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Introduction to Algorithms for Data Mining and
Machine Learning
Introduction to
Algorithms for Data
Mining and Machine
Learning

Xin-She Yang
Middlesex University
School of Science and Technology
London, United Kingdom
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier
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525 B Street, Suite 1650, San Diego, CA 92101, United States
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The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other
than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our
understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using
any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods
they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a
professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability
for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or
from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-12-817216-2

For information on all Academic Press publications

visit our website at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals

Publisher: Candice Janco

Acquisition Editor: J. Scott Bentley
Editorial Project Manager: Michael Lutz
Production Project Manager: Nilesh Kumar Shah
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Typeset by VTeX
About the author

Xin-She Yang obtained his PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Ox-
ford. He then worked at Cambridge University and National Physical Laboratory (UK)
as a Senior Research Scientist. Now he is Reader at Middlesex University London, and
an elected Bye-Fellow at Cambridge University.
He is also the IEEE Computer Intelligence Society (CIS) Chair for the Task Force
on Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management, Director of the International
Consortium for Optimization and Modelling in Science and Industry (iCOMSI), and
an Editor of Springer’s Book Series Springer Tracts in Nature-Inspired Computing
(STNIC).
With more than 20 years of research and teaching experience, he has authored
10 books and edited more than 15 books. He published more than 200 research pa-
pers in international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings with more
than 36 800 citations. He has been on the prestigious lists of Clarivate Analytics and
Web of Science highly cited researchers in 2016, 2017, and 2018. He serves on the
Editorial Boards of many international journals including International Journal of
Bio-Inspired Computation, Elsevier’s Journal of Computational Science (JoCS), In-
ternational Journal of Parallel, Emergent and Distributed Systems, and International
Journal of Computer Mathematics. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the International
Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation.
Preface

Both data mining and machine learning are becoming popular subjects for university
courses and industrial applications. This popularity is partly driven by the Internet and
social media because they generate a huge amount of data every day, and the under-
standing of such big data requires sophisticated data mining techniques. In addition,
many applications such as facial recognition and robotics have extensively used ma-
chine learning algorithms, leading to the increasing popularity of artificial intelligence.
From a more general perspective, both data mining and machine learning are closely
related to optimization. After all, in many applications, we have to minimize costs,
errors, energy consumption, and environment impact and to maximize sustainabil-
ity, productivity, and efficiency. Many problems in data mining and machine learning
are usually formulated as optimization problems so that they can be solved by opti-
mization algorithms. Therefore, optimization techniques are closely related to many
techniques in data mining and machine learning.
Courses on data mining, machine learning, and optimization are often compulsory
for students, studying computer science, management science, engineering design, op-
erations research, data science, finance, and economics. All students have to develop
a certain level of data modeling skills so that they can process and interpret data for
classification, clustering, curve-fitting, and predictions. They should also be familiar
with machine learning techniques that are closely related to data mining so as to carry
out problem solving in many real-world applications. This book provides an introduc-
tion to all the major topics for such courses, covering the essential ideas of all key
algorithms and techniques for data mining, machine learning, and optimization.
Though there are over a dozen good books on such topics, most of these books are
either too specialized with specific readership or too lengthy (often over 500 pages).
This book fills in the gap with a compact and concise approach by focusing on the key
concepts, algorithms, and techniques at an introductory level. The main approach of
this book is informal, theorem-free, and practical. By using an informal approach all
fundamental topics required for data mining and machine learning are covered, and
the readers can gain such basic knowledge of all important algorithms with a focus
on their key ideas, without worrying about any tedious, rigorous mathematical proofs.
In addition, the practical approach provides about 30 worked examples in this book
so that the readers can see how each step of the algorithms and techniques works.
Thus, the readers can build their understanding and confidence gradually and in a
step-by-step manner. Furthermore, with the minimal requirements of basic high school
mathematics and some basic calculus, such an informal and practical style can also
enable the readers to learn the contents by self-study and at their own pace.
This book is suitable for undergraduates and graduates to rapidly develop all the
fundamental knowledge of data mining, machine learning, and optimization. It can
xii Preface

also be used by students and researchers as a reference to review and refresh their
knowledge in data mining, machine learning, optimization, computer science, and data
science.

Xin-She Yang
January 2019 in London
Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all my students and colleagues who have given valuable feedback
and comments on some of the contents and examples of this book. I also would like to
thank my editors, J. Scott Bentley and Michael Lutz, and the staff at Elsevier for their
professionalism. Last but not least, I thank my family for all the help and support.

Xin-She Yang
January 2019
Introduction to optimization
Contents
1.1 Algorithms
1 1
1.1.1 Essence of an algorithm 1
1.1.2 Issues with algorithms 3
1.1.3 Types of algorithms 3
1.2 Optimization 4
1.2.1 A simple example 4
1.2.2 General formulation of optimization 7
1.2.3 Feasible solution 9
1.2.4 Optimality criteria 10
1.3 Unconstrained optimization 10
1.3.1 Univariate functions 11
1.3.2 Multivariate functions 12
1.4 Nonlinear constrained optimization 14
1.4.1 Penalty method 15
1.4.2 Lagrange multipliers 16
1.4.3 Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions 17
1.5 Notes on software 18

This book introduces the most fundamentals and algorithms related to optimization,
data mining, and machine learning. The main requirement is some understanding of
high-school mathematics and basic calculus; however, we will review and introduce
some of the mathematical foundations in the first two chapters.

1.1 Algorithms
An algorithm is an iterative, step-by-step procedure for computation. The detailed
procedure can be a simple description, an equation, or a series of descriptions in
combination with equations. Finding the roots of a polynomial, checking if a natu-
ral number is a prime number, and generating random numbers are all algorithms.

1.1.1 Essence of an algorithm

In essence, an algorithm can be written as an iterative equation or a set of iterative
equations. For example, to find a square root of a > 0, we can use the following
iterative equation:
1 a
xk+1 = xk + , (1.1)
2 xk
where k is the iteration counter (k = 0, 1, 2, . . . ) starting with a random guess x0 = 1.
Introduction to Algorithms for Data Mining and Machine Learning. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-817216-2.00008-9
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
2 Introduction to Algorithms for Data Mining and Machine Learning

Example 1
As an example, if x0 = 1 and a = 4, then we have

1 4
x1 = (1 + ) = 2.5. (1.2)
2 1

Similarly, we have

1 4 1 4
x2 = (2.5 + ) = 2.05, x3 = (2.05 + ) ≈ 2.0061, (1.3)
2 2.5 2 2.05
x4 ≈ 2.00000927, (1.4)
√
which is very close to the true value of 4 = 2. The accuracy of this iterative formula or algorithm
is high because it achieves the accuracy of five decimal places after four iterations.

The convergence is very quick if we start from different initial values such as
x0 = 10 and even x0 = 100. However, for an obvious reason, we cannot start with
x0 = 0 due to division by
√zero.
Find the root of x = a is equivalent to solving the equation

f (x) = x 2 − a = 0, (1.5)

which is again equivalent to finding the roots of a polynomial f (x). We know that
Newton’s root-finding algorithm can be written as

f (xk )
xk+1 = xk − , (1.6)
f  (xk )

where f  (x) is the first derivative or gradient of f (x). In this case, we have
f  (x) = 2x. Thus, Newton’s formula becomes

(xk2 − a)
xk+1 = xk − , (1.7)
2xk

which can be written as

xk a 1 a
xk+1 = (xk − )+ = xk + ). (1.8)
2 2xk 2 xk

This is exactly what we have in Eq. (1.1).

Newton’s method has rigorous mathematical foundations, which has a guaranteed
convergence under certain conditions. However, in general, Eq. (1.6) is more general,
and the gradient information f  (x) is needed. In addition, for the formula to be valid,
we must have f  (x) = 0.
Introduction to optimization 3

1.1.2 Issues with algorithms

The advantage of the algorithm given in Eq. (1.1) is that√it converges very quickly.
However, careful readers may have asked: we know that 4 = ±2, how can we find
the other root −2 in addition to +2?
Even if we use different initial value x0 = 10 or x0 = 0.5, we can only reach x∗ = 2,
not −2.
What happens if we start with x0 < 0? From x0 = −1, we have
1 4 1 4
x1 = (−1 + ) = −2.5, x 2 = (−2.5 + ) = −2.05, (1.9)
2 −1 2 −2.5
x3 ≈ −2.0061, x4 ≈ −2.00000927, (1.10)
which is approaching −2 very quickly. If we start from x0 = −10 or x0 = −0.5, then
we can always get x∗ = −2, not +2.
This highlights a key issue here: the final solution seems to depend on the initial
starting point for this algorithm, which is true for many algorithms.
Now the relevant question is: how do we know where to start to get a particular
solution? The general short answer is “we do not know”. Thus, some knowledge of
the problem under consideration or an educated guess may be useful to find the final
solution.
In fact, most algorithms may depend on the initial configuration, and such algo-
rithms are often carrying out search moves locally. Thus, this type of algorithm is
often referred to as local search. A good algorithm should be able to “forget” its initial
configuration though such algorithms may not exist at all for most types of problems.
What we need in general is the global search, which attempts to find final solutions
that are less sensitive to the initial starting point(s).
Another important issue in our discussions is that the gradient information f  (x) is
necessary for some algorithms such as Newton’s method given in Eq. (1.6). This poses
certain requirements on the smoothness of the function f (x). For example, we know
that |x| is not differentiable at x = 0. Thus, we cannot directly use Newton’s method
to find the roots of f (x) = |x|x 2 − a = 0 for a > 0. Some modifications are needed.
There are other issues related to algorithms such as the setting of parameters, the
slow rate of convergence, condition numbers, and iteration structures. All these make
algorithm designs and usage somehow challenging, and we will discuss these issues
in more detail later in this book.

1.1.3 Types of algorithms

An algorithm can only do a specific computation task (at most a class of computational
tasks), and no algorithms can do all the tasks. Thus, algorithms can be classified due
to their purposes. An algorithm to find roots of a polynomial belongs to root-finding
algorithms, whereas an algorithm for ranking a set of numbers belongs to sorting
algorithms. There are many classes of algorithms for different purposes. Even for the
same purpose such as sorting, there are many different algorithms such as the merge
sort, bubble sort, quicksort, and others.
4 Introduction to Algorithms for Data Mining and Machine Learning

We can also categorize algorithms in terms of their characteristics. The root-finding

algorithms we just introduced are deterministic algorithms because the final solutions
are exactly the same if we start from the same initial guess. We obtain the same set of
solutions every time we run the algorithm. On the other hand, we may introduce some
randomization into the algorithm, for example, using purely random initial points.
Every time we run the algorithm, we use a new random initial guess. In this case, the
algorithm can have some nondeterministic nature, and such algorithms are referred
to as stochastic.√Sometimes, using randomness may be advantageous. For example, in
the example of 4 = ±2 using Eq. (1.1), random initial values (both positive and neg-
ative) can allow the algorithm to find both roots. In fact, a major trend in the modern
metaheuristics is using some randomization to suit different purposes.
For algorithms to be introduced in this book, we are mainly concerned with al-
gorithms for data mining, optimization, and machine learning. We use a relatively
unified approach to link algorithms in data mining and machine learning to algorithms
for optimization.

1.2 Optimization

Optimization is everywhere, from engineering design to business planning. After all,

time and resources are limited, and optimal use of such valuable resources is crucial.
In addition, designs of products have to maximize the performance, sustainability, and
energy efficiency and to minimize the costs. Therefore, optimization is important for
many applications.

1.2.1 A simple example

Let us start with a very simple example to design a container with volume capacity
V0 = 10 m3 . As the main cost is related to the cost of materials, the main aim is to
minimize the total surface area S.
The first thing we have to decide is the shape of the container (cylinder, cubic,
sphere or ellipsoid, or more complex geometry). For simplicity, let us start with a
cylindrical shape with radius r and height h (see Fig. 1.1).
The total surface area of a cylinder is

S = 2(πr 2 ) + 2πrh, (1.11)

and the volume is

V = πr 2 h. (1.12)

There are only two design variables r and h and one objective function S to be min-
imized. Obviously, if there is no capacity constraint, then we can choose not to build
the container, and then the cost of materials is zero for r = 0 and h = 0. However,
Introduction to optimization 5

Figure 1.1 Design of a cylindric container.

the constraint requirement means that we have to build a container with fixed volume
V0 = πr 2 h = 10 m3 . Therefore, this optimization problem can be written as

minimize S = 2πr 2 + 2πrh, (1.13)

subject to the equality constraint

πr 2 h = V0 = 10. (1.14)

To solve this problem, we can first try to use the equality constraint to reduce the
number of design variables by solving h. So we have
V0
h= . (1.15)
πr 2
Substituting it into (1.13), we get

S = 2πr 2 + 2πrh
V0 2V0
= 2πr 2 + 2πr 2 = 2πr 2 + . (1.16)
πr r
This is a univariate function. From basic calculus we know that the minimum or max-
imum can occur at the stationary point, where the first derivative is zero, that is,
dS 2V0
= 4πr − 2 = 0, (1.17)
dr r
which gives

V0 3 V0
r3 = , or r = . (1.18)
2π 2π
Thus, the height is

h V0 /(πr 2 ) V0
= = 3 = 2. (1.19)
r r πr
6 Introduction to Algorithms for Data Mining and Machine Learning

This means that the height is twice the radius: h = 2r. Thus, the minimum surface is

S∗ = 2πr 2 + 2πrh = 2πr 2 + 2πr(2r) = 6πr 2

 V 2/3 6π
0 2/3
= 6π =√3
V0 . (1.20)
2π 4π 2

For V0 = 10, we have

 
3 V0 3 10
r= = ≈ 1.1675, h = 2r = 2.335,
(2π) 2π

and the total surface area

S∗ = 2πr 2 + 2πrh ≈ 25.69.

It is worth pointing out that this optimal solution is based on the assumption or re-
quirement to design a cylindrical container. If we decide to use a sphere with radius R,
we know that its volume and surface area is
4π 3
V0 = R , S = 4πR 2 . (1.21)
3
We can solve R directly

3V0 3 3V0
R =
3
, or R = , (1.22)
4π 4π
which gives the surface area
 3V 2/3 √
0 4π 3 9 2/3
S = 4π =√ 3
V0 . (1.23)
4π 16π 2
√3 √ √ 3
Since 6π/ 4π 2 ≈ 5.5358 and 4π 3 9/ 16π 2 ≈ 4.83598, we have S < S∗ , that is, the
surface area of a sphere is smaller than the minimum surface area of a cylinder with
the same volume. In fact, for the same V0 = 10, we have
√
4π 3 9 2/3
S(sphere) = √ 3
V0 ≈ 22.47, (1.24)
16π 2
which is smaller than S∗ = 25.69 for a cylinder.
This highlights the importance of the choice of design type (here in terms of shape)
before we can do any truly useful optimization. Obviously, there are many other fac-
tors that can influence the choice of design, including the manufacturability of the
design, stability of the structure, ease of installation, space availability, and so on. For
a container, in most applications, a cylinder may be much easier to produce than a
sphere, and thus the overall cost may be lower in practice. Though there are so many
factors to be considered in engineering design, for the purpose of optimization, here
we will only focus on the improvement and optimization of a design with well-posed
mathematical formulations.
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
working it backward and forward a number of times and twisting it
about, Tom pulled it out. Now the window could be raised, and this
he did cautiously.
He waited a moment after lifting the sash and listened. There
was no sound from below, and he thought that the men were still
sleeping. He put his head out and looked down. To his dismay the
window was higher above the ground than he had hoped, and there
was on that side of the house neither a vine nor a rain-water pipe
that he could descend.
“I’ve got to jump for it!” he grimly decided. “But that grass below
looks soft.” There was a big clump of green below the window. Tom
climbed out, sat down on the sill, edged himself over and then hung
by his hands a moment. This reduced the length of his drop by his
own height. He hung there a moment and then let go.
Down he plunged, coming to a stop on the earth with a thud that
shook him greatly. He seemed to lose his breath and a sharp pain
shot through his left ankle.
“Guess I’ve sprained it,” he mused. The pain was actually
sickening, and made him feel faint. Through an open window on the
first floor he heard some one exclaim:
“What was that noise?”
“What noise?” asked another.
“It sounded like some one falling.”
“Guess you were dreaming! Get up and make some coffee. I’m
half starved.”
“All right,” said the one who had first spoken. “But I’ll just have a
look at that bird upstairs. He’s cute—maybe he’s got away. I’ll have a
look at him before I get breakfast!”
“I’ve got to run for it—and right away!” thought Tom desperately.
“Though how I’m going to do it with a sprained ankle is more than I
know. But it will never do to let them catch me again.”
The grass was tall and rank under the window. It would afford
the fugitive cover until he could get to some better shelter. He began
crawling through it, deeming this safer than trying to stand up and
run. His concealment would be better in this position and it would
take the strain off his hurt ankle. He hoped it was only a sprain and
not a break.
He had not crawled more than a hundred feet from the old house
before he heard coming from it shouts that told that his escape had
been discovered.
“Now I’m in for it!” he mused. Just ahead of him he saw a brook,
not very deep but rather wide. “If I stand up and run they’re sure to
see me,” he reasoned. “And if I crawl I’ll leave a trail in the grass like
a big snake. If I can get to the brook and crawl along in that I may
throw them off the trail for a while.”
It seemed the best thing to do, and while the men back at the
house were running about “in circles,” so to speak, Tom crawled to
the brook, and then, having no particular choice, since he did not
know where he was, he began crawling upstream. He did not hope
to throw his enemies off his trail long in this way, nor did he. They
were soon shouting as they ran down the grass-covered and weed-
grown yard, for the open window had told them which way he had
gone.
The trick of going into the brook confused them for a while, but
Tom knew they would separate into two parties and soon trace him.
He was desperate and at his wits’ end when he saw just ahead of
him on the edge of the stream an old barrel, partly embedded in the
sandy shore. He could get into this without leaving the water, and as
its open end was turned rather upstream he might escape
observation.
It did not take him long to get into the barrel. He took care to
leave no tell-tale trail, and his strategy was well carried out, for a
little later, splashing their way upstream, ran two of the men—Tom
could see them through a hole in the closed end of the barrel.
“But I’d better not stay here,” the lad mused. “They’re sure to
come back, and the next time they might take a notion to
investigate this barrel. I’ll strike across country until I get to a house.
There must be people living around here.”
Tom never liked, afterward, to recall that journey. It was a painful
one because of his injured ankle. He got a tree branch, which he
used as a crutch and hobbled along on that. Once or twice he
fainted and sank to earth in a stupor. How long these periods of
unconsciousness lasted he could not tell. He dared not call out for
fear of bringing the men on his trail.
Through the woods and across a swamp he pulled himself along,
and at last, in the afternoon, as he could tell by the sun, he dragged
himself out on a road and saw a white farmhouse a little way down
it.
“I—I guess I’m all right now,” faltered the exhausted youth.
It was a much surprised farmer who a little later saw a tall young
man, obviously hurt, almost crawling up the front walk. Before the
farmer could ask any questions Tom shot one at him.
“I’ve got to get an important message off at once. Have you a
telephone? I’ll pay for using it!” There was something businesslike in
Tom’s voice, weak and weary as it was, that impelled the farmer’s
respect in spite of Tom’s rather disreputable appearance.
“Come in,” the man invited. “Looks to me like you’d better
telephone for a doctor while you’re at it!”
“That can wait,” gasped Tom. “Something else is more important.
Show me the telephone!”
A little later he was gasping to Ned his message:
“Just escaped! Watch the plant! Get Father to safety. Look out for
bombs. I’ll try——”
Then Tom Swift fell over in a faint.
 CHAPTER XI
THE EXPLOSION
David Knowlton, the farmer upon whom Tom had called so
unceremoniously, was scarcely more surprised by the sudden falling
over of the young man in a faint than he had been at his eager
request for a telephone.
“Great bullfrogs!” cried Mr. Knowlton, as he hurried to pick Tom
up and lay him on a lounge in the room. “What’s all this goings-on,
anyhow? What’s it all mean?”
“Is he dead?” asked Mrs. Knowlton, who hurried into the room,
having followed Tom and her husband when she saw the stranger
come up to the house.
“I don’t know, Sarah,” was the answer. “But first hang that
telephone back on the hook. The inspector told me never to leave it
off when we weren’t using the line and I guess this fellow is through
using it.”
So the telephone went back on the hook, which defeated the
plans of frantic Ned Newton, on the other end, if not to hold further
talk with Tom, at least to learn from what station he was telephoning
his message of warning. In vain did Ned appeal to the central
operator to re-establish the connection.
“Unless you know the number of the party who called I can’t
connect you,” she reported, and Ned knew, from previous attempts,
that it was useless to carry the effort further. He could only hope
that Tom would call again to relieve their minds. All they knew now
was that he was alive, but that something dire portended.
Meanwhile Mr. and Mrs. Knowlton, kindly souls that they were,
ministered to Tom Swift. The farmer’s wife brought out her bottle of
camphor, and a sniff of this potent spirit, with some rubbed on his
forehead, soon brought Tom out of his faint. Then he was given a
drink of water, which further helped in restoring his failing energies.
 “If they come for me, don’t let them get me!” begged Tom,
sitting up on the couch. “Help me to get back! I must travel fast!”
“You need a doctor, that’s what you need, young man!” decided
Mr. Knowlton. “You aren’t fit to travel. You’ve done too much of that
already, from the looks of you, and that foot of yours is in bad
shape,” he added, as he saw the swollen ankle. Tom’s shoe laces
were almost bursting from the pressure of the swelled flesh, and the
farmer had to cut them to loosen them. This gave Tom some relief,
but the hardships he had gone through, the anxiety, and being
without proper food so long, had so weakened him that he went off
in another faint before he could tell his story.
“Call Doctor Prouty,” advised Mrs. Knowlton. “We’ll never get to
the bottom of this until this young man is in his right mind.”
Luckily the physician was in his office in the village and drove out
in his car as soon as the farmer had telephoned. A hasty
examination showed that Tom was suffering from exhaustion more
than from anything else, and a little warm milk, followed later by
more substantial food, soon gave the youth energy enough to tell
the main points of his story.
“And if these men come after me—which they may do,” he said
to Mr. Knowlton, “you won’t let them get me, will you?”
“I should say not!” cried Mrs. Knowlton before her husband could
answer. “The idea! You poor boy!”
While the doctor was giving some directions as to what should be
done for Tom, one of the hired men on the place came to the door
of the room and reported:
“There’s a couple of men outside who want to see you, Mr.
Knowlton.”
“All right—I’ll see them,” answered the farmer grimly. “Now don’t
you worry!” he told Tom, as the youth started to say something.
“Just leave ’em to me.”
Mr. Knowlton found two unprepossessing characters awaiting him
on the side porch. He recognized them at once from Tom’s
description.
“Have you seen a young man passing here?” asked one of the
twain. “He has escaped from an insane asylum and we want to take
him back before he can do any damage. He has a delusion that he is
a great inventor, named Tom Swift, and he will likely tell a very
plausible story. Have you seen him?”
“Tom Swift is in my house now,” said the farmer slowly.
“Is he? That’s good! We’re glad you have him safe!” cried the
taller of the two men, with a quick glance at his companion. “Poor
fellow—he needs care. We’ll look after him. Much obliged for having
taken him in.”
“Wait a minute,” went on the farmer, as the two men endeavored
to push past him into the house. “Where are you going?”
“To get the patient and take him back to the asylum.”
“Well, I’d wait a bit about that if I were you,” went on Mr.
Knowlton grimly. “Now look here,” he went on, producing a shotgun
from behind one of the porch pillars. “I’ll give you fellows just one
minute to run down the road and make yourselves scarce in any
direction you like. Just one minute, and several seconds of that have
already passed!” he added significantly, as he raised the gun.
“But I say—look here!” broke out one of the men.
“Half a minute gone!” said the inexorable farmer.
“You don’t understand!” began the other plotter.
“I understand how to use a shotgun!” said Mr. Knowlton. “There’s
about fifteen seconds of that minute left and——” He cocked the
gun.
But the two men did not stay to argue longer. With black looks
and shaking their fists at the imperturbable farmer, they ran out of
the gate, and with a grim chuckle Mr. Knowlton returned to Tom to
tell what had happened.
“Thank you—a whole lot,” said the young inventor. “They are
desperate men. They are going to blow up my factory. I must get
back at once and look after my father. He is an old man—he may not
take my telephone warning seriously. Nor may Ned. I must go there
myself!”
“But you aren’t fit to travel!” expostulated Mrs. Knowlton. “One of
the hired men could go.”
“No, I must make the trip,” decided Tom. “I’m all right now—
except for my ankle. Have you an auto?”
 “Oh, yes, we have a flivver,” said the farmer.
“Then lend it to me—or sell it to me!” cried Tom. “I must make
this trip at once—before night. Where is this place, anyhow?”
“You’re in Birchville,” was the answer. “It’s about thirty miles to
Shopton from here.”
“I can make it!” cried Tom. “I can hobble along and make the trip
in the auto. You’ll let me go, won’t you, Doctor?”
“Well, since you’re so set on it, I reckon I’ll have to. As you say,
there’s nothing much the matter except a sprained ankle, and if
some one will drive the car for you——”
“I’ll drive!” cried the farmer. “I want to see this thing through
now. I didn’t like the looks of those fellows with their lie about an
escaped crazy man. I’ll drive you home, Tom Swift!”
A little later they were on the road, and though the flivver made
good time, still to Tom it seemed only to crawl. It was evening now,
and rapidly getting dark.
Just before setting out he had again called Ned on the wire,
telling his manager where he was, briefly relating what had
happened, and again warning about the danger of bombs.
“Don’t worry, Tom,” Ned had ’phoned back. “We’re so glad you’re
safe; nothing else matters. But we’ll be on our guard.”
The lights of Shopton were in view. Mr. Knowlton drove his car
down the slope that led to the Swift plant, the electric gleams of
which could be made out now.
“I guess everything’s all right,” Tom said, with a note of relief in
his voice.
But he had hardly spoken than there came the sound of a loud
explosion.
“There goes something!” cried the farmer.
“I’m afraid so!” exclaimed Tom. “I wonder if that was at my
plant? Oh, I do hope Ned and my father took all precautions!”
As the echoes of the explosion died away the little car carrying
Tom and the farmer lurched forward.
 CHAPTER XII
A DANGEROUS SEARCH
Immediately after receiving the mysterious message from Tom, a
message that seemed to come out of the air, Ned Newton made a
frantic effort to get the operator at central to trace the call. But if
one has ever tried to do this he knows how difficult it is. Unless one
can give the telephone number of the party to whom he has been
talking, and who made the call, if one is cut off there is little chance
of the communication being re-established. Ned found this out to his
sorrow.
“What is his number?” asked the telephone girl in a matter-of-
fact way.
“His number? Great Scott, didn’t I tell you——”
“I’ll give you the manager,” went on the bored operator.
But the manager could give no more satisfaction than his helper.
He promised to trace the call and let Ned know what success he
had.
“But I know what the answer is already,” Ned remarked in
disgusted tones as he gave up vainly rattling the hook. “We won’t
hear another word from Tom until he calls us himself. But we are
sure of one thing—he’s alive.”
“Did he give you any particulars?” asked Mr. Swift.
“Bless my telephone book, who’s been treating him this way?”
demanded Mr. Damon.
Ned repeated the message as it came to him:
“Just escaped! Watch the plant! Get Father to safety! Look out
for bombs! I’ll try——”
Then the voice had died away.
“It’s as we suspected,” commented Ned. “He has been captured
by some of his enemies and held a captive up to a little while ago.
Then he got away. Good old Tom! You can depend on him for that!”
 “But it seems to me we should do something,” declared Mary,
very much in earnest.
“Bless my eyeglasses, that’s what I say!” cried Mr. Damon. “Come
on—we’ll get in my airship—it must be repaired by this time—and
we’ll rescue Tom! Don’t lose any more time!”
“But we don’t know where he is,” said Ned. “It would be worse
than useless to go scouring around the country looking for Tom in an
airship. He might be only five miles from here or he might be five
hundred.”
“Yes,” agreed Mary Nestor. “The thing for us to do is to follow
Tom’s advice—watch the plant, get Mr. Swift to a place of safety, and
look out for bombs.”
“Are you actually going to hunt through the plant for hidden
bombs?” demanded Mr. Damon.
“Certainly,” Ned answered. “It’s the only thing to do after Tom’s
warning message. While I don’t know what the game is, I think it
likely that his enemies kidnapped Tom to get him out of the way so
they could have a free run of the plant to search for and take away
his models and papers of the newest invention—the airline express.
Well, they got Tom, but he managed to escape, and their first
attempt to sneak into the plant was a failure.
“Now they may have secreted some time bombs around the
place. These may go off any minute, but, it is probable, they have
been set to explode after dark. They hope to throw the place into
confusion, and then to rush in and get what they want. But Tom has
put us on guard.”
“Yes,” agreed Mr. Damon. “Then, as I understand it, we are now
going to search for bombs that may go off at any minute?”
“That’s right,” assented Ned.
“Well, I’m glad I carry a large accident insurance,” said the
eccentric man, forgetting to bless anything just then.
“Oh, there may not be much danger,” Ned stated. “If the plotters
hope to get Tom’s models and papers it isn’t likely they would use
bombs of very great force. To do so would be to blow things so
much apart that they couldn’t get anything out of the ruins.
 “So I think they will use bombs with only a small charge of
explosive—enough to make a lot of noise, smoke, and confusion. But
if we can find them first—the bombs, I mean—and put them out of
business, we’ll be all right.”
“Yes,” said Mr. Damon, “providing they don’t find us first and put
us out of business. It doesn’t take much of a bomb to blow a man
sky-high.”
“No,” grimly admitted Ned. “But that’s the chance we have to
take.”
“Yes, it’s a chance,” said the odd man, and then he and Ned
began their perilous work—for it was perilous in spite of what the
young manager had said—while Mr. Swift and Mary Nestor returned
to the house.
The heads of the various factory departments were called into
consultation and instructions given them to search their respective
quarters with minute care to discover any possible bombs. Koku and
Eradicate were also called in and with Ned and Mr. Damon formed a
separate searching party.
It was Koku who found the first bomb. The giant was looking in a
pile of rubbish in one corner of a certain shop when he made a dive
for something and cried:
“Cannon ball—like strong man throw in circus. I stronger than
circus man—I toss cannon ball!”
Ned was just in time to stop him, for the giant had picked up a
round iron object and was about to use it to exhibit his great
strength when the manager cried:
“Hold it, Koku! That’s a bomb!”
And so it proved to be—a bomb with a time arrangement for
firing it, set to go off in about two hours. Ned quickly disconnected
the firing arrangement and the bomb was put in a pail of water.
Efforts were redoubled to find the dangerous “cannon balls,” as
Koku called them, and in a short time three more were discovered in
various parts of the plant. They were all set with time fuses which
had more than an hour yet to run, so the bombs were rendered
harmless with no ill effects to the searchers.
 But it was when the shadows of evening were falling, and Ned
and the others had about given up expectation of finding more
bombs, that Ned unexpectedly came across one hidden in a refuse
box outside of Tom’s private office.
It needed but an instant’s look to show that this was timed to go
off almost immediately, which fact, when Ned discovered it, caused
him to shout:
“Look out! This is a live one!”
He hurled it from him, toward a pile of lumber in the shop yard.
There was a deafening report—a shower of planks and boards rose
in the air and settled back again with a crash, while a cloud of
smoke filled the air.
“Just in time!” cried Ned. “If that had gone off here it would have
killed all of us.”
And as the echoes of the explosion died away a voice was heard
shouting:
“Is any one hurt? Father, are you there? Ned, is any one hurt?”
 CHAPTER XIII
AN OMINOUS MESSAGE

Curious, indeed, was the chance, coincidence, or fate—call it

what you like—which brought Tom Swift on the scene, in company
with Mr. Knowlton in the runabout, just as the bomb which Ned
tossed away exploded near the lumber pile. Tom and his friend felt
the force of the blast, but, aside from a stunned feeling and the
shock, they were unhurt, and after a momentary stopping of the car
Mr. Knowlton sent it on again.
But Tom was anxious to know what had happened; hence his cry
as he saw the flash and heard the blast so near his plant and his
volley of questions as soon as Mr. Knowlton brought the car to a
final stop. And Ned, hearing his friend’s cry, first marveled and then
rejoiced.
“Tom! Tom!” he shouted. “Are you there?”
“Yes,” was the answer. “But what happened? Is my father all
right?” There was so much smoke from the bomb that Tom could not
see far ahead, especially as it was now dark.
“Your father is all right—he’s back home with Mary,” Ned
informed Tom, as the latter got out of the car to limp toward the
entrance gate near his private office. “And the plant isn’t damaged.
Come in and I’ll tell you about it.”
“Are these your friends? Are you sure everything is all right?”
asked the cautious farmer, as he saw Tom preparing to go in through
the big gate in the high fence. One of the men had hastened to
open it when it was certain that Tom was outside.
“Yes, everything is all right,” was the answer. “This is my factory
—my friends are here. But my enemies have been trying some of
their tricks. Luckily the tricks didn’t work. But don’t go,” begged Tom.
“I want you to meet Ned Newton and my father. He’ll want to thank
you for aiding me—for bringing me back here.”
 “Oh, shucks! That wasn’t anything!” expostulated Mr. Knowlton.
“Anybody would have done the same. I won’t stop now. I’m in a
hurry to get back home—my wife will be worried. But she’ll be glad
to know you got here safe and found your friends. Come out and
see us some time.”
“I will,” promised Tom, and then as his benefactor drove away,
Tom and Ned rushed toward each other to shake hands, while Mr.
Damon brought up the rear, murmuring:
“Bless my insurance policy! Bless my rubber boots! If this isn’t
most astonishing!”
“Are you all right, Tom?” demanded Ned, anxiously looking over
his chum. “But you’re hurt!” he cried.
“Only a sprained ankle,” explained Tom, who was hobbling about.
“I had to jump out of a window. But is Dad all right? What was that
explosion?”
“One of the bombs you warned us about. We found four—this
was the fifth and just about to go off. I fired it away not a second
too soon. It chewed up some of your spare lumber. I guess it’s the
last. But where have you been? After the first message of yours we
didn’t know what to think until you telephoned again that you were
on your way in. What’s it all about?”
“Trouble, I guess,” answered Tom. “Some gang is after me and
the new airline ideas and patents. They’re desperate. Wait until I
’phone to the house to let Dad and Mary know I’m all right, and then
I’ll explain. Why, hello, Mr. Damon!” Tom exclaimed as he saw his
eccentric friend. “Did they get you over here to hunt bombs?”
“He overheard some talk which gave us an idea of the desperate
men who were after you,” stated Ned. “He came over in a hurry, and
——”
“Too much of a hurry, I guess,” broke in Mr. Damon, in rather
crestfallen tones. “I smashed up your mooring mast, Tom.”
“That’s a small matter—easily mended. I’m glad you weren’t hurt.
I’ll tell you everything in a few minutes.”
Tom limped into his office and soon was conversing with his
father and then, at more length, with Mary. They were rejoiced to
learn that he had escaped and was safe. Then began the telling of
the two-sided story—the events leading up to the explosion of the
bomb Ned had hurled away just as Tom arrived.
Tom related how he had seen the strange man disappear behind
the bush, how he had followed, had gone down the secret steps,
and how he awoke out of a doped stupor to find himself a prisoner.
Then he told of being taken to the lonely house and how he had
escaped.
Ned, in turn, related their anxiety when Tom did not come home,
and told how they had searched for him before and after the arrival
of Mr. Damon.
“We sure were glad to hear your voice over the wire,” Ned
stated. “But somebody cut us off.”
“No, I fainted,” Tom explained, “and Mr. Knowlton or his wife
hung up the receiver without trying to carry on the talk, which, if
they had done, would have told you everything. But the doctor soon
pulled me around and the only thing really the matter with me now
is this swollen ankle. But that will soon go down and then I’ll get
after these fellows and finish work on my airline express. Now tell
me where you found the bombs.”
Ned did, stating that one had been found near Tom’s office.
“Well, there may be more bombs,” Tom said. “I won’t be satisfied
until we have gone over all this plant again. We can’t afford to take
chances. But I’ll move my airline express models and patent papers
—that is, the preliminary ones—to a place of safety in my Chest of
Secrets.”
This was done, and then another careful search was made of the
premises. No more bombs were found and Tom announced his
intention of going home to get some much-needed rest.
“But how do you suppose, with all your guards, Tom, and the
electrical fence, those fellows planted the bombs?” asked Mr.
Damon.
“I don’t know,” replied the young inventor. “I’m afraid there is
treachery somewhere in our working force. Without the aid of
confederates those plotters couldn’t have put the bombs in here. I’ll
have to make an investigation. But for the present the danger is
past, I think.”
 They were all in need of rest and quiet after the exciting two
days through which they had passed, especially Tom, and when he
reached home Mrs. Baggert insisted on putting him straight to bed,
in which place, to tell the truth, the young inventor was not at all
averse to spending some time.
The following day things had rather quieted down at the plant.
The resulting débris was swept up, and the shattered lumber pile,
devastated by the bomb, was examined for remnants of the infernal
machine. Several pieces of cast iron were picked up, and Tom said
he would investigate them to try to discover, if possible, where the
bomb was made. It appeared to have contained no missiles, being
merely a hollow shell filled with explosives, set to go off at a certain
time, and Ned had hurled it away not an instant too soon.
“The first thing we’ve got to do,” decided Tom, a few days later,
when he was able to be about without his crutch and with much of
his former energy restored, “is to investigate that secret stairway.
Maybe some of the fellows are still on Barn Door Island.”
But the delay, short as it was, had given the plotters time to
vanish and to destroy some of their work. The stairs were in place,
but after tearing up the planks, after the soil had been swept away,
there was revealed only a blind passage. The tunnel had been caved
in a short distance from the secret steps and it was impossible to
traverse it.
The same conditions prevailed on Barn Door Island. The place
where Tom had emerged from the tunnel was found, but a short
distance back in the passage dirt and rocks were piled up,
preventing a further examination being made.
“Maybe they’re walled up in the tunnel under the lake,”
suggested Mr. Damon.
“Not likely,” Tom said.
“They probably cleared out after their bold plan didn’t succeed,”
Ned remarked.
“Yes, they’ve gone for a time,” Tom admitted. “But that doesn’t
mean it’s forever. They’re still at large and they won’t give up so
easily. I’m afraid for the success of my airline express plans. But I’m
going to work on them.”
 That Tom’s fears were well grounded was borne out a few days
later when, as the young inventor sat at his desk, his private
telephone rang. Tom’s own instrument had a number not in the book
and was known only to a few. Unless this number were given to the
central operator Tom’s ’phone bell would not ring.
But ring it did on this occasion, and over the wire came this
ominous message:
“Look out for yourself, Tom Swift! We’ll get you yet!”
 CHAPTER XIV
THE AIRLINE EXPRESS
Like a flash Tom Swift realized that this warning had come from
those daring enemies of his who were still at large—the same men,
Kenny and Schlump and the two masked ones, who had kidnapped
him. He could realize their rage at his escape, their anger at the
foiling of their plot to blow the place up by bombs, or, if their
intention was not to cause serious damage, but only confusion,
during which they might rob—this, too, had been frustrated.
For a moment the sinister character of all that had taken place
stunned the young inventor. The danger under which he was, came
to him with a sickening realization and he sat for a moment holding
the receiver in his nerveless hand.
He was brought back to a sense of realities by hearing the
somewhat distant voice of the operator asking:
“What number, please?”
That stirred Tom into action.
“Look here!” he cried into the instrument. “You don’t realize how
important this is! I’ve received a threat over the wire! I must trace
——”
“Hold the line,” interrupted the girl in a matter-of-fact tone, and,
for a moment, Tom felt hopeful that he could thus get on the trail of
those who sought to injure him. But while he was even thus hoping
another voice broke in on his thoughts saying:
“This is the manager, have you any complaint to make?”
“Oh—no!” exclaimed Tom in despair, realizing how useless it was
to try to trace the call thus. He was going through much the same
experience Ned had gone through the time Tom called him from the
farmhouse and then fainted. “I’ll call and explain. This is Tom Swift
speaking,” he told the manager. “I want to trace a call that came
over my private wire, but I can do it best by a personal visit, I
believe.”
 “We will do all we can for you,” the manager said, for she knew
the Swift concern was a large and important one. “It is often difficult
to trace stray calls that may be made from any of a hundred pay
stations. But I will help you all I can.”
“Thank you,” said Tom, and hung up the receiver. Then he fell
into deep thought.
As he had feared, the danger was not over. His enemies were
only biding their time. They had failed in their first efforts, but they
were not going to give up. The sinister threat was enough to
disclose that.
Deciding that quick action was the best way to trace the
mysterious call, Tom at once summoned Ned and they visited the
local telephone exchange. There the records were gone over, but
aside from establishing the fact that the call was put through from
the Waterfield central, nothing was established. From just what
station the threatening man had spoken, Tom could not find out.
That it was a man’s voice he was certain, but whether or not it was
one of the four or five who had held him prisoner in the lonely house
Tom could not decide.
“But there’s something in the fact that the call came from Mr.
Damon’s town,” said Ned. “And he overheard men talking about you
the time he was eating in the lunch wagon. It begins to look, Tom,
as if the headquarters of the gang was in or near Waterfield.”
“Yes, it does,” agreed Tom. “I think we’ll take a run over there. I
want to see Mr. Damon on business, anyhow. And we can take in
that old house where they had me tied up. I want to see if I can get
any clews there.”
However, a visit to the lonely shack, which Tom located after
some difficulty, was without result. It had long been uninhabited,
and the owner, when found, said he knew nothing of the men who
had been in it. This Tom and Ned could well believe. A search
through the premises revealed nothing of any value as a clew. The
ropes which Tom had discarded when he made his escape had been
taken away, or it might have been possible to trace the place where
they had been bought.
 “I guess Waterfield is our next and best hope,” remarked Ned, as
he and Tom came away from the lonely house.
“I think so,” agreed the young inventor. “Mr. Damon may have
heard something more.”
They found the odd man contemplating his new plane, which had
been repaired and taken back to his own private hangar.
Mr. Damon led his visitors to his private office, and there Tom
told the latest happenings. But Mr. Damon was unable to throw any
light on this new development, nor was he able to trace the men he
had overheard talking in the lunch wagon. He had tried to get the
police to locate them, but without avail.
“Well, we’ll let that go for the present,” decided Tom. “Now for
something else—my latest idea, so to speak. I heard you say, the
other day, Mr. Damon, that you had some loose funds you wished
you could invest in a paying undertaking.”
“That’s right, Tom, so I have, bless my bank-book!”
“Well, I’m thinking of forming a company to exploit my airline
express. I find that a large part of Father’s funds and mine are tied
up in such a way, in our other inventions, that I can’t get enough
ready cash in a hurry, and I need considerable to start this new
method of travel. I thought perhaps you might be interested.”
“I think I may be, Tom,” said Mr. Damon. “Tell me about it.”
“Well, it’s like this,” began the young inventor. “You know over in
Europe and here, too, though to a much more limited extent, great
interest is being manifested in travel by aeroplane—I mean travel by
private parties. They have aeroplanes now that carry ten or twelve
at a time over the English Channel. You can also fly from Paris to
Berlin and between other European cities. In fact, they have regular
routes of travel there. But here we have only a few which might be
called experimental if we exclude the air mail which is a great
success between New York and Chicago and western points. Now
what I plan is this: An airline express from New York to San
Francisco, a straight-across-the-continent flight by daylight—say
from sunrise to sunset.”
“What do you mean, Tom?” cried Wakefield Damon. “Do you
mean to tell me you can build an aeroplane that will cross the
continent in twelve hours?”
“Not in twelve hours, perhaps,” replied Tom, with a smile.
“Though I’m not ready to admit that’s impossible. But there are
more than twelve hours from sunrise to sunset—or rather, from
dawn until dark. I’ll set the time at sixteen hours. That ought to be
easy.”
“But you spoke of making the trip continuously—without change,”
said Mr. Damon, to whom Tom’s idea was not altogether new. “None
of the aeroplanes we have at present can do that—it’s all of three
thousand miles. The British transatlantic fliers didn’t make as long a
journey as that, though of course they were in more danger, flying
over the ocean.”
“Probably it wouldn’t be a non-stop flight,” said Tom. “The air
mail doesn’t do that—different planes are used. It’s just the same in
making a transcontinental trip in a railroad train. No one engine
makes the entire trip, nor does a single train crew. But it is possible
to get in a sleeping car in New York and stay in the same car until
you get to San Francisco. The car is merely coupled to different
engines, made up into different trains at certain designated places.”
“Is that your plan?” asked the odd man. “I thought you said you
were going to run aeroplanes, not railroad cars.”
“I am, if I can make a go of it,” replied the young inventor. “But it
will be a combination aeroplane and railroad coach. Here is my idea
in a rough form.”
He laid before Ned and Mr. Damon a sketch of a large and
powerful plane and also a sort of coach on wheels. The two were
shown separately and in combination.
“You see,” went on Tom, pointing out the different features, “the
passengers would take their places in this coach—a sort of glorified
automobile—at the first landing field, on Long Island. There this car,
which will hold half a dozen or more, will be fastened to the
aeroplane by clamps. The aeroplane will take off, and make an
airline for Chicago, which will be the first of two stops to be made
between New York and the Pacific coast. Landing on the Chicago
field, the autocar will be detached and rolled, under its own power,
to the second aeroplane which will be in waiting. It will be clamped
fast to the chassis, and if the passengers happen to be asleep they
will not be awakened, any more than they would when a Pullman
sleeper is taken off one train and put on another.
“As soon as the car is clamped to the second plane that one
starts and flies to Denver. There it descends, the car is rolled to the
third plane, in waiting, and that sets off, landing in San Francisco
about sixteen hours from the time the start was made—a daylight
trip across the continent.”
“Can it be done?” asked Mr. Damon.
“I think so,” Tom answered. “I plan now on making one trip each
way every week. There will be three laps of approximately one
thousand miles each. Figure five hours to a lap, that would mean a
flying rate of two hundred miles an hour—not at all impossible. We’ll
charge a fare of one thousand dollars each way. There’ll be money in
it, Mr. Damon. Do you want to go in with us?”
Instead of answering Mr. Damon rose and tiptoed his way softly
to the door, where he stood intently listening.
 CHAPTER XV
A TRIAL FLIGHT
Tom Swift and Ned Newton watched the odd man curiously.
Afterward Ned said he thought Mr. Damon had gone to the door to
ascertain if his wife might be eavesdropping, since she did not
altogether approve of many of the things he did in connection with
the young inventor.
“I thought maybe he was going to get his checkbook,” Tom said
later. He was always a very hopeful individual.
But when Mr. Damon returned to his seat after his tiptoeing visit
to the closed door he remarked in a low voice:
“You can’t be too careful.”
“About what?” asked Tom, impressed by his friend’s manner.
“About letting your plans become known before you are ready to
spring this new airline express on the public,” was the answer.
“Why, you don’t suspect any one in your own house, do you?”
asked Ned.
“Not my wife, of course,” Mr. Damon answered. “But there have
been several queer characters around here of late. Several men have
called, trying to get me to hire them as a valet. Bless my necktie, as
if I needed a valet! Of course I sent them away, but yesterday the
maid let another one in while I was busy in my study, and the fellow
had the impudence to walk right up to my door. My wife caught him
standing there listening after the maid had gone away, and Mrs.
Damon sent the fellow flying, I’ll tell you.
“I suspect, Tom, that he had something to do with the gang that
is trying to get your new apparatus away from you. He must know
that I am your friend and often go on trips with you, and possibly he
thought he might get some information here, in a sneaking way.
That’s why I wanted to make sure no one was out in the hall
listening. It’s all right. I looked out through the crack and no one is
there. Now go on with your explanation.”
 Tom did, elaborating on his plans for a big aeroplane in two
sections, the part where the passengers were to be carried being
like a big autocar, able to move under its own power.
“It is this feature that will save a lot of time,” he explained. “After
the first aeroplane starts from Long Island the passengers will not
have to move out of their seats until they reach San Francisco. Or, if
we start at night, in case it is found desirable to have overnight trips,
a man can go to sleep in New York and awaken at the Golden Gate,
that is, if he wants to sleep that long.”
“It’s a big undertaking!” said the odd man.
“But Tom can carry it through if any one can,” declared Ned.
“The worst of it is that it’s going to take a mint of money,” sighed
the young inventor. “That’s why I’m calling on you and some of my
other friends to take stock, Mr. Damon. How does it strike you?”
To the credit of Mr. Damon be it said that he did not hesitate a
moment. He held out his hand to his friend and said:
“I’m with you, Tom Swift! I’ll invest all I can afford. I wish it was
more, but I’ve spent a lot on that new aeroplane of mine that I
nearly smashed. However, I have a few dollars left in the bank.
Though you needn’t say anything to my wife about this,” he went on
in a low voice as he got out his checkbook.
Tom and Ned smiled as they gave a promise of secrecy, and a
little later the young inventor left with his first contribution toward
financing the airline express—a check for five thousand dollars.
Tom Swift spent busy days during the next few weeks. Like all
new enterprises, this one was not easy to start, though many of
Tom’s friends, whom he approached with a plea that they buy stock
which would pay big dividends if the plan succeeded, at once
purchased blocks. Others required more persuasion, and not a few
said they would buy stock if they could see the machines in
operation.
“That’s what we’ve got to do, Ned,” decided the young inventor,
when it was evident that the enterprise might fail through lack of
capital. “We’ve got to show these Missouri birds that we can fly this
combined auto and aeroplane. Gee, I’m sorry now Dad and I have
all our ready money tied up in those other matters.”
 “But can you build a trial machine?” asked the treasurer of the
Swift concern.
“I can as soon as my patent papers come through from
Washington,” Tom said. “That’s where the hitch is now. After all the
machines we have made in our plant, it would be queer if we
couldn’t build a speedy aeroplane of extra power and also a chassis
to clamp on to carry the passengers. That’s where the patent comes
in—the method of combining the two.”
“But I understood that the patents had been allowed,” said Mr.
Damon, who was present. “That was the latest advice from your
Washington lawyer.”
“Yes, I know. But several matters have come up since then.
Some one is trying to throw a monkey wrench into the gear wheels,
so to speak, and I suspect it is the same gang that tried to put me
out of the way—the scoundrels headed by Schlump and Kenny. I
think I shall have to make a trip to Washington myself.”
“Be careful, Tom,” warned Ned Newton. “They may get you on
the way there.”
“I guess I can look out for myself,” was the answer.
But when Mary Nestor heard what Tom proposed to do, she
added her warning to Ned’s. However, Tom was firm and then Mary
delivered her ultimatum.
“If you go to Washington, I’m going, too,” she declared.
“Good!” cried Tom. “I’ve been wanting a little excursion with you,
Mary, and we’ll make a party of it and take Ned and Helen along.
That will be fun!”
“That’s the idea!” Ned declared. “It will be a bold gang that dares
to start anything with the two girls along.”
It may be mentioned here that Tom’s patents were really of a
three-fold nature. One consisted of the peculiar construction of the
passenger car to be used in the ocean-to-ocean flight, the second
was a patent on the method of clamping this car to the aeroplane,
and the third covered the method of manufacturing the duralumin
alloy of which the car and a part of the aeroplane were to be
constructed. Ordinary duralumin is composed of ninety-four per
cent. aluminum and the rest copper and magnesium; but Tom had a
secret formula of his own, not only for mixing these ingredients, but
also in the melting and forging processes. His duralumin he
considered stronger than any ever used in an aeroplane and it was
at least three per cent. lighter in weight than any which had ever
been offered to him.
There is nothing like going yourself when you want a thing done,
as Tom found, and he had not been many days in Washington,
whither his three friends accompanied him, before he had matters
connected with his patents straightened out and he was assured by
a high government authority that his claim was original, valid, and
would eventually be allowed, thus giving him the sole right to make
airline express machines for a limited period.
Perhaps this action of the patent authorities was hastened when
an old army officer, a friend of Tom’s father, heard about the matter
and declared such a machine would be of great value to the United
States in case of another war.
This officer impressed his views on certain friends of his in the
patent office, and the result was that the usual leaden wheels in that
institution began to move more rapidly.
“If you can wait long enough,” said General Malcolm, who had
been of such service to Tom, “I believe I can even get you a
government subsidy.”
“How long would it take to get the government to invest money
in this new undertaking of mine?” Tom wanted to know.
“Oh, probably two or three years. A bill would have to be
introduced in Congress—it might take four years.”
“I expect to make the first flight inside of a month,” Tom
laughed.
Tom and his friends returned to Shopton, and then followed
many strenuous days and nights of work for the young inventor.
Those who had faith in Tom and those who knew and understood
Ned Newton’s unusual knowledge and judgment in financial matters
so talked to their friends that eventually outsiders put one hundred
thousand dollars into the scheme and this, together with the money
Mr. Damon and other acquaintances subscribed and with what Tom
and his father had, gave them enough cash to build three planes
and two cars.
Essentially there was nothing new or startling in the construction
of either of these machines. My readers are all familiar with the
general outline of an aeroplane. Beneath the fuselage which held the
engine and a cockpit for the pilot and his helper was built a heavy
frame to which could be clamped the passenger car.
This car was like a Pullman parlor car combined with a sleeper. It
had some folding berths and also some easy chairs. There was a
small dining room and a buffet kitchen, and many conveniences
were installed. Tom limited the number of passengers to be carried
on any one trip to ten, saying he could enlarge the cars if he found
the machine was going to be a success.
In due time the two cars and the three planes received their last
coats of varnish, the powerful engines were installed after a rigid
block test, and one day Tom announced to Ned that all was in
readiness for a trial flight.
“Want to come along?” asked the young inventor.
“Sure!” was the quick answer. “Anybody else going?”
“Yes. Mr. Damon is game and Father insists on accompanying us.
I think I’ll take Koku along—he might come in handy in case
anything should happen.”
It was decided to make the start from the big field outside of the
Swift plant, and one morning one of the planes and its
accompanying passenger car was rolled out on the level stretch. To
make the test under the same conditions that would prevail when
the airline express was in service, Tom and his friends entered the
passenger car at one end of the field.
“We will imagine,” explained Tom, “that we have just landed here
from the plane that brought us from Long Island to Chicago on the
first lap of the transcontinental flight. Now we will run over and
attach ourselves to the other plane.”
As has been said, the passenger car could move under its own
power, as can an automobile. Tom started the motor and skillfully
guided the car under the waiting aeroplane. In a moment workmen
had fastened the clamps.
 “Let her go!” Tom called to the pilot in the aeroplane, and the big
propellers began to revolve with a thundering sound. The engine
seemed working perfectly and a moment later the whole machine—
the airline express—began to roll forward across the field. There was
a moment of doubt as to whether or not the aeroplane would raise
itself and the heavy weight it had to carry, but Tom had made his
calculations well, and, to his delight and that of his friends, the
machine began to soar upward.
“Hurray!” cried Ned. “She’s doing it!”
“Yes, we’re off on the first real flight, anyhow,” agreed Tom.
“It works better than I expected,” Mr. Swift said. All along he had
been a bit skeptical about this new scheme.
A little later they were sailing over Lake Carlopa and Mr. Damon,
looking down from one of the observations of the car, said:
“Aren’t we flying a bit low, Tom?”
“Yes, I think we are,” agreed the young inventor. “Put her up a
bit!” he signaled to the pilot through the speaking tube.
Back came the answer:
“I can’t! Something has gone wrong! I’m losing power! I’m afraid
we’re in for a fall!”
 CHAPTER XVI
JASON JACKS
Just for a moment or two Tom Swift wished he were in the motor
cockpit of the plane instead of in the passenger car with his father
and his friends. He had an idea he might so manipulate the controls
as to cause the falling plane to increase speed and keep on flying
until a safe landing could be made.
But in an instant this idea passed. Tom had full confidence in his
mechanician, and realized if Harry Meldrum could not prevent a fall
Tom himself could not, for Meldrum, taught in the Swift school of
flying, was a thoroughly competent and resourceful airman.
“What’s wrong?” Tom asked his engineer through the tube.
“Oil pump has blown out a gasket! The engine is heating. It’s got
to stop soon and we’ll have to come down—in the lake, I guess,”
was the grim finish of the report.
“Well, I’ve landed in worse places,” remarked Tom.
“Is anything going to happen?” his father wanted to know.
“I’m afraid there is,” the young inventor answered. “We’re being
forced down. I thought everything was all right with the machinery,
but you never can tell.”
“Bless my accident insurance policy! Do you think we’ll go down
right in the water, Tom?” gasped Mr. Damon.
“It begins to look so,” was the reply. “But perhaps better there
than on land—there won’t be such a shock. The plane has floating
compartments, and so has this car—I had them built in as a
precaution against water landings. I don’t believe there will be any
real danger.”
There was no doubt about it—the plane was gradually settling
lower and lower—ever coming nearer to the surface of Lake Carlopa.
“She’s slowing up, Tom,” remarked Ned, as he listened to the
throbs and pulsations of the motor above them.
 “Yes, I’m afraid we’re in for it,” came the response. “Can’t you
make any emergency repairs, Meldrum?” he asked the mechanician.
“Bert’s trying, but it doesn’t seem of much use,” was the answer.
Bert Dodge was the assistant engineer, and fully as competent as his
chief.
“This settles one thing,” remarked Tom, as he glanced out of the
car window. “On the next flight I’ll have a duplicate oiling system
installed.”
“Brace yourselves, everybody! We’re in for a ducking!” came the
cry.
The next moment the big new aeroplane and its attached
passenger car plunged into Lake Carlopa with a mighty splash. For a
moment it seemed that they would be engulfed and all drowned
before they could make egress from the plane and car. But Meldrum
had guided the machine down on a long angle so that the water was
struck a glancing blow. In effect, the lower surface of the car and
the tail of the plane slid along the surface of the water for some
distance. This neutralized some of the force of the impact, and then,
though the machine settled rather deeply in the water, it did not
sink. The air compartments prevented that.
However, help was at hand. A number of motor boats were out
on the lake, their occupants watching the trial flight of the new
airline express. When it was known that an accident had happened,
these craft speeded to the rescue. As soon as the boats drew near
the men in the plane and those in the car climbed outside and
thence were taken off in the boats.
“Looks as if it was going to be a total loss, Tom,” said Mr. Damon
gloomily, as the craft settled lower and lower in the water.
“It’s bad enough,” Tom admitted, ruefully shaking his head, as
the boat that had taken him off circled about the Falcon, as Tom had
christened his first machine. “But even if she sinks to the bottom I
believe I can raise her. The lake isn’t very deep here.”
However, it was not quite as bad as that. The Falcon was only
partly submerged, and there she lay, water-bound, in the lake. Her
actions decided Tom to install more air-tight compartments and
make the car lighter, which would insure its floating higher in case of
another water drop.
“Well, there’s nothing more we can do now,” decided the young
inventor. “If you’ll take me ashore, please,” he said to his rescuer,
“I’ll make arrangements for getting the Falcon out.”
He gave orders to this effect as soon as he reached his shop, and
when Mr. Swift, with a dubious shake of his head said:
“I’m afraid this is a failure, Tom! It’s too much for you.” The
young inventor with a determined air answered:
“I’ve never given up anything yet, and I’m not going to begin
now! I see where I made some mistakes and I’m going to correct
them.”
And when the plane and the car were raised and brought to
shore—being found to have suffered little damage—Tom started his
reconstruction work with more vim than before.
However, the accident, while it was not a serious one from a
mechanical standpoint, had a bad effect on Ned’s campaign to raise
funds for putting the airline express into actual service. True as it is
that nothing succeeds like success, nothing is more dampening to a
money campaign than failure. Capital seems very timid in the face of
failure, and deaf ears were turned to Ned’s urgent appeal to the
public to buy stock. For while Tom was working on the mechanical
end, Ned looked after the business interests.
“Well, Ned, how goes it?” asked the young inventor at the close
of a hard day’s work when Tom himself had been much cheered by
the progress he had made in lightening his passenger car and
installing a dual oiling system on the plane.
“It doesn’t go at all,” was the somewhat gloomy answer. “People
seem afraid to risk their money. If you could only make a successful
flight, Tom, or get some millionaire to invest about a hundred
thousand dollars without really seeing the thing fly, we’d be all
right.”
“I think I’ll be more successful in the first proposition than in the
second,” replied Tom, with a smile. “I don’t know many millionaires
who are letting go of dollars in hundred thousand lots.”
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