Victor Appleton Tom Swift And His Big Tunnel

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.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthen sink down."Bless my" began Mr.Damon, but he got no further, for a mighty gust of windswept out of the tunnel, and blew off his hat.That gust was but a gentlebreeze, though, compared to what followed.For there came suchTom Swift And His Big TunnelChapter XXIV.The Hidden City83a rush of air that it almost blew over those standing near the opening of thegreat shaft driven under the mountain.There was a roar as of Niagara, ahowling as in the Cave of the Winds, and they all bent to the blast.Then followed a dull, rumbling roar, not as loud as might have been expected,but awful in its intensity.Deep down under the very foundations of the earthit seemed to rumble."Run! Run back!" cried Tom Swift."There's a backdraft and the powder gas ispoisonous.Stoop down and run back!"They understood what he meant.The vapor from the powder was deadly ifbreathed in a confined space.Even in the open it gave one a terrible headache.And Tom could see floatingout of the tunnel the first wisps of smoke from the fired explosive.It waslighter than air, and would rise.Hence the necessity, as in a smokefilledroom, of keeping low down where the air is purer.They all rushed back, stooping low.Mr.Damon stumbled and fell, but Kokupicked him up and, tucking him under one arm, as he might have done a child,the giant followed Tom to a place of safety."Well, Tom, it went off all right," said Mr.Job Titus, as they stood amongthe shacks of the workmen and watched the smoke pouring out of the tunnelmouth."Yes, it went off.But did it do the work? That's what we've got to find out."They waited impatiently for the deadly vapor to clear out of the tunnel.Itwas more than an hour before they dared venture in, and then it was withsmarting eyes and puckered throats.But the atmosphere was quickly clearing."Switch on the lights," cried Tom to Tim, for the illuminating current hadbeen cut off when the blast was fired."Let's see what we've brought down."Following the eager young inventor came the contractors, some of the whiteworkers, Mr.Damon andProfessor Bumper.The little scientist said he would like to see the effect ofthe big blast.Along they stumbled over pieces of rock, large and small."Some force to it," observed Job Titus, as he observed pieces of rock close tothe mouth of the tunnel."If it only exerted the force the other way, againstthe face of the rock, as well as back this way, we'll be all right.""The greater force was in the opposite direction," Tom said.A big searchlight had been got ready to flash on the place where the blast hadbeen set off.This was to enable them to see how much rock had been torn away.And, as they reached the place where the flintlike wall had been, they saw astrange sight."Bless my strawberry shortcake!" gasped Mr.Damon."What a hole!""It is a bole," admitted Tom, in a low voice."A bigger hole than I dared hopefor."For a great cave, seemingly, had been blown in the face of the rock wall thathad hindered the progress of the tunnel.A great black void confronted them.Tom Swift And His Big TunnelChapter XXIV.The Hidden City84"Shift the light over this way," called Tom to Walter Titus, who was operatingit."I can't see anything."Page 72ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThe great beam of light flashed into the void, and then a murmur of awe camefrom every throat.For there, revealed in the powerful electrical rays, was what seemed to be along tunnel, high and wide, as smooth as a paved street.And on either side ofit were what appeared to be buildings, some low, others taller.And, branching off from the main tunnel, or street, were other passages, alsolined with buildings, some of which had crumbled to ruins."Bless my dictionary!" cried Mr.Damon."What is it?"Professor Bumper had crawled forward over the mass of broken rock.He gazed asif fascinated at what the searchlight showed, and then he cried:"I have found it! I have found it! The hidden city of Pelone!"Chapter XXV.SuccessHad it not been for Tom Swift, the excited professor would have rushedpellmell over the jagged pile of rocks into the great cave which had beenopened by the blast, the cave in which the scientist declared was the lostcity for which he had been searching.But the young inventor grasped Mr.Bumper by the arm."Better wait a bit," Tom suggested."There may be powder gas in there.Some ofit must have blown forward.""I don't care!" excitedly cried the professor."That is the hidden city! I'msure of it! I have found it at last! Imust go in and examine it!""There'll be plenty of time," said Tom."It isn't going to run away.Waituntil I make a test Tim, hand me one of those torches."Some torches of a very inflammable wood were used to test for the presence ofthe deadly smokegas.Lighting one of these, Tom tossed it into the big excavation.It fell to the stone floorto the stone street to be more exactand, flaring upbrightly, further revealed the rows of houses as they stood, silent anduninhabited."It's all right," Tom announced."There's no danger so long as the torchburns.You can go on, Professor."And Professor Bumper rushed forward, scrambling over the pile of blasted rock,followed by Tom and the others.Some of the debris from the explosion hadfallen into the cave, and was scattered for some distance along the mainstreet of what had been Pelone.But beyond that the way was clear."Yes, it is Pelone," cried Professor Bumper."See!"He pointed to inscriptions in queer characters over the doorway of some of thehouses, but he alone could read them."I have found Pelone!" he kept repeating over and over again.Tom Swift And His Big TunnelChapter XXV.Success85And that is just what had happened.That last great blast Tom Swift had setoff had broken down the rock wall that hid the lost city from view.There itwas, buried deep down under the mountain, where it had been covered from sightages ago by some mighty earthquake or landslide; perhaps both.And the earthand rocks had fallen over the main portion of the city of Pelone in such awayin such an arch formationthat the greater part of it was preserved from thepressure of the mountain above it.The outlying portions were crushed into dust by the awful pressure of themountainmillions of tons of stonebut where the natural arch had formed theweight was kept off the buildings, most of which were as perfect as they hadbeen before the cataclysm came [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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