was a fine craft."

"Indeed she was," agreed Tom. "I'm going to make another on similar
lines, some day, but now all my time is occupied with the Humming Bird."

"She is a hummer, too," complimented Mr. Sharp. "But I almost forgot the
real object of my trip here. There is no doubt about you going in the
race, is there?"

"I fully expect to," replied Tom. "The only thing that will prevent me
will be--"

"Don't say you're worried on account of what Andy Foger may do,"
interrupted Mr. Sharp.

"I'm not. I'll attend to Andy, all right. I was going to say that my
father's illness might interfere. He's not well at all. I'm quite
worried about him."

"Oh, I sincerely hope he'll be all right," remarked the balloonist. "We
want you in this race. In fact, we're going to feature you, as they say
about the actors and story-writers. The committee is planning to do
considerable advertising on the strength of Tom Swift, the well-known
young inventor, being a contestant for the ten-thousand-dollar prize."

"That's very nice, I'm sure," replied Tom, "and I'm going to do my best.
Perhaps dad will take a turn for the better. He wants me to win as much
as I want to myself. Well, we'll not worry about it, anyhow, until the
time comes. I want to show you some new features of my latest
aeroplane."