The next moment, Tom heard a loud clash of
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGERS 3
metal on metal. A split second later a geyser of water shot up one hundred feet into the air!
Hastily Bud jammed the truck into reverse and backed away from the drenching outburst. But it was too late-the damage was done!
“We’ve hit an aqueduct!” Tom shouted, as he drew up alongside. “Hand me the walkie-talkie!”
In stunned silence, Bud reached back, grabbed the walkie-talkie off the cab shelf behind him, and passed it out to Tom. Quickly Tom made radio contact with Swift Enterprises.
“We’ve had an accident,” he explained. “Our digging machine broke a conduit. Phone the water company right way and get a repair crew out here pronto!”
Within five minutes, an emergency crew from the Enterprises plant arrived on the scene. It was headed by Hank Sterling, square-jawed chief engineer of the Swift patternmaking division and general trouble shooter for the outfit.
By now, however, the geyser had stopped, indicating that the water company had either shut off pressure at the pumps or closed a valve somewhere in the system.
As Tom pointed out the damage, other vehicles began to pull up at the scene-two police cars, several fire trucks, and a number of private cars containing curious townspeople.
4 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER
“Won’t take long to fix,” observed Hank, looking down into the pit. He immediately began barking orders to his men, who had already unloaded welding equipment and a
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGERS 5
section of replacement pipe from the repair truck.
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