CHAPTER II
THE CIRCUS MAN
Without a word Tom and Ned followed Mr. Damon toward the Swifthouse. Truth to tell the youths did not know what to say, or theywould have been bubbling over with questions. But the talk of theodd man, and his strange request to Tom to go off and capture agiant had so startled the young inventor and his chum that they didnot know whether to think that Mr. Damon was joking, or whether hehad suddenly taken leave of his senses.
And while I have a few minutes that are occupied in the journey tothe house I will introduce my new readers more formally to Tom Swiftand his friends.
Tom though only a young man, was an inventor of note, as his fatherwas before him. Father and son lived in a fine house in the town ofShopton, in New York state, and Mrs. Swift being dead, the two werewell looked after by Mrs. Baggert their housekeeper. EradicateSampson, as I have said, was the man of all work about the place.Ned Newton who had a position in a Shopton bank, was Tom'sparticular chum, and Mr. Wakefeld Damon, of the neighboring town ofWaterfield, was a friend to all who knew him. He had the odd habitof blessing anything and everything he could think of, interspersingit in his talk.
In the first volume of this series, called "Tom Swift and HisMotor-Cycle," I related how Tom made the acquaintance of Mr. Damon,afterward purchasing a damaged motor-cycle from the odd gentleman.On this machine Tom had many adventures, incidentally saving some ofhis father's valuable patents from a gang of conspirators. Later Tomgot a motor boat, and had many races with his rivals on LakeCarlopa, beating Andy Foger, the red-haired bully of the town, insignal fashion. After his adventures on the water Tom sighed forsome in the air, and he had them in his airship the Red Cloud.
"Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat." is a story of a search aftersunken treasure, and, returning from that quest Tom built anelectric runabout, the speediest car on the road. By means of awireless message, later, Tom was able to save himself and thecastaways of Earthquake Island, and, as a direct outcome of thatexperience, he was able to go in search of the diamond makers, andsolve the secret of Phantom Mountain, as told in the book dealingwith that subject.
When he went to the caves of ice Tom had bad luck, for his airshipwas wrecked, and he endured many hardships in getting home with hiscompanions, particularly as Andy Foger sought revenge on him.
But Tom pluckily overcame all obstacles and, later, he built a skyracer, in which he made the quickest trip on record. After that,with his electric rifle, he went after elephants in the interior ofAfrica and was successful in rescuing some missionaries from theterrible red pygmies.
One of the mission workers, later, sent Tom details about a buriedcity of gold in Mexico, and Tom and his chum together with Mr. Damonlocated this mysterious place after much trouble, as told in thebook entitled, "Tom Swift in the City of Gold." The gold did notprove as valuable as they expected, as it was of low grade, but theygot considerable money for it, and were then ready for moreadventures.
The adventures soon came, as those of you who have read the bookcalled, "Tom Swift and His Air Glider," can testify. In that I toldhow Tom went to Siberia, and after rescuing some Russian politicalexiles, found a valuable deposit of platinum, which to-day is a morevaluable metal than gold. Tom needed some platinum for hiselectrical machines, and it proved very useful.
He had been back from Russia all winter and, now that Spring hadcome again, our hero sighed for more activity, and fresh adventures.And with the advent of Mr. Damon, and his mysterious talk aboutgiants, Tom seemed likely to be gratified.
The two chums and the odd gentleman continued on to the house, noone speaking, until finally, when they were seated in the library,Mr. Damon said:
"Well, Tom, are you ready to listen to me now, and have me explainwhat I meant when I asked you to get a giant?"
"I--I suppose so," hesitated the young inventor. "But hadn't Ibetter call dad? And are you sure you don't want to lie down andcollect your thoughts? A nice hot cup of tea--"
"There, there, Tom Swift; If you tell me to lie down again, orpropose any more tea I'll use you as a punching bag, bless my boxinggloves if I don't!" cried Mr. Damon and he laughed heartily. "I knowwhat you think, Tom, and you, too, Ned," he went on, stillchuckling. "You think I don't know what I'm saying, but I'll soonprove that I do. I'm fully in my senses, I'm not crazy, I'm nottalking in my sleep, and I'm very much in earnest. Tom, this is thechance of your life to get a giant, and pay a visit to giant land.Will you take it?"
"Mr. Damon, I--er--that is I--"
Tom stammered and looked at Ned.
"Now look here, Tom Swift!" exclaimed the odd man. "When you gotword about the buried city of gold in Mexico you didn't hesitate aminute about making up your mind to go there; did you?"
"No, I didn't."
"Well, that wasn't any more of a strain on your imagination thanthis giant business; was it?"
"Well, I don't know, as--"
"Bless my spectacles! Of course it wasn't! Now, look here. Tom, youjust make up your mind that I know what I'm talking about, and we'llget along better. I don't blame you for being a bit puzzled atfirst, but just you listen. You believe there are such things asgiants; don't you?"
"I saw a man in the circus once, seven feet high. They called him agiant," spoke Ned.
"A giant! He was a baby compared to the kind of giants I mean," saidMr. Damon quickly. "Tom, we are going after a race of giants, thesmallest one of which is probably eight feet high, and from thatthey go on up to nearly ten feet, and they're not slim fellowseither, but big in proportion. Now in giant land--"
"Here's Mrs. Baggert with a quieting cup of tea," interrupted Tom."I spoke to her as we came in, and asked her to have some ready. Ifyou'll drink this, Mr. Damon, I'm sure--"
"Bless my sugar bowl, Tom! You make a man nervous, with your cups oftea. I'm more quiet than you, but I'll drink it to please you. Nowlisten to me."
"All right, go ahead."
"A friend of mine has asked me if I knew any one who could undertaketo go to giant land, and get him one or two specimens of the big menthere. I at once thought of you, and I said I believed you would go.And I'll go with you, Tom! Think of that! I've got faith enough inthe proposition to go myself!"
There was no mistaking Mr. Damon's manner. He was very much inearnest, and Tom and Ned looked at each other with a different lightin their eyes.
"Who is your friend, and where in the world is giant land?" askedTom. "I haven't heard of such a place since I read the accounts ofthe early travelers, before this continent was discovered. Who isyour friend that wants a giant?"
"If you'll let me, I'll have him here in a minute, Tom."
"Of course I will. But good land! Have you got him concealed up yoursleeve, or under some of the chairs? Is he a dwarf?" and Tom lookedabout the room as if he expected to see some one in hiding.
"I left him outside in the garden, Tom," replied the odd man. "Itold him I'd come on ahead, and see how you took the proposition.Don't tell him you thought me insane at first. I'll have him here ina jiffy. I'll signal to him."
Not waiting for a word from either of the boys, Mr. Damon went toone of the low library windows, opened it, gave a shrill whistle andwaved his handkerchief vigorously. In a moment there came ananswering whistle.
"He's coming," announced the odd gentleman.
"But who is he?" insisted Tom. "Is he some professor who wants agiant to examine, or is he a millionaire who wants one for a bodyguard?"
"Neither one, Tom. He's the proprietor of a number of circuses, anda string of museums, and he wants a giant, or even two of them, forexhibition purposes. There's lots of money in giants. He's had someseven, and even eight feet tall, but he has lately heard of a landwhere the tallest man is nearly ten feet high, and very big, andhe'll pay ten thousand dollars for a giant alive and in goodcondition, as the animal men say. I believe we can get one for him,and--Ah, here he is now," and Mr. Damon interrupted himself as asmall, dark-complexioned man, with a very black mustache, blackeyes, a watch chain as
big around as his thumb, a red vest, a largewhite hat, and a suit of large-sized checked clothes appeared at theopen library window.
"Is it all right?" this strange-appearing man asked of Mr. Damon.
"I believe so," replied the odd gentleman. "Come in, Sam."
With one bound, though the window was some distance from the ground,the little man leaped into the library. He landed lightly on hisfeet, quickly turned two hand springs in rapid succession, and then,without breathing in the least rapidly, as most men would have doneafter that exertion, he made a low bow to Tom and Ned.
"Boys, let me introduce you to my friend, Sam Preston, an oldacrobat and now a circus proprietor," said Mr. Damon. "Mr. Preston,this is Tom Swift, of whom I told you, and his chum, Ned Newton."
"And will they get the giant for me?" asked the circus man quickly.
"I think they will," replied Mr. Damon. "I had a little difficultyin making the matter clear to them, and that's why I sent for you.You can explain everything."
"Have a chair," invited Tom politely. "This is a new one on me--goingafter giants. I've done almost everything else, though."
"So Mr. Damon said," spoke Mr. Preston gravely. He was much moresedate and composed than one would have supposed after hissensational entrance into the room. "I am very glad to meet you, TomSwift, and I hope we can do business together. Now, if you have afew minutes to spare, I'll tell you all I know about giant land."