Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 05 – And His Atomic Earth Blaster

The windows of the Excelsis Club were aglow with light, but the shore line was shrouded in darkness. Ames snapped on his flashlight and played the beam along the embankment. Suddenly he held the beam steady, and Tom gave a stifled gasp of surprise. Partly overgrown by vines and creepers, yet clearly revealed by the glow of the flashlight, was an opening in the concrete! Four feet above the water line a narrow flight of stone steps led upward.

“Let’s take a look inside,” Tom said excitedly, guiding the craft toward the opening.

“Better not leave the boat here,” Ames cautioned. “It might give us away.”

Tom readily agreed, and Bud added, “I noticed some boat rings a little way beyond here. We can tie up to one and then come back here.”

After tying up the boat, they crept back along 60 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER

the top of the embankment, crouching low to avoid being seen. When they reached the stone steps, they descended cautiously.

Once again, Ames snapped on his flashlight. Five steps led downward, then the dank stone passageway leveled off for twenty feet. At the end of this, another flight of stone steps led upward.

“Come on!” Tom urged.

Softly they made their way up the slippery, moss-grown steps. The stairway ended at a trap door above their heads. From the other side of it came a clatter of dishes and the sound of voices.

“The club kitchen!” Ames whispered. “Right over us!”

“From the looks of things, the club could be a cover-up for a group of foreign agents,” remarked Tom, “especially with this passageway in and out of the place.