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Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XII THE GREAT STONE HEAD
It was a wild and desolate country in which Tom Swift and Mr. Jenks were traveling.
Villages were far apart, and they were at best but small settlements.
In their journeys from place to place they met few travelers.
But of these few they made cautious inquiries as to the location of Phantom
Mountain, or the landmark known as the great stone head.
Prospectors, miners and hunters, whom they asked, shook their heads.
"I've heard of Phantom Mountain," said one grizzled miner, "but I couldn't say where
it is.
Maybe it's only a fish story--the place may not even exist."
"Oh, it does, for I've been there!" exclaimed Mr. Jenks.
"Then why don't you go back to it?" asked the miner.
"Because I can't locate it again," was the reply.
"Humph!
Mighty *** if you've seen a place once, and can't get to it again," and the man
looked as if he thought there was something strange about Tom and his companion.
Mr. Jenks did not want to say that he had been taken to the mountain blindfolded, for
that would have caused too much talk.
"I think if we spent to-night in a place where the miners congregate, listened to
their talk, and put a few casual questions to them, more as if we were only asking out
of idle curiosity, we might learn something," suggested Tom.
"Very well, we'll try that scheme."
Accordingly, after they had left the suspicious miner the two proceeded to a
small milling town, not far from Indian Ridge.
There they engaged rooms for the night at the only hotel, and, after supper they sat
around the combined dance hall and gambling place.
There were wild, rough scenes, which were distasteful to Tom, and to Mr. Jenks, but
they felt that this was their only chance to get on the right trail, and so they
stayed.
As strangers in a western mining settlement they were made roughly welcome, and in
response to their inquiries about the country, they were told many tales, some of
which were evidently gotten up for the benefit of the "tenderfeet."
"Is there a place around here called Phantom Mountain?" asked Tom, at length, as
quietly as he could.
"Never heard of it, stranger," replied a miner who had done most of the talking.
"I never heard of it, and what Bill Slatterly don't know ain't worth knowin'.
I'm Bill Slatterly," he added, lest there be some doubt on that score.
"Isn't there some sort of a landmark around here shaped like a great stone head?" went
on Tom, after some unimportant questions.
"Seems to me I've heard of that." "Nary a one," answered Mr. Slatterly.
"No stone heads, and no Phantom Mountains-- nary a one.
"Who says there ain't no Phantom Mountains?" demanded an elderly miner, who
had been dozing in one corner of the room, but who was awakened by Slatterly's loud
voice.
"Who says so?" "I do," answered the one who claimed to
know everything. "Then you're wrong!"
Tom's heart commenced beating faster than usual.
"Do you mean to say you've seen Phantom Mountain, Jed Nugg?" demanded Slatterly.
"No, I ain't exactly seen it, an' I don't want to, but there is such a place, about
sixty mile from here. Folks says it's haunted, and them sort of
places I steer clear from."
"Can you tell me about it?" asked Mr. Jenks, eagerly.
"I am interested in such things."
"I can't tell you much about it," was the reply, "and I wouldn't git too interested,
if I was you. It might not be healthy.
All I know is that one time my partner and I were in hard luck.
We got grub-staked, and went out prospectin'.
We strayed into a wild part of the country about sixty mile from here, and one night
we camped on a mountain--a wild, desolate place it was too."
The miner stopped, and began leisurely filling his pipe.
"Well?" asked Tom, trying not to let his voice sound too eager.
"Well, that was Phantom Mountain."
The miner seemed to have finished his story.
"Is that all?" asked Mr. Jenks. "How did you know it was Phantom Mountain?"
"'Cause we seen the ghost--my partner and I--that's why!" exclaimed the man, puffing
on his pipe.
"As I said, we was campin' there, and 'long about midnight we seen somethin' tall and
white, and all shimmerin', with a sort of yellow fire, slidin' down the side of the
mountain It made straight for our camp."
"Huh! Guess you run, didn't you, Jed?" asked Bill Slatterly.
"Course we did. You'd a run too, if you seen a ghost comm'
at you, an' firm' a gun."
"Ghosts can't fire guns!" declared Bill. "I guess you dreamed it, Jed."
"Ghosts can't fire guns, eh? That's all you know about it.
This one did, and to prove I didn't dream it, there was a bullet hole in my hat next
mornin'. I could prove it, too, only I ain't got
that hat any more.
But that was Phantom Mountain, strangers, an' my advice to you is to keep away from
it. I was on it but I didn't exactly see it,
'cause it was dark at the time."
"Was it near a peak that looked like a stone head?" asked Tom.
"It were, stranger, but I didn't take much notice of it.
Me and my partner got out of them diggin's next day, and I never went back.
I ain't never said much about this place, but it's called Phantom Mountain all right,
and I ain't the only one that's seen a ghost there.
Other grub-stakers has had the same experience."
"Why ain't I never heard about it?" demanded Bill, suspiciously.
"'Cause as why you're allers so busy talkin' that you don't never listen to
nothin' I reckon," was Jed's answer, amid laughter.
"Can you tell us what trail to take to get there?" asked Tom, of the miner.
"Yes, it's called the old silver trail, and you strike it by goin' to a place called
Black Gulch, about forty mile from here.
Then it's twenty mile farther on. But take my advice and don't go."
"Can it be reached by way of Indian Ridge?" asked Mr. Jenks, wondering how he had been
taken to the cave of the diamond makers.
He did not remember Black Gulch. "Yes, you can git there by Indian Ridge
way, but it's more dangerous. You're likely to lose your way, for that's
a trail that's seldom traveled."
Mr. Jenks thought that, perhaps, was the reason the gang had taken him that way.
"It's easier to get to the stone head and Phantom Mountain by Black Gulch, but it
ain't healthy to go there, strangers, take my advice on that," concluded the miner, as
he prepared to go to sleep again.
Tom could scarcely contain the exultation he felt.
At last, it seemed, they were on the trail.
He motioned to Mr. Jenks, and they slipped quietly from the place, just as another
dance was beginning. "Now for Black Gulch!" cried Tom.
"We must hurry back to the airship, and tell the good news.
"It's too late to-night," decided Mr. Jenks, and so they waited until morning,
when they made an early start.
They found Mr. Damon and Mr. Parker anxiously awaiting their return.
Mr. Damon blessed so many things that he was nearly out of breath, and Mr. Parker
related something of the observations he had made.
"I think I have discovered traces of a dormant volcano," he said.
"I am in hopes that it will have an eruption while we are here."
"I'm not," spoke Tom, decidedly.
"We'll start for Black Gulch as soon as possible."
The airship once more rose in the air, and, following the directions the miner had
given him, Tom pointed his craft for the depression in the mountains which had been
given the name Black Gulch.
It was reached in a short time, and then, making a turn up a long valley the airship
proceeded at reduced speed.
"We ought to see that stone head soon now," spoke Tom, as he peered from the windows of
the pilot house. "It's *** we didn't notice it when we
were up in the air," remarked Mr. Jenks.
"We've been over this place before, I'm sure of it."
The next moment Mr. Damon uttered a cry. "Bless my watch-chain!" he exclaimed.
"Look at that!"
He pointed off to the left.
There, jutting out from the side of a steep mountain peak was a mass of stone--black
stone--which, as the airship slowly approached, took the form and shape of a
giant's head.
"That's it! That's it!" cried Tom.
"The great stone head!"
"And now for Phantom Mountain and the diamonds!" shouted Mr. Jenks, as Tom let
the airship slowly settle to the bottom of the valley.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XIII ON PHANTOM MOUNTAIN
Out from the Red Cloud piled Tom and the others.
They made a rush for the irregular mass of rock which bore so strong a resemblance to
the head of some gigantic man.
"That's the one! That's the thing I saw when they were
taking me along here blindfolded!" exclaimed Mr. Jenks.
"I'm sure we're on the right trail, now!"
"But what gets me, though," remarked Mr. Damon, "is why we couldn't see that
landmark when we were up in the air. We had a fine view, and ought to have been
able to pick it out with the telescopes."
The adventurers saw the reason a few seconds later.
The image was visible only from one place, and that was directly looking up the
valley.
If one went too far to the right or left the head disappeared from view behind
jutting crags, and it was impossible to see it from overhead, because the head was
almost under a great spur of a mighty mountain.
"We might have hunted for it a week in the airship, and been directly over it," said
Tom, "and yet we would never have seen it."
"Yes, but we never would have gotten here in such good shape if it hadn't been for
your wonderful craft," declared Mr. Jenks.
"It brought us here safely and quickly, and enabled us to elude the men who tried to
keep us back. We're here in spite of them.
If we had traveled by train they might have interfered with us in a dozen ways."
"That's so," agreed Mr. Damon. "Well, now we're here, what's to be done?
Which way do we start to reach the cave where the diamonds are manufactured, Mr.
Jenks?" "That I can't say.
As you know, I only had a momentary glimpse of this stone head as they wore taking me
along the trail. Then one the men noticed that the bandage
had slipped and he pulled it into place.
So I really can't say which direction to take now, in order to discover the secret."
"How long after you saw the head before you reached the cave?" asked Tom.
"In that way we may be able to tell how far away it is."
"Well, I should say it was about two or three hours after I saw the head, before we
got to the halting place, and I was carried into the cave.
That would make it several miles from here, for we went in a wagon."
"Yes, and they might have driven in a round-about way, in order to deceive you,"
suggested Mr. Damon.
"At best we have but a faint idea where the diamond cave is, but we must search for it;
eh, Tom?" "Certainly.
We'll start right in.
And as the airship will be of but little service to us now, I suggest that we leave
it in this valley. It is very much secluded, and no one will
harm it, I think.
We can then start off prospecting, for I have a large portable tent, and we can
carry enough food with us, with what game we can shoot, to enable us to live.
I have a regular camping outfit on board."
"Fine!" cried Mr. Parker, "and that will give me a chance to make some observations
among the mountains, and perhaps I can predict when a landslide, or an eruption of
some dormant volcano, may occur."
"Bless my stars!" cried Mr. Damon. "I don't wish you any bad luck, Mr. Parker,
but I sincerely hope nothing of the sort happens!
We had enough of that on Earthquake Island!"
"One can not halt the forces of nature," said the scientist, solemnly.
"There are many towering peaks around here which may contain old volcanoes.
And I notice the presence of iron ore all about.
This must be a wonderful place in a thunder and lightning storm."
"Why?" asked Tom, curiously.
"Because lightning would be powerfully attracted here by the presence of the
metal.
In fact there is evidence that many of the peaks have been struck by lightning," and
the scientist showed curious, livid scars on the stone faces of the peaks within
sight.
"Then this is a good place to stay away from in a storm," observed Mr. Damon.
"However, we won't worry about that now.
If this is the landmark Mr. Jenks was searching for, then we must be in the
vicinity of Phantom Mountain." "I think we are," declared the diamond
seeker.
"Probably it is within sight now, but there are so many peaks, and this is such a wild
and desolate part of the country that we may have trouble in locating it."
"We've got to make a beginning, anyhow," decided Tom, "and the sooner the better.
Come, we'll make up our camping kits, and start out."
It was something to know that they were on the right trail, and it was a relief to be
able to busy oneself, and not be aimlessly searching for a mysterious landmark.
They all felt this, and soon the airship was taken to a secluded part of the valley,
where it was well hidden from sight in a grove of trees.
Tom and Mr. Damon then served a good meal, and preparations were made to start on
their search among the mountains--a search which they hoped would lead them to Phantom
Mountain, and the cave of the diamond makers.
The tent which would afford them shelter was in sections, and could be laced
together.
They carried food, compressed into small packages, coffee, a few cooking utensils;
and each one had a gun, Tom carrying a combination rifle and shotgun, for game.
"We can't live very high while we're on the trail," said the young inventor, "but it
won't be much worse than it was on Earthquake Island.
Are we all ready?"
"I guess so," answered Mr. Damon. "How long are we going to be away?"
"Until we find the diamond makers!" declared Tom, firmly.
Shouldering their packs, the adventurers started off.
Tom turned for a last look at his airship, dimly seen amid the trees.
Would he ever come back to the Red Cloud?
Would she be there when he did return? Would their quest be successful?
These questions the lad asked himself, as he followed his companions along the rocky
trail.
"Perhaps we can find the road by which these men go in and out of the cave,"
suggested Mr. Damon, when they had gone on for several miles.
"I fancy not," replied Mr. Jenks.
"They probably take great pains to hide it. I think though, that our best plan will be
to go here and there, looking for the entrance to the cave.
I believe I would remember the place."
"But why can't you follow the directions given by the miner who told you about
Phantom Mountain?" asked Mr. Damon. "Because his talk was too indefinite,"
answered Mr. Jenks.
"He was so frightened by seeing what he believed to be a ghost, that he didn't take
much notice of the location of the place. All he knows is that Phantom Mountain is
somewhere around here."
"And we've got to hunt until we find it; is that the idea?" asked Mr. Parker.
"Or until we see the phantom," added Tom, in a low voice.
"Bless my topknot!" exclaimed Mr. Damon.
"You don't mean to say you expect to see that ghost; do you Tom?"
"Perhaps," answered the young inventor, and he did not add something else of which he
was thinking.
For Tom had a curious theory regarding the phantom.
They tramped about the remainder of that day.
Toward evening Tom shot some birds, which made a welcome addition to their supper.
Then the tent was put together, some spruce and hemlock boughs were cut to make a soft
bed, and on these, while the light of a campfire gleamed in on them, the
adventurers slept.
Their experience the following day was similar to the first.
They saw no evidence of a large cave such as Mr. Jenks had described, nor were there
any traces of men having gone back and forth among the mountains, as might have
been expected of the diamond makers, for,
as Mr. Jenks had said, they made frequent journeys to the settlement for food, and
other supplies.
"Well, I haven't begun to give up yet," announced Tom, on the third day, when their
quest was still unsuccessful. "But I think we are making one mistake."
"What is that?" inquired Mr. Jenks.
"I think we should go up higher. In my opinion the cave is near the top of
some peak; isn't it, Mr. Jenks?" "I have that impression, though, as you
know, I never saw the outside of it.
Still, it might not be a bad idea to ascend some of these peaks."
Following this suggestion, they laid their trail more toward the sky, and that night
found them encamped several thousand feet above the sea-level.
It was quite cool, and the campfire was a big one about which they sat after supper,
talking of many things. Tom did not sleep well that night.
He tossed from side to side on the bed of boughs, and once or twice got up to
replenish the fire, which had burned low. His companions were in deep slumber.
"I wonder what time it is?" mused Tom, when he had been up the third time to throw wood
on the blaze. "Must be near morning."
He looked at his watch, and was somewhat startled to see that it was only a little
after twelve. Somehow it seemed much later.
As he was putting the timepiece back into his pocket the lad looked around at the
dark and gloomy mountains, amid which they were encamped.
As his gaze wandered toward the peak of the one on the side of which the tent was
pitched, he gave a start of surprise.
For, coming down a place where, that afternoon, Tom had noticed a sort of
indefinite trail was a figure in white.
A tall, waving figure, which swayed this way and that--a figure which halted and
then came on again. "I wonder--I wonder if that can be a wisp
of fog?" mused the young inventor.
He rubbed his eyes, thinking it might be a swirling of the night mist or a defect of
vision. Then, as he saw more plainly, he noticed
the thing in white rushing toward him.
"It's the phantom--the phantom!" cried Tom, aloud.
"It's the thing the miner saw! We're on Phantom Mountain now!"
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XIV WARNED BACK
Tom's cries awakened the sleepers in the tent.
Mr. Damon was the first to rush out. "Bless my nightcap, Tom!" he cried.
"What is it?
What has happened? Are we attacked by a mountain lion?"
For answer the young inventor pointed up the mountain, to where, in the dim light
from a crescent moon, there stood boldly revealed, the figure in white.
"Bless--bless my very existence!" cried the odd man.
"What is it, Tom?" "The phantom," was the quiet answer.
"Watch it, and see what it does."
By this time Mr. Jenks and Mr. Parker had joined Tom and Mr. Damon.
The four diamond seekers stood gazing at the apparition.
And, as they looked, the thing in white, seemingly too tall for any human being,
slid slowly forward, with a gliding motion.
Then it raised its long, white arms, and waved them threateningly at the
adventurers. "It's motioning us to go back," said Mr.
Parker in an awed whisper.
"It doesn't want us to go any farther." "Very likely," agreed Tom, coolly.
"But we're not going to be frightened by anything like that; are we?"
"Not much!" exclaimed Mr. Jenks.
"I expected this. A ghost can't drive me back from getting my
rights from those scoundrels!" "Suppose it uses a revolver to back up its
demand?" asked the scientist.
"Wait until it does," answered Mr. Jenks. But the figure in white evidently had no
such intentions.
It came on a little distance farther, still waving the long arms threateningly, and
then it suddenly disappeared, seeming to dissolve in the misty shadows of the night.
"Bless my suspenders!" cried Mr. Damon.
"That's a very strange proceeding! Very strange!
What do you make of it, Tom?" "It is evidently some man dressed up in a
sheet," declared Mr. Jenks.
"I expected as much." "The work of those diamond makers; do you
think?" continued Mr. Damon. "I believe so," answered Tom, slowly, for
he was trying to think it out.
"I believe they are the cause of the phantom, though I don't know that it's a
man dressed in a sheet." "Why isn't it?" demanded Mr. Jenks.
"Because it was too tall for a man, unless he's a giant."
"He may have been on stilts," suggested Mr. Parker.
"No man on stilts could walk along that way," declared Tom, confidently.
"He glided along too easily. I am inclined to think it may be some sort
of a light."
"A light?" queried Mr. Damon.
"Yes, the diamond makers may be hidden in some small cave near here, and they may
have some sort of a magic lantern or a similar arrangement, for throwing a shadow
picture.
They could arrange it to move as they liked, and could cause it to disappear at
will. That, I think, is the ghost we have just
seen."
"But the diamond makers have only been in this mountain recently," objected Mr.
Jenks, "and the phantom was here before them.
In fact, that was what gave the place its name."
"That may be," admitted the lad.
"There are many places that have the name of being haunted, but no one ever sees the
ghost. It is always some one else, who has heard
of some one who has seen it.
That may have been the case here. I grant that this place may have been
called 'Phantom Mountain' for a number of years, due to the superstitious tales of
miners.
The diamond makers came along, found the conditions just right for their work, and
adopted the ghost, so to speak. As there wasn't any real spirit they made
one, and they use it to scare people away.
I think that's what we've just seen, though I may be wrong in my theory as to what the
phantom is."
"Well, it's gone now, at any rate," said Mr. Jenks, "and I think we'd better get
back inside the tent. It's cold out here."
"Aren't some of us going to stand guard?" demanded Mr. Damon.
"What for?" asked Mr. Jenks. "Why--er--bless my key-ring!
Suppose that ghost takes a notion to come down here, and use his gun, as he did on
the miners?" "I don't believe that will happen,"
remarked Tom.
"The diamond makers, if the white thing had anything to do with them, have given us a
warning, and I think they'll at least wait until morning to see how we heed it."
"We aren't going to heed it!" burst out Mr. Jenks.
"I'm going to go right ahead and find that cave where they make diamonds!"
"And we're with you!" exclaimed Tom.
"We'll have a good fire going the rest of the night, and that may keep intruders
away.
In the morning we'll begin our search, and we'll go up the trail where we saw the
white figure."
A big pile of wood had been collected for the fire, and Tom now piled some logs and
branches on the blaze.
It would last for some time now, and the adventurers, still talking of the "ghost"
went back into the tent.
It was over an hour before they all got to sleep again, and Mr. Jenks and Mr. Damon
took turns in getting up once or twice during the remainder of the night to
replenish the fire.
Morning dawned without anything further having occurred to disturb them, and, after
a hearty breakfast, to which Tom added some fish he caught in a nearby mountain stream,
they set off up the trail on Phantom Mountain.
They had left their tent standing, as they proposed making that spot their
headquarters until they located the cave they were seeking.
What their course would be after that would depend on the circumstances.
If they had expected to have an easy task locating the cavern in which Mr. Jenks had
seen diamonds made, the adventurers were disappointed.
All that day they tramped up and down the mountain, looking for some secret entrance,
but none was disclosed.
The higher they went up the great peak, the fainter became the trail, until, at length
it vanished completely.
But this was not to be wondered at, since it was on solid rock, in which no footsteps
would leave an impression.
"They never brought you up here in a wagon, Mr. Jenks," decided Tom, when he saw how
steep the place was. "I'm inclined to think so myself," admitted
the diamond man.
"They must have reached the cave from some other way.
As a matter of fact, I walked some distance after getting out of the vehicle, before we
got to the cavern.
But, even at that, I don't believe we came this way."
"Yet the phantom was here," persisted Tom, "and I'm convinced that the cave is in this
neighborhood.
It's up to us to find it!" But they searched the remainder of that day
in vain, and as night was coming on, they made their way back to the camp.
As Tom, who was in the lead, approached the tent, he saw something black fastened to
the entrance. "Hello!" he cried.
"Some one's been here.
That wasn't on the tent when we left this morning."
"What is it?" asked Mr. Damon. "A black piece of paper, written on with
white ink," replied the lad.
He was reading it, and, as he perused it a look of surprise came over his face.
"Listen to this!" called Tom. "It's evidently from the diamond makers."
Holding up the black paper, on which the white writing stood out in bold relief Tom
read aloud: "Be warned in time!
Go back before it is too late!
You are near to death! Go back!"
"Bless my shoelaces!" cried Mr. Damon. "This is getting serious."
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XV THE LANDSLIDE
Gathered about the young inventor, the three men looked at the warning.
The writing was poor, and it was evident that an attempt had been made to disguise
it.
But there was no misspelling of words, and there were no rudely drawn daggers, or
bloody hands or anything of that sort. In fact, it was a very business-like sort
of warning.
"Rather odd," commented Mr. Jenks. "Black paper and white ink."
"White ink is easy enough to make," stated Mr. Parker.
"I fancy they wanted it as conspicuous as possible."
"Yes," agreed Tom, "and this warning, together with the antics of the thing in
white last night, shows that they are aware of our presence here, and perhaps know who
we are.
We will have to be on our guard." "Do you think that fellow Munson, whom we
left in the forest, could have gotten here and warned them?" asked Mr. Damon.
"It's possible," admitted Tom, "but now let's see if the person who pinned this
warning on our tent took any of our things."
A hasty examination, however, showed that nothing had been disturbed, and Tom and Mr.
Damon were soon getting supper ready, everyone talking, during the progress of
the meal, about the events of the day, and the rather weird culmination of it.
"Well, we haven't had a great deal of success--so far," admitted Tom, as they sat
about the fire, in the fast gathering dusk.
"I think, perhaps, we'd better try on the other side of the mountain to-morrow.
We've explored this side pretty thoroughly."
"Good idea," commented Mr. Jenks.
"We'll do it, and move our camp. I only hope those fellows don't find our
airship and destroy it.
We'll have a hard time getting back to civilization again, if we have to walk all
the way." This contingency caused Tom some
uneasiness.
He did not like to think that the unscrupulous men might damage the Red
Cloud, that had been built only after hard labor.
But he knew he could accomplish nothing by worrying, and he tried to dismiss the
matter from his mind.
They rather expected to see the thing in white again that night, but it did not
appear, and morning came without anything having disturbed their heavy sleep, for
they were tired from the day's ***.
It took them the greater part of the day to make a circuit of the base of Phantom
Mountain in order to get to a place where a sort of trail led upward.
"It's too late to do anything to-night," decided Tom, as they set up the tent.
"We'll rest, and start the first thing in the morning."
"And the ghost isn't likely to find us here," added Mr. Damon.
"Where are you going, Mr. Parker?" he asked, as he saw the scientist tramping a
little way up the side of the mountain.
"I am going to make some observations," was the answer, and no one paid any more
attention to him for some time. Supper was nearly ready when Mr. Parker
returned.
His face wore a rather serious air, and Mr. Damon, noting it, asked laughingly:
"Well, did you discover any volcanoes, that may erupt during the night, and scare us to
death?"
"No," replied Mr. Parker, calmly, "but there is every indication that we will soon
have a terrific electrical storm. From a high peak I caught a glimpse of one
working this way across the mountains."
"Then we'd better fasten the tent well down," called Tom.
"We don't want it to blow away." "There will not be much danger from wind,"
was Mr. Parker's opinion.
"From what then?" asked Mr. Jenks. "From the discharges of lightning among
these mountain peaks, which contain so much iron ore.
We will be in grave danger."
The fact that the scientist had not always made correct predictions was not now
considered by his hearers, and Tom and the two men gazed at Mr. Parker in some alarm.
"Is there anything we can do to avoid it?" asked Mr. Jenks.
"The only thing to do would be to leave the mountain," was the answer, "and, as the
iron ore extends for miles, we can not get out of the danger zone before the storm
will reach us.
It will be here in less than half an hour." "Then we'd better have supper," remarked
Tom, practically, "and get ready for it. Perhaps it may not be as bad as Mr. Parker
fears."
"It will be bad enough," declared the gloomy scientist, and he seemed to find
pleasure in his announcement.
The meal was soon over, and Tom busied himself in looking to the guy ropes of the
tent, for he feared lest there might be wind with the storm.
That it was coming was evident, for now low mutterings of thunder could be heard off
toward the west. Black clouds rapidly obscured the heavens,
and the sound of thunder increased.
Fitful flashes of lightning could be seen forking across the sky in jagged chains of
purple light. "It's going to be a heavy storm," Tom
admitted to himself.
"I hope lightning doesn't strike around here."
The storm came on rapidly, but there was a curious quietness in the air that was more
alarming than if a wind had blown.
The campfire burned steadily, and there was a certain oppressiveness in the atmosphere.
It was now quite dark, save when the fitful lightning flashes came, and they
illuminated the scene brilliantly for a few seconds.
Then, by contrast, it was blacker than ever.
Suddenly, as Tom was gazing up toward the peak of Phantom Mountain, he saw something
that caused him to cry out in alarm.
He pointed upward, and whispered hoarsely: "The ghost again!
There's our friend in white!"
The others looked, and saw the same weird figure that had menaced them when they were
encamped on the other side of the peak. "They must have followed us," said Mr.
Jenks, in a low voice.
Slowly the figure advanced, It waved the long white arms, as if in warning.
At times it would be only dimly visible in the blackness, then, suddenly it would
stand out in bold relief as a great flash of fire split the clouds.
The thunder, meanwhile, had been growing louder and sharper, indicating the nearer
approach of the storm. Each lightning flash was followed in a
second or two, by a terrific clap.
Still there was no wind nor rain, and the campfire burned steadily.
All at once there was a crash as if the very mountain had split asunder, and the
adventurers saw a great ball of purple- bluish fire shoot down, as if from some
cloud, and strike against the side of the
crag, not a hundred feet from where stood the ghostly figure in white.
"That was a bad one," cried Mr. Damon, shouting so as to be heard above the echoes
of the thunderclap.
Almost as he spoke there came another explosion, even louder than the one
preceding. A great ball of fire, pear shaped, leaped
for the same spot in the mountain.
"There's a mass of iron ore there!" yelled Mr. Parker.
"The lightning is attracted to it!"
His voice was swallowed up in the terrific crash that followed, and, as there came
another flash of the celestial fire, the figure in white could be seen hurrying back
up the mountain trail.
Evidently the electrical storm, with lightning bolts discharging so close, was
too much for the "ghost."
In another instant it looked as if the whole place about where the diamond seekers
stood, was a mass of fire.
Great forked tongues of lightning leaped from the clouds, and seemed to lick the
ground. There was a rattle and *** of thunder,
like the firing of a battery of guns.
Tom and the others felt themselves tingling all over, as if they had hold of an
electrical battery, and there was a strong smell of sulphur in the air.
"We are in the midst of the storm!" cried Mr. Parker.
"We are standing on a mass of iron ore! Any minute may be our last!"
But fate had not intended the adventurers for death by lightning.
Almost as suddenly as it had begun, the discharge of the tongues of fire ceased in
the immediate vicinity of our friends.
They stood still--awed--not knowing what to do.
Then, once more, came a terrific clap!
A great mass of fire, like some red-hot ingot from a foundry, was hurled through
the air, straight at the face of the mountain, and at the spot where the figure
in white had stood but a few minutes before.
Instantly the earth trembled, as it had at Earthquake Island, but it was not the same.
It was over in a few seconds.
Then, as the diamond seekers looked, they saw in the glare of a score of lightning
flashes that followed the one great clap, the whole side of the mountain slip away,
and go crashing into the valley below.
"A landslide!" cried Mr. Parker. "That is the landslide which I predicted!
The lightning bolt has split Phantom Mountain!"
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XVI THE VAST CAVERN
For a time the roiling, slipping, sliding and tumbling of the mass of earth and
stones, down the side of the mountain, effectually drowned all other sounds.
Even the thunder was stilled, and though Tom and his companions called to one
another in terror, their voices could not rise above that terrific tumult.
Finally, when they found that the direction of the slide was away from their tent, and
that they were not likely to be engulfed, they grew more calm.
Gradually the noise subsided.
The great boulders had rolled to the bottom of the valley, and now only a mass of earth
and stones was sliding down.
Even this stopped in about five minutes, and, as though satisfied with what it had
done, the electrical storm passed. Not a drop of rain had fallen.
"Bless my shirt studs!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, who was the first to speak after the
din had quieted. "Bless my soul!
But that was awful!"
"It was just what I expected," said Mr. Parker, calmly.
"I knew, from my observations, that we were in a region where landslides and terrific
electrical storms may be expected at any time.
I fully looked for this."
"Well," remarked Mr. Jenks, rather sarcastically, "I hope it came up to your
expectations, Mr. Parker."
"Oh, fully," was the answer, "though I wish it could have happened in daylight, so that
I could better have observed certain phenomena regarding the landslide.
They are very interesting."
"At a distance," admitted Tom, with a laugh of relief.
"Well, I'm glad it's over, though we'll have to wait until morning to see what
damage has been done.
Lucky we weren't struck by lightning. I never saw such bolts!"
"Me, either!" declared Mr. Damon. "This mountain seems to attract them."
"It is like a magnet," said Mr. Parker.
"I think I shall be able to make some fine observations here."
"If we live through it," murmured Mr. Jenks.
They watched the play of lightning about a distant bank of clouds, but the storm was
now far away, only a faint rumbling of thunder being heard.
"I'm wondering what happened to the phantom," said Tom, after a pause.
"Seems to me he was right in that track of the storm."
"Do you think it was a 'he'?" asked Mr. Jenks.
"I think we'll find that it's some sort of a man," answered the young inventor.
"We may find out very soon, now.
I've changed my theory about the ghost being reflections of light."
"How's that?" Mr. Damon wanted to know.
"Well, I think we are on the side of Phantom Mountain where the diamond cave
is," went on the lad.
"The fact that the phantom appeared here, soon after we arrived, shows that the men
kept close track of our movements.
It also shows, I think, that the phantom did not have to travel far to be on the
spot, whereas we had to make quite a trip to get around the base of the mountain.
I think the cave is up there," and Tom pointed toward the spot where the weird
figure had been last seen, before the storm drove it back.
"There may be two phantoms," suggested Mr. Jenks.
"They may keep one on this side of the mountain, and one on the other, to warn
intruders away.
"It's possible," admitted Tom. "Well, we'll see how things look in the
morning, when we'll take up our march again, and go up the mountain.
We'll reach the top, if possible, which we couldn't do from the other side, as it was
too steep." "I hope we shall be able to go forward in
the morning," came from Mr. Jenks.
"What do you mean?" asked the lad, struck by a peculiar significance in the diamond
man's tones.
"Why, that landslide may have opened a great gully in the side of Phantom
Mountain, which will prevent us from passing.
It was a terrific lot of earth and stones that slid away," answered Mr. Jenks.
"It certainly was," agreed Mr. Parker.
"I would not be surprised if the mountain was half destroyed, and it may be that the
diamond cave no longer exists."
"Not very cheerful, to say the least," murmured Mr. Jenks to Tom, and, as it was
getting quite chilly, following the storm, they went inside the tent.
Tom could hardly wait for daylight, to get up and see what havoc the landslide had
wrought.
As soon as the first faint flush of dawn showed over the eastern peaks, he hurried
from the tent. Mr. Damon heard him arise, and followed.
A curious scene met their eyes.
All about were great rocks rent and torn by the awful power of the lightning.
The fronts of the stone cliffs were scarred and burned by the electrical fire, and
fantastic markings, grotesque faces, and leering animals seemed to have been drawn
by some gigantic artist who used a bolt from heaven for his brush.
But the eyes of Tom and Mr. Damon took all this in at a glance, and then their gaze
went forward to where the avalanche had torn away a great part of the mountain.
"Whew!
I should say it was a landslide!" cried Tom.
"Bless my wishbone, yes!" agreed Mr. Damon. Below them, in the valley, lay piled
immense masses of earth and stones.
Boulders were heaped up on boulders, and rocks upon rocks, being tossed about in
heaps, strung about in long ridges, and swirled about in curves, as though some
cyclone had toyed with them after the lightning flash had tossed them there.
"But the mountain isn't half gone," said Tom, as his eyes took in what was left of
the phantom berg.
"I guess it will take a few more bolts like that one, to put this hill out of
business."
Though the landslide had been a great one, the larger part of the mountain still
stood. An immense slice had been taken from one
side, but the summit was untouched.
"And there's where the diamond cave is!" cried Tom, pointing to it.
"I think so myself," agreed Mr. Jenks, who came from the tent at that moment, and
joined the lad and Mr. Damon.
"I think we shall find the cave somewhere up there.
We must start for it, as soon as we have eaten, and we may reach it by night."
The three stood gazing up toward the summit of the great mountain.
Suddenly, as the sun rose higher in the heavens, it sent a shaft of rosy light on
the face of the berg that had been scarred by the landslide.
Tom Swift uttered an exclamation, and pointed at something.
"See!" he cried. "Look where the trail is--the trail down
which the phantom must have come.
It is on the edge of a cliff now!" They looked, and saw that this was so.
The increasing light had just revealed it to them.
When the lightning bolt had torn away a great portion of the mountain it had cut
sheer down for a great depth and when the earth and stones fell away they left a
narrow pathway, winding around the
mountain, but so near the edge of a great chasm, that there was room but for one
person at a time to walk on that footway. The uncertain trail up Phantom Mountain had
all but been destroyed.
"The way up to the peak is by that path, now," spoke Tom, in a low voice.
"Bless my soul!" cried Mr. Damon. "It's as much as a man's life is worth to
attempt it.
If he got dizzy, he'd topple over, and fall a thousand feet.
Dare we risk it?" "It's the only way to get up," went on Tom.
"It's either that way, or not at all.
We've tried the other side without success. We must go up this way--or turn back."
"Then we'll go up!" cried Mr. Jenks. "It may not be as dangerous as it looks
from here."
But it was even more dangerous than it appeared, when they went part way up it
after a hasty breakfast.
The trail was a mere ledge of rock now, and in some places, to get around a projecting
edge of the mountain, they had to stand with their backs to the dizzy depths at
their feet, and with both arms outstretched
work their way around to where the trail was wider.
"Shall we risk it?" asked Tom, when they had tried the way, and found it so
dangerous.
"We can't take anything with us--even our guns, for we couldn't carry them, and if we
reach the month of the cave, and find those men there--"
He paused significantly.
The adventurers looked at one another. The search for the diamond makers was
becoming more and more dangerous. "I say let's go on!" decided Mr. Damon,
suddenly.
"We want to locate that cave, first of all. Perhaps, when we do find it, we may see
some easier way of getting to it than this.
And if those diamond makers do attack us-- well, I don't believe they'll shoot
defenseless men, and they may listen to reason, and give Mr. Jenks his rights--tell
him how to make diamonds in return for the money he gave them."
"I don't believe those scoundrels will listen to reason," replied the diamond man,
"but I agree with Mr. Damon that we ought to go on.
We may find some other means of reaching the cave--if we can discover it, and we'll
take a chance with the men." "Forward it is, then!" cried Tom.
"I have a revolver, and I can supply one of you gentlemen with another.
They may come in useful in an emergency.
Let's go back to camp, take a little lunch in our pockets, and try to scale the
mountain."
They were soon on their way up the dizzy path once more, and, as they advanced, they
found it growing more and more dangerous.
In some places they found it almost impossible to get around certain corners,
where there was barely room for their feet. As Tom remarked grimly, a fat man never
could have done it.
Fortunately they were all comparatively thin, for their hard work, and not too
abundant food, since they had left the airship, had reduced their weight.
Up and up they went, higher and higher, sometimes finding the path wide enough for
two to walk abreast, and again seeing it narrow almost to a ribbon.
They hardly dared look down into the chasm at their left--a chasm filled, in part,
with the rocks and boulders tossed into it by the lightning bolt.
Tom was in the lead, and had just made a dangerous turn around a shoulder of rock--
one of those places where he had to extend both arms, and fairly hug the cliff before
he could get around.
But, when he had made it, and found himself on a broad pathway, cut in the living rock,
he gave a great shout--a shout that caused his companions to hasten to his side.
They found the young inventor pointing to a clump of bushes and small trees.
But it was not the shrubbery that Tom desired to call to their attention.
They saw that in an instant, for, dimly seen through the leaves, was something
black, and, as they looked more closely, they saw that it was a great hole in the
side of the mountain--a vast cavern, opening like a tunnel.
"The cave! The cave!" cried Tom.
"The diamond makers' cave!"
Hardly had he spoken than two men, each one carrying a gun, showed themselves in the
mouth of the cavern, and, instant later they both ran toward the little party of
adventurers.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XVII THE PHANTOM CAPTURED
Surprise held Tom and his friends almost spellbound for the moment.
The young inventor's hand went toward the pocket where he carried his revolver.
Mr. Jenks, who had the only other weapon, sought to draw it, but he was stopped by a
gesture of one of the two men with guns. "Hold on, strangers!" the man cried.
"I know what you're up to!
Better not try to draw anything--it might not be healthy.
Now, then, who are you, and what do you want?"
The question came rather as a surprise, at least to Tom and Mr. Jenks.
They had taken it for granted that these men--if they were the diamond makers--would
know Mr. Jenks, and guess at his errand in coming back to Phantom Mountain.
But, it seemed, that they took them all for casual strangers.
No one answered for a moment. Tom caught the eye of Mr. Jenks, and there
was a look of hope in it.
If ever there was a time for strategy, it was now.
Evidently Munson, the stowaway on the airship, had not yet been able to send a
warning to his confederates.
And neither of the two men recognized Mr. Jenks as the man who had been defrauded of
his rights.
It might be possible to conceal the real object of the adventurers until they had
time to formulate a plan of action. "Well," exclaimed the man with the gun,
impatiently, "I ask you folks a question.
What do you want?" Fortunately, neither Mr. Damon nor Mr.
Parker replied.
The former because he deferred to Tom and Mr. Jenks, and the scientist because he was
busy inspecting some curious rocks he picked up.
As it turned out this was the luckiest thing he could have done.
It lent color to what Mr. Jenks said a moment later.
"What are you doing up here?" demanded the man again.
"Don't you know this is private property?"
"We--we were just looking around," answered Mr. Jenks, which was true enough; as far as
it went. "Prospecting," added Tom.
"After gold?" demanded the second man, suspiciously.
"We'd be glad to find some," retorted the lad.
At that moment Mr. Parker began breaking off bits of rock with a small geologist's
hammer which he carried. The men with the guns looked at him.
"So you think you'll find gold up here?" asked the one who had first spoken.
"Is there any?" inquired Tom, trying to make his voice sound eager.
"Nary a bit, strangers," was the answer, and the two men laughed heartily.
"Now, we don't want to seem harsh," went on the man who seemed to be the spokesman,
"but you'd better get away from here.
This is private ground, and dangerous too-- how'd you ever get up the trail--we heard
it was destroyed." "There is still a narrow path," said Mr.
Jenks.
"We came up that--the lightning and landslide haven't left much of it, though."
Mr. Parker looked quickly up from the rocks at which he was tapping with his small
hammer.
"You have terrific lightning up here," he said.
"I am much interested in it, from a scientific standpoint.
I predict that some day the entire mountain will be destroyed by a blast from the sky."
"I hope it won't be right away," spoke one of the men.
"Now I guess you folks had better be leaving while there's a path left to go
down by."
"Might I ask," broke in Mr. Parker, as calmly as though he was lecturing to a
class of students, "might I ask if you have noticed any peculiar effect of the
lightning up here on the summit of the mountain?
Does it fuse and melt rocks, so to speak?" "What's that?" cried the spokesman, with a
sudden flash of anger.
The two men looked at each other. "I wanted to know, merely for scientific
reasons, whether the lightning up here ever melted rocks?" repeated Mr. Jenks.
"Well, whether it's for scientific reasons or for any other, I'm not going to answer
you!" snapped the man. "It's none of your affair what the
lightning does up here.
Now you'd all better 'vamoose'--clear out!" "All right--we'll go," said Tom, quickly,
at the same time motioning to Mr. Jenks to agree with him.
The eyes of the young inventor were roving about.
He saw what looked like a second trail, leading down the mountain, from the far
side of the cave.
He was convinced now that there was another way to get to it.
Possibly they might find it. At any rate nothing more could be done now.
They must go back, for the cavern was too well guarded to attempt to enter it by
force--at least just yet. "Yes, we'll go back," assented Mr. Jenks.
Mr. Parker was tapping away at the rocks.
He looked toward the black mouth of the big cave.
On what corresponded to the roof of it, some distance back from the entrance, he
saw a slender metal rod sticking up into the air.
"May I ask if that's a lightning rod?" he inquired innocently.
"If it is, I should like to ask about its action in a mountain that is so impregnated
with iron ore.
"You may ask until you get tired!" cried the spokesman, again showing unreasoning
anger, "but you'll get no answer from us. Now get away from here before we do
something desperate.
You're on private ground and you're not wanted.
Clear out while you have the chance." There was no help for it.
Slowly our friends turned and began to go down the dangerous trail.
They were soon out of sight of the two men who stood before the cave, with their guns
ready, but neither Tom nor any of his companions spoke for some time.
When they had rounded one of the most dangerous turns the young inventor sat down
to rest, an example followed by the others. "Well," asked Tom, "do you think those are
some of the diamond makers, Mr. Jenks?"
"I certainly do, though I never saw those two men before.
If I could once get inside the cave, I could tell whether or not it was the one
where I was practically held a prisoner.
But I'm sure it is. I know some of the men used to go off every
day with guns, and not come back until night.
I have no doubt they were on guard, just as these two are.
And, also, I think I heard them speak of a second entrance to the cavern.
The one we just saw may not be the main one, through which I was taken."
"I believe we are on the right track," ventured Mr. Damon, "but we will either
have to go up there after dark, which will be risky, on account of the narrow trail,
or else we will have to find some other path."
"The last would be better," spoke Tom.
"That rod of metal sticking up on top of the cave interested me," said the
scientist. "Did you hear anything of that when you
were here before, Mr. Jenks?"
"No. Probably that is only a lightning rod, or it may be a staff for a signal flag.
But what surprises me is that those men didn't suspect that we were seeking to
discover their secret.
They took us for ordinary prospectors." "So much the better," remarked Tom.
"We have a chance now of getting inside that cave.
But we will have to go back to camp, and make other plans.
And we must hurry, or it will be dark before we get there."
They hastened their steps, pausing only briefly to eat some of the lunch they had
brought along, and to drink from a spring that bubbled from the side of the mountain.
It was getting dusk when they got back to their tent.
They found nothing disturbed.
"I wonder if we'll see that phantom again to-night?" ventured Tom, as they were
sitting about the campfire a little later. "Probably not," remarked Mr. Jenks.
"I don't believe the ghost will venture down the dangerous trail after dark, and
the gang may think that the warning given us by the two men on guard at the cave will
be sufficient.
But if we don't leave here by to-morrow I think we will have another visit from the
thing in white."
It was about an hour after this when Tom was collecting some wood in a pile nearer
the fire, so as to have it ready to throw on, in case there was any alarm in the
night, that he happened to look up toward the summit of the mountain.
A slight noise, as of loose stones rolling down, attracted his attention, and, at
first, he feared lest another landslide was beginning, but a moment later he saw what
caused it.
There, advancing down the steep and dangerous trail was the figure in white--
the phantom. Instantly a daring plan came into Tom's
head.
Dropping the wood softly, he moved back out of the glare of the fire.
"Mr. Jenks!" he called in a whisper. The diamond man, who was behind the tent,
came toward Tom.
"What is it?" he asked. Then, as he saw the ghostly visitor, he
added: "Oh--the phantom again! What's it up to?"
"The same thing," replied Tom, "but it won't do it long, if my plan succeeds."
"What plan is that, Tom?" "I'm going to try to capture that--that
man--or whatever it is.
Will you help?" "Surely!"
"Then let's work around behind it, while Mr. Damon and Mr. Parker come up from in
front.
We'll solve this part of the mystery, anyhow, if it's possible!"
The two other men were soon told of the plan.
Meanwhile the thing in white had advanced slowly, until within a few hundred feet of
the camp.
They could see now that it was no shaft of light, but some white body, shaped like a
tall, thin man, draped in a white garment. The long arms waved to and fro.
There was no semblance of a head.
"You and Mr. Parker go right toward it, slowly, Mr. Damon," advised Tom.
"Mr. Jenks and I will make a circle, and get in back.
Then, if it's anything alive we'll have it."
The "ghost" continued to advance.
Tom and the diamond man stole off to one side, their buckskin moccasins making no
sound. Mr. Damon and the scientist went boldly
forward.
This movement appeared to disconcert the spirit.
It halted, waved the arms with greater vigor than before, and seemed to indicate
to the adventurers that it was dangerous to advance.
But Mr. Damon and Mr. Parker kept on.
They wanted to give Tom and Mr. Jenks time enough to make the circuit.
Suddenly the stillness of the night was broken by a low whistle.
It was Tom's signal that he and Mr. Jenks were ready.
"Come on! Run!" cried Mr. Damon.
The scientist and the eccentric man leaped forward.
The "ghost" heard the whistle, and heard the spoken words.
The thing in white hesitated a moment, and then raised one arm.
There was a flash of fire, and a loud report.
"He's firing in the air!" cried Tom.
"Come on, we have him now!" Undaunted by the display of firearms, Mr.
Damon and Mr. Parker kept on. They could hear Tom and Mr. Jenks running
up in back of the figure.
The latter also heard this, and suddenly turned.
Caught between the two forces of our friends, the "ghost" was at a loss what to
do.
The next instant Tom, who had distanced Mr. Jenks, made a flying tackle for the figure
in white, and caught it around the legs. Very substantial legs they were, too, Tom
felt--the legs of a man.
"Wow!" yelled the "ghost," as he went down in a heap, the revolver falling from his
hand. "Come on!" cried Tom.
"I have him!"
His friends rushed to his aid. There was a confused mass of dark bodies,
arms and legs mingled with something tall and thin, all in white.
Suddenly the moon came from behind a cloud and they could see what they had captured--
for captured the phantom was.
It proved to be a rather small man, who wore upon his shoulders a framework of
wood, over which some white cloth was draped.
It had fallen off him when Tom made that tackle.
"Well," remarked the young inventor, as he sat on the struggling man's chest.
"I guess we've got you."
"I rather guess you have, stranger," was the cool reply.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XVIII BILL RENSHAW WILL HELP
They were all panting from the exertion of the run up the mountain and the contest
with the phantom--a phantom no longer-- though, truth to tell, the struggle was not
nearly so fierce as Tom had expected.
He thought the "ghost" would put up a stiff fight.
"Got any ropes to tie him with?" asked Mr. Damon, who was helping Tom hold the man
down.
"Ropes? You aren't going to tie me up are you,
strangers?" asked the captive. "That's what we are!" exclaimed Mr. Jenks.
"We've had trouble enough in this matter, and if I've got one of the gang, perhaps I
can get some of the others, and have my rights.
So tie him up, Tom, and we'll take him to camp.
"Oh, you needn't go to all that trouble, strangers," went on the man, calmly.
"If one of you will get off my chest, and the other gentleman ease up on my stomach a
bit, I'll walk wherever you want me, and not make any trouble.
I haven't got a gun."
"Bless my gloves! But you're a cool one," commented Mr.
Damon, as he complied with the man's request, and got up from his stomach.
"But look out for him, Tom.
He had a gun, for he fired it in the air." "He hasn't it now," answered the young
inventor. "I knocked it from his hand when I leaped
for him."
"That's what you did," assented the man, as he got up, while Tom kept a tight hold of
him, as did Mr. Jenks. "What kind of a grizzly bear hug do you
call that, anyhow, that you gave me?"
"That was a football tackle," explained Tom.
"I allers heard that was a dangerous game!" remarked the former phantom simply.
"Well, now you've got me, what are you going to do with me?"
"Take you where we can have a good look at you," replied Mr. Jenks, as he kicked aside
the wooden framework, and the sheet which had made the "ghost" appear so tall.
"So this is how you worked it; eh?"
"Yep. That was the 'haunt' stranger. I made it myself, and it worked all right
until you folks come along.
I rather suspicioned from the first, when I played the trick over on 'tother side of
the mountain, that you wouldn't be so easy to fool as most prospectors are."
"Oh, so you're the only ghost then?" asked Tom.
"I'm the only one." By this time they had reached the camp.
Tom threw some light logs on the fire, which blazed up brightly.
As the flames illuminated the face of their captive, Mr. Jenks looked at him, and cried
out:
"Why it's Bill Renshaw!" "That's me," admitted the man who had
played the part of the phantom, "and thunder-turtles! if it ain't Mr. Jenks who
was once in the diamond cave with us.
Whatever happened to you? I never heard.
The others said you got tired and went away."
"They took me away--defrauded me of my rights!" declared Mr. Jenks, bitterly.
"But I'll get them back! To think of Bill Renshaw playing the part
of a ghost!"
"They made me do it," went on the man, somewhat dejectedly.
"I wanted to be at work in the cave, but they wouldn't let me."
"Is this man one of the diamond makers?" asked Tom, in great surprise.
"He is--one of the helpers, though I don't believe he knows the secret of making the
gems," explained Mr. Jenks.
"He was one of the men in the cave when I was there before, and he and I struck up
quite a friendship; didn't we, Renshaw?"
"That's what, and there ain't no reason why we can't be friends now; that is unless you
hold a grudge against me for firing at you. But I only shot in the air, to scare you
away.
Them's my instructions. I'm supposed to be on guard, and scare away
strangers.
I'm tired of the work, too, for I don't get my share, and those other fellows, in the
cave, get all the money from the diamonds." Tom Swift uttered an exclamation.
A sudden plan had come to him.
Quickly he whispered to Mr. Jenks: "Make a friend of this man if possible.
He evidently is dissatisfied.
Offer him a sum to show us another way into the cave, and we may yet discover the
secret of the diamond makers." "I will," declared Mr. Jenks, quietly.
Then, turning to Renshaw, he added:
"Bill, come over here. I want to have a talk with you.
Perhaps it will be to our mutual advantage."
He led the former phantom to one side, and for some time conversed earnestly with him.
Mr. Jenks told the story of how he had been deceived by Folwell and the others who were
at the head of the gang of diamond makers.
The rich man related how they had taken his money, and, after promising to disclose the
secret process to him, had broken faith, and had drugged him, afterward taking him
out of the cave.
"I want only my rights, and that for which I paid," concluded Mr. Jenks.
"Now, I gather that these men haven't treated you altogether fairly, Bill."
"Indeed they haven't.
I helped 'em to the best of my ability, and all I get out of it is to stay out on this
lonely side of the mountain, and play ghost.
They owe me money, too, and they won't pay me, either, though they have lots, for they
sold some diamonds lately." "Then they are still making diamonds?"
asked Mr. Jenks, eagerly.
"Have you seen them? Do you know the secret?"
"No, I don't know it, for they won't let me in on it.
I'm always sent out of the cave just before they make the gems.
But I know they've made some lately, and have sold 'em.
I want my share."
"Look here!" exclaimed Mr. Jenks, quickly, wishing to strike while the iron was hot.
"I'll make you a proposition.
Show us how to get into that cave, unknown to the diamond makers, and I'll pay you
twice what they agreed to. Is it a bargain?"
Bill Renshaw considered a moment.
Then he thrust out his hand, clasped that of Mr. Jenks, and exclaimed:
"It is. I'll take you into the cave by an entrance
that's seldom used.
There are four ways to get in. The one where the two men drove you back is
the rear one.
The front one is on the other side of the mountain, but it's so well concealed that
you'd never find it. But I can take you to one where you can get
in, and those fellows will never know it.
And, what's more, I'll help you if it comes to a fight!"
"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Jenks.
"I think we'll discover the secret of the diamond makers this time," and he went to
tell the others of the success of his talk.
Bill Renshaw had been converted from an enemy into a friend, and the former phantom
was now ready to lead Tom and the others into the secret cave.
"We'll start in the morning," decided Mr. Jenks, who, after many disappointments, at
last saw success ahead of him.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XIX IN THE SECRET CAVE
Tom Swift was up at break of day, and the others were not far behind him.
"Now for the secret cave!" cried the young inventor as he gazed up the mountain, in
the interior of which the mysterious band of men were making the diamonds.
"Have you made any plans, Bill?" asked Mr. Jenks of the former phantom, who had cast
his lot in with the adventurers. "What will be the best course for us to
follow?"
"You just leave it to me, Mr. Jenks," was the answer.
"I'll get you into the cave, and those fellows, who, I believe, are trying to do
me out of my rights, as they did you out of yours, will never know a thing about it."
"Bless my finger-nails!" cried Mr. Damon.
"That will be great! We can get in the cave, and watch them make
the diamonds at our leisure." "They don't make them every day," explained
Renshaw.
"It seems they have to wait for certain occasions.
Mostly they make the diamonds when there's a big storm."
"A big storm," asked the scientist with a sudden show of interest.
"Do you mean one of those electrical storms, such as we had the other night?"
"That's it, Mr. Parker, though why they wait until there's a storm is more than I
can tell."
"Perhaps they know that on such occasions no one will venture up the mountain," spoke
Mr. Damon. "No, it isn't that," declared the
scientist.
"I think I am on the track of a great scientific discovery, and I will soon be
able to make observations that will confirm it."
"Well, I'm going to make an observation right now," said Tom, with a laugh.
"I'm going to see what there is for breakfast."
"And that reminds me," came from Mr. Jenks, "shall we move our camp, Bill, and take the
tent with us to the cave?" "I hardly think so," was the answer.
"I think the best plan would be to conceal the tent somewhere around here, in case you
might need it again. You can also store what food you have
left."
"But, bless my appetite, we don't want to starve in that diamond cave!" objected Mr.
Damon. "I'll see that you don't," declared Bill
Renshaw.
"I'll take you in there, unbeknownst to those fellows, and I'll provide you with
plenty of food and water. You see the cave is so big that there are
some parts they never visit."
"And we can stay in one of those parts, and eat?" asked Tom.
"Sure," answered Bill. "And watch the diamond makers at work?"
asked Mr. Jenks.
"That's it," replied the former phantom. "Then the sooner we get started the
better," remarked Mr. Damon. Mr. Parker said nothing.
He appeared to be thinking deeply, and was tapping at some rocks with his little
hammer.
The advice of Bill Renshaw was followed, and the tent, and what food remained, was
concealed in the bushes, with rocks piled over to keep away prowling animals.
Then they started for the secret cave.
The man who played the part of a ghost picked up the framework and white cloth
that had formed his disguise.
"I'll still have to use this," he explained, "for I don't want those fellows
to know that I'm helping you.
I'll continue to play the spirit of the mountain, but there won't be much need of
it. I don't think any more people will come
prospecting out here."
"Have you heard of the arrival of Farley Munson?" asked Tom, as he related the facts
about the stowaway. "He hadn't arrived up to a day or so ago,"
answered Bill.
"I guess he's still traveling. Farley is one of the heads of the gang," he
added, "and a dangerous man."
As Bill led the way toward the cave, taking a route that the adventurers had never
suspected led to it, he explained that the cavern was a large one, capable of holding
an army.
"But there's only a small part of it used by the diamond makers," he added.
"They work in a small recess, near the summit of the mountain.
The little cave, where I'm going to take you, opens off from it by a long passage.
And, except that you'll be pretty much in the dark, you'll be quite comfortable.
There are tables, chairs, and some bunks in the place.
I can get you some lights, and plenty of food."
"But, if you are seen taking away food, won't the others suspect something?" asked
Tom. "I do pretty much as I please," said Bill.
"I go and come when I like.
All I'm supposed to do is to watch my two sides of the mountain, play the ghost, and
give warning when any one is coming. Sometimes I leave black and white messages,
like the one I put on your tent.
Those fellows fix 'em up for me. I've told 'em about you, though I didn't
know who you were, and they think you have gone, for the two men on guard at the rear
entrance so reported.
Sometimes I stay out on the mountain for a couple of days at a time, when the
weather's good, and don't go back to the cave.
Those times I take food with me, and so if they see me making off with some supplies
they'll think I'm going to camp out."
"It doesn't look as though we'd ever get into a cave near the top of the mountain,
going this way," said Tom, as they marched along.
"We're going down, instead of up."
"That's the secret of this trail," explained Bill.
"We go down in a sort of valley, and then go up a pretty stiff place, and then we're
on a direct trail to the entrance I told you about.
It's a steep road to climb, but I guess we can manage it."
And a hard climb the adventurers did find it.
The road was almost as bad as the one along the edge of the chasm, but they managed to
negotiate it, and finally found themselves on a fairly good trail.
"We'll soon be there," Bill assured them.
"After you get in the little cave, where I'm going to hide you, I'll have to leave
you for a spell, until I get my ghost rigging fixed up again.
But I'll see that you have plenty of food and drink."
A little later their guide came to a sudden halt, and peered around anxiously.
"What's the matter?" asked Tom.
"I was just looking to see if any of the men were about," he answered.
"But I guess not--it looks all right. The entrance is right here."
They were on a side of the mountain, near the summit.
Below stretched a magnificent scene. A great valley lay at their feet, and they
could look off to many distant peaks.
The main trail to Leadville, and the one to the settlement of Indian Ridge, was in
sight.
Suddenly Tom, who had been using a small but powerful telescope, uttered an
exclamation, and focussed the instrument on a speck that seemed moving along on the
trail below.
"A man--coming up the mountain," cried Tom. "And--it can't be--yet it is--it's Farley
Munson--the stowaway!" he cried. "He's coming here!"
"Let me look!" begged Mr. Jenks, taking the glass from Tom.
An instant later the diamond man exclaimed: "Yes, it's Munson!"
"Then in here with you--quick!" cried Renshaw.
"He can't see us yet, and we'll be out of sight in another minute."
The former spirit pulled aside some thick bushes, and pointed to a hole which was
disclosed. "The entrance to the secret cave," he
announced.
"Slip in all of you." Tom, after another glance at the man
toiling his way up the mountain, entered the cavern.
He was followed by the others.
Bill was the last to enter, and he replaced the bushes over the entrance.
"At last!" exclaimed Mr. Jenks, as he gazed up at the roof of the dimly-lighted vault
in which they found themselves.
"Yes, we're in the diamond makers' secret cave," added Tom.
"Now to catch them at work!"
"Come on," advised Bill, in a low tone, "We're not safe yet," and he produced a
lantern from some hidden recess, lighted the wick, and led the way.
As the others followed they were aware of a subdued noise in the great cavern.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XX MAKING THE DIAMONDS
"What's that noise?" asked Tom, as their guide flashed the lantern to show them the
way. "That's the men getting ready to make
diamonds, I guess," was the answer.
"You see it takes quite a while to get the stuff ready.
I don't know what they use--they never tell me any of their secrets."
"Oh, I know the ingredients well enough," said Mr. Jenks, "but I don't know the
secret of how they apply the terrific heat and pressure necessary to fuse the
materials into diamonds."
"Well, you'll soon know," declared Bill Renshaw.
"Of course it isn't always successful.
I've known 'em to try half a dozen times before they got any diamonds big enough to
satisfy 'em. They gave me some of the small ones when I
asked for my wages.
"How did you come to get in with these men?" asked Tom, curious to understand how
a person seemingly as honest as Renshaw appeared to be had cast his lot in with the
men who had broken faith with Mr. Jenks.
"Oh, I've lived around these parts all my life," was the answer.
"I knew of this cave before these diamond fellers came to it.
In fact, I showed it to 'em.
It was several years ago that a party of men who were prospecting around here came
to me and asked if I knew of a small cave near the top of a high mountain, where
lightning storms were frequent.
I told them about Phantom Mountain, as it was called then, and also of this cave.
If there's any place where they have worse lightning storms than here, I'd like to
know it.
They scare me, sometimes, like the night when that landslide happened, and I'm sort
of used to 'em. "Well, I took these men to the cave, and
they hired me as a sort of lookout.
Then they began their work, and at first I didn't know what they were up to, but
finally I caught on.
Then Mr. Jenks came, and disappeared mysteriously, though then I didn't know
that they had played a trick on him. I was outside most of the time, pretending
I was the ghost.
So that's how I came to get in with 'em, and I wish I was out."
"You soon will be, I think," declared Mr. Jenks.
"But won't our talking be heard by the men?"
"No danger.
There is a thick wall between this part of the cave, and the part where they live and
work. I'll soon have you well hid, and then you
wait until I come back."
"What about Munson?" asked Tom. "He is evidently on his way here to tell
his confederates about us."
"He won't know what has happened to us," said Mr. Jenks, "and he won't see anything
of us. I guess we're safe enough."
Through the dark passage they followed Bill Renshaw until he came to a halt in a place
that suddenly widened and broadened into a good-sized cave.
"Here's your stopping place," said the former ghost.
"Now if you follow that passage, off to the left," and he pointed to it, "you'll come
to the larger part of the cave where the diamond makers are.
But go cautiously, and don't make any noise.
I won't be responsible for what happens." "We'll take all the risk," interrupted Tom.
"All right.
Now there's a couple of lanterns around here.
I'll light them, and leave you for a while until I can get some grub.
I'll be back as soon as I can."
He glided away, after lighting two lanterns, by the gleams of which the
adventurers could see that they were in a vaulted cavern that had evidently been
fitted up as a living apartment.
The sides, roof and floor were of stone. It was clean, and the air was fresh.
There were some chairs, a table, and several cots, with pieces of bagging for
bedding, though it was warm in the place.
"I guess we can stay here until we discover the secret," spoke Tom.
"Bless my watch! We can if we have something to eat," came
from Mr. Damon, with something like a sigh.
"I'm hungry!" "And I want to make some observations,"
said Mr. Parker.
"From what I have seen of this mountain, I would not be surprised if this cave was to
be suddenly destroyed by a landslide or a lightning bolt.
I will make some further investigations."
"Well, if it's going to cause you to make such gloomy prophecies as that, I'd just as
soon you wouldn't look any further," spoke Tom, in a low voice.
But Mr. Parker, taking one of the lanterns, set about examining the rock of which the
cave consisted. In a short time Bill Renshaw returned with
enough food to last for two days.
He said he was going out on the mountain once more to act the part of a lookout, and
would visit the adventurers again the next day.
"In the meanwhile you can do just as you please," he said.
"Nobody is likely to disturb you here, and you can sneak up and take a look at the men
in the other cave whenever you're ready.
Only be careful--that's all I've got to say.
They're desperate men."
It was not very pleasant, eating in the gloomy cavern, but they made the best of
it.
They cooked on a small oil-stove they found in the place, and after some hot coffee
they felt much better.
"Well," remarked Tom, after a while, "shall we take a chance, and go look at the men at
work?" "I think so," answered Mr. Jenks.
"The sooner we discover this mystery, the better.
Then we can go back home."
"And recover my airship," added Tom, who was a bit uneasy regarding the safety of
the Red Cloud.
"Then, bless my finger-rings! let's go and see if we can find the big cave your friend
the ghost told us of," suggested Mr. Damon. Cautiously they made their way along the
passage Bill had pointed out.
As they went forward the subdued noise became louder, and finally they could feel
the vibration of machinery. "This is the place," whispered Mr. Jenks.
"That sound we hear is one of the mixing machines, for grinding the materials--
carbon and the other substances--which go to make up the diamonds.
I remember hearing that when I was in the cave before."
"Then we must be near the place," observed Tom.
"Yes, but I didn't have much chance to look around when I was here before.
They wouldn't let me. I never even knew of the small cave Bill
took us to."
"Well, if we're close to it, we'd better go cautiously, and not talk any more than
we're obliged to," suggested Mr. Parker, and they agreed that this was good advice.
They walked on softly.
Suddenly Tom, who was in the lead, saw a gleam of light.
"We're here," he whispered. "I'll put out our lantern, now," which he
did.
Then, stealing forward he and the others beheld a curious sight.
The tunnel they were in ended at a small hole which opened into a large cavern, and,
fortunately, this opening was concealed from the view of those in the main place.
"The diamond makers!" whispered Tom, hoarsely, pointing to several men grouped
about a number of strange machines.
"Yes--the very place where I was," answered Mr. Jenks, "and there is the apparatus--the
steel box--from which the diamonds are taken--now to see how they make them."
Fascinated, the adventurers looked into the cave.
The men there were unaware of the presence of our friends, and were busily engaged.
Some attended to the grinding machine, the roar and clatter of which made it possible
for Tom and the others to talk and move about without being overheard.
Into this machine certain ingredients were put, and they were then pulverized, and
taken out in powdery form.
The power to run the mixing machine was a gasoline motor, which chug-chugged away in
one corner of the cave.
As the powder was taken out, other men fashioned it into small balls, which were
put on pan, and into a sort of oven, that was heated by a gasoline stove.
"Is that how they make the diamonds?" asked Mr. Damon.
"That is evidently the first step," said Mr. Jenks.
"Those balls of powdered chemicals are partly baked, and then they are put into
the steel box. In some way terrific heat and pressure are
applied, and the diamonds are made.
But how the heat and pressure are obtained is what we have yet to learn."
He paused to watch the men at work.
They were all busy, some attending to the machines, and others coming and going in
and out of the cave. In one part a man was apparently getting
ready a meal.
Suddenly there rushed into the cave a man who seemed much excited.
"Are you nearly ready with that stuff?" he cried.
"There's a good storm gathering on the mountain!"
"Yes, we'll be ready in half an hour," answered one of the men at the mixing
machine.
"Good. It will be flashing lightning bolts then,
and we can see what luck we have. The last batch was a failure."
The man hurried out again.
Mr. Parker touched Tom and Mr. Jenks on their shoulders.
"What is it?" asked Tom. "I know the secret of making the diamonds,"
said the scientist.
"What?" cried Mr. Jenks. "It is by the awful power of the lightning
bolts!" whispered Mr. Parker.
"Everything is explained now--the reason why they make diamonds in this lonely
place, near the top of the mountain. They need a place where the lightning is
powerful.
I can understand it now--I suspected it before.
They make diamonds by lightning!" "Are you sure?" cried Mr. Jenks.
"Positive."
"I agree with you," said Tom Swift. "I was just getting on that track myself,
when I saw the electric wires running to the steel box.
That explains the upright rod on the top of the mountain.
The man says a storm is coming--very well; we'll stay here and watch them make
diamonds!"
As he spoke there came the mutter of thunder, and the mountain vibrated
slightly. The men in the cave redoubled their
activity.
Tom and his friends felt that the secret process they had so long sought was about
to be demonstrated before their eyes.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XXI FLASHING GEMS
Eagerly the adventurers looked through the opening at the end of the passage into the
larger cave.
The men opened the small oven in which the balls of white chemicals and carbon mixed,
had been baked, and a pile of things, that looked like irregularly-shaped marbles,
were placed in the steel box.
This box, which was about the size of a trunk, was of massive metal.
It was placed in a recess in the solid rock, and all about were layers of asbestos
and other substances that were nonconductors of heat.
"That box becomes red hot," exclaimed Mr. Jenks, in a whisper.
"When things are in readiness, that lever is pulled and the diamonds are made.
I pulled it once, but I did not then know the process involved.
I supposed that the lightning had nothing to do with making the diamonds."
"It has--a most important part," said Mr. Parker.
The hidden adventurers could talk in perfect safety now, for the men in the
large cave were too excited to pay much attention to them.
The muttering of the thunder grew louder, and at times a particularly loud crash told
that a bolt had struck somewhere in the vicinity of the cave.
"But, bless my watch-charm!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "I didn't know lightning made
diamonds." "It does not--always," went on the
scientist.
"But great heat and pressure are necessary to create the gems.
In nature this was probably obtained by prehistoric volcanic fires, and by the
terrific pressure of immense rocks.
It is possible to make diamonds in the laboratory of the chemist, but they are so
minute as to be practically valueless. "However, these men seem to have hit upon a
new plan.
They utilize the terrific heat of lightning, and the pressure which is
instantaneously obtained when the bolt strikes.
I am anxious to see how it is done.
Look, I think they are getting ready to make the gems."
Indeed there seemed to be an air of expectancy among the diamond makers.
The mixing machine had now been stopped, and, as it was more quiet in the cave, our
friends, in their hiding-place, had to speak in mere whispers.
All the men were now gathered about the great steel box.
This receptacle had been closed by a solid metal door, which was screwed and clamped
tight.
Then one of the men examined a number of heavily insulated electric wires that
extended from the box off into the darkness where Tom and his companions could not
discern them.
"That's Folwell--the man I befriended, and who got me into this game," whispered Mr.
Jenks. "He was also one of the first to turn
against me.
I think he's one of the leaders." Folwell came back, after having gone into a
dark part of the cave. He went over to an electrical switch on one
of the stone walls.
"It's almost time," Tom heard him say to his confederates.
"The storm is coming up rapidly." "Will it be severe enough?" asked one of
the helpers.
"We had all our work for nothing last time. The flashes weren't heavy enough."
"These will be," asserted Folwell. "The indicator shows nearly a million volts
now, and it's increasing."
"A million volts!" exclaimed Tom. "I hope it doesn't strike anywhere around
here."
"Oh, it will probably be harmlessly conducted down on the heavy wires," said
Mr. Parker.
"We are in no danger, at present, though ultimately I expect to see the whole
mountain shattered by a lightning bolt." "Cheerful prospect," murmured Tom.
There was a terrific crash outside.
The rocky floor of the cave trembled. "Here she comes!" cried Folwell.
"Get back, everybody! I'm going to throw over the switch now!"
The men retreated well away from the steel box.
Folwell threw over the lever--the same one Mr. Jenks remembered pulling.
Then the man ran to the electric switch on the wall, and snapped that into place,
establishing a connection.
There was a moment's pause, as Folwell ran to join the others in their place of
safety. Then from without there came a most nerve-
racking and terrifying crash.
It seemed as if the very mountain would be rent into fragments.
Watching with eager eyes, the adventurers saw sparks flash from the steel box.
Instantly it became red hot, and then glowed white and incandescent.
It was almost at the melting point.
Then came comparative quiet, as the echoes of the thunder died away amid the mountain
peaks. "I guess that did the trick!" cried
Folwell.
"It was a terrific crash all right!" He and the others ran forward.
The steel box was now a cherry red, for it was cooling.
Folwell threw back the lever, and another man disconnected the switch.
There was a period of waiting until the box was cool enough to open.
Then the heavy door was swung back.
With a long iron rod Folwell drew something from the retort.
It was the tray which had held the white balls.
But they were white no longer, for they had been turned into diamonds.
From their hiding-place Tom and the others could see the flashing gems, for, in spite
of the fact that the diamonds were uncut, some of them sparkled most brilliantly, due
to the peculiar manner in which they were made.
"We have the secret of the diamonds!" whispered Mr. Jenks.
"There must be a quart of the gems there!"
The men gathered about Folwell, uttering exclamations of delight.
The diamonds were too hot to handle yet. "That's going some!" exclaimed the chief of
the diamond makers.
"We have a small fortune here." The was a sudden commotion at one end of
the cave. A man rushed in.
At the sight of him Tom stared and uttered an exclamation.
"Munson--the stowaway!" he whispered. "Hello!" cried Folwell, as he saw his
confederate.
"I thought you were East, keeping Jenks away from here."
"He got the best of me!" cried Munson, "he and that Tom Swift!
I stowed away on their airship, but they found me out by a wireless message, and
marooned me in the woods. I've been trying to get here ever since!
Didn't you get my messages of warning?"
"No--what warnings?" cried Folwell. "About Jenks, Tom Swift and the others.
They're here--they must be on Phantom Mountain now.
In fact, I shouldn't be surprised if they were in this cave.
I traced them to their camp, but they're gone.
They may be among us now--in some of the secret recesses!"
For an instant Folwell stared at the bearer of these tidings.
Then he cried out:
"Scatter men, and find these fellows! We must get them before they discover our
secret!" "It's too late--we know it!" exulted Tom
Swift.
Then he whispered to the others to hurry to the part of the cave where Bill Renshaw had
first hidden them.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XXII PRISONERS
"Do you think there is any danger of them finding us?" asked Mr. Damon, as he hurried
along beside Tom. "I'm afraid so," was the answer.
"I've been worried ever since we saw Munson heading this way.
But we couldn't do any differently." "Perhaps Bill Renshaw may be able to
conceal us," suggested Mr. Jenks.
"Very likely he knows that Munson is on hand.
Perhaps we will be safe for a while.
I want to make a few more observations as to how they manufacture the diamonds, and
then, with what I already know, I'll have the secret."
"And I'd like to make some scientific tests of the sides and bottom rocks of the cave,"
spoke Mr. Parker. "I think it will bear out my theory that
the mountain will soon be destroyed."
"Well, you were right about Earthquake Island, and you may be right about this
mountain," said Tom, "but if it is going to be annihilated I hope we get far enough
away from it."
"We can keep our presence here a secret for a few more days, I think that will be long
enough," proceeded Mr. Jenks. "Then we will leave."
"And, in the meanwhile, they'll be searching for us," objected Mr. Damon.
"I wish that ghost-chap would come back and tell us what to do.
Bless my liver-pin, but we are going to be in considerable danger, I'm afraid!
Those men may capture us, and decide to make diamond dust from us."
"Come on--hurry to the little cave," urged Tom.
"Then we'll get ready to defend ourselves."
"The main cave is a large one," said Mr. Jenks, "and there are many hiding places in
it.
In fact, it is so large that it will take those fellows several days to complete a
circuit of it.
By that time Bill Renshaw may come back, and take us to some place in which they
have already searched for us. Then we'll be comparatively safe."
This thought was some consolation to them, as they made their way through the dark
passage, dimly illuminated by the lantern they had rekindled, to the place where Bill
had hidden them.
They found things as they had left them, and proceeded to get a meal, though Tom
said it would be best not to cook anything, or even to make coffee, for fear the odors
would enable the searchers to trail them.
So they ate cold food, glad to get that. Silently they sat about the dimly-lighted
cavern, and discussed the situation.
True they might even now retreat, going out of the entrance Bill had showed them, and
so escape.
But Mr. Jenks felt that his mission was not completed yet, and they all agreed to stay
with him.
"For there are several points about making diamonds that are not quite clear to me,"
he said.
"I need to know how that steel box is constructed, how the electrical switches
are arranged, what kind of lightning rods they use, and how they regulate the
pressure.
The other things, and how to mix the ingredients, I already know."
"Then we'll do our best to help you," promised Tom.
"But now I think we had better see what sort of a defense we can put up.
We have our guns and revolvers, and with these chairs and tables we can build a sort
of barricade behind which we can take refuge if those fellows do discover our
hiding place."
This was conceded to be a good idea, and soon a rude sort of fort was made, behind
which the adventurers could take their stand and fight, if necessary, though they
hoped this would not come to pass.
They remained quietly in the cave the remainder of that day, and, when it was
night, as they could tell by their timepieces--there was no daylight--they
divided the hours into watches, taking turns standing guard.
Morning, at least in point of time, came without any disturbance, and they made a
cold breakfast.
They hoped that Bill Renshaw would come, but he did not appear.
After sitting in the dark cave until afternoon, Tom said:
"I think we might as well go and take another observation of the big cave.
We can tell what the men are doing, then, for they don't seem to have been near us.
Maybe they have given up the search for us, and we can see them at work, and Mr. Jenks
can gain what further knowledge he needs." "That will be a good plan," agreed the
diamond man.
"It's maddening to sit here, doing nothing."
"And it will be comparatively safe to go from here to our former post of
observation," added Tom, "for there doesn't seem to be any opening along the tunnel,
into the larger cave, except the place where we were."
Accordingly they started off.
Cautiously they looked through the opening into the apartment where they had seen the
diamonds made. "There's not a soul here!" exclaimed Tom,
in a whisper.
The others looked. The place was deserted--the machinery
silent. Mr. Jenks peered in for a moment, and then
exclaimed:
"I'm going in! Now's my chance to find out all that I wish
to know! It may never come again, and then we can
soon leave Phantom Mountain!"
It was a daring plan, but it seemed to be the best one to follow.
They were all tired of inactivity. Mr. Jenks managed to get through the
opening, and dropped into the big cave.
The others followed. Mr. Jenks hurried over to the steel box,
and began an examination of it. Tom Swift was looking at the electrical
switch.
He saw how it was constructed. Mr. Damon and Mr. Parker were peering
interestedly about. Suddenly the sound of voices was heard, and
the echo of footsteps.
Mr. Jenks started. "They're coming back!" he whispered
hoarsely. "Run!"
They all turned and sped toward their hiding place.
But they were too late. An instant later Folwell, Munson and the
other diamond makers confronted them.
Our friends made a bold rush, but were caught before they could go ten feet.
"We have them!" cried Munson. "They walked right into our hands!"
It was true.
Tom Swift and the others were the prisoners of the diamond makers.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XXIII BROKEN BONDS
"Well," remarked Tom Swift, in mournful tones, "this looks as if we were up against
it; doesn't it?" "Bless my umbrella, it certainly does,"
agreed Mr. Damon.
"And it's all my fault," said Mr. Jenks. "I shouldn't have gone into the big cave.
I might have known those men would come back any time."
The above conversation took place as our friends lay securely bound in a small cave,
or recess, opening from the larger cavern, where, about an hour before, they had been
captured and made prisoners by the diamond makers.
Despite their struggles they had been overpowered and bound, being carried to the
cave, where they were laid in a row on some old bags.
"It certainly is a most unpleasant situation, to say the least," observed Mr.
Parker. "And all my fault," repeated Mr. Jenks.
"Oh, no it isn't," declared Tom Swift, quickly.
"We were just as ready to follow you into that cave as you were to go.
No one could tell that the men would return so soon.
It's nobody's fault. It's just our bad luck."
From where he lay, tied hand and foot, the young inventor could look out into the cave
where he and the others had been caught.
The diamond makers were busily engaged, apparently in getting ready to manufacture
another batch of the precious stones.
They paid little attention to their captives, save to warn them, when they had
first been taken into the little cave, that it was useless to try to escape.
"They needn't have told us that," observed Tom, as he and the others were talking over
their situation in low voices. "I don't believe any one could loosen these
ropes."
"They certainly are pretty tight," agreed Mr. Damon.
"I've been tugging and straining at mine for the last half hour, and all I've
succeeded in doing is to make the cords cut into my flesh."
"Better give it up," advised Mr. Jenks.
"We'll just have to wait." "For what?" the scientist wanted to know.
"To see what they'll do with us. They can't keep us here forever.
They'll have to let us go some time."
Following their capture, Folwell and Munson, the latter the stowaway of the
airship, had been in earnest conversation regarding our friends, but what conclusion
they had reached the adventurers could only guess.
"And we didn't have time to examine the diamond-making machinery close enough so
that we could duplicate it if necessary," complained Tom, a little later.
"No," agreed Mr. Jenks.
"There are certain things about it that are not clear to me.
Well, I don't believe I'll have another chance to inspect it.
They'll take good care of that, though they seem to be getting ready to make more
diamonds."
"Perhaps they're going to manufacture a big batch, and then leave this place,"
suggested Mr. Damon. "They will probably go to some other secret
cave, and leave us here."
"I hope they untie us before they leave, and give us something to eat," remarked the
young inventor. For two hours longer the captives lay
there, in most uncomfortable positions.
Then Folwell and Munson, leaving the group of diamond makers who were grouped about
the machinery, approached the captives. "Well," remarked Munson, "we got ahead of
you after all; didn't we.
You thought you had our secret, but it will be a long while before you ever make
diamonds." "What are you going to do with us?" asked
Tom.
"Never mind. You came where you had no right to, and you
must take the consequences." "We did have a right to come here!"
exclaimed Mr. Jenks.
"I am entitled to know how the diamonds are made.
I paid for the information, and you tricked me.
If ever it's possible I'll have the whole gang arrested for swindling."
"You'll never get the chance!" declared Folwell.
"You were given some diamonds for the money you invested, and that makes us square."
"No, it doesn't!" declared Mr. Jenks. "I invested the money to learn how to make
diamonds, and you know it!
You tricked me, and I had a right to try to discover your secret!
I nearly have it, too, and I'll get it completely before I'm done with you!"
"No, you won't!" boasted Folwell.
"But we didn't come here to tell you that. We came to give you something to eat.
We're not savages and we'll treat you as well as we can in spite of the fact that
you are trespassers.
We're going to give you some grub, but I warn you that any attempt to escape will
mean that some of you will get hurt." He signalled to some of his confederates.
These men unbound the captives' arms, and stood over them while they ate some coarse
food that was brought into the small cave.
They were given coffee to drink, and then, when the simple meal was over, they were
securely bound again, and left to themselves, while the diamond makers went
back to their machinery.
It was evident that they were going to attempt a big operation, for an unusually
large quantity of the white stuff was prepared.
The prisoners watched them idly.
They could see some but not all of the operations.
In this way several hours passed. Gloom possessed the hearts of Tom and his
friends.
Not only had their expedition been almost a failure so far, but the young inventor was
worried lest the gang might discover and wreck his airship.
This would prove a serious loss.
Lying there in the semi-darkness the lad imagined all sorts of unpleasant
happenings. At times he dozed off, as did the others.
They had become somewhat used to the pain caused by the bonds, for their nerves were
numb from the strain and pressure.
Once, as he was lightly sleeping, Tom was awakened by hearing loud voices in the main
cave. He looked out, rolling over slightly to get
a better view.
He saw the man who, once before had run in to give news of an approaching electrical
storm. "Are you fellows all ready?" asked this
same man again.
"Yes. Is there another storm coming?" "Yes, and it's going to be a corker!" was
the reply. "It's one of the worst I've ever seen.
It's sweeping right up the valley.
It'll be here in an hour." "That's good.
We need a big flash to make all the material we have prepared into diamonds.
It's the biggest batch we ever tried.
I hope it succeeds, for we're going to leave--" The rest was in so low a tone that
Tom could not catch it. The storm messenger departed.
Folwell and Munson busied themselves about the machinery.
Tom dozed off again, dimly wondering what had become of Bill Renshaw, and whether the
former ghost knew of their plight.
The others were asleep, as the young inventor saw by the dim light of a lantern
in the cave. Then, he too, shut his eyes.
Tom was suddenly awakened by feeling some one's hands moving about his clothing.
At first he thought it was one of the diamond-making gang, who had sneaked in to
rob him.
"Here! What are you up to?" exclaimed Tom.
"Quiet!" cautioned a voice. "Are you all here?"
"All of us--yes.
But who are you?" "Easy--keep quiet, Tom Swift!
I'm Bill Renshaw! I've been searching all over for you, since
I got back to your cave and found it empty.
Now I'm going to free you. I got in here by a secret entrance.
Wait, I'll cut your ropes." There was a slight sound, and an instant
later Tom was freed from his bonds.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XXIV IN GREAT PERIL
The young inventor could scarcely believe the good luck that had so unexpectedly come
to him and his companions.
No sooner was Tom able to move freely about than Bill Renshaw performed the same
service for Mr. Jenks and the others, cautioning them to be quiet as he awakened
them, and cut the ropes.
"Bless my circulation!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, in a hoarse whisper.
"How did you ever get here. I'd given ourselves up for lost."
"Oh, I came in off the mountain, as there's a big storm due," explained the man.
"There was no need of me playing the haunt in daytime, anyhow.
I went to the cave, found you and your things gone, and I surmised that you might
have walked into some trap." "We did," admitted Mr. Jenks, grimly.
"Well, I hunted around until I found you," went on Bill.
"This mountain is honeycombed with caves, all opening from the large one, I know them
better than these fellows do, so I could explore freely, and keep out of their
sight.
They didn't know that there was a second entrance to this place, but I did, and I
made for it, when I couldn't find you in some of the other caves where I looked.
And, sure enough, here you were."
"Well, we can't thank you enough," said Mr. Parker.
"But you say there is a big storm coming?" "One of the biggest that's been around
these parts in some time," replied Bill.
"Then perhaps the mountain will be destroyed," went on the scientist, as
calmly as if he had remarked that it might rain.
"I hope nothing like that happens until we get away," spoke Mr. Damon, fervently.
"What had we better do?" inquired Tom. "Get away, unless you want to discover some
more of their secrets," advised Bill.
"Those fellows are planning something, but I can't find out what it is.
They are suspicious of me, I think.
But they are up to something, and I believe, it would be best for you to leave
while you have the chance. It may not be healthy to stay.
That's why I did my best to untie you."
"We appreciate what you have done," declared Mr. Jenks, "but I want my rights.
I must learn a few more facts about how to make diamonds from lightning flashes, and
then I will have the same secret they cheated me out of.
I think if we wait a while we may be able to see the parts of the process that are
not quite clear to us. What do you say, Tom Swift?"
"Well, I would like to learn the secret," replied the lad, "and if Bill thinks it's
safe to stay here a while longer--" "Oh, I guess it will be safe enough," was
the reply.
"Those fellows won't bother about you now that they are about to make some more
diamonds. Besides, they think you're all tied up.
Yes, you can stay here and watch, I reckon.
I've got a couple of guns, and--" "Then we'll stay," decided Tom.
"We can put up a better fight now."
Silently, in their prison, but which they could now leave whenever they pleased, the
adventurers watched the diamond makers once more.
The same process they had witnessed before was gone through with.
The white balls were put inside the steel box and sealed up.
Then they waited for the storm to reach its height.
That this would not be long was evidenced by the mutterings of thunder which every
moment grew louder.
The outburst of electrical fury was likely to take place momentarily, and that it
would be unusually severe was shown by the precautions taken by the diamond makers.
They attached a number of extra wires, and brought out some insulated, hard rubber
platforms, on which they themselves stood.
Tom and Mr. Jenks were much interested in watching this detail of the work, and
sought to learn how each part of the process was done.
"I almost think we can make diamonds, Tom, when we get back to civilization,"
whispered Mr. Jenks. "I hope we can," answered Tom, "and we
can't get back any too soon to suit me.
I want to be in my airship again." "I don't blame you.
But look, they are getting ready to adjust the switch."
The adventurers ceased their whispered talk, and eagerly watched the diamond
makers.
Folwell and Munson were hurrying to and fro in the big cave, attending to the
adjustments of the machinery. "On your insulated plates--all of you,"
Folwell gave the order.
"This is going to be a terrific storm. The gage shows twice the power we have ever
used, and it's creeping up every minute! We'll have more diamonds than ever had
before!"
"Yes, if the mountain isn't destroyed," added Mr. Parker, in a low voice.
"I predict that it will be split from top to bottom!"
"Comforting," thought Tom, grimly.
"I guess we're all ready," said Folwell, in a low tone to Munson.
"We'd better get insulated ourselves. I'm going to throw the switch."
He did so.
A moment later the man who had before given warning of the storm came dashing in.
He was very much excited. "It's awful!" he cried.
"The lightning is striking all over!
Big rocks are being split like logs of wood!"
"Well, it can't do any damage in here," said Munson.
"We are well protected.
Get on one of the plates," and he motioned to one of the hard-rubber platforms that
was not occupied. The roar and rumble of the storm outside
had given place to short terrific crashes.
In their small cave the adventurers could feel the solid ground shake.
A bluish light began dancing about the electrical wires.
There was a smell of sulphur in the air.
Crash after crash resounded outside. A flash of flame lit up the whole interior
of the cave. It came from the copper switch.
"Something's wrong with the insulation!" cried Munson.
"Don't go near it!" yelled Folwell. "If you value your life, stand still!"
Hardly had he spoken than inside the cavern there sounded a report like that of a small
cannon.
A big ball of fire danced about the middle of the cave and then leaped on top of the
steel box. "This is a fearful storm," cried Munson.
The adventurers in the cave did not know what to say or do.
They were in deadly peril. Suddenly there came a crash louder than any
that had preceded it.
The whole side of the cave where the switches were was a mass of bluish flame.
Then came a ripping, tearing sound, and a tangle of wires and copper connections were
thrown to the floor.
At the same time the steel box, containing the materials from which diamonds were
made, turned blue, and flames shot from it. "It's all up with us!" cried Munson.
"Run for it, everybody!
The wires are down, and this place will be an electric furnace in another minute!"
He leaped toward the exit from the cave.
"What about those fellows?" asked Folwell, indicating the place where Tom and the
others had been tied. "They'll have to do the best they can!
It's every man for himself, now!" yelled Munson.
There was a wild scramble from the cavern. "Come on!" cried Tom.
"We must escape!
It's our only chance!" He leaped into the big cave, followed by
the others.
Already long tongues of electrical fire were shooting out from the walls and roof
as Tom Swift and his companions, evading them as best they could, sought safety in
flight.
>
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers by Victor Appleton
CHAPTER XXV THE MOUNTAIN SHATTERED--CONCLUSION
"Can't we get some of the diamonds?" cried Mr. Damon, as he raced along behind Tom.
"Now's our chance. Those fellows have all gone!"
The odd man made a grab for something as he ran.
"It's as much as our lives are worth," declared the young inventor.
"We dare not stop!
Come on!" "I'd like to investigate some of the
machinery," spoke Mr. Jenks, "but I wouldn't stop, even for that."
"The storm is too dangerous," called Bill Renshaw.
"I can show you a shorter way out than the one those fellows have taken.
Follow me."
"No way can be too short," said Mr. Parker, solemnly.
"This mountain will go to pieces shortly, I think!"
Tom shuddered.
He remembered how narrow had been their escape when Earthquake Island sank into the
sea.
And that some terrific upheaval was now imminent might be judged from the awful
reports that sounded more plainly as the adventurers raced toward the opening of the
cave.
It was like the bombardment of some doomed city.
Mr. Jenks and Tom cast one longing look behind at the complicated and expensive
machinery that had been installed in the cave by the diamond makers.
They had abandoned it, and in it lay the secret of making precious gems.
But there was no time to stop now, and investigate.
"This way," urged Bill Renshaw.
"We'll soon be out." "But won't it be dangerous to go outside?"
asked Mr. Damon. "Shan't we be struck by lightning?
There is some protection in here."
"None at all," said Mr. Parker, quickly. "This mountain is a natural lightning rod.
To stay here in this cave will be sure death when the storm gets directly over it.
And that will be very soon.
We must get on insulated ground. Is there any part of this mountain that
does not contain iron ore?" the scientist asked of the former spirit.
"Yes; the way out by which we are going lands on a dirt hill."
"That's good; then we may be saved." On they ran.
They had no lanterns, but the blue light of the electricity, as it leaped from point to
point inside the cave, where there were outcroppings of iron ore, made the place
bright enough to see.
"Here we are!" cried Bill Renshaw at length.
"Here's the way out!"
Making a sudden turn in the winding passage he showed the adventurers a small opening
in the side of the crag. In an instant they had passed through, and
found themselves in daylight once more.
The sudden glare almost blinded them, for, though the sky was overcast by clouds, from
which jagged tongues of lightning played, the outside was much lighter than the dark
cave.
"I should say it was a storm!" cried Tom Swift.
"See, it is striking every minute, and all around us!"
In fact, lightning bolts were falling on every side of the adventurers.
Every time the balls of fire struck, they burst open great stones, or seared a livid
scar on the face of some cliff.
As for Tom and the others, they stood on a dry dirt hill, in which, fortunately, there
was no iron ore.
To this fact they undoubtedly owed their lives, though had there been rain, to
moisten the ground and make the earth a good conductor of electricity, they
probably would have been badly shocked.
But the electrical outburst was not accompanied by rain.
Tom looked up.
He saw a compact mass of cloud moving toward the summit of the mountain on the
slope of which they stood. From this cloud there played shafts of
reddish-green fire.
"Look!" called the young inventor to Mr. Parker.
The instant the latter saw the cloud, he cried:
"We must get away from here by all means!
That is the center of the storm. As soon as it gets over the mountain, where
that lightning rod is, all the electrical fluid will be discharged in one bolt at the
mountain, and it will be destroyed!
We must run, but keep on the dirt places! Run for your lives!"
They needed no second warning.
Turning, they fled down the steep side of the mountain, slipping and stumbling, but
taking care not to step on any iron ore. Behind them flashed the lightning bolts.
Suddenly there was a most awful crash.
It seemed as if the end of the world had come, and the ear drums of Tom and his
companion almost burst with the fearful report.
The concussion knocked them down, and they lay stunned for a moment.
Following the terrible report there was a low, rumbling sound.
Hardly knowing whether he was dead or alive, Tom opened his eyes and looked about
him. What he saw caused him to cry out in
terror.
The whole mountain seemed bathed in fire. Great blue, red and green flashes played
around it.
Then the towering cliff seemed to melt and crumble up, and the great peak, the top of
it containing the diamond makers' cave, from which they had fled but a few minutes
before, the entire summit was toppled over
into the valley on the other side, and in the direction opposite to that where the
adventurers stood. Then came a profound silence, and the
lightning ceased.
The storm was over, and only the rattle of stones and boulders, as they came to rest
in the valley below, reached the ears of our friends.
"Phantom Mountain has been destroyed, just as I said it would be," spoke Mr. Parker,
solemnly. Once more he had prophesied correctly.
For a few minutes the adventurers hardly knew what to say.
They arose awkwardly from the ground where the shock had tossed them.
Then Tom remarked, as calmly as possible:
"Well, it's all over. I guess we may as well get back to our
airship." "What became of Munson and the others?"
asked Mr. Damon.
Mr. Jenks pointed to the trail, far below. The figures of some men, running madly,
could be seen. "There they go," he said; "I fancy we have
seen the last of them."
And they had, for some time at least. There was little use lingering any longer
on Phantom Mountain--indeed little of it was left on which to remain.
Looking back toward the place where the cave had been, Tom and the others started
forward again. The diamond-making machinery had all been
destroyed.
So, also, had the finished diamonds stored in the cavern and the large supply which
had probably been made by the last terrific crash.
No one would ever have them now.
Tom and Mr. Jenks felt a sense of disappointment, but they were glad to have
escaped with their lives.
They sought their former camp, but the tent and all their food was buried under tons of
earth and rocks.
Three days later, after rather severe hardships, they were near the place where
they had left the Red Cloud.
They had suffered cold and hunger, for they had no food supplies, and, had it not been
that Bill Renshaw knew the haunts of some game, of which they managed to snare some,
they would have fared badly, for they had left their guns in the cave.
"Well, there are the trees behind which I hope my airship is hidden," announced Tom,
as they came to the spot.
"Good old Red Cloud! Maybe we won't do some eating when we get
aboard, eh?" "Bless my appetite! but we certainly will!"
cried Mr. Damon.
"There's somebody walking around the place," spoke Mr. Jenks.
"I hope it's no one who has damaged the ship," came from Tom, apprehensively.
He broke into a run, and soon confronted an aged miner, who seemed to have established
a rude sort of camp near the airship. "Is anything the matter?" asked Tom,
breathlessly.
"Is my airship all right?" "I guess she's all right, stranger," was
the reply. "I don't know much about these
contraptions, but I haven't touched her.
I knowed she was an airship, for I've seen pictures of 'em, and I've been waiting
until the owner came along." "Why?" asked Tom, wonderingly.
"Because I've got a proposition to make to you," went on the miner, who said his name
was Abe Abercrombie.
"I've been a miner for a good many years, and I'm just back from Alaska, prospecting
around here.
I haven't had any luck, but I know of a gold mine in Alaska that will make us all
rich. Only it needs an airship to get to it, and
I've been figuring how to hire one.
Then I comes along, and I sees this big one, and I makes up my mind to stay here
until the owners come back. That's what I've done.
Now, if I prove that I'm telling the truth, will you go to Alaska--to the valley of
gold with me?" "I don't know," answered Tom, to whom the
proposition was rather sudden.
"We've just had some pretty startling adventures, and we're almost starved.
Wait until we get something to eat, and we'll talk.
Come aboard the Red Cloud," and the lad led the way to his craft which was in as good
condition as when he left it to go to the diamond cave.
Later he listened to the miner's story.
Tom Swift did go to the valley of gold in Alaska, and what happened to him and his
companions there will be told of in the next volume of this series, to be called
"Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice; or, the Wreck of the Airship."
It did not take our friends long, after they had eaten a hearty meal, to generate
some fresh gas, and start the Red Cloud on her homeward way.
Tom wanted to take Bill Renshaw with him, but the old man said he would rather remain
among the mountains where he had been born. So, after paying him well for his services,
they said good-by to him.
Abercrombie, the miner, also remained behind, but promised to call and see Tom in
a few months.
"Well, we didn't make any money out of this trip," observed Mr. Jenks, rather
dubiously, as they were nearing Shopton, after an uneventful trip.
"I guess I owe you considerable, Tom Swift.
I promised to get you a lot of diamonds, but all I have are those I had from my
first visit to the cave." "Oh, that's all right," spoke Tom, easily.
"The experience was worth all the trip cost."
"Speaking of diamonds, look here!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, suddenly, and he
pulled out a double handful.
"Where did you get them?" cried the others in astonishment.
"I grabbed them up, as we ran from the cave," said the eccentric man; "but, bless
my gaiters!
I forgot all about them until you spoke. We'll share them."
These diamonds, some of which were large, proved very valuable, though the total sum
was far below what Mr. Jenks hoped to make when he started on the remarkable trip.
Tom gave Mary Nestor a very fine stone, and it was set in a ring, instead of a pin,
this time.
On their arrival in Shopton, where Mr. Swift, the housekeeper, Mr. Jackson and
Eradicate Sampson were much alarmed for Tom's safety, an attempt was made to
manufacture diamonds, using a powerful electric current instead of lightning.
But it was not a success, and so Mr. Jenks concluded to give up his search for the
secret which was lost on Phantom Mountain.
And now we will take leave of Tom Swift, to meet him again soon in other adventures he
is destined to have in the caves of ice and the valley of gold.
>