Tom Swift among the Diamond Makers by Victor AppletonOr The Secret of Phantom Mountain (page 2)

“I have a right to it, as I invested a large sum in it, and I am entitled to more than a half-share. But, of course, I can’t say what I’ll do until I get there. We may have to act very secretly.”

“I’m inclined to think we will,” said Tom. “My plan would be to gain access to the cave, if possible, and watch them at work. We might be able to discover the secret of making diamonds, and, after all, that’s what you want, isn’t it, Mr. Jenks?”

“Yes, I paid my money for the secret, and I ought to have it. If I can get it quietly, so much the better. If not, I’ll fight for my rights!” and he looked very determined.

“Bless my powder horn!” cried Mr. Damon. “That’s the way to talk! And so we’re to go cruising about in the air, looking for a mountain shaped like a man’s head.”

“That’s it,” a greed Mr. Jenks, “and when we find it we will be near Phantom Mountain, and the diamond makers.”

The final details were completed that night. The last of the supplies had been put aboard, the larder was well stocked, the diamond testing apparatus was stored safely away, and all that remained was for the adventurers to board the Red Cloud in the morning, and soar away.

That night Tom was uneasy. Several times he got up, and looked toward the shed where the airship was stored. He could not rid himself of the idea that the men to whose interest it was that the diamond-making secret remain undiscovered, might attempt to wreck the airship before the start. Consequently both Eradicate Sampson and Engineer Jackson were on guard. Tom looked from his window, to the shed where the Red Cloud was housed. He saw nothing to cause him any uneasiness.

“I guess I’m just nervous,” he mused. “But, all the same, I’ll be glad when we’ve started

They were all up early the next morning, Mr. Damon beginning the day by blessing the sunrise, and many other things that struck his fancy. The airship was wheeled out of the shed, and Tom gave her a final inspection.

“It’s all right,” he declared. “All aboard!”

“Now, do be careful,” begged Mr. Swift. “Don’t take too many chances, Tom.”

“I’ll not.”

The adventurers were in the forward part of the ship, and Tom had taken his place at the wheels and levers in the pilot house. As he was about to start the motor he looked toward the road, and saw a horse and carriage. In the vehicle was a girlish figure, at the sight of which Tom blushed and smiled. He waved his hand.

“I came to wish you good luck!” cried Mary Nester, for it was she in the carriage.

“Thanks!” cried Tom, leaning from the window of the pilot house. “It was good of you to get up so early.”

“Oh. I’m always up early,” she informed him.

“Look out that the motor doesn’t scare your horse,” Tom warned her.

“Old Dobbin doesn’t mind anything,” was her answer. “I’ll see that he doesn’t run away with me, as long as you’re not on earth to rescue me. Good-by, Tom!”

“Good-by!” he called, and then he pulled the lever that set in motion the motor, and whirled the great propellers about. They whizzed around with a roar, and the Red Cloud, shivering and trembling with the vibration, rose in the air like some great bird.

“We’re off for the West and Phantom Mountain!” called Tom to his companions.

As the airship soared upward, Eradicate Sampson ran forward from where he had been standing near his mule Boomerang. He waved his hands, and shouted something.

“Bless my hatband! What does he want?” asked Mr. Damon, watching him curiously.

“It sounds as if he were calling to us to come back,” spoke Mr. Parker.

“It’s too late now,” decided Tom. “Maybe he forgot to tell us good-by,” but, he felt a vague wonder at Eradicate’s odd motions; for the colored man was pointing toward the stern of the airship, as if there was something wrong there. But the Red Cloud soared on.

CHAPTER IX – A WARNING BY WIRELESS

Rapidly the airship ascended, and, when it was high over the town of Shopton, Tom headed the craft due west. Looking down he tried to descry Mary Nestor, in her carriage, but the trees were in the way, their interlocking branches hiding the girl. Tom did see crowds of other persons, though, thronging the streets of Shopton, for, though the young inventor had made many flights, there was always a novelty about them, that brought out the curious.

“A good start, Tom Swift,” complimented Mr. Parker. “Is it always as easy as this?”

“Starting always is,” was the answer, “though, as the Irishman said, coming down isn’t sometimes quite so comfortable.”

“Bless my gizzard! That’s so,” cried the eccentric Mr. Damon. “Can we vol-plane to earth in the Red Cloud, Tom?”

“Yes, but not as easily as in the Butterfly. However I hope we will not have to. Now, Mr. Damon, if you will just take charge of the steering apparatus for a minute, I want to go aft.”

“What for?”

“I wish to see if everything is all right. I can’t imagine why Eradicate was making those queer motions.”

Mr. Damon, who knew how to operate the Red Cloud, was soon guiding her on the course, while Tom made his way to the rear compartments, through the motor room, where the stores of supplies and food were kept. He made a careful examination, looking from an after window, and even going out on a small, open platform, but could discover nothing wrong.

“I guess Rad was just capering about without any special object,” mused Tom, but it was not long after this that they learned to their dismay, that the colored man had had a method in his madness.

On his way back through the motor room Tom looked to the machinery, and adjusted some of the auxiliary oil feeders. The various pieces of apparatus were working well, though the engine had not yet been speeded up to its limit. Tom wanted it to “warm- up” first.

“Everything all right?” asked Mr. Damon, as Tom rejoined them in the pilot house, which was just forward of the living room in the main cabin.

“Yes, I can’t imagine what made Rad act that way. But I’ll set the automatic steering gear now, Mr. Damon, and then you will be relieved.”

Mr. Jenks was gazing off toward the west–to where he hoped to discover the secret of Phantom Mountain.

“How do you like it?” asked Tom.

“It’s great,” replied the diamond man. “I’ve never been in an airship before, and it’s different than what I expected; but it’s great! It’s the only craft that will serve our purpose among the towering mountain peaks, where the diamond makers are hidden. I hope we can find them.”

In a little while the Red Cloud was skimming along at faster speed, guided by the automatic rudders, so that no one was needed in the pilot house, since there was no danger of collisions. Airships are not quite numerous enough for that, yet, though they may soon become so.

Tom and the others devoted several hours to arranging their staterooms and bunks, and getting their clothing stowed away, and when this was done Mr. Parker and Mr. Jenks sat gazing off into space.

“It’s hard to realize that we are really in an airship,” observed the diamond man. “At first I thought I would be frightened, but I’m not a bit. It doesn’t seem as if anything could happen.”

“Something is likely to happen soon,” said Mr. Parker, suddenly, as he gazed at some weather instruments on the cabin wall.

“Bless my soul! Don’t say that!” cried Mr. Damon. “What is it?”

“I think, from my observations, that we will soon have a hurricane,” said the scientific man. “There is every indication of it”‘; and he seemed quite delighted at the prospect of his prediction coming true.

“A hurricane!” cried Mr. Damon. “I hope it isn’t like the one that blew us to Earthquake Island.”

“Oh, I think there will be no danger,” spoke Tom. “If it comes on to blow we will ascend or descend out of the path of the storm. This craft is not like the ill-fated Whizzer. I can more easily handle the Red Cloud; even in a bad storm.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” remarked Mr. Jenks. “It would be too bad to be wrecked before we got to Phantom Mountain.”

“Well, I predict that we will have a bad storm,” insisted Mr. Parker, and Tom could not help wishing that the scientist would keep his gloomy forebodings to himself.

However the storm had not developed up to noon, when Tom, with Mr. Damon’s help, served a fine meal in the dining-room. In the afternoon the speed of the ship was increased, and by night they had covered several hundred miles. Through the darkness the Red Cloud kept on, making good time. Tom got up, occasionally, to look to the machinery, but it was all automatically controlled, and an alarm bell would sound in his stateroom when anything went wrong.

“Bless my napkin!” exclaimed Mr. Damon the next morning, as they sat down to a breakfast of fruit, ham and eggs and fragrant coffee, “this is living as well as in a hotel, and yet we are– how far are we above the earth, Tom?” he asked, turning to the young inventor.

“About two miles now. I just sent her up, as I thought I detected that storm Mr. Parker spoke of.”

“I told you it would come,” declared the scientist, and there was a small hurricane below them that morning, but only the lower edge of it caught the Red Cloud, and when Tom sent her up still higher she found a comparatively quiet zone, where she slid along at good speed.

That afternoon Tom busied himself about some wires and a number of complicated pieces of apparatus which were in one corner of the main cabin.

“What are you doing now?” asked Mr. Jenks, who had been talking with Mr. Parker, and showing that scientist some of the manufactured diamonds.

“Getting our wireless apparatus in shape,” answered the lad. “I should have done it before, but I had so much to do that I couldn’t get at it. I’m going to send off some messages. Dad will want to know how we are doing.”

As he worked away, he also made up his mind to send another message, in care of his father, for there was a receiving station in the Swift home. And to whom this message was addressed Tom did not say, but we fancy some of our readers can guess.

Finally, after several hours of work, the wireless was in shape to send and receive messages. Tom pulled over the lever, and a crackling sound was heard, as the electricity leaped from the transmitters into space. Then he clamped the receiver on his ear.

“All ready,” he announced. “Has anybody any messages they wish sent?” For, with the courtesy of a true host he was ready to serve his guests before he forwarded his own wireless notes.

“Just tell my wife that I’m enjoying myself,” requested Mr. Damon. “Bless my footstool! But this is great! We’re off the earth yet, connected with it.”

Mr. Jenks had no one to whom he wanted to send any word, but Mr. Parker wish to wire to a fellow scientist the result of some observations made in the upper air.

Tom noted all the messages down, and then, when all was in readiness he began to call his home station. He knew that either his father or Mr. Jackson, the engineer, could receive the wireless.

But, no sooner had the young inventor sent off the first few dots and dashes representing “S. I.”–his home station call–than he started and a look of surprise came over his face.

“They’re calling us!” he exclaimed.

“Who is?” asked Mr. Jenks.

“My house–my father. He–he’s been trying to get us ever since we started, but I didn’t have the wireless in shape to receive messages. Oh, I hope it’s not too late!”

“Too late! Bless my soul, too late for what?” gasped Mr. Damon, somewhat alarmed by Tom’s manner.

The lad did not answer at once. He was intently listening to a series of dots and dashes that clicked in the telephone receiver clamped to his left ear. On his face there was a look of worriment.

“Father has just sent me a message,” he said. “It’s a warning flashed through space! He’s been trying to get it to me since yesterday!”

“What is it?” asked Mr. Jenks, rising from his seat.

“The mysterious man is aboard the airship–hidden away!” cried Tom. “That’s what Eradicate was trying to call to our attention as we started off. Eradicate saw his face at a rear window, and tried to warn us! The mysterious man is a stowaway on board!”

CHAPTER X – DROPPING THE STOWAWAY

Tom’s excited announcement startled Mr. Damon and the others as much as if the young inventor had informed them that the airship had exploded and was about to dash with them to the earth. The men leaped to their feet, and stared at the lad.

“A stowaway on board!” cried Mr. Damon. “Bless my soul! How did he–“

“Are you sure that message is straight?” asked Mr. Jenks. “Did Eradicate see the man?”

“He says he did,” answered Tom. “The man is hidden away on board now–probably among the stores and supplies.”

“Bless my tomato sauce!” exploded Mr. Damon. “I hope he doesn’t eat them all up!”

“We must get him out at once!” declared Mr. Jenks.

“I knew something would happen on this voyage,” came from Mr. Parker. “I predicted it from the first!”

Tom thought considerable, but he did not answer the scientist just then. Another communication was coming to him by wireless. He listened intently.

“Father says,” the lad told his companions “that Eradicate only had a glimpse of the man at the last moment. He was looking from the rear store-room window–he’s the same man who called on me that time–Rad remembers him very well.”

“Bless my shoes! What’s to be done?” inquired Mr. Damon, looking around helplessly.

“We must get him out, that’s all,” decided Mr. Jenks; with vigor. “Get him out and drop him overboard!”

“Drop him overboard!” cried Mr. Parker, in horror.

“Not exactly, but get rid of him,” proceeded the diamond seeker. “That man is one of my enemies. He has been sent by the band of diamond makers hidden among the mountains, to spy on me, and, if possible, prevent me from seeking to discover their secret. He tried to work on Tom’s Swift’s fears, and frighten him from using his airship on this quest. Then, when he failed, the man must have sneaked into the shed, and hidden himself in the ship. We must get rid of him, or he may wreck the Red Cloud!”

“That’s so!” cried Tom. “We must try to capture him. I think we had better–” the lad paused, and again listened to the wireless message. “Father says Eradicate saw the man have a gun, so we must be careful,” the young inventor translated the dots and dashes.

“Bless my powder horn!” exploded Mr. Damon.

“We shall have to proceed cautiously then,” spoke Mr. Jenks. “If he is like any others in the gang he is a desperate man.”

“Better sneak up on him then, if we can,” proposed Mr. Parker. “There are enough of us to cope with one man, even if he is armed. You have weapons aboard, haven’t you?” he inquired of Tom.

“Yes,” was the hesitating answer, “but I don’t want to use them if I can help it. Not only because of the danger, and a dislike of shedding blood, but because a stray bullet might pierce the gas bag and damage the ship.”

“That’s so,” agreed Mr. Jenks. “Well, I guess if we go at it the right way we can capture him without any shooting. But we must talk more quietly–we ought to have whispered –he may have heard us.”

“I don’t think so,” replied Tom. “The storeroom is far enough off so that he couldn’t hear us. Besides, the motor makes such a racket that he couldn’t distinguish what we were talking about, even if he heard our voices. So, unless he heard the wireless working, and suspects something from that, he probably doesn’t know that we are aware of his presence aboard.”

“But why do you think he has remained quiet all this while, Tom?” asked Mr. Damon.

“Probably he wants to wait until the ship is farther out west,” suggested Mr. Jenks. “Then he will be nearer his friends, and can get help, if he needs it.”

“And do you really believe he would destroy the Red Cloud?” asked Mr. Parker.

“I think that all he is waiting for is a favorable chance,” declared the diamond seeker. “He would destroy the craft, and us too, if he could prevent us from discovering the secret of Phantom Mountain, I believe.”

“Then we must get ahead of him,” decided Tom, quietly. “I have just flashed to dad a message, telling him that we will heed his warning. Now to capture the stowaway!”

“And while we’re about it, give him a good scare when we do get him,” suggested Mr. Jenks.

“How?” asked Tom.

“Threaten to drop him overboard. Perhaps that will make him tell how he happened to get in our ship, and what are the plans of the gang of diamond makers. We may get valuable information that way.”

“I don’t believe you can scare such fellows much,” was Tom’s opinion, but it was agreed to try.

“How are you going to capture him?” asked Mr. Parker. “If he has a gun it won’t be any too easy to go in the storeroom, and drag him out.”

“We’ll have to use a little strategy,” decided Tom, and then they discussed several plans. The one finally adopted was that Tom and Mr. Damon should enter the storeroom, casually, as if in search of food to cook for supper. They would discuss various dishes, and Mr. Damon was to express a preference for something in the food line, the box containing which, was well hack in the room. This would give the two a chance to penetrate to the far end of the apartment, without arousing the suspicions of the hidden man, who, doubtless, would be listening to the conversation.

“And as soon as we get sight of him, you and I will jump right at him, Mr. Damon,” said Tom. “Jump before he has a chance to use his gun. Mr. Jenks and Mr. Parker will be waiting outside the room, to catch him if he gets away from us. I’ll have some ropes ready, and we’ll tie him up, and–well, we’ll decide later what to do with him.”

“All right. I’m ready as soon as you are, Tom,” said the eccentric man. “Come ahead.”

They went softly to the storeroom, and listened at the door. There was no sound heard save that made by the machinery.

“I wonder if he’s really here?” whispered Mr. Damon.

“We’ll soon find out,” answered Tom. “Let’s go in.”

They entered, and, in pursuance of their plan, Tom and his friend talked of various foods.

“I think I’d like some of that canned lobster, with French dressing on,” spoke the eccentric man.

“That’s away in the back end of the room,” said Tom, in a loud voice. “It’s under a lot of boxes.”

“Then I’ll help you get it out! Bless my frying pan! but I am very fond of lobster!” exclaimed Mr. Damon, in as natural tones as was possible under the circumstances.

He and Tom moved cautiously back among the boxes and barrels. They were glancing about with eager eyes. Tom switched on an electric light, and, the instant he did so, he was aware of a movement in a little space formed by one box which was placed on top, of two others. The lad saw a dark figure moving, as if to get farther out of sight.

“I’ve got him!” cried Tom, making a dive for the shadow.

A moment later the young inventor was bowled over, as a dark figure leaped over his head.

“Catch him, Mr. Damon!” he cried.

“Bless my hatband! I–I–” Mr. Damon’s voice ended in a grunt. He, too, had been knocked down by the fleeing man.

“Look out, Mr. Jenks!” cried Tom, to warn those on guard at the door of the storeroom.

There was the report of a gun, some excited shouts, and when Tom could scramble to his feet, and rush out, he beheld Mr. Parker calmly sitting on a struggling man, while Mr. Jenks held a gun, that was still smoking.

“We caught him!” cried the scientist.

“Anybody hurt?” asked Tom, anxiously.

“No, I knocked up his gun as he fired,” explained Mr. Jenks. “Where are the ropes, Tom?”

The cords were produced and the man, who had now ceased to struggle, was tightly bound. He uttered not a word, but he smiled grimly when Mr. Damon remarked:

“I guess I’ll go back in the storeroom, Tom, and see how much food he ate.”

“Oh, I guess he didn’t take much,” declared the lad. “He wasn’t there long enough.”

“Well, Farley Munson, so it’s you, is it?” asked Mr. Jenks, as he surveyed the prisoner.

“Do you know him?” asked Tom, in some surprise.

“He was in with the diamond makers,” said Mr. Jenks. “He was one of those who took me to the secret cave. But it will be the last time he ever goes there. How high up are we, Tom?”

“About two miles. Why?”

“I guess that will be far enough to let him fall,” went on the diamond seeker. “Come on, Mr. Damon, help me throw him overboard!”

“You–you’re not going to throw me over–with the airship two miles high; are you?” gasped the man.

“Will you tell us what we want to know, if we don’t?” asked Mr. Jenks.

“What do you want to know?”

“How you got aboard, and what your object was in coming.”

“That’s easy enough. I had been hanging around the shed for several days, watching a chance to get in. Finally I saw it, when that colored man went to feed his mule, and I slipped in, and hid in the airship. The stores were all in then, and I stowed myself away among the boxes. I had food and water, so I didn’t touch any of yours,” and he looked at Mr. Damon, who seemed much relieved.

“And what was your object?” demanded Mr. Jenks.

“I wanted to prevent you from going to Phantom Mountain.”

“How?”

“By destroying the airship if need be. But I hoped to accomplish it by other means. I would have stopped at nothing, though, to prevent you. You must keep away from there!”

“And if we refuse?” asked Tom.

“Then you’ll have to take what comes!”

“But not from you!” exclaimed Mr. Jenks. “We’re going to get rid of you.”

The man’s face showed the alarm he felt.

“Oh, don’t worry,” said Mr. Jenks, quickly, “we’re not going to toss you overboard. We’re not as desperate as your crowd. But we’re going to get rid of you, and then go on before you can send any word to your confederates. We’ll put you off in the most lonesome spot we can find, and I guess you’ll be some time getting back to civilization. By that time we’ll have the secret of the diamonds.”

“You never will!” declared the man, firmly. And he would say nothing more, though by threats and promises Mr. Jenks tried to get from him something about the men in with him, and where the cave of the diamonds was located.

Heavily bound with ropes the man was locked in a small closet, to be kept there until a favorable spot was reached for letting him go. Mr. Jenks’ plan, of dropping him down in some place where he would have difficulty in sending on word to his confederates was considered a good one.

Three days later, in crossing over a lonely region, near the Nebraska National Forest, Farley Munson, which was one of the names the spy went by, was dropped off the airship, when it was sent down to within a few feet of the earth.

“It will take you some time to get to a telegraph office,” said Mr. Jenks, as a package of food, and a flask of water was tossed down to the stowaway. He shook his fist at those in the airship, and shouted after them:

“You’ll never discover the secret of Phantom Mountain!”

“Yes, we will,” declared Tom, as he sent the Red Cloud high into the air again.

CHAPTER XI – A WEARY SEARCH

During the three days when the stowaway had been kept a prisoner, the Red Cloud had made good time on her western trip. She was now about two hundred and fifty miles from Leadville, Colorado, and Tom knew he could accomplish that distance in a short time. It was necessary, therefore, since they were so close to the place where the real search would begin, to make some more definite plans.

“We will need to replenish our supply of gasoline,” said Tom, shortly after the stowaway had been dropped, and when the young inventor had made a general inspection of the airship.

“Is it all gone?” inquired Mr. Damon.

“Not all, but we will soon be in the wildest part of the Rocky Mountains, and gasoline is difficult to procure there. So I want to fill all our reserve tanks. But I would rather do that before we get far into Colorado.”

“Why?” inquired Mr. Parker.

“Because airships are not so common but what the appearance of one attracts attention. Ours is sure to be talked about, and commented on. In that case, in spite of our precaution in putting Munson off in this lonely place, word of the Red Cloud being in the vicinity of Leadville may reach the diamond makers, and put them on their guard. We want to take them unawares if we can.”

“That’s so,” agreed Mr. Jenks. “We had better get our gasoline at the first stopping place, then, and proceed with our search. Our first object ought to be to look for the landmark–the head of stone. Then we can begin to prospect about a bit.”

“My idea, exactly,” declared Tom. “Well, then, I’ll go down at the first place we cross, where we can get gasoline, and then we’ll be in a position to hover in the air for a long time, without descending.”

The airship kept on her way, traveling slowly the remainder of that day, and at dusk, when there was less chance of big crowds seeing them, the Red Cloud was sent down on the outskirts of a large village. Tom and Mr. Damon went to a supply store, and arranged to have a sufficient quantity of the gasoline taken out to the airship. It was delivered after dark, and little talk was occasioned by the few who were aware of the presence of the craft. Then, once more, they went aloft, and Tom sent several wireless messages to Shopton, including one to Miss Nestor.

“Please tell my wife that I am well, and that I have a good appetite,” said Mr. Damon.

Mr. Parker also sent a message to a scientific friend of his, stating that he made some observations among the mountains, of the region in which the airship then was, and that the indications were that a great landslide would soon take place.

“That won’t worry us,” spoke Tom, “for we’ll be far above it.”

“I hope we will be near enough to enable me to observe it, and make some scientific notes,” came from Mr. Parker. “I am positive that one of these mountain peaks that we saw to-day will disappear in a landslide within a few days. I have an instrument somewhat like the one that records earthquakes, and it has been acting strangely of late.”

Tom wondered what enjoyment Mr. Parker got out of life, when he was always looking for some calamity to happen, but the scientist seemed to take as much pleasure in his gloomy forebodings now, as he had on Earthquake Island.

They reached the vicinity of Leadville the next day, but took care to keep high above the city, so that the airship could not be observed. With powerful glasses they examined the mountainous country, looking for the little settlement of Indian Ridge.

“There it is!” exclaimed Mr. Jenks, just as dusk was settling down. I can make out the hotel I stopped at. Now we can really begin our search. The next thing is to find the stone head, and then, I think, I will have my bearings.”

“We’ll begin the hunt for that landmark in the morning,” said Tom.

High in the air hovered the Red Cloud. At that distance above the earth she must have looked like some great bird, and the adventurers thought it unlikely that any one in the vicinity of Leadville would observe them.

The quest for the great mountain peak, that looked like a stone head, was under way. Back and forth sailed the airship. Sometimes she was enveloped in fog, and no sight could be had of the earth below. At other times there were rain storms, which likewise prevented a view. Mr. Parker was on the lookout for his predicted mountain landslide, but it did not occur, and he was much disappointed.

“It’s queer I can’t pick out that landmark,” said Mr. Jenks after two days of weary searching, when their eyes were strained from long peering through telescopes. “I’m sure it was around Indian Ridge, yet we’ve covered almost all the ground in this neighborhood, and I haven’t had a glimpse of it.”

“Perhaps it was destroyed in a landslide, or some cataclysm of nature,” suggested Mr. Parker. “That is very possible.”

“If that’s the case we’re going to have a hard time to locate the cave of the diamond makers,” answered Mr. Jenks, “but I hope it isn’t so.”

They continued the search for another day, and then Tom, as they sat in the comfortable cabin of the airship that night, hovering almost motionless (for the motor had been shut down) made a proposition.

“Why not descend in some secluded place,” he suggested, “and wander around on foot, making inquiries of the miners. They may know where the stone head is, or they may even know about Phantom Mountain.”

“Good idea,” spoke Mr. Jenks. “We’ll do it.”

Accordingly, the next morning, the Red Cloud was lowered in a good but lonely landing place, and securely moored. It was in a valley, well screened from observation, and the craft was not likely to be seen, but, to guard against any damage being done to it by passing hunters or miners, Mr. Parker and Mr. Damon agreed to remain on guard in it, while Tom and Mr. Jenks spent a day or two traveling around, making inquiries.

The young inventor and his companion proceeded on foot to a small settlement, where they hired horses on which to make their way about. They were to be gone two days, and in that time they hoped to get on the right trail.

CHAPTER XII – THE GREAT STONE HEAD

It was a wild and desolate country in which Tom Swift and Mr. Jenks were traveling. Villages were far apart, and they were at best but small settlements. In their journeys from place to place they met few travelers.

But of these few they made cautious inquiries as to the location of Phantom Mountain, or the landmark known as the great stone head. Prospectors, miners and hunters, whom they asked, shook their heads.

“I’ve heard of Phantom Mountain,” said one grizzled miner, “but I couldn’t say where it is. Maybe it’s only a fish story–the place may not even exist.”

“Oh, it does, for I’ve been there!” exclaimed Mr. Jenks.

“Then why don’t you go back to it?” asked the miner.

“Because I can’t locate it again,” was the reply.

“Humph! Mighty queer if you’ve seen a place once, and can’t get to it again,” and the man looked as if he thought there was something strange about Tom and his companion. Mr. Jenks did not want to say that he had been taken to the mountain blindfolded, for that would have caused too much talk.

“I think if we spent to-night in a place where the miners congregate, listened to their talk, and put a few casual questions to them, more as if we were only asking out of idle curiosity, we might learn something,” suggested Tom.

“Very well, we’ll try that scheme.”

Accordingly, after they had left the suspicious miner the two proceeded to a small milling town, not far from Indian Ridge. There they engaged rooms for the night at the only hotel, and, after supper they sat around the combined dance hall and gambling place.

There were wild, rough scenes, which were distasteful to Tom, and to Mr. Jenks, but they felt that this was their only chance to get on the right trail, and so they stayed. As strangers in a western mining settlement they were made roughly welcome, and in response to their inquiries about the country, they were told many tales, some of which were evidently gotten up for the benefit of the “tenderfeet.”

“Is there a place around here called Phantom Mountain?” asked Tom, at length, as quietly as he could.

“Never heard of it, stranger,” replied a miner who had done most of the talking. “I never heard of it, and what Bill Slatterly don’t know ain’t worth knowin’. I’m Bill Slatterly,” he added, lest there be some doubt on that score.

“Isn’t there some sort of a landmark around here shaped like a great stone head?” went on Tom, after some unimportant questions. “Seems to me I’ve heard of that.”

“Nary a one,” answered Mr. Slatterly. “No stone heads, and no Phantom Mountains–nary a one.

“Who says there ain’t no Phantom Mountains?” demanded an elderly miner, who had been dozing in one corner of the room, but who was awakened by Slatterly’s loud voice. “Who says so?”

“I do,” answered the one who claimed to know everything.

“Then you’re wrong!” Tom’s heart commenced beating faster than usual.

“Do you mean to say you’ve seen Phantom Mountain, Jed Nugg?” demanded Slatterly.

“No, I ain’t exactly seen it, an’ I don’t want to, but there is such a place, about sixty mile from here. Folks says it’s haunted, and them sort of places I steer clear from.”

“Can you tell me about it?” asked Mr. Jenks. eagerly. “I am interested in such things.”

“I can’t tell you much about it,” was the reply, “and I wouldn’t git too interested, if I was you. It might not be healthy. All I know is that one time my partner and I were in hard luck. We got grub-staked, and went out prospectin’. We strayed into a wild part of the country about sixty mile from here, and one night we camped on a mountain–a wild, desolate place it was too.”

The miner stopped, and began leisurely filling his pipe.

“Well?” asked Tom, trying not to let his voice sound too eager.

“Well, that was Phantom Mountain.”

The miner seemed to have finished his story.

“Is that all?” asked Mr. Jenks. “How did you know it was Phantom Mountain?”

“‘Cause we seen the ghost–my partner and I–that’s why!” exclaimed the man, puffing on his pipe. “As I said, we was campin’ there, and ‘long about midnight we seen somethin’ tall and white, and all shimmerin’, with a sort of yellow fire, slidin’ down the side of the mountain It made straight for our camp.”

“Huh! Guess you run, didn’t you, Jed?” asked Bill Slatterly.

“Course we did. You’d a run too, if you seen a ghost comm’ at you, an’ firm’ a gun.”

“Ghosts can’t fire guns!” declared Bill. “I guess you dreamed it, Jed.”

“Ghosts can’t fire guns, eh? That’s all you know about it. This one did, and to prove I didn’t dream it, there was a bullet hole in my hat next mornin’. I could prove it, too, only I ain’t got that hat any more. But that was Phantom Mountain, strangers, an’ my advice to you is to keep away from it. I was on it but I didn’t exactly see it, ’cause it was dark at the time.”

“Was it near a peak that looked like a stone head?” asked Tom.

“It were, stranger, but I didn’t take much notice of it. Me and my partner got out of them diggin’s next day, and I never went back. I ain’t never said much about this place, but it’s called Phantom Mountain all right, and I ain’t the only one that’s seen a ghost there. Other grub-stakers has had the same experience.”

“Why ain’t I never heard about it?” demanded Bill, suspiciously.

“‘Cause as why you’re allers so busy talkin’ that you don’t never listen to nothin’ I reckon,” was Jed’s answer, amid laughter.

“Can you tell us what trail to take to get there?” asked Tom, of the miner.

“Yes, it’s called the old silver trail, and you. strike it by goin’ to a place called Black Gulch, about forty mile from here. Then it’s twenty mile farther on. But take my advice and don’t go.”

“Can it be reached by way of Indian Ridge?” asked Mr. Jenks, wondering how he had been taken to the cave of the diamond makers. He did not remember Black Gulch.

“Yes, you can git there by Indian Ridge way, but it’s more dangerous. You’re likely to lose your way, for that’s a trail that’s seldom traveled.” Mr. Jenks thought that, perhaps, was the reason the gang had taken him that way. “It’s easier to get to the stone head and Phantom Mountain by Black Gulch, but it ain’t healthy to go there, strangers, take my advice on that,” concluded the miner, as he prepared to go to sleep again.

Tom could scarcely contain the exultation he felt. At last, it seemed, they were on the trail. He motioned to Mr. Jenks, and they slipped quietly from the place, just as another dance was beginning.

“Now for Black Gulch!” cried Tom. “We must hurry back to the airship, and tell the good news.

“It’s too late to-night,” decided Mr. Jenks, and so they waited until morning, when they made an early start.

They found Mr. Damon and Mr. Parker anxiously awaiting their return. Mr. Damon blessed so many things that he was nearly out of breath, and Mr. Parker related something of the observations he had made.

“I think I have discovered traces of a dormant volcano,” he said. “I am in hopes that it will have an eruption while we are here.”

“I’m not,” spoke Tom, decidedly. “We’ll start for Black Gulch as soon as possible.”

The airship once more rose in the air, and, following the directions the miner had given him, Tom pointed his craft for the depression in the mountains which had been given the name Black Gulch. It was reached in a short time, and then, making a turn up a long valley the airship proceeded at reduced speed.

“We ought to see that stone head soon now,” spoke Tom, as he peered from the windows of the pilot house.

“It’s queer we didn’t notice it when we were up in the air,” remarked Mr. Jenks. “We’ve been over this place before, I’m sure of it.”

The next moment Mr. Damon uttered a cry. “Bless my watch- chain!” he exclaimed. “Look at that!”

He pointed off to the left. There, jutting out from the side of a steep mountain peak was a mass of stone–black stone–which, as the airship slowly approached, took the form and shape of a giant’s head.

“That’s it! That’s it!” cried Tom. “The great stone head!”

“And now for Phantom Mountain and the diamonds!” shouted Mr. Jenks, as Tom let the airship slowly settle to the bottom of the valley.

CHAPTER XIII – ON PHANTOM MOUNTAIN

Out from the Red Cloud piled Tom and the others. They made a rush for the irregular mass of rock which bore so strong a resemblance to the head of some gigantic man.

“That’s the one! That’s the thing I saw when they were taking me along here blindfolded!” exclaimed Mr. Jenks. “I’m sure we’re on the right trail, now!”

“But what gets me, though,” remarked Mr. Damon, “is why we couldn’t see that landmark when we were up in the air. We had a fine view, and ought to have been able to pick it out with the telescopes.”

The adventurers saw the reason a few seconds later. The image was visible only from one place, and that was directly looking up the valley. If one went too far to the right or left the head disappeared from view behind jutting crags, and it was impossible to see it from overhead, because the head was almost under a great spur of a mighty mountain.

“We might have hunted for it a week in the airship, and been directly over it,” said Tom, “and yet we would never have seen it.”

“Yes, but we never would have gotten here in such good shape if it hadn’t been for your wonderful craft,” declared Mr. Jenks. “It brought us here safely and quickly, and enabled us to elude the men who tried to keep us back. We’re here in spite of them. If we had traveled by train they might have interfered with us in a dozen ways.”

“That’s so,” agreed Mr. Damon. “Well, now we’re here, what’s to be done? Which way do we start to reach the cave where the diamonds are manufactured, Mr. Jenks?”

“That I can’t say. As you know, I only had a momentary glimpse of this stone head as they wore taking me along the trail. Then one the men noticed that the bandage had slipped and he pulled it into place. So I really can’t say which direction to take now, in order to discover the secret.”

“How long after you saw the head before you reached the cave?” asked Tom. “In that way we may be able to tell how far away it is.”

“Well, I should say it was about two or three hours after I saw the head, before we got to the halting place, and I was carried into the cave. That would make it several miles from here, for we went in a wagon.”

“Yes, and they might have driven in a round-about way, in order to deceive you,” suggested Mr. Damon. “At best we have but a faint idea where the diamond cave is, but we must search for it; eh, Tom?”

“Certainly. We’ll start right in. And as the airship will be of but little service to us now, I suggest that we leave it in this valley. It is very much secluded, and no one will harm it, I think. We can then start off prospecting, for I have a large portable tent, and we can carry enough food with us, with what game we can shoot, to enable us to live. I have a regular camping outfit on board.”

“Fine!” cried Mr. Parker, “and that will give me a chance to make some observations among the mountains, and perhaps I can predict when a landslide, or an eruption of some dormant volcano, may occur.”

“Bless my stars!” cried Mr. Damon. “I don’t wish you any bad luck, Mr. Parker, but I sincerely hope nothing of the sort happens! We had enough of that on Earthquake Island!”

“One can not halt the forces of nature,” said the scientist, solemnly. “There are many towering peaks around here which may contain old volcanoes. And I notice the presence of iron ore all about. This must be a wonderful place in a thunder and lightning storm.”

“Why?” asked Tom, curiously.

“Because lightning would be powerfully attracted here by the presence of the metal. In fact there is evidence that many of the peaks have been struck by lightning,” and the scientist showed curious, livid scars on the stone faces of the peaks within sight.

“Then this is a good place to stay away from in a storm,” observed Mr. Damon. “However, we won’t worry about that now. If this is the landmark Mr. Jenks was searching for, then we must be in the vicinity of Phantom Mountain.”

“I think we are,” declared the diamond seeker. “Probably it is within sight now, but there are so many peaks, and this is such a wild and desolate part of the country that we may have trouble in locating it.”

“We’ve got to make a beginning, anyhow,” decided Tom, “and the sooner the better. Come, we’ll make up our camping kits, and start out.”

It was something to know that they were on the right trail, and it was a relief to be able to busy oneself, and not be aimlessly searching for a mysterious landmark. They all felt this, and soon the airship was taken to a secluded part of the valley, where it was well hidden from sight in a grove of trees.

Tom and Mr. Damon then served a good meal, and preparations were made to start on their search among the mountains–a search which they hoped would lead them to Phantom Mountain, and the cave of the diamond makers.

The tent which would afford them shelter was in sections, and could be laced together. They carried food, compressed into small packages, coffee, a few cooking utensils; and each one had a gun, Tom carrying a combination rifle and shotgun, for game.

“We can’t live very high while we’re on the trail,” said the young inventor, “but it won’t be much worse than it was on Earthquake Island. Are we all ready?”

“I guess so,” answered Mr. Damon. “How long are we going to be away?”

“Until we find the diamond makers!” declared Tom, firmly.

Shouldering their packs, the adventurers started off. Tom turned for a last look at his airship, dimly seen amid the trees. Would he ever come back to the Red Cloud? Would she be there when he did return? Would their quest be successful? These questions the lad asked himself, as he followed his companions along the rocky trail.

“Perhaps we can find the road by which these men go in and out of the cave,” suggested Mr. Damon, when they had gone on for several miles.

“I fancy not,” replied Mr. Jenks. “They probably take great pains to hide it. I think though, that our best plan will be to go here and there, looking for the entrance to the cave. I believe I would remember the place.”

“But why can’t you follow the directions given by the miner who told you about Phantom Mountain?” asked Mr. Damon.

“Because his talk was too indefinite,” answered Mr. Jenks. “He was so frightened by seeing what he believed to be a ghost, that he didn’t take much notice of the location of the place. All he knows is that Phantom Mountain is somewhere around here.”

“And we’ve got to hunt until we find it; is that the idea?” asked Mr. Parker.

“Or until we see the phantom” added Tom, in a low voice.

“Bless my topknot!” exclaimed Mr. Damon. “You don’t mean to say you expect to see that ghost; do you Tom?”

“Perhaps,” answered the young inventor, and he did not add something else of which he was thinking. For Tom had a curious theory regarding the phantom.

They tramped about the remainder of that day. Toward evening Tom shot some birds, which made a welcome addition to their supper. Then the tent was put together, some spruce and hemlock boughs were cut to make a soft bed, and on these, while the light of a campfire gleamed in on them, the adventurers slept.

Their experience the following day was similar to the first. They saw no evidence of a large cave such as Mr. Jenks had described, nor were there any traces of men having gone back and forth among the mountains, as might have been expected of the diamond makers, for, as Mr. Jenks had said, they made frequent journeys to the settlement for food, and other supplies.

“Well, I haven’t begun to give up yet,” announced Tom, on the third day, when their quest was still unsuccessful. “But I think we are making one mistake.”

“What is that?” inquired Mr. Jenks.

“I think we should go up higher. In my opinion the cave is near the top of some peak; isn’t it, Mr. Jenks?”

“I have that impression, though, as you know, I never saw the outside of it. Still, it might not be a bad idea to ascend some of these peaks.”

Following this suggestion, they laid their trail more toward the sky, and that night found them encamped several thousand feet above the sea-level. It was quite cool, and the campfire was a big one about which they sat after supper, talking of many things.

Tom did not sleep well that night. He tossed from side to side on the bed of boughs, and once or twice got up to replenish the fire, which had burned low. His companions were in deep slumber.

“I wonder what time it is?” mused Tom, when he had been up the third time to throw wood on the blaze. “Must be near morning.” He looked at his watch, and was somewhat startled to see that it was only a little after twelve. Somehow it seemed much later.

As he was putting the timepiece back into his pocket the lad looked around at the dark and gloomy mountains, amid which they were encamped. As his gaze wandered toward the peak of the one on the side of which the tent was pitched, he gave a start of surprise.

For, coming down a place where, that afternoon, Tom had noticed a sort of indefinite trail. was a figure in white. A tall, waving figure, which swayed this way and that–a figure which halted and then came on again.

“I wonder–I wonder if that can be a wisp of fog?” mused the young inventor. He rubbed his eyes, thinking it might be a swirling of the night mist or a defect of vision. Then, as he saw more plainly, he noticed the thing in white rushing toward him.

“It’s the phantom–the phantom!” cried Tom, aloud. “It’s the thing the miner saw! We’re on Phantom Mountain now!”

CHAPTER XIV – WARNED BACK

Tom’s cries awakened the sleepers in the tent. Mr. Damon was the first to rush out.

“Bless my nightcap, Tom!” he cried. “What is it? What has happened? Are we attacked by a mountain lion?”

For answer the young inventor pointed up the mountain, to where, in the dim light from a crescent moon, there stood boldly revealed, the figure in white.

“Bless–bless my very existence!” cried the odd man. “What is it, Tom?”

“The phantom,” was the quiet answer. “Watch it, and see what it does.”

By this time Mr. Jenks and Mr. Parker had joined Tom and Mr. Damon. The four diamond seekers stood gazing at the apparition. And, as they looked, the thing in white, seemingly too tall for any human being, slid slowly forward, with a gliding motion. Then it raised its long, white arms, and waved them threateningly at the adventurers.

“It’s motioning us to go back,” said Mr. Parker in an awed whisper. “It doesn’t want us to go any farther.”

“Very likely,” agreed Tom, coolly. “But we’re not going to be frightened by anything like that; are we?”

“Not much!” exclaimed Mr. Jenks. “I expected this. A ghost can’t drive me back from getting my rights from those scoundrels!”

“Suppose it uses a revolver to back up its demand?” asked the scientist.

“Wait until it does,” answered Mr. Jenks. But the figure in white evidently had no such intentions. It came on a little distance farther, still waving the long arms threateningly, and then it suddenly disappeared, seeming to dissolve in the misty shadows of the night.

“Bless my suspenders!” cried Mr. Damon.” “That’s a very strange proceeding! Very strange! What do you make of it, Tom?”

“It is evidently some man dressed up in a sheet,” declared Mr. Jenks. “I expected as much.”

“The work of those diamond makers; do you think?” continued Mr. Damon.

“I believe so,” answered Tom, slowly, for he was trying to think it out. “I believe they are the cause of the phantom, though I don’t know that it’s a man dressed in a sheet.”

“Why isn’t it?” demanded Mr. Jenks.

“Because it was too tall for a man, unless he’s a giant.”

“He may have been on stilts,” suggested Mr. Parker.

“No man on stilts could walk along that way,” declared Tom, confidently. “He glided along too easily. I am inclined to think it may be some sort of a light.”

“A light?” queried Mr. Damon.

“Yes, the diamond makers may be hidden in some small cave near here, and they may have some sort of a magic lantern or a similar arrangement, for throwing a shadow picture. They could arrange it to move as they liked, and could cause it to disappear at will. That, I think, is the ghost we have just seen.”

“But the diamond makers have only been in this mountain recently,” objected Mr. Jenks, “and the phantom was here before them. In fact, that was what gave the place its name.”

“That may be,” admitted the lad. “There are many places that have the name of being haunted, but no one ever sees the ghost. It is always some one else, who has heard of some one who has seen it. That may have been the case here. I grant that this place may have been called ‘Phantom Mountain’ for a number of years, due to the superstitious tales of miners. The diamond makers came along, found the conditions just right for their work, and adopted the ghost, so to speak. As there wasn’t any real spirit they made one, and they use it to scare people away. I think that’s what we’ve just seen, though I may be wrong in my theory as to what the phantom is.”

“Well, it’s gone now, at any rate,” said Mr. Jenks, “and I think we’d better get back inside the tent. It’s cold out here.”

“Aren’t some of us going to stand guard?” demanded Mr. Damon.

“What for?” asked Mr. Jenks.

“Why–er–bless my key-ring! Suppose that ghost takes a notion to come down here, and use his gun, as he did on the miners?”

“I don’t believe that will happen,” remarked Tom. “The diamond makers, if the white thing had anything to do with them, have given us a warning, and I think they’ll at least wait until morning to see how we heed it.”

“We aren’t going to heed it!” burst out Mr. Jenks. “I’m going to go right ahead and find that cave where they make diamonds!”

“And we’re with you!” exclaimed Tom. “We’ll have a good fire going the rest of the night, and that may keep intruders away. In the morning we’ll begin our search, and we’ll go up the trail where we saw the white figure.”

A big pile of wood had been collected for the fire, and Tom now piled some logs and branches on the blaze. It would last for some time now, and the adventurers, still talking of the “ghost” went back into the tent. It was over an hour before they all got to sleep again, and Mr. Jenks and Mr. Damon took turns in getting up once or twice during the remainder of the night to replenish the fire.

Morning dawned without anything further having occurred to disturb them, and, after a hearty breakfast, to which Tom added some fish he caught in a nearby mountain stream, they set off up the trail on Phantom Mountain.

They had left their tent standing, as they proposed making that spot their headquarters until they located the cave they were seeking. What their course would be after that would depend on the circumstances.

If they had expected to have an easy task locating the cavern in which Mr. Jenks had seen diamonds made, the adventurers were disappointed. All that day they tramped up and down the mountain, looking for some secret entrance, but none was disclosed. The higher they went up the great peak, the fainter became the trail, until, at length it vanished completely.

But this was not to be wondered at, since it was on solid rock, in which no footsteps would leave an impression.

“They never brought you up here in a wagon, Mr. Jenks,” decided Tom, when he saw how steep the place was.

“I’m inclined to think so myself,” admitted the diamond man. “They must have reached the cave from some other way. As a matter of fact, I walked some distance after getting out of the vehicle, before we got to the cavern. But, even at that, I don’t believe we came this way.”

“Yet the phantom was here,” persisted Tom, “and I’m convinced that the cave is in this neighborhood. It’s up to us to find it!”

But they searched the remainder of that day in vain, and as night was coming on, they made their way back to the camp. As Tom, who was in the lead, approached the tent, he saw something black fastened to the entrance.

“Hello!” he cried. “Some one’s been here. That wasn’t on the tent when he left this morning.”

“What is it?” asked Mr. Damon.

“A black piece of paper, written on with white ink,” replied the lad. He was reading it, and, as he perused it a look of surprise came over his face.

“Listen to this!” called Tom. “It’s evidently from the diamond makers.”

Holding up the black paper, on which the white writing stood out in bold relief Tom read aloud:

“Be warned in time! Go back before it is too late! You are near to death! Go back!”

“Bless my shoelaces!” cried Mr. Damon. “This is getting serious.”

CHAPTER XV – THE LANDSLIDE

Gathered about the young inventor, the three men looked at the warning. The writing was poor, and it was evident that an attempt had been made to disguise it. But there was no misspelling of words, and there were no rudely drawn daggers, or bloody hands or anything of that sort. In fact, it was a very business-like sort of warning.

“Rather odd,” commented Mr. Jenks. “Black paper and white ink.”

“White ink is easy enough to make,” stated Mr. Parker. “I fancy they wanted it as conspicuous as possible.”

“Yes,” agreed Tom, “and this warning, together with the antics of the thing in white last night, shows that they are aware of our presence here, and perhaps know who we are. We will have to be on our guard.”

“Do you think that fellow Munson, whom we left in the forest, could have gotten here and warned them?” asked Mr. Damon.

“It’s possible,” admitted Tom, “but now let’s see if the person who pinned this warning on our tent took any of our things.”

A hasty examination, however, showed that nothing had been disturbed, and Tom and Mr. Damon were soon getting supper ready, everyone talking, during the progress of the meal, about the events of the day, and the rather weird culmination of it.

“Well, we haven’t had a great deal of success–so far,” admitted Tom, as they sat about the fire, in the fast gathering dusk. “I think, perhaps, we’d better try on the other side of the mountain to-morrow. We’ve explored this side pretty thoroughly.”

“Good idea,” commented Mr. Jenks. “We’ll do it, and move our camp. I only hope those fellows don’t find our airship and destroy it. We’ll have a hard time getting back to civilization again, if we have to walk all the way.”

This contingency caused Tom some uneasiness. He did not like to think that the unscrupulous men might damage the Red Cloud, that had been built only after hard labor. But he knew he could accomplish nothing by worrying, and he tried to dismiss the matter from his mind.

They rather expected to see the thing in white again that night, but it did not appear, and morning came without anything having disturbed their heavy sleep, for they were tired from the day’s tramp.

It took them the greater part of the day to make a circuit of the base of Phantom Mountain in order to get to a place where a sort of trail led upward.

“It’s too late to do anything to-night,” decided Tom, as they set up the tent. “We’ll rest, and start the first thing in the morning.”

“And the ghost isn’t likely to find us here,” added Mr. Damon. “Where are you going, Mr. Parker?” he asked, as he saw the scientist tramping a little way up the side of the mountain.

“I am going to make some observations,” was the answer, and no one paid any more attention to him for some time. Supper was nearly ready when Mr. Parker returned. His face wore a rather serious air, and Mr. Damon, noting it, asked laughingly:

“Well, did you discover any volcanoes, that may erupt during the night, and scare us to death?”

“No,” replied Mr. Parker, calmly, “but there is every indication that we will soon have a terrific electrical storm. From a high peak I caught a glimpse of one working this way across the mountains.”

“Then we’d better fasten the tent well down,” called Tom. “We don’t want it to blow away.”

“There will not be much danger from wind,” was Mr. Parker’s opinion.

“From what then?” asked Mr. Jenks.

“From the discharges of lightning among these mountain peaks, which contain so much iron ore. We will be in grave danger.”

The fact that the scientist had not always made correct predictions was not now considered by his hearers, and Tom and the two men gazed at Mr. Parker in some alarm.

“Is there anything we can do to avoid it?” asked Mr. Jenks.

“The only thing to do would be to leave the mountain,” was the answer, “and, as the iron ore extends for miles, we can not get out of the danger zone before the storm will reach us. It will be here in less than half an hour.”

“Then we’d better have supper,” remarked Tom, practically, “and get ready for it. Perhaps it may not be as bad as Mr. Parker fears.”

“It will be bad enough,” declared the gloomy scientist, and he seemed to find pleasure in his announcement.

The meal was soon over, and Tom busied himself in looking to the guy ropes of the tent, for he feared lest there might be wind with the storm. That it was coming was evident, for now low mutterings of thunder could be heard off toward the west.

Black clouds rapidly obscured the heavens, and the sound of thunder increased. Fitful flashes of lightning could be seen forking across the sky in jagged chains of purple light.

“It’s going to be a heavy storm,” Tom admitted to himself. “I hope lightning doesn’t strike around here.”

The storm came on rapidly, but there was a curious quietness in the air that was more alarming than if a wind had blown. The campfire burned steadily, and there was a certain oppressiveness in the atmosphere.

It was now quite dark, save when the fitful lightning flashes came, and they illuminated the scene brilliantly for a few seconds. Then, by contrast, it was blacker than ever.

Suddenly, as Tom was gazing up toward the peak of Phantom Mountain, he saw something that caused him to cry out in alarm. He pointed upward, and whispered hoarsely:

“The ghost again! There’s our friend in white!”

The others looked, and saw the same weird figure that had menaced them when they were encamped on the other side of the peak.

“They must have followed us,” said Mr. Jenks, in a low voice.

Slowly the figure advanced, It waved the long white arms, as if in warning. At times it would be only dimly visible in the blackness, then, suddenly it would stand out in bold relief as a great flash of fire split the clouds.

The thunder, meanwhile, had been growing louder and sharper, indicating the nearer approach of the storm. Each lightning flash was followed in a second or two, by a terrific clap. Still there was no wind nor rain, and the campfire burned steadily.

All at once there was a crash as if the very mountain had split asunder, and the adventurers saw a great ball of purple-bluish fire shoot down, as if from some cloud, and strike against the side of the crag, not a hundred feet from where stood the ghostly figure in white.

“That was a bad one,” cried Mr. Damon, shouting so as to be heard above the echoes of the thunderclap.

Almost as he spoke there came another explosion, even louder than the one preceding. A great ball of fire, pear shaped, leaped for the same spot in the mountain.

“There’s a mass of iron ore there!” yelled Mr. Parker. “The lightning is attracted to it!”

His voice was swallowed up in the terrific crash that followed, and, as there came another flash of the celestial fire, the figure in white could be seen hurrying back up the mountain trail. Evidently the electrical storm, with lightning bolts discharging so close, was too much for the “ghost.”

In another instant it looked as if the whole place about where the diamond seekers stood, was a mass of fire. Great forked tongues of lightning leaped from the clouds, and seemed to lick the ground. There was a rattle and bang of thunder, like the firing of a battery of guns. Tom and the others felt themselves tingling all over, as if they had hold of an electrical battery, and there was a strong smell of sulphur in the air.

“We are in the midst of the storm!” cried Mr. Parker. “We are standing on a mass of iron ore! Any minute may be our last!”

But fate had not intended the adventurers for death by lightning. Almost as suddenly as it had begun, the discharge of the tongues of fire ceased in the immediate vicinity of our friends. They stood still–awed–not knowing what to do.

Then, once more, came a terrific clap! A great mass of fire, like some red-hot ingot from a foundry, was hurled through the air, straight at the face of the mountain, and at the spot where the figure in white had stood but a few minutes before.

Instantly the earth trembled, as it had at Earthquake Island, but it was not the same. It was over in a few seconds. Then, as the diamond seekers looked, they saw in the glare of a score of lightning flashes that followed the one great clap, the whole side of the mountain slip away, and go crashing into the valley below.

“A landslide!” cried Mr. Parker. “That is the landslide which I predicted! The lightning bolt has split Phantom Mountain!”

CHAPTER XVI – THE VAST CAVERN

For a time the roiling, slipping, sliding and tumbling of the mass of earth and stones, down the side of the mountain, effectually drowned all other sounds. Even the thunder was stilled, and though Tom and his companions called to one another in terror, their voices could not rise above that terrific tumult.

Finally, when they found that the direction of the slide was away from their tent, and that they were not likely to be engulfed, they grew more calm.

Gradually the noise subsided. The great boulders had rolled to the bottom of the valley, and now only a mass of earth and stones was sliding down. Even this stopped in about five minutes, and, as though satisfied with what it had done, the electrical storm passed. Not a drop of rain had fallen.

“Bless my shirt studs!” exclaimed Mr. Damon, who was the first to speak after the din had quieted. “Bless my soul! But that was awful!”

“It was just what I expected,” said Mr. Parker, calmly. “I knew, from my observations, that we were in a region where landslides and terrific electrical storms may be expected at any time. I fully looked for this.”

“Well,” remarked Mr. Jenks, rather sarcastically, “I hope it came up to your expectations, Mr. Parker.”

“Oh, fully,” was the answer, “though I wish it could have happened in daylight, so that I could better have observed certain phenomena regarding the landslide. They are very interesting.”

“At a distance,” admitted Tom, with a laugh of relief. “Well, I’m glad it’s over, though we’ll have to wait until morning to see what damage has been done. Lucky we weren’t struck by lightning. I never saw such bolts!”

“Me, either!” declared Mr. Damon. “This mountain seems to attract them.”

“It is like a magnet,” said Mr. Parker. “I think I shall be able to make some fine observations here.”

“If we live through it,” murmured Mr. Jenks.

They watched the play of lightning about a distant bank of clouds, but the storm was now far away, only a faint rumbling of thunder being heard.

“I’m wondering what happened to the phantom,” said Tom, after a pause. “Seems to me he was right in that track of the storm.”

“Do you think it was a ‘he’?” asked Mr. Jenks.

“I think we’ll find that it’s some sort of a man,” answered the young inventor. “We may find out very soon, now. I’ve changed my theory about the ghost being reflections of light.”

“How’s that?” Mr. Damon wanted to know.

“Well, I think we are on the side of Phantom Mountain where the diamond cave is,” went on the lad. “The fact that the phantom appeared here, soon after we arrived, shows that the men kept close track of our movements. It also shows, I think, that the phantom did not have to travel far to be on the spot, whereas we had to make quite a trip to get around the base of the mountain. I think the cave is up there,” and Tom pointed toward the spot where the weird figure had been last seen, before the storm drove it back.

“There may be two phantoms,” suggested Mr. Jenks. “They may keep one on this side of the mountain, and one on the other, to warn intruders away.

“It’s possible,” admitted Tom. “Well, we’ll see how things look in the morning, when we’ll take up our march again, and go up the mountain. We’ll reach the top, if possible, which we couldn’t do from the other side, as it was too steep.”

“I hope we shall be able to go forward in the morning,” came from Mr. Jenks.

“What do you mean?” asked the lad, struck by a peculiar significance in the diamond man’s tones.

“Why, that landslide may have opened a great gully in the side of Phantom Mountain, which will prevent us from passing. It was a terrific lot of earth and stones that slid away,” answered Mr. Jenks.

“It certainly was,” agreed Mr. Parker. “I would not be surprised if the mountain was half destroyed, and it may be that the diamond cave no longer exists.”

“Not very cheerful, to say the least,” murmured Mr. Jenks to Tom, and, as it was getting quite chilly, following the storm, they went inside the tent.

Tom could hardly wait for daylight, to get up and see what havoc the landslide had wrought. As soon as the first faint flush of dawn showed over the eastern peaks, he hurried from the tent. Mr. Damon heard him arise, and followed.

A curious scene met their eyes. All about were great rocks rent and torn by the awful power of the lightning. The fronts of the stone cliffs were scarred and burned by the electrical fire, and fantastic markings, grotesque faces, and leering animals seemed to have been drawn by some gigantic artist who used a bolt from heaven for his brush.

But the eyes of Tom and Mr. Damon took all this in at a glance, and then their gaze went forward to where the avalanche had torn away a great part of the mountain.

“Whew! I should say it was a landslide!” cried Tom.

“Bless my wishbone, yes!” agreed Mr. Damon.

Below them, in the valley, lay piled immense masses of earth and stones. Boulders were heaped up on boulders, and rocks upon rocks, being tossed about in heaps, strung about in long ridges, and swirled about in curves, as though some cyclone had toyed with them after the lightning flash had tossed them there.

“But the mountain isn’t half gone,” said Tom, as his eyes took in what was left of the phantom berg. “I guess it will take a few more bolts like that one, to put this hill out of business.”

Though the landslide had been a great one, the larger part of the mountain still stood. An immense slice had been taken from one side, but the summit was untouched.

“And there’s where the diamond cave is!” cried Tom, pointing to it.

“I think so myself,” agreed Mr. Jenks, who came from the tent at that moment, and joined the lad and Mr. Damon. “I think we shall find the cave somewhere up there. We must start for it, as soon as we have eaten, and we may reach it by night.”

The three stood gazing up toward the summit of the great mountain. Suddenly, as the sun rose higher in the heavens, it sent a shaft of rosy light on the face of the berg that had been scarred by the landslide. Tom Swift uttered an exclamation, and pointed at something.

“See!” he cried. “Look where the trail is–the trail down which the phantom must have come. It is on the edge of a cliff now!”

They looked, and saw that this was so. The increasing light had just revealed it to them. When the lightning bolt had torn away a great portion of the mountain it had cut sheer down for a great depth and when the earth and stones fell away they left a narrow pathway, winding around the mountain, but so near the edge of a great chasm, that there was room but for one person at a time to walk on that footway. The uncertain trail up Phantom Mountain had all but been destroyed.

“The way up to the peak is by that path, now,” spoke Tom, in a low voice.

“Bless my soul!” cried Mr. Damon. “It’s as much as a man’s life is worth to attempt it. If he got dizzy, he’d topple over, and fall a thousand feet. Dare we risk it?”

“It’s the only way to get up,” went on Tom. “It’s either that way, or not at all. We’ve tried the other side without success. We must go up this way–or turn back.”

“Then we’ll go up!” cried Mr. Jenks. “It may not be as dangerous as it looks from here.”

But it was even more dangerous than it appeared, when they went part way up it after a hasty breakfast. The trail was a mere ledge of rock now, and in some places, to get around a projecting edge of the mountain, they had to stand with their backs to the dizzy depths at their feet, and with both arms outstretched work their way around to where the trail was wider.

“Shall we risk it?” asked Tom, when they had tried the way, and found it so dangerous. “We can’t take anything with us–even our guns, for we couldn’t carry them, and if we reach the month of the cave, and find those men there–“

He paused significantly. The adventurers looked at one another. The search for the diamond makers was becoming more and more dangerous.

“I say let’s go on!” decided Mr. Damon, suddenly. “We want to locate that cave, first of all. Perhaps, when we do find it, we may see some easier way of getting to it than this. And if those diamond makers do attack us–well, I don’t believe they’ll shoot defenseless men, and they may listen to reason, and give Mr. Jenks his rights–tell him how to make diamonds in return for the money he gave them.”

“I don’t believe those scoundrels will listen to reason,” replied the diamond man, “but I agree with Mr. Damon that we ought to go on. We may find some other means of reaching the cave–if we can discover it, and we’ll take a chance with the men.”

“Forward it is, then!” cried Tom. “I have a revolver, and I can supply one of you gentlemen with another. They may come in useful in an emergency. Let’s go back to camp, take a little lunch in our pockets, and try to scale the mountain.”

They were soon on their way up the dizzy path once more, and, as they advanced, they found it growing more and more dangerous. In some places they found it almost impossible to get around certain corners, where there was barely room for their feet. As Tom remarked grimly, a fat man never could have done it. Fortunately they were all comparatively thin, for their hard work, and not too abundant food, since they had left the airship, had reduced their weight.

Up and up they went, higher and higher, sometimes finding the path wide enough for two to walk abreast, and again seeing it narrow almost to a ribbon. They hardly dared look down into the chasm at their left–a chasm filled, in part, with the rocks and boulders tossed into it by the lightning bolt.

Tom was in the lead, and had just made a dangerous turn around a shoulder of rock–one of those places where he had to extend both arms, and fairly hug the cliff before he could get around.

But, when he had made it, and found himself on a broad pathway, cut in the living rock, he gave a great shout–a shout that caused his companions to hasten to his side. They found the young inventor pointing to a clump of bushes and small trees.

But it was not the shrubbery that Tom desired to call to their attention. They saw that in an instant, for, dimly seen through the leaves, was something black, and, as they looked more closely, they saw that it was a great hole in the side of the mountain–a vast cavern, opening like a tunnel.

“The cave! The cave!” cried Tom. “The diamond makers’ cave

Hardly had he spoken than two men, each one carrying a gun, showed themselves in the mouth of the cavern, and, instant later they both ran toward the little party of adventurers.

CHAPTER XVII – THE PHANTOM CAPTURED

Surprise held Tom and his friends almost spellbound for the moment. The young inventor’s hand went toward the pocket where he carried his revolver. Mr. Jenks, who had the only other weapon, sought to draw it, but he was stopped by a gesture of one of the two men with guns.

“Hold on, strangers!” the man cried. “I know what you’re up to! Better not try to draw anything–it might not be healthy. Now, then, who are you, and what do you want?”

The question came rather as a surprise, at least to Tom and Mr. Jenks. They had taken it for granted that these men–if they were the diamond makers–would know Mr. Jenks, and guess at his errand in coming back to Phantom Mountain. But, it seemed, that they took them all for casual strangers.

No one answered for a moment. Tom caught the eye of Mr. Jenks, and there was a look of hope in it. If ever there was a time for strategy, it was now. Evidently Munson, the stowaway on the airship, had not yet been able to send a warning to his confederates. And neither of the two men recognized Mr. Jenks as the man who had been defrauded of his rights. It might be possible to conceal the real object of the adventurers until they had time to formulate a plan of action.

“Well,” exclaimed the man with the gun, impatiently, “I ask you folks a question. What do you want?”

Fortunately, neither Mr. Damon nor Mr. Parker replied. The former because he deferred to Tom and Mr. Jenks, and the scientist because he was busy inspecting some curious rocks he picked up. As it turned out this was the luckiest thing he could have done. It lent color to what Mr. Jenks said a moment later.

“What are you doing up here?” demanded the man again. “Don’t you know this is private property?”

“We–we were just looking around,” answered Mr. Jenks, which was true enough; as far as it went.

“Prospecting,” added Tom.

“After gold?” demanded the second man, suspiciously.

“We’d be glad to find some,” retorted the lad. At that moment Mr. Parker began breaking off bits of rock with a small geologist’s hammer which he carried. The men with the guns looked at him.

“So you think you’ll find gold up here?” asked the one who had first spoken.

“Is there any?” inquired Tom, trying to make his voice sound eager.

“Nary a bit, strangers,” was the answer, and the two men laughed heartily. “Now, we don’t want to seem harsh,” went on the man who seemed to be the spokesman, “but you’d better get away from here. This is private ground, and dangerous too–how’d you ever get up the trail–we heard it was destroyed.”

“There is still a narrow path,” said Mr. Jenks. “We came up that–the lightning and landslide haven’t left much of it, though.”

Mr. Parker looked quickly up from the rocks at which he was tapping with his small hammer. “You have terrific lightning up here,” he said. “I am much interested in it, from a scientific standpoint. I predict that some day the entire mountain will be destroyed by a blast from the sky.”

“I hope it won’t be right away,” spoke one of the men. “Now I guess you folks had better be leaving while there’s a path left to go down by.”

“Might I ask,” broke in Mr. Parker, as calmly as though he was lecturing to a class of students, “might I ask if you have noticed any peculiar effect of the lightning up here on the summit of the mountain? Does it fuse and melt rocks, so to speak?”

“What’s that?” cried the spokesman, with a sudden flash of anger. The two men looked at each other.

“I wanted to know, merely for scientific reasons, whether the lightning up here ever melted rocks?” repeated Mr. Jenks.

“Well, whether it’s for scientific reasons or for any other, I’m not going to answer you!” snapped the man. “It’s none of your affair what the lightning does up here. Now you’d all better ‘vamoose’–clear out!”

“All right–we’ll go,” said Tom, quickly, at the same time motioning to Mr. Jenks to agree with him. The eyes of the young inventor were roving about. He saw what looked like a second trail, leading down the mountain, from the far side of the cave. He was convinced now that there was another way to get to it. Possibly they might find it. At any rate nothing more could be done now. They must go back, for the cavern was too well guarded to attempt to enter it by force–at least just yet.

“Yes, we’ll go back,” assented Mr. Jenks.

Mr. Parker was tapping away at the rocks. He looked toward the black mouth of the big cave. On what corresponded to the roof of it, some distance back from the entrance, he saw a slender metal rod sticking up into the air.

“May I ask if that’s a lightning rod?” he inquired innocently. “If it is, I should like to ask about its action in a mountain that is so impregnated with iron ore.

“You may ask until you get tired!” cried the spokesman, again showing unreasoning anger, “but you’ll get no answer from us. Now get away from here before we do something desperate. You’re on private ground and you’re not wanted. Clear out while you have the chance.”

There was no help for it. Slowly our friends turned and began to go down the dangerous trail. They were soon out of sight of the two men who stood before the cave, with their guns ready, but neither Tom nor any of his companions spoke for some time.

When they had rounded one of the most dangerous turns the young inventor sat down to rest, an example followed by the others.

“Well,” asked Tom, “do you think those are some of the diamond makers, Mr. Jenks?”

“I certainly do, though I never saw those two men before. If I could once get inside the cave, I could tell whether or not it was the one where I was practically held a prisoner. But I’m sure it is. I know some of the men used to go off every day with guns, and not come back until night. I have no doubt they were on guard, just as these two are. And, also, I think I heard them speak of a second entrance to the cavern. The one we just saw may not be the main one, through which I was taken.”

“I believe we are on the right track,” ventured Mr. Damon, “but we will either have to go up there after dark, which will be risky, on account of the narrow trail, or else we will have to find some other path.”

“The last would be better,” spoke Tom.

“That rod of metal sticking up on top of the cave interested me,” said the scientist. “Did you hear anything of that when you were here before, Mr. Jenks?”

“No. Probably that is only a lightning rod, or it may be a staff for a signal flag. But what surprises me is that those men didn’t suspect that we were seeking to discover their secret. They took us for ordinary prospectors.”

“So much the better,” remarked Tom. “We have a chance now of getting inside that cave. But we will have to go back to camp, and make other plans. And we must hurry, or it will be dark before we get there.”

They hastened their steps, pausing only briefly to eat some of the lunch they had brought along, and to drink from a spring that bubbled from the side of the mountain. It was getting dusk when they got back to their tent. They found nothing disturbed.

“I wonder if we’ll see that phantom again to-night?” ventured Tom, as they were sitting about the campfire a little later.

“Probably not,” remarked Mr. Jenks. “I don’t believe the ghost will venture down the dangerous trail after dark, and the gang may think that the warning given us by the two men on guard at the cave will be sufficient. But if we don’t leave here by to-morrow I think we will have another visit from the thing in white.”

It was about an hour after this when Tom was collecting some wood in a pile nearer the fire, so as to have it ready to throw on, in case there was any alarm in the night, that he happened to look up toward the summit of the mountain. A slight noise, as of loose stones rolling down, attracted his attention, and, at first, he feared lest another landslide was beginning, but a moment later he saw what caused it.

There, advancing down the steep and dangerous trail was the figure in white–the phantom. Instantly a daring plan came into Tom’s head. Dropping the wood softly, he moved back out of the