“Dad!” Am I glad to hear from you! Bud and I are prisoners on Spaniel Island.
Are you here too?”
“Yes. I’m in a cell with Ned and Jim Foster. The pirates took everything away from us but this transmitter so we haven’t been able to escape.”
He reported that all of them were in good condition physically but had just about given up hope of being rescued. Mr. Newton took the set and told Tom that he and the others were being held in a cell far down the corridor.
“Why wouldn’t you let us contact you?” Tom asked.
“I was afraid the pirates would learn about it,” he replied. “Then harm would have come to you as well as me. The gang had several raids scheduled for the next eight days. After that, they were going to decide about me. This could have been my last day on earth.”
“But it’s not going to be,” Tom said. “Is your door electrically charged like ours?”
“No, Tom. Try to short-circuit the electric current in yours. Then you can figure a way to get out.”
“Probably Jennig will return and I can get the keys,” he replied.
Tom’s heart pounded with excitement. “Uncle
194 TOM SWIFT AND HIS JETMARINE
Ned,” he said as a sudden thought struck him, “I believe I can do it!”
“If you can, you may short-circuit the dynamo and put out all the lights,”
Uncle Ned remarked.
“How will you accomplish the short-circuiting, Tom?” Bud asked, as the inventor signed off. “Not with your belt buckle?”
Tom knew that with the high charge on the door he would need something much heavier than the buckle to accomplish the short circuit. He pulled the soldering-iron pencil from his shoe.