Tom was the first to finish. A few minutes later Voorhees also completed his calculations. As he compared his answer with Tom’s, his face flushed a dull red.
“Well-hmm-I-uh-seem to have spoken too soon. Your figures seem to be quite correct, after all.”
A CRUCIAL TEST 97
Bud clapped Voorhees on the back and laughed. “Sorry, Hal old boy, but even the greatest minds sometimes have an off day!”
As Dr. Faber coughed loudly, and Daryl Blake turned away to hide a smile, Voorhees glared at Bud furiously.
Three days later, the “cheap steel” blaster was ready to operate. The hour had arrived for the crucial test at Pine Hill.
The news that Tom Swift’s new invention would begin tunneling at nine o’clock that morning had been blazoned across the front page of the Shopton Evening Bulletin the night before. It had also been announced on all radio and television newscasts.
As a result, the area around Pine Hill was so crowded with people that the police had to be called to hold back the spectators.
All three of the government scientists-Dr. Faber, Blake, and Voorhees-were on hand to watch the proceedings. Tom showed them a blueprint of the proposed tunnel layout.
“The blaster will start from here,” he explained, “operating at a downward slope of twenty degrees. Then the machine will level off and continue on a straight course to the center of the hill. After which, we repeat the same operations on the other side of the hill, with the two tunnels joining in the middle.”
“How about those long sections of metal tubing?”
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