Faster and faster it swung
along as Tom headed it into the wind, and then, as the speed of
the motor increased, the Air Scout suddenly left the earth and
went soaring aloft as she had done before.
But there was this difference. She moved almost as silently as
a great owl which swoops down out of the darkness--a bit of the
velvety blackness itself. Up and up, and onward and onward, went
the Air Scout. Tom Swift's improved, silent motor urged it
onward, and as the young inventor listened to catch the noise of
the machinery, his heart gave a bound of hope. For he could
detect only very slight sounds.
"She's a success!" exulted Tom to himself. "She's a success,
but she isn't perfect yet," he added. "I've got to make the
muffler bigger and put in more baffle-plates. Then I think I can
turn the trick."
He swung the machine out over the open country, and then, when
they were up at a height and sailing along easily, he called back
to Mr. Damon in the seat behind him:
"How do you like it?"
"Great!" exclaimed the eccentric man. "Bless my postage stamp,
but it's great! Why, there's hardly a sound, Tom, and I can hear
you quite easily.
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