Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout; Or The Speediest Car on the Road Read online

  Produced by Anthony Matonac

  TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT

  or

  The Speediest Car on the Road

  by

  VICTOR APPLETON

  Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I TOM HOPES FOR A PRIZE II MR. DAMON'S STEERING III THE MOTOR-CYCLE WINS IV TALE OF A NEW BANK V A MIDNIGHT ENCOUNTER VI BUILDING THE CAR VII TOM IS CAPTURED VIII A BLINDING FLASH IX TOM IS RESCUED X TOM HAS A FALL XI CROSSED WIRES XII THE TRYOUT XIII TOWED BY A MULE XIV A GREAT RUN XV ANDY FOGER'S BLACK EYE XVI TROUBLE AT THE BANK XVII A RUN ON THE BANK XVIII AFTER THE CASH XIX STOPPED ON THE ROAD XX ON TIME XXI OFF TO THE BIG RACE XXII IN A DITCH XIII THE POWER GONE XIV ON THE TRACK XXV WINNING THE PRIZE

  TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT

  CHAPTER I

  TOM HOPES FOR A PRIZE

  "Father," exclaimed Tom Swift, looking up from a paper he was reading,"I think I can win that prize!"

  "What prize is that?" inquired the aged inventor, gazing away from adrawing of a complicated machine, and pausing in his task of makingsome intricate calculations. "You don't mean to say, Tom, that you'regoing to have a try for a government prize for a submarine, after all."

  "No, not a submarine prize, dad," and the youth laughed. "Though ourAdvance would take the prize away from almost any other under-waterboat, I imagine. No, it's another prize I'm thinking about."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, I see by this paper that the Touring Club of America has offeredthree thousand dollars for the speediest electric car. The tests areto come off this fall, on a new and specially built track on LongIsland, and it's to be an endurance contest for twenty-four hours, or arace for distance, they haven't yet decided. But I'm going to have atry for it, dad, and, besides winning the prize, I think I'll take AndyFoger down a peg.

  "What's Andy been doing now?"

  "Oh, nothing more than usual. He's always mean, and looking for achance to make trouble for me, but I didn't refer to anything special.He has a new auto, you know, and he boasts that it's the fastest one inthis country. I'll show him that it isn't, for I'm going to win thisprize with the speediest car on the road."

  "But, Tom, you haven't any automobile, you know," and Mr. Swift lookedanxiously at his son, who was smiling confidently. "You can't be goingto make your motor-cycle into an auto; are you?"

  "No, dad."

  "Then how are you going to take part in the prize contest? Besides,electric cars, as far as I know, aren't specially speedy."

  "I know it, and one reason why this club has arranged the contest is toimprove the quality of electric automobiles. I'm going to build anelectric runabout, dad."

  "An electric runabout? But it will have to be operated with a storagebattery, Tom, and you haven't--"

  "I guess you're going to say I haven't any storage battery, dad,"interrupted Mr. Swift's son. "Well, I haven't yet, but I'm going tohave one. I've been working on--"

  "Oh, ho!" exclaimed the aged inventor with a laugh. "So that's whatyou've been tinkering over these last few weeks, eh, Tom? I suspectedit was some new invention, but I didn't suppose it was that. Well, howare you coming on with it?"

  "Pretty good, I think. I've got a new idea for a battery, and I made anexperimental one. I gave it some pretty severe tests, and it workedfine."

  "But you haven't tried it out in a car yet, over rough roads, and undersevere conditions have you?"

  "No, I haven't had a chance. In fact, when I invented the battery I hadno idea of using it on a car I thought it might answer for commercialpurposes, or for storing a current generated by windmills. But when Iread that account in the papers of the Touring Club, offering a prizefor the best electric car, it occurred to me that I might put mybattery into an auto, and win."

  "Hum," remarked Mr. Swift musingly. "I don't take much stock inelectric autos, Tom. Gasolene seems to be the best, or perhaps steam,generated by gasolene. I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. All theelectric runabouts I ever saw, while they were very nice cars, didn'tseem able to go so very fast, or very far."

  "That's true, but it's because they didn't have the right kind of abattery. You know an electric locomotive can make pretty good speed,Dad. Over a hundred miles an hour in tests."

  "Yes, but they don't run by storage batteries. They have a third rail,and powerful motors," and Mr. Swift looked quizzically at his son. Heloved to argue with him, for he said it made Tom think, and often thetwo would thus thresh out some knotty point of an invention, to theinterests of both.

  "Of course, Dad, there is a good deal of theory in what I'm thinkingof," the lad admitted. "But it does seem to me that if you put theright kind of a battery into an automobile, it could scoot along prettylively. Look what speed a trolley car can make."

  "Yes, Tom, but there again they get their power from an overhead wire."

  "Some of them don't. There's a new storage battery been invented by aNew Jersey man, which does as well as the third rail or the overheadwire. It was after reading about his battery that I thought of a planfor mine. It isn't anything like his; perhaps not as good in some ways,but, for what I want, it is better in some respects, I think. For onething it can be recharged very quickly."

  "Now Tom, look here," said Mr. Swift earnestly, laying aside hispapers, and coming over to where his son sat. "You know I neverinterfere with your inventions. In fact, the more you think of thebetter I like it. The airship you helped build certainly did all thatcould be desired, and--"

  "That reminds me. Mr. Sharp and Mr. Damon are out in it now,"interrupted Tom. "They ought to be back soon. Yes, Dad, the airship RedCloud certainly scooted along."

  "And the submarine, too," continued the aged inventor. "Your ideasregarding that were of service to me, and helped in our task ofrecovering the treasure, but I'm afraid you're going to be disappointedin the storage battery. You may get it to work, but I don't believe youcan make it powerful enough to attain any great speed. Why don't youconfine yourself to making a battery for stationary work?"

  "Because, Dad, I believe I can build a speedy car, and I'm going to tryit. Besides I want to race Andy Foger, and beat him, even if I don'twin the prize. I'm going to build that car, and it will make fast time."

  "Well, go ahead, Tom," responded his father, after a pause. "Of courseyou can use the shops here as much as you want, and Mr. Sharp, Mr.Jackson, and I will help you all we can. Only don't be disappointed,that's all."

  "I won't, Dad. Suppose you come out to my shop and I'll show you asample battery I've been testing for the last week. I have it geared toa small motor, and it's been running steadily for some time. I want tosee what sort of a record it's made."

  Father and son crossed the yard, and entered a shop which the ladconsidered exclusively his own. There he had made many machines, andpieces of apparatus, and had invented a number of articles which hadbeen patented, and yielded him considerable of an income.

  "There's the battery, Dad," he said, pointing to a complicatedmechanism in one corner.

  "What's that buzzing noise?" asked Mr. Swift. "That's the little motorI run from the new cells. Look here," and Tom switched on an electriclight above the experimental battery, from which he hoped so much. Itconsisted of a steel can, about the size of the square gallon tin inwhich maple syrup comes, and from it ran two wires which were attachedto a small motor that was industriously whirring away.

  Tom looked at a registering gauge connected with it.

/>   "That's pretty good," remarked the young inventor.

  "What is it, Tom?" and his father peered about the shop.

  "Why this motor has run an equivalent of two hundred miles on onecharging of the battery! That's much better than I expected. I thoughtif I got a hundred out of it I'd be doing well. Dad, I believe, after Iimprove my battery a bit, that I'll have the very thing I want! I'llinstall a set of them in a car, and it will go like the wind. I'll--"Tom's enthusiastic remarks were suddenly interrupted by a low, rumblingsound.

  "Thunder!" exclaimed Mr. Swift. "The storm is coming, and Mr. Sharp andMr. Damon in the airship--"

  Hardly had he spoken than there sounded a crash on the roof of theSwift house, not far away. At the same time there came cries ofdistress, and the crash was repeated.

  "Come on, Dad! Something has happened!" yelled Tom, dashing from theshop, followed by his parent. They found themselves in the midst of arain storm, as they raced toward the house, on the roof of which thesmashing noise was again heard.