Tom grinned. “That’s right. And he won’t miss them any more than you do.”
“When are you takin’ this fella out West?”
“After I give him one more test-the test of fire. Chow, you’re invited to a little ceremony tomorrow afternoon to watch it.”
“I’ll be there. I sure wouldn’t miss it. Not for all the longhorns in Texas!”
Tom spent the rest of the day preparing for the test. A special glass furnace, in which the giant would perform his inventor’s every command, had been constructed in one of the sheds. It stood at the end of a ramp up which the robot would walk. Set some distance back from the furnace and behind a glass partition was a low, portable control board. Banked on each side of it were seats for the audience.
Following a luncheon at the plant, with Chow in charge, Mrs. Swift, Sandy, Phyl, the cook, and Tom’s engineering staff filed into the shed and took seats.
“This is like going to the theater,” said Phyl. ‘Tom, when do the actors come on?”
“Right now. Mother, are you ready?”
“Mother?” Sandy echoed, puzzled.
Mrs. Swift and her son merely smiled. As Tom
186 TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT ROBOT
threw a switch, the relay panels lighted up. Next, the young inventor set the circuit switches to start the action tapes.
A thunderous rapping was heard on the corrugated steel door that formed one side of the platform. A moment later the door rolled into the roof and the giant robot clumped in.
“Tom, he’s marvelous!” Sandy exclaimed, as the giant took the center of the stage and stood facing his audience.