"But they can"t invent an electric moving picture camera, and, if they could, they wouldn"t know enough to take pictures with it. It"s got to be you or no one, Tom Swift. Look here, I"ll make it fifteen thousand dollars above expenses."
"No, I"m sorry, but I can"t go. My work here keeps me too busy.
"Oh, pshaw! Now, look here, Tom Swift! Do you know who sent me to see you?"
"It was Mr. Nestor, who has a daughter named Mary, I believe. Mr.
Nestor is one of the directors in our company, and one day, when he told me about you sending a wireless message from Earthquake Island, I knew you would be the very man for me. So now you see you"ll be doing Mr. Nestor a favor, as well as me, if you go on this trip."
Tom was somewhat surprised, yet he realized that Mr. Period was speaking the truth. Mr. Nestor was identified with many new enterprises. Yet the youth was firm.
"I really can"t go," said our hero. "I"d like to, but I can"t. I"d like to oblige Mr. Nestor, for--well, for more reasons than one," and Tom blushed slightly. "But it is out of the question. I really can"t go."
"But you must!" insisted the camera man. "I won"t take "no" for an answer. You"ve got to go, Tom Swift, do you hear that? You"ve go to go?"
Mr. Period was apparently very much excited. He strode over to Tom and smote his hands together to emphasize what he said. Then he shook his finger at Tom, to impress the importance of the matter on our hero.
"You"ve just got to go!" he cried. "You"re the only one who can help me, Tom. Do go! I"ll pay you well, and--oh, well, I know you don"t need the money, exactly, but--say, you"ve got to go!"
In his earnestness Mr. Period laid his hand on Tom"s arm. The next instant something happened.
With a few big strides Koku was beside the picture man. With great quickness he grasped Mr. Period by the coat collar, lifted him off his feet with one hand, and walked over to a window with him, easily lifting him above the floor.
With one fling the giant tossed the short, stout gentleman out into a snow bank, while Tom looked on, too surprised to do anything, even if he had had the chance.
"There. You touch Tom Swift again, and I sit on you and keep you under snow!" cried the giant, while Mr. Period kicked and squirmed about in the drift, as Tom made a leap forward to help him out.
CHAPTER III
TOM MAKES UP HIS MIND
"Great Scott!" yelled the picture man. "What in the world happened to me? Did I get kicked by that mule Boomerang of Eradicate"s, that I"ve heard so much about? Or was it an earthquake, such as I want to get a picture of? What happened?"
He was still floundering about in the deep bank of snow that was just outside the window. Fortunately the sash had been up, and Koku had tossed Mr. Period through the open window. Otherwise, had there been gla.s.s, the well-meaning, but unreasoning giant would probably have thrown his victim through that, and he might have been badly cut. Tom had the window open for fresh air, as it was rather close in the shop.
"Why, Koku!" exclaimed the young inventor, as he leaned out of the window, and extended his hand to the moving picture man to help him out of the drift. "What do you mean by that? Have you gone crazy?"
"No, but no one shall lay hands on my master!" declared the giant half savagely. "I have vowed to always protect you from danger, in return for what you did for me. I saw this man lay his hand on you. In another moment he might have killed you, had not Koku been here. There is no danger when I am by," and he stretched out his huge arms, and looked ferocious. "I have turned over that man, your enemy!" he added.
"Yes, you overturned me all right," admitted Mr. Period, as he got to his feet, and crawled in through the window to the shop again. "I went head over heels. I"m glad it was clean snow, and not a mud bank, Tom.
What in the world is the matter with him?"
"I guess he thought you were going to harm me," said Tom in a low voice, as the picture man came in the shop. "Koku is very devoted to me, and sometimes he makes trouble," the youth went on. "But he means it all for the best. I am very sorry for what happened," and Tom aided Mr. Period in brushing the snow off his garments. "Koku, you must beg the pardon of this gentleman," Tom directed.
"What for?" the giant wanted to know.
"For throwing him into the snow. It is not allowed to do such things in this country, even though it is in Giant Land. Beg his pardon.
"I shall not," said the giant calmly, for Tom had taught him to speak fairly good English, though sometimes he got his words backwards.
"The man was about to kill you, and I stopped him--I will stop him once more, though if he does not like the snow, I can throw him somewhere else."
"No! No! You must not do it!" cried Tom. "He meant no harm. He is my friend."
"I am glad to hear you say that," exclaimed the picture man. "I have hopes that you will do what I want."
"He your friend?" asked Koku wonderingly.
"Certainly; and you must beg his pardon for what you did," insisted Tom.
"Very well. I am glad you did not hurt yourself," said the giant, and with that "apology" he stalked out of the room, his feelings evidently very much disturbed.
"Ha! Ha!" laughed Mr. Period. "I guess he can"t see any one but you, Tom. But never mind. I know he didn"t mean anything, and, as I"m none the worse I"ll forgive him. My necktie isn"t spotted; is it?"
"No, the snow didn"t seem to do that any harm," replied the young inventor, as he looked at the brilliant piece of red silk around Mr.
Period"s collar.
"I am very particular about my neckties," went on the picture man. "I always wear one color. My friends never forget me then."
Tom wondered how they could ever forget him, even though he wore no tie, for his figure and face were such as to not easily be forgotten.
"I"m glad it"s not soiled," went on "Spotty" as he liked to be called.
"Now, Tom, you said you were my friend. Prove it by accepting my offer.
Build that wizard camera, and get me some moving pictures that will be a sensation. Say you will!"
He looked appealingly at Tom, and, remembering the rather rude and unexpected treatment to which Koku had submitted the gentleman, Tom felt his mind changing. Still he was not yet ready to give in. He rather liked the idea the more he thought of it, but he felt that he had other duties, and much to occupy him at home, especially if he perfected his silent motor.
"Will you go?" asked Mr. Period, picking up his fountain pen and check book, that he had laid aside when he walked over to Tom, just before the giant grasped him. "Say you will."
The young inventor was silent a moment. He thought over the many adventures he had gone through--in the caves of ice, in the city of gold, escaping from the giants, and the red pygmies--He went over the details of his trips through the air, of the dangers under the seas, of those he had escaped from on Earthquake Island. Surely he was ent.i.tled to a little rest at home.
And yet there was a lure to it all. A certain fascination that was hard to resist. Mr. Period must have seen what was going on in Tom"s mind, for he said:
"I know you"re going. I can see it. Why, it will be just the very thing you need. You"ll get more fame out of this thing than from any of your other inventions. Come, say you"ll do it.
"I"ll tell you what I"ll do!" he went on eagerly. "After you make the camera, and take a lot of films, showing strange and wonderful scenes, I"ll put at the end of each film, next to my picture, your name, and a statement showing that you took the originals. How"s that? Talk about being advertised! Why you can"t beat it! Millions of people will read your name at the picture shows every night."
"I am not looking for advertis.e.m.e.nts," said Tom, with a laugh.
"Well, then, think of the benefit you will be to science," went on Mr.
Period quickly. "Think of the few people who have seen wild animals as they are, of those who have ever seen an earthquake, or a volcano in action. You can go to j.a.pan, and get pictures of earthquakes. They have them on tap there. And as for volcanoes, why the Andes mountains are full of "em. Think of how many people will be thankful to you for showing them these wonderful scenes."
"And think of what might happen if I should take a tumble into a crack in the earth, or down a hot volcano, or fall into a jungle when there was a fight on among the elephants," suggested Tom. "My airship might take a notion to go down when I was doing the photographing," he added.
"No. Nothing like that will happen to Tom Swift," was the confident answer of the picture man. "I"ve read of your doings. You don"t have accidents that you can"t get the better of. But come, I know you"re thinking of it, and I"m sure you"ll go. Let me make you out this check, sign a contract which I have all ready, and then get to work on the camera."