Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 03 – And His Rocket Ship

CHAPTER 6

THE ROCKET LAUNCHING

IN A LEAP Tom sprang high onto the ladder of the acid tank. Eskot was almost at the top and the young inventor worked upward at a furious rate to overtake the fanatical saboteur. He gained on him quickly.

Eskot stepped onto the metal catwalk and reached for the pressure vent through which he was intending to throw the deadly handful of sawdust.

At the same moment Tom hurled himself headlong, striking the man from behind. The sawdust scattered in the breeze.

Screaming oaths at his captor, Eskot began to fight with tigerlike ferocity. He scratched and clawed, at the same time trying to hurl Tom over the railing of the catwalk.

Hank Sterling had started up the rungs of the ladder to assist, when suddenly Eskot made a misstep while trying to avoid a lightning thrust of Tom’s.

51

52 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ROCKET SHIP

One foot groped the air and for a split second Eskot tried to regain his balance.

The effort was futile. He cracked his head on the railing and sprawled unconscious on the catwalk.

As Tom straightened up, Hank clapped a hand on his shoulder. No words were spoken, but Hank’s gesture expressed his praise of Tom’s exploit.

Together, they carried the unconscious engineer to the jeep and drove him to the infirmary. Tom asked Dr. Carman to keep the man a prisoner and make a note of everything Eskot said both before and after regaining his faculties. Tom arranged for a guard to stay near the traitor’s bed.

As Tom and Hank left the building, the young in-Leaping onto the ladder of the acid tank,