ghing.

"I take it, hearing that from you, Tom, that we're all right," said Ned
Newton, as he recovered himself and brushed some dirt off his coat. Ned
was a natty dresser.

"Yes, we seem to be all right," replied Tom slowly. "I can't say what
damage the flying motor has done outside, but--"

"Bless my insurance policy! but what happened?" asked Mr. Damon. "I saw
Eradicate pull on that lever as you told him to, Tom, and then things
all went topsy-turvy! Did he pull the wrong handle?"

"No, it wasn't Rad's fault at all," said Tom. "The trouble was, as I
guess I'll find when I investigate, that I put too much power into the
motor, and the muffler didn't give any chance for the accumulated
exhaust gases to expand and escape. I didn't allow for that, and they
simply backed up, compressed and exploded. I guess that's the whole
explanation."

"I'm inclined to agree with you, Son," said Mr. Swift dryly. "Don't
try to get rid of all the noise at once. Eliminate it by degrees and it
will be safer."

"I guess so," agreed Tom.

By this time a score of workmen from the other shops had congregated
around the one though the roof of which the motor had been blown. Tom
opened the door to assure Jackson and the others that no one was hurt,
and then the young inventor saw the exploded motor had buried in the
dirt a short distance away from the experiment building.

"Lucky none of us were standing over it when it went up," said Tom, as
he made an inspection of the broken machine. "We'd have gone through
the roof with it."

"She certainly went sailing!" commented Ned. "Must have been a lot of
power there, Tom."

And this was evidenced by the bent and twisted rods that had held the
motor to the testing block, and by the cylinders, some of which were
torn apart as though made of paper instead of heavy steel. But for the
fact that all the force of the explosion was directly upward, instead
of at the sides, none might have been left alive in the shop. All had
escaped most fortunately, and they realized this.

"Well," queried Ned, as Tom gave orders to have the damaged machine
removed and the roof repaired, "does this end the wonderful silent
motor, Tom?"

"End it! What do you mean--"

"I mean are you going to experiment any further?"

"Why, of course! Just because I've had one failure doesn't mean that
I'm going to give up. Especially when I know what the matter was--not
leaving any vent for the escaping gases. Why this isn