Tom, whose mother had been dead some years, lived with his
father, Barton Swift, in the town of Shopton. Mr. Swift was an
inventor of prominence, and his son was fast following in his
footsteps. A Mrs. Baggert kept house for the Swifts, and another
member of the household was Eradicate Sampson, an aged colored
man, who said he used to "eradicate" the dirt. He had been with
Tom on many trips, but of late was getting old and feeble. Then
there was Garret Jackson, an engineer employed by the Swifts.
These were all the immediate members of the household.

Tom had a chum, Ned Newton, who used to work in a bank, and
there was a girl, Mary Nestor, a daughter of Amos Nestor, in
which young lady Tom was much interested.

Eradicate Sampson had a mule, Boomerang, of whom he thought
almost as much as he did of Tom. Eradicate was a faithful friend
and servant, but, of late, Koku, or August, the giant, had rather
supplanted him. I must not forget Mr. Wakefield Damon, of
Waterfield, a village near Shopton. Mr. Damon was an odd man,
always blessing everything. He and Tom were good friends, and had
been on many trips together.

The first book of the series was called "Tom Swift and His
Motor-Cycle," and related how Tom bought the cycle from Mr.
Damon, after the latter had met with an accident on it, and it
was in this way that our hero became acquainted with the odd man.

Tom had many adventures on his motor-cycle, and, later on he
secured a motor-boat, in which he beat his enemy, Andy Foger, in