!"
"Right, Packy! I'll watch 'em!"
Sandy and Phyl emptied their pockets. Then Packy took the boys' wallets and change.
"Now turn around and march!" Packy snapped.
Bud took the lead, followed by the two girls, with Tom bringing up the rear. They plodded6 up the brushy slope in silence for several minutes. Presently a weather-beaten cabin in a grove7 of trees came into view.
"You intend to hold us there?" Tom asked.
The Mirovs! Like pieces of a jigsaw9 puzzle, the whole picture suddenly fell into place. It was clear to Tom now how the capture had been arranged.
The call to the jail from Dimitri Mirov had been a hoax10. Its purpose had really been to get Tom away from Enterprises—thus giving the two thugs a starting point from which to follow him. The mountain hike, organized by Bud and the girls, had played right into their hands! As Tom sized up the situation, seeking a way out, the group reached the cabin.
"What are your terms for letting us go?" Tom asked their captors, stalling for time.
The man named Packy gave an ugly chuckle11. "None yet," he said. "We may just decide to set the cabin on fire."
Sandy uttered a gasp12 as his words sank home. Phyl Newton had turned deathly pale. Packy now told his partner to unlock the cabin. Mugs stepped to the door.
At that moment Tom caught Bud's eye. It was now or never!
Tom whirled and smashed a stiff handblow to Packy's wrist, knocking the gun from his hand. Bud hurled13 himself on Mugs.
Taken off guard, the shorter thug staggered and went down under a hail of punches. Bud grabbed his wrist and twisted it mercilessly while he pinned him to the ground.
"Then drop your gun!" Bud snapped.
Tom, meanwhile, had followed up his first advantage with a stunning15 blow to the solar plexus. Packy grunted16 for breath, then came back viciously with several well-aimed punches that staggered Tom.
As the young inventor stumbled backward, Packy dived for his gun. Though still groggy17, Tom managed to kick the weapon out of reach. Before Packy could straighten up, Tom followed with a sweeping18 uppercut that caught him squarely on the chin.
Packy went down like a felled tree!
Tom picked up the gun before his groaning19 victim could recover. By this time, Bud had pounded his own opponent into submission20. Within a few moments, both thugs were lined up against the wall of the cabin. Their wrists were tightly strapped21 behind them with their own belts.
Tom gave the girls a reassuring23 grin. "Are you two all right?"
"I g-guess so." Phyl gave a nervous smile.
Now that the tables were turned, it was the thugs' turn to "march." The boys herded24 them warily back down the hillside toward the road, where Bud had parked his red convertible25. Sandy and Phyl followed close behind.
Like all cars belonging to the Swifts' key personnel, Bud's was equipped with a two-way shortwave radio. Tom switched it on and radioed Shopton Police Headquarters. Chief Slater promised to send a squad26 car at once.
Minutes later, they heard it approaching. Two husky police officers leaped out as the car braked to a halt, and took charge of the prisoners. Scowling27 and sullen28, they were driven off to jail.
"Well," said Bud jokingly, "what about that relaxing hike we were starting?"
Phyl sighed. "I'm afraid you two boys just can't get away from inventions and adventures."
Sandy added, "I suggest we go home for a nice safe dinner."
Later, at the Swifts' house, Tom received a telephone call from Chief Slater. He reported that the two prisoners were known hoodlums from a nearby city.
"They claim they were hired for this job last night by a stranger who spoke29 with an accent," Slater went on. "According to their story, they never even got a look at his face, and they had no idea he was an enemy agent."
"Sounds reasonable," Tom agreed. "It's not likely Mirov's Brungarian henchmen would endanger their whole setup by taking any cheap gunmen into their confidence."
Chief Slater also reported that Len Unger was still at large. "But the FBI will probably pick him up soon," he added.
"I sure hope so," Tom said.
A ten-hour sleep that night proved a fine tonic30. Tom awoke the next morning feeling entirely31 refreshed, and after a hearty32 breakfast, hurried off to the plant. Here he plunged33 into work on his quality analyzer sonar.
Much of the circuitry was assigned to the electronics department. The finished boards and sub-assemblies were fed back to Tom in his private laboratory. He himself assembled the major units.
At lunchtime, over a bowl of chili34 and crackers35, Tom recalled another problem. "We'll need an undetectable sub to test my analyzer," he mused36. "That means a repeat job of rigging all those transducers. Whew! I'd better get busy on that plastic sheathing37."
As soon as he had eaten, Tom phoned Arv Hanson, who arrived at the lab in a few moments.
"You remember that idea I mentioned to Danny about molding all the transducers into a single continuous plastic sheet?" As Arv nodded, Tom went on, "Let's try it, using Tomasite as the plastic."
Tom picked up a pencil and quickly sketched38 out the production steps. By machine-spacing the transmitting and the receiving transducers as closely together as possible, with minimum clearance39, the plastic coating could do an even better job of absorbing sonar pings than the hand-rigged model.
"And the leads from all the transducers can be combined into a single flat tape," Tom ended. "That'll make it simple to hook up with the electronic control unit inside."
"Got it, skipper," Arv said tersely40. "It'll take overtime41 to set up the job in the plastics department. But we ought to be rolling out the sheeting Tuesday."
By midmorning Tuesday, Tom had his quality analyzer sonar completed and was showing Bud how the units worked.
"Boy, it looks simple enough the way you explain it, prof!" Bud said admiringly. "How soon can we try it?"
"Depends on Arv," Tom replied. He picked up the phone and called the plastics department. To his delight, the sheathing was already being rolled out in quantity. Arv promised that by noon he would have enough of it available to coat a jetmarine.
"Nice going!" Tom said. "Shoot it out to the cargo-jet hangar as soon as it's ready!"
Soon after lunch, Tom, Bud, and Arv took off for Fearing Island. When they arrived at the base, the plastic coating with its myriad43 tiny "mikes" and "speakers" was speedily applied44 to a jetmarine under Arv's supervision45. Tom, meanwhile, wired the control unit and also installed the analyzer sonar in the Sea Hound.
"Want to be 'It' for another underwater game of hide-and-seek?" Tom asked Bud with a grin.
Minutes later, the jetmarine slipped off into the depths with Bud and two other crewmen aboard. Tom and Arv followed in the seacopter. The quality analyzer sonar worked even better than Tom had hoped. He not only tracked the jetmarine on its outward course, but located it three different times after shutting off the analyzer long enough for Bud to seek a new location.
"How'd you like to relieve Hank in the South Atlantic?" Tom asked Bud upon their return.
Tom slapped him on the back. "You can take off as soon as your ship's provisioned. I'll join you later—but first," Tom added mysteriously, "I have another job to attend to."
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1
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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mitts
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| n.露指手套，棒球手套，拳击手套( mitt的名词复数 ) | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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6
plodded
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| v.沉重缓慢地走（路）( plod的过去式和过去分词 )；努力从事；沉闷地苦干；缓慢进行（尤指艰难枯燥的工作） | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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jigsaw
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| n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接 | |
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hoax
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| v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧 | |
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11
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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13
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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14
screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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groggy
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| adj.体弱的；不稳的 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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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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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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herded
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| 群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动 | |
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convertible
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| adj.可改变的，可交换，同意义的；n.有活动摺篷的汽车 | |
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squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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tonic
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| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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33
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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chili
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| n.辣椒 | |
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crackers
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| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
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36
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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37
sheathing
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| n.覆盖物，罩子v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的现在分词 )；包，覆盖 | |
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38
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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39
clearance
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| n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理 | |
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40
tersely
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| adv. 简捷地, 简要地 | |
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41
overtime
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| adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地 | |
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42
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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43
myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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44
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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45
supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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46
torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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47
whoop
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| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
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