Finally the lid of the tank was opened. The two Fat Men bobbed to the surface and were helped from the water by several willing pairs of hands.
Again the boys’ audience smiled as Tom and Bud awkwardly emerged from the suits. It took them several minutes to do so, but Tom had asked that A CRUCIAL TEST 85
they be given no assistance unless it was absolutely necessary.
“Say, where’s Chow?” Tom looked around. “I thought he wanted to watch this test.”
“He sure did,” said Bud. “What became of him after his phone call?”
No one knew the whereabouts of the Texan and decided that something very urgent must have taken him away, since the cook was always eager to watch Tom’s inventions at work.
To Chow the call had been important and grew more so as the minutes passed. After leaving the boys, he had boarded a bus for mid-town Shopton at the urgent call of his friend Gus Miller who owned a diner.
Gus’s regular chef, it seemed, had gone home sick and Chow had promised to help out during the rush hour. Besides this, the man had told Chow he had twice overheard two customers talking in low tones about Tom Swift. It might be well to look them over if they should come in.
“I’ll sure do that, and besides, I can slap hamburg* ers as fast as the next one!” Chow grinned.
The cook arrived at the diner to find Gus dashing about like a human octopus, frying eggs, waiting on the counter, and ringing the cash register all at the same time. The tall, skinny man’s Adam’s apple bobbed with delight when he saw his friend.