Tom showed the two men how his new camera worked. He had made
several improvements on it since the first pictures were taken,
and now it was almost perfect. Mr. Period had been out to see it
work, and said it was just the apparatus needed.

"You can get films with that machine," he said, "that will be
better than any pictures ever thrown on a screen. My fortune will
be made, Tom, and yours too, if you can only get pictures that
are out of the ordinary. There will be some hair-raising work, I
expect, but you can do it."

"I'll try," spoke Tom. "I have--"

"Hold on! I know what you are going to say," interrupted Mr.
Period. "You are going to say that you've gone through some
strenuous times already. I know you have, but you're going to
have more soon. I think I'll send you to India first."

"To India!" exclaimed Tom, for Mr. Period had spoken of that as
if it was but a journey downtown.

"Yes, India. I want a picture of an elephant drive, and if you
can get pictures of the big beasts in a stampede, so much the
better. Then, too, the Durbar is on now, and that will make a
good film. How soon can you start for Calcutta?"

"Well, I've got to overhaul the airship," said Tom. "That will
take about three weeks. The camera is practically finished. I can
leave in a month, I guess."