CHAPTER XXV
WINNING THE PRIZE
After making two circuits of the track at moderate speed, Tom turned onmore power, deciding to see how the machine would behave on the turns,going at a fast speed. As it happened he forged ahead just as the bigred car was coming up behind him. The driver of it took this for achallenge and threw his controller handle forward.
"Come on!" he cried to our hero, when even with him.
Tom did not want to decline the invitation, and the impromptu race wasunder way. Soon the green car came rushing up, and for two miles thethree kept almost in line. It was evident that neither the green northe red car drivers wanted to "open out," until they saw Tom do so.
He was willing to oblige them, and suddenly increased his speed. Theydid the same, and went ahead of him. Then Tom turned on a little morejuice and got the lead, but the two men were right after him, and theysee-sawed like this for two more miles. Then, with a cry the man inthe red car, with a sudden burst of speed, left Tom and the green carbehind. The green car was soon up to its rival, but Tom decided hewould not spurt.
The lad and his friends spent the early part of the night in making afinal inspection of the machinery, finding it in good order. Then, withhis head filled with visions of the race on the morrow Tom went to bed.He had made inquiries, by telephone, of the friends of Miss Nestor, andlearned that she had not arrived. Tom felt a distinct sense ofdisappointment.
The day of the race could not have been better. It was ideal weather,and conditions at the track were just right. Tom was up early, and wentover every inch of his car with a nervous dread that he might findsomething the matter.
The final details of the race were completed, and the entrants giventheir numbers and places. Tom drew a good position, not the best, buthe had no reason to complain. Half an hour before the start he againtelephoned to see if Miss Nestor had arrived, but she had not, and itwas with rather gloomy thoughts that the lad entered his car, in whichMr. Sharp had already taken his place. Mr. Damon went to thegrandstand to watch the race.
"I wanted Mary to see me win," thought our hero, for he had grimly sethis mind on coming in ahead.
There was a great crowd in the grandstand and scattered about the bigtrack, which took in a large extent of territory. In spite of itssize--five miles around--it seemed solidly packed for the entirelength with autos, containing gay parties who had come to see theelectric contest. There was a band playing gay airs, as Tom guided hismachine through the entrance gate, and onto the track.
The judges made their final inspection. There were twenty cars entered,but it was obvious that some of them would not last long, as theirbattery capacity was not large enough. Their owners might have reliedon recharging, but how they could do this under the usual slow system,and hope to win, Tom could not see. He hoped to run the entire distanceon the single charge, but, if by some accident part of his currentshould leak away, his battery could be charged in a short time, bymeans of his new system, to run for a considerable distance, or hecould install a new one already charged, for he had two sets on hand.Tom glanced over the cars of his competitors. They were to be sent awayin batches, the affair being a handicap one, with time allowance forthe smaller powered cars. Tom noted that his car and the red and thegreen ones were in the same bunch. Tom's car was purple.
"Are you all ready?" asked the starter of the first group of races.
"Ready," was the low-voiced response.
"Crack!" went the pistol, and there followed the hum of the motors asthe current set the mechanism to work. Forward went the cars, amid thecrash of the band and the cheers of the crowd. The big race was underway.
"Do you feel nervous, Tom?" asked Mr. Sharp.
"Not a bit," replied the lad.
Around and around the track flew the speedy electrics. It was evidentthat the holding of a meet solely for cars of this character hadbrought out many new ideas that would be to the benefit of theindustry. Some cars were "freaks" and others, like Tom's, showed adistinct advance over previous styles of construction.
A five-hundred mile race around a track is rather a monotonous affair,except for what happens, and things very soon began to happen at thisrace.
As Tom had expected, several of the machines were forced to withdraw.Tire troubles beset some, and others found that they were hopelesslyout of it because of low power, or lack of battery capacity.
Tom determined not to let the red or the green car gain any advantageover him, and so he watched those two vehicles narrowly. On the otherhand, the red and the green electrics were evidently afraid of oneanother and of Tom.
They all three kept pretty much together for the first thirty miles. Bythis time the race had settled down into a steady grind. There was someexcitement when the steering gear of one car broke, and it crashed intothe fence, injuring the driver, but the race went on.
The young inventor was holding his own with his two chief rivals, andwas feeling rather proud of his car, when there came from it a reportlike a pistol shot.
"Blow out!" yelled Tom desperately, steering to one of the severalrepair stations on the inner side of the track. "Be ready with theextra wheel, Mr. Sharp!"
"Right you are!" cried the balloonist. The car was scarcely stoppedwhen he had leaped out, and had the lifting jack under the left rearwheel, where the tire had gone to the bad. He and Tom labored likeTrojans to take off the wheel, and put on the other. They lost fiveminutes, and when they got under way again the red and the green carswere three quarters of a lap ahead.
"You've got to catch them!" declared Sharp firmly.
But the red and the green car drivers saw their advantage, and weredetermined to hold it. Tom could not catch them without going hislimit, and he did not want to do this just yet. However, he had hisopportunity when about two hundred miles had been covered. Both the redand the green cars had tire troubles, but the red one was delayedscarcely two minutes as there was a corps of mechanics on hand to takeoff the defective wheel and put on another. Still Tom regained his lostground, and once more the race between those three cars was even.
In the rear of Tom's car Mr. Sharp was mending the blown-out tire,though there was still one spare wheel on reserve. Tom, in front,peered eagerly at the track. Nearly side by side raced the red and thegreen cars, the latter somewhat to the rear.
It was at the three hundred and fiftieth mile that Tom had anotherblow-out. This time it took a little longer to change the wheel, andthe red and green cars gained a full lap on him. The track was now sodusty that it was difficult to see the contesting cars. Many haddropped out, and more were on the verge of giving up.
With the odds against him, Tom started in to regain the lost ground.Narrowly he watched his electric power. Slowly he saw it dropping.Would he have enough left to finish out the race? He feared not. Thehours were passing. Still there was a hundred miles yet to go twentycircuits of the track. Some of the spectators were getting weary andleaving. The band played spasmodically.
Suddenly Tom saw the red car shoot to one side of the track, toward acharging station; The green car followed.
"That's our cue!" cried the young inventor "We need a little more'juice' and now is the time to get it."
The lad ran to the shed where his charging wires were, and they wereconnected in a trice. He allowed twenty-five minutes for the charging,as he knew with his improved battery he could get enough current inthat time to finish the contest. Before the red and green car drivershad finished installing new batteries, for they could not recharge asquickly as could our hero, Tom was on the track again. But, in a littlewhile, his two rivals were after him.
It was now a spectacular race. Around and around swept the three bigcars. All the others were practically out of it. The crowd becamelively airs. Mile after mile was reeled off. The day was passing. Tiredand covered with dust from the track, Tom still sat at the steeringwheel.
"Two laps more!" cried Mr. Sharp, as the starter's pistol gave thiswarning. "Can you get away from 'em, Tom?"
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The red and the green cars were following closely. The young inventorlooked back and nodded. He turned on more power, almost to thelimit--that he was saving for the final spurt. But after him still camethe two big cars. Suddenly the red car shot ahead, just as the last lapwas beginning. The green tried to follow, but there was a flash offire, a loud report, and Tom knew a fuse had blown out. There was notime for his rival to put in a new one. The race was now between Tomand the red car. Could the lad catch and pass it?
They were now only a mile from the finish. The red car was threelengths ahead. With a quick motion Tom turned on the last bit of power.There seemed to come a roar from his motor and his car shot ahead. Itwas on even terms with the red car when what Tom had been fearing forthe last five minutes happened: his fuse blew out.
"Too bad! It's all up with us!" cried Mr. Sharp.
"No!" cried Tom in a ringing voice. "I've got an emergency fuse ready!"He snapped a switch in place, putting into commission another fuse. Themotor that had lost speed began to pick it up again. Tom had pulledback the controller handle, but he now shoved it forward again, notchby notch, until it was at the limit. He had fallen back from the redcar, and the occupants of that, with a yell of triumph, prepared tocross the line a winner.
But, like a race horse that nerves himself for the last desperatespurt, Tom's machine fairly leaped ahead. With his hands gripping therim of the steering wheel, until it seemed that the bones of hisfingers would protrude, Tom sent his car straight for the finishingtape. There was a yell from the spectators. Men were standing up,waving their hats and shouting. Women were fairly screaming. Mr. Damonwas blessing everything within sight. Mr. Sharp, in his excitement, waspushing on the back of the front seats as if to shove the car ahead.
Then, as the pistol announced the close of the race, Tom's car, withwhat seemed a mighty leap, like a hunter clearing a ditch, forgedahead, and crossed the line a length in advance of the red car. TomSwift had Won.
Amid the cheers of the crowd the lad slowed up, and, at the directionof the judges, wheeled back to the stand, to receive the prize. Acertified check for three thousand dollars was handed him, and hereceived the congratulations of the racing officials. The driver of thered car also generously praised him.
"You won fair and square," he said, shaking hands with Tom.
The young inventor and his friends drove their car to their shed. AsTom was descending, weary and begrimed with dust he heard a voiceasking:
"Mayn't I congratulate you also?"
He wheeled around, to confront Mary Nestor, immaculate in a summer gown.
"Why--why," he stammered. "I--I thought you didn't come."
"Oh, yes I did," she answered, laughing. "I wouldn't have missed it foranything. I arrived late, but I saw the whole race. Wasn't itglorious. I'm so glad you won!" Tom was too, now, but he shrank backwhen Miss Nestor held out both daintily gloved hands to him. His handswere covered with oil and dirt.
"As if I cared for my gloves!" she cried, and she took possession ofhis hands, a proceeding to which Tom was nothing loath. "Are you goingto race any more?" she asked, as he walked along by her side, away fromthe gathering crowd.
"I don't know," he replied. "My car is speedier than I thought it was.Perhaps I may enter it in other contests."
But what Tom Swift did later on will be told in another volume, to becalled, "Tom Swift and His Wireless Message; or, The Castaways ofEarthquake Island"--a strange tale of ship-wreck and mystery.
The run back home was made without incident, save for a broken chain,easily repaired, the day following the race, and Tom later received anumber of invitations to give exhibitions of speed. Several automobilemanufacturers wanted to secure the rights to his machine, but he saidhe desired to consider the matter before acting. He did not forget hispromise to Mrs. Baggert, regarding the diamond earrings, and bought herthe finest pair he could find.
"Come on, Mr. Sharp," proposed Tom, a week or so after the big race,"let's go for a spin in the airship. I want to see how it feels to beamong the clouds once more," and they were soon soaring aloft.
The new bank, started by Mr. Foger, did not flourish long. It closedits doors in less than six months, but the old institution was strongerthan ever. Mr. Berg disappeared, and Tom never learned whether theagent really was the man he had chased, and whose watch charm he toreloose, though he always had his suspicions. Nor did it ever develop whocrossed the electric wires, so that Tom was so nearly fatally shocked.Andy Foger disliked our hero more than ever, and on several occasionscaused him not a little trouble, but Tom was able to look after himself.
THE END