bad shape,
Tom."

"I don't mind that in the least, if Rad doesn't lose his eyesight," was
the answer of the young inventor, and his friends could see that he was
much worried, as well he might be.

In silence Tom Swift looked about the ruins of what had been a fine
chemical laboratory.

"It will take a month to get this back in shape," he said ruefully. "I
guess I shall have to postpone my experiments."

"Why not ask Mr. Baxter to help you?" suggested Ned.

"What can he do?" Tom wanted to know. "He hasn't any laboratory."

"He has a sort of one," Ned rejoined. "You know you told me to keep
track of him and give him any help I could."

"Yes," Tom nodded.

"Well, the other day he came to me and said he had a chance to set up a
small laboratory in a vacant shop near the river. He needed a little
capital and I lent it to him, as you told me to."

"Glad you did," returned Tom. "But do you suppose his plant is large
enough to enable me to work there until mine is in shape again?"

"It wouldn't do any harm to take a look," suggested Ned.

"I'll do it!" decided Tom, more hopefully than he had spoken since the
accident.

CHAPTER VII

A FORCED LANDING

Josephus Baxter seemed to have recovered some of his spirits after his
narrow escape from death in the fireworks factory blaze. He greeted Tom
and Ned with a smile as they entered the improvised laboratory he had
been able to set up in what had once been a factory for the making of
wooden ware, an industry that, for some reason, did not flourish in
Shopton.

"I'm glad to see you, Mr. Swift," said the chemist, who seemed to have
aged several years in the few weeks that had intervened since the fire.
"I want to thank you for giving me a chance to start over again."

"Oh, that's all right," said Tom easily. "We inventors ought to help
one another. Are you able to do anything here?"

"As much as possible without my secret formulae," was the answer. "If I
only had those back from the rascals, Field and Melling, I would be
able to go ahead faster. As it is, I am working in the dark. For some
of the formulae were given to me by a Frenchman, and I had only one
copy. I kept that in the safe of the fireworks concern, and after the
fire it could not be found."

"Was the safe destroyed?" asked Tom.

"No. But the doors were open, and much of what had been inside was in
ashes and cinders. Amos Field claimed that the explosion had blown open
the safe and burned