"
"That's the stuff, Tom. No use in being needlessly cruel. How many
will you take?"
"Two or three. We may need 'em all."
A little later the two lads returned to the library where Mr. Damon,
Mr. Swift and the circus man were anxiously awaiting them. Mr.
Preston looked curiously at several objects which Tom and Ned
carried. The objects looked like guns but were different from any
the giant-seeker had seen.
"What are they?" he asked Tom.
"Electric rifles. One of my inventions," and Tom showed how the
weapon worked. Those of you who have read the volume entitled, "Tom
Swift and His Electric Rifle" will remember this curious weapon. It
was worked by a stored charge of magnetism of the wireless kind. By
this a concentrated globule of electricity was projected from the
muzzle, and it could be made strong or weak at the will of the
marksman. It could be made so powerful that it would totally
annihilate a whale, as Tom had once proved, or it could be made so
mild that it would put an enemy, or several of them, to sleep almost
as gently as some narcotic, and they would awaken after several
hours, little the worse for their experience.
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