Later he phoned Chow but scarcely
paused to eat when the cook arrived with his order.
"Brand my solar stovepipe!" Chow scolded. "Take time to eat your vittles
properly, boss!"
"Hmm?... Oh, sure." Tom looked up and grinned.
The stout old Texan stomped out, shaking his head.
As the morning wore on, the pace at which Tom had been working began to
tell on the young inventor. His head nodded again and again. Gradually
he fell forward into an exhausted doze.
The next thing Tom knew, he was sailing through the air, high above
Swift Enterprises. Lake Carlopa was a tiny blue puddle below, and the
town of Shopton a mere cluster of toy buildings in the distance.
"Good grief!" Tom exclaimed with a gulp. "What's keeping me up?"
He was floating freely, without the support of any aircraft--or even one
of his amazing force-ray repelatrons!
The discovery triggered off disaster. Like a character in a movie
cartoon, now that he knew he had nothing to support him, Tom instantly
went plunging downward--down, down, straight into the lake!
_Splash!_
Tom gasped and shuddered and shook his head like a drenched terrier.
_Another splash!_ As Tom brought his eyes into focus, he realized he was
back at his workbench in the laboratory. Chow was standing in front of
him, holding a half-empty pail of water, ready to splash him again!
"Hey! Cut it out!" Tom cried out, jerking bolt upright.
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