"Oh, it's all right, Dad," his son assured him "Now watch my
motor hum."
He walked over to a big copper switch, and grasped the black
rubber handle to pull it over which would send the current from
the storage battery into the combination of wheels and gears that
he hoped, ultimately, would propel his electric automobile along
the highways, or on a track, at the rate of a hundred miles an
hour.
"Here she goes!" cried Tom. For an instant he hesitated and
then pulled the switch. At the same time his hand rested on
another wire, stretched across a bench.
No sooner had the switch closed than there was a blinding
flash, a report as of a gun being fired, and Tom's body seemed to
straighten out. Then a blue flame appeared to encircle him and he
dropped to the floor of the shop, an inert mass.
"He's killed!" cried Mr. Swift, springing forward.
"Careful!" cautioned the balloonist. "He's been shocked! Don't
touch him until I turn off the current!" As he pulled out the
switch, the aeronaut gave a glance at the apparatus.
"There's something wrong here!" he cried. "The wires have been
crossed! That's what shocked Tom, but he never made the wrong
connections! He's too good an electrician! There's been some one
in this shop, changing the wires!"
CHAPTER XII THE TRY OUT
Once the current was cut off it was safe to approach the body
of the young inventor.
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