Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 22 – And His Repelatron Skyway

“With those arching branches, the blaze could easily jump across the road!” Tom exclaimed. “Everybody in the park will be trapped!”

The dark-haired copilot shuddered. “Think we could set this copter down on the road?”

“Not enough clearance. We’d wreck our rotors.”

Tom headed the ship in a wide, circling sweep over the woods. At a number of spots the boys glimpsed people grouped around picnic tables.

Tom said grimly, “They haven’t the faintest notion yet that a fire has started! I’ll radio Enterprises to alert the State Police.” Swift Enterprises was a huge experimental station which had its own airfield. But Tom and Bud both realized that there was little hope of patrol cars or mounted policemen broadcasting the alarm in time.

“Let’s go down as low as possible,” Bud suggested.

Tom swooped to treetop level, and Bud leaned out to bellow at one group of picnickers seated at a table. His voice was drowned by the craft’s whir-THE DEVIL DOLL 3

ring rotors. The people merely laughed and waved back-obviously unaware of their danger.

“Jumpin’ jets! I can’t get through to theml” Bud exclaimed in despair. “Drop a ladder, Tom, and I’ll do a Paul Revere act on foot!”

The young inventor shook his head. “You’d be trapped yourself, fly-boy, before half the people in these woods got the word.”

“But we must do something!” Bud insisted.

“We’re going to,” Tom replied calmly. “When you mentioned this graphicopter’s being an advertiser’s dream, I was about to explain that it has other uses. You’ll see one right now!”