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."You know you told me to keep track ofhim and give him any help Icould.""Yes," Tom nodded."Well, the other day he came to me and said he had a chance to set up a smalllaboratory in a vacant shop near the river.He needed a little capital and Ilent it to him, as you told me to.""Glad you did," returned Tom."But do you suppose his plant is large enough toenable me to work there until mine is in shape again?""It wouldn't do any harm to take a look," suggested Ned."I'll do it!" decided Tom, more hopefully than he had spoken since theaccident.CHAPTER VII.A FORCED LANDINGJosephus Baxter seemed to have recovered some of his spirits after his narrowescape from death in the fireworks factory blaze.He greeted Tom and Ned witha smile as they entered the improvised laboratory he had been able to set upPage 20 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlin what had once been a factory for the making of wooden ware, an industrythat, for some reason, did not flourish in Shopton."I'm glad to see you, Mr.Swift," said the chemist, who seemed to have agedseveral years in the few weeks that had intervened since the fire."I want tothank you for giving me a chance to start over again.""Oh, that's all right," said Tom easily."We inventors ought to help oneanother.Are you able to do anything here?""As much as possible without my secret formulae," was the answer."If I onlyhad those back from the rascals, Field and Melling, I would be able to goahead faster.As it is, I am working in the dark.For some of the formulaewere given to me by a Frenchman, and I had only one copy.I kept that in thesafe of the fireworks concern, and after the fire it could not be found.""Was the safe destroyed?" asked Tom."No.But the doors were open, and much of what had been inside was in ashesand cinders.Amos Field claimed that the explosion had blown open the safe andburned a lot of their valuable fireworks formulaeTom Swift Among The Fire FightersCHAPTER VII.A FORCED LANDING22too.""And you believe they have yours?" asked Ned."I'm sure of it!" was the fierce answer."Those men are unprincipled rogues!They had been at me ever since Iwas foolish enough to tell them about my formulae to get me to sell them ashare.But I refused, for I knew the secret mixtures would make my fortunewhen I could establish a new dye industry.Field and Melling claimed theywanted the formulae for their fireworks, but that was only an excuse.Theformulae were not nearly so valuable for pyrotechnics as for dyes.Thefireworks business is not so good, either, since so many cities have voted fora 'Sane Fourth of July.'""I can appreciate that," said Tom."But what we called for, Mr.Baxter, is tofind if you have room enough to let me do a little experimenting here.I amworking on a new kind of fire extinguisher, to be dropped on tall buildingsfrom an airship.""Sounds like a good idea," said the chemist, rather dreamily."Well, I have the airship, and I can see my way clear to perfecting a deviceto drop the chemicals in metal tanks or bombs," went on Tom."But what bothersme is the chemical mixture that will put out fires better than the carbondioxide mixtures now on the market.""I haven't given that much study myself," said Mr.Baxter."But you arewelcome to anything I have, Mr.Swift.The whole place, such as it is, will be at your disposal at any time.Iintend to have it in better shape soon, but I have to proceed slowly, as Ilost nearly everything I owned in that fire.If I could only get thoseformulae back!" he sighed."Perhaps you may recall the combinations, suggested Ned."Or can't you getthem from that Frenchman?""He is dead," answered the chemist."Everything seems to be against me!""Well, it's always darkest just before daylight," said Tom."So let us hopefor the best.We both have had a bit of bad luck.But when I think of Rad, whomay lose his eyesight, I can stand my losses smiling.""Yes," agreed Mr.Baxter, "you have big assets when you have your health andeyesight."Three days later the eye specialist looked at Rad.Tom stood by anxiously andwaited for the verdict.The doctor motioned to the young inventor to followhim out of the room, while Mrs.Baggert replaced the bandages on the coloredman's eyes and Koku stood near him, sympathetically patting Rad on the back."Well?" asked Tom nervously, as he faced the physician.Page 21 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"I am sorry, Mr.Swift, that I can not hold out much hope that your man willever regain his sight," was the answer.Tom could not repress a gasp of pity
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