"Appleton, Victor - Tom Swift Jr 05 - And His Atomic Earth Blaster" - читать интересную книгу автора (Appleton Victor)

ILLUSTRATIONS
The tear-gas guns brought them out of the fortress
It was too late-the damage was done!
"We've hit an aqueduct!" Tom shouted
Tom fought desperately, but resistance was futile
They made a complete circuit of the grounds
The trap door opened freely in response to Tom's push
As they reached the scene, the helicopter hit the ground with a jarring impact
Tom sprang over the gunwales into Landis' craft
The jolt caused the sled to turn over, throwing Bud against a tree trunk
It was not long before a shower of sparks burst into view
Bud shouted again and again, "You've done it, Tom! You've done it!"



CHAPTER 1
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGERS

"Man, look at this earth blaster go to town!" yelled Bud Barclay from the cab
of a big tractor trailer.
"Speed her up a bit!" urged Tom Swift as he jogged alongside it.
The blond, rangy young scientist and his husky, dark-haired pal were testing
Tom's latest invention-an atomic-powered earth-digging machine, mounted on a
platform above the truck's cab. Tom hoped to use his invention for road and
bridge construction work and for drilling tunnels.
As Bud gunned the engine, the grinding hum of the earth blaster rose to an
ear-shattering roar.
The machine looked like a gigantic torpedo and was comprised of three main
parts. Mounted to a heavy swivel base was a long, gleaming steel cylinder which
could be tilted in any direction. It housed a compact atomic pile to power the
implement. Ex-
2 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER
tending from the cylinder was a narrower shaft, containing transmission
gears to conduct the power to the nose end of the shaft. This end was armed
with a pair of revolving steel discs which could chew into the hardest rock.
As the machine bored into the ground, Tom suddenly noticed that Bud was
swerving to the right.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" he warned.
The young inventor had obtained permission from a farmer to dig on a vacant
section of partially wooded land adjacent to the right of way for a water conduit.
Tom had chosen this spot, a quarter of a mile off the highway near Shopton,
because its rocky formation would provide a better test than the Enterprises'
loamy ground.
Unknowingly, Bud was now steering toward the water company's right of
way!
As the huge truck rumbled along, the machine plowed a deep trench in the
ground. A steady stream of pulverized dirt and rock spewed out of the rear of the
cylinder into the trailer.
Tom sprinted faster in a frantic effort to catch up with the lurching monster.
"Hold it!" he yelled. "Stop the truck! There's a water conduit over there!"