The next day found them hovering over the Alps, where Tom hoped to be able to get the pictures of snow slides. They went down to earth at a town near one of the big mountain ranges, and there made inquiries as to where would be the best location to look for big avalanches. If they went but a few miles to the north, they were told, they would be in the desired region, and they departed for that vicinity.
"And now we"ve just got to take our time, and wait for an avalanche to happen," remarked Tom, as they were flying along over the mountain ranges. "As Mr. Damon said, these things aren"t made to order. They just happen."
For three days they sailed in and out over the great snow-covered peaks of the Alps. They did not go high up, for they wanted to be near earth when an avalanche would occur, so that near-view pictures could be secured. Occasionally they saw parties of mountain climbers ascending some celebrated peak, and for want of something better to photograph, Tom "snapped" the tourists.
"Well, I guess they"re all out of avalanches this season," remarked Ned one afternoon, when they had circled back and forth over a mountain where, so it was said, the big snow slides were frequent.
"It does seem so," agreed Tom. "Still, we"re in no hurry. It is easier to be up here, than it is walking around in a jungle, not knowing what minute a tiger may jump out at you."
"Bless my rubbers, yes!" agreed Mr. Damon.
The sky was covered with lowering clouds, and there were occasionally flurries of snow. Tom"s airship was well above the snow line on the mountains. The young inventor and Ned sat in the pilot house, taking observations through a spygla.s.s of the mountain chain below them.
Suddenly Ned, who had the gla.s.s focused on a mighty peak, cried out:
"There she is, Tom!"
"What?"
"The avalanche! The snow is beginning to slide down the mountain! Say, it"s going to be a big one, too. Got your camera ready?"
"Sure! I"ve had it ready for the last three days. Put me over there, Ned. You look after the airship, and I"ll take the pictures!"
Tom sprang to get his apparatus, while his chum hurried to the levers, wheels and handles that controlled the Flyer. As they approached the avalanche they could see the great ma.s.s of ice, snow, big stones, and earth sliding down the mountain side, carrying tall trees with it.
"This is just what I wanted!" cried Tom, as he set his camera working.
"Put me closer, Ned."
Ned obeyed, and the airship was now hovering directly over the avalanche, and right in its path. The big landslide, as it would have been called in this country, met no village in its path, fortunately, or it would have wiped it out completely. It was in a wild and desolate region that it occurred.
"I want to get a real close view!" cried Tom, as he got some pictures showing a whole grove of giant trees uprooted and carried off. "Get closer Ned, and--"
Tom was interrupted by a cry of alarm from his chum.
"We"re falling!" yelled Ned. "Something has gone wrong. We"re going down into the avalanche!".
CHAPTER XVI
TELEGRAPH ORDERS
There was confusion aboard the airship. Tom, hearing Ned"s cry, left his camera, to rush to the engine room, but not before he had set the picture apparatus to working automatically. Mr. Damon, Mr. Nestor and Koku, alarmed by Ned"s cries, ran back from the forward part of the craft, where they had been watching the mighty ma.s.s of ice and earth as it rushed down the side of the mountain.
"What"s wrong, Ned?" cried Tom excitedly.
"I don"t know! The propellers have stopped! We were running as an aeroplane you know. Now we"re going down!"
"Bless my suspenders!" shouted Mr. Damon. "If we land in the midst of that conglomeration of ice it will be the end of us."
"But we"re not going to land there!" cried Tom.
"How are you going to stop it?" demanded Mr. Nestor.
"By the gas machine!" answered Tom. "That will stop us from falling.
Start it up, Ned!"
"That"s right! I always forget about that! I"ll have it going in a second!"
"Less than a second," called Tom, as he saw how near to the mighty, rushing avalanche they were coming.
Ned worked rapidly, and in a very short time the downward course of the airship was checked. It floated easily above the rushing flood of ice and earth, and Tom, seeing that his craft, and those on it, were safe, hurried back to his camera. Meanwhile the machine had automatically been taking pictures, but now with the young inventor to manage it, better results would be obtained.
Tom aimed it here and there, at the most spectacular parts of the avalanche. The others gathered around him, after Ned had made an inspection, and found that a broken electrical wire had caused the propellers to stop. This was soon repaired and then, as they were hanging in the air like a balloon, Tom took picture after picture of the wonderful sight below them. Forest after forest was demolished.
"This will be a great film!" Tom shouted to Ned, as the latter informed him that the machinery was all right again. "Send me up a little. I want to get a view from the top, looking down."
His chum made the necessary adjustments to the mechanism and then, there being nothing more to slide down the mountainside the avalanche was ended. But what a ma.s.s of wreck and ruin there was! It was as if a mighty earthquake had torn the mountain asunder.
"It"s a good thing it wasn"t on a side of the mountain where people lived," commented Ned, as the airship rose high toward the clouds. "If it had been, there"d be nothing left of "em. What hair-raising stunt are you going to try next, Tom?"
"I don"t know. I expect to hear from Mr. Period soon.
"Hear from Mr. Period?" exclaimed Mr. Nestor. "How are you going to do that, Tom?"
"He said he would telegraph me at Berne, Switzerland, at a certain date, as he knew I was coming to the Alps to try for some avalanche pictures. It"s two or three days yet, before I can expect the telegram, which of course will have to come part way by cable. In the meanwhile, I think we"ll take a little rest, and a vacation. I want to give the airship an overhauling, and look to my camera. There"s no telling what Mr. Period may want next."
"Then he didn"t make out your programme completely before you started?"
asked Mr. Nestor.
"No, he said he"d communicate with me from time to time. He is in touch with what is going on in the world, you know, and if he hears of anything exciting at any place, I"m to go there at once. You see he wants the most sensational films he can get."
"Yes, our company is out to give the best pictures we can secure,"
spoke Mary"s father, "and I think we are lucky to have Tom Swift working for us. We already have films that no other concern can get.
And we need them."
"I wonder what became of those men who started to make so much trouble for you, Tom?" asked Mr. Damon.
"Well, they seem to have disappeared," replied our hero. "Of course they may be after me any day now, but for the time being, I"ve thrown them off my track."
"So then you don"t know where you"re going next?" asked Ned.
"No, it may be to j.a.pan, or to the North Pole. Well, I"m ready for anything. We"ve got plenty of gasolene, and the Flyer can certainly go," said Tom.
They went down to earth in a quiet spot, just outside of a little village, and there they remained three days, to the no small wonder of the inhabitants. Tom wanted to see if his camera was working properly.
So he developed some of the avalanche pictures, and found them excellent. The rest of the time was spent in making some needed repairs to the airship, while the young inventor overhauled his Wizard machine, that he found needed a few adjustments.