CHAPTER I
TOM IS PUZZLED
"What\'s the matter, Tom? You look rather blue!"
"Blue! Say, Ned, I\'d turn red, green, yellow, or any other color of the
rainbow, if I thought it would help matters any."
"Whew!"
Ned Newton, the chum and companion of Tom Swift, gave vent to a
whistle of surprise, as he gazed at the young fellow sitting opposite him,
near a bench covered with strange-looking tools and machinery, while
blueprints and drawings were scattered about.
Ranged on the sides of the room were models of many queer craft,
most of them flying machines of one sort or another, while through the
open door that led into a large shed could be seen the outlines of a speedy
monoplane. "As bad as that, eh, Tom?" went on Ned. "I thought
something was up when I first came in, but, if you\'ll excuse a second
mention of the color scheme, I should say it was blue--decidedly blue. You
look as though you had lost your last friend, and I want to assure you that
if you do feel that way, it\'s dead wrong. There\'s myself, for one, and I\'m
sure Mr. Damon--"
"Bless my gasoline tank!" exclaimed Tom, with a laugh, in imitation of
the gentleman Ned Newton had mentioned, "I know that! I\'m not worrying
over the loss of any friends."
"And there are Eradicate, and Koku, the giant, just to mention a couple
of others," went on Ned, with a smile.
"That\'s enough!" exclaimed Tom. "It isn\'t that, I tell you."