第48章

"He isn't dead," he called, "but I guess he won't wrestle or fight any more.He's badly crippled.""And him no more try to blow up tunnel, either," said Koku in hishoarse voice."Me fix: him! No more him take powder, and make tunnel all bust.""What do you mean, Koku?" asked Tom."Is that why you fought him? Did he try to wreck the tunnel?""So him done, Master.But Koku see--Koku stop.Then um fight.""Be jabbers an' I wouldn't wonder but what he was right!" cried Tim Sullivan, excitedly."I did see that beggar." and he pointed to Lamos, who was slowly crawling away, "at the chist where I kape th' powder, but I thought nothin' of it at th' time.What did he try t' do, Koku?"Then the giant explained in his own language, Tom Swift translating, for Koku spoke English but indifferently well.

"Koku says," rendered Torn, "that he saw Lamos trying to put a big charge of powder up in the place where the balanced rock fits in the secret opening of the tunnel roof.The charge was all ready to fire, and if the giant had set it off he might have brought down the roof of the tunnel and so choked it up that we'd have been months cleaning it out.Koku saw him and stopped him, and then the fight began.We only saw the end.""Bless my shoe string!" gasped Mr.Damon."And a terrible end it was.Will Lamos die?""I don't think so," answered Job Titus."But he will be a cripple for life.Not only would he have wrecked the tunnel, but he would have killed many of our men had he set off that blast.Koku saved them, though it seems too bad he had to fight to do it."An investigation showed that Koku spoke truly.The charge, all ready to set off, was found where he had knocked it from the hand of Lamos.And so Tom's giant saved the day.Lamos was sent back to his own village, a broken and humbled giant.And to this day, in that part of Peru, the great struggle between Koku and Lamos is spoken of with awe where Indians gather about their council fires, and they tell their children of the Titanic fight.

"It was part of the plot," said Job Titus when the usual blast had been set off that day, with not very good results."This giant was sent to us by our rivals.They wanted him to hamper our work, for they see we have a chance to finish on time.I think that foreman, Serato, is in the plot.Hebrought Lamos here.We'll fire him!"

This was done, though the Indian protested his innocence.But he could not be trusted.

"We can't take any chances," said Job Titus."Our time is too nearly up.In fact I'm afraid we won't finish on time as it is.There is too much of that hard rock to cut through.""There's only one thing to do," said Tom, after an investigation."As you say, there is more of that hard rock than we calculated on.To try to blast and take it out in the ordinary way will be useless.We must try desperate means.""What is that?" asked Walter Titus.

"We must set off the biggest blast we can with safety.We'll bore a lot of extra holes, and put in double charges of the explosive.I'll add some ingredients to it that will make it stronger.It's our last chance.Either we'll blow the tunnel all to pieces, or we'll loosen enough rock to make sufficient progress so we can finish on time.What do you say? Shall we take the chance?"The Titus brothers looked at one another.Failure stared them in the face.Unless they completed the tunnel very soon they would lose all the money they had sunk in it.

"Take the chance!" exclaimed Job."It's sink or swim anyhow.Set off the big blast, Tom.""All right.We'll get ready for it as soon as we can."That day preparations were made for setting off a great charge of the powerful explosive.The work was hurried as fast as was consistent with safety, but even then progress was rather slow.Precautions had to be taken, and the guards about the tunnel were doubled.For it was feared that some word of what was about to be done would reach the rival firm, who might try desperate means to prevent the completion of the work.

There was plenty of the explosive on hand, for Mr.Swift had sent Tom a large shipment.All this while no word had come from Mr.Nestor, and Tom was beginning to think that his prospective father-in-law was very angry with him.Nor had Mary written.

Professor Bumper came and went as he pleased, but his quest wasregarded as hopeless now.Tom and his friends had little time for the bald- headed scientist, for they were too much interested in the success of the big blast.

"Well, we'll set her off to-morrow," Tom said one night, after a hard day's work."The rocky wall is honeycombed with explosive.If all goes well we ought to bring down enough rock to keep the gangs busy night and day."Everything was in readiness.What would the morrow bring-- success or failure?