"Appleton, Victor - Tom Swift Jr 12 - In the Race to the Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Appleton Victor)

plane's number.
"Rescue squad!" came the answer. "What's the trouble?"
"We're going to ditch in the lake. Can you send a crash boat?"
"Roger. . . . Good luck!"
The plane was losing altitude fast now. Soon they were barely skimming the
waves.
"Hold tight, Bud!" Tom said between clenched teeth. "This is it!"
Seconds later there was a terrific impact that jarred the boys loose from their
seat belts. A cloud of spray shot high in the air.
"Outside-fast!" Tom yelled.
Bud needed no urging. He was already shoving open the door of the cabin.
With a leap, he plunged into the water and Tom followed.
"Looks as if she's going to float a while," Tom gasped. He managed to slam
the door shut to keep the cabin from becoming waterlogged.
"Here conies the crash boat!" Bud cheered, as the prow of the police launch
knifed toward them.
"Ahoy there!" yelled one of the boatmen as he readied a pair of life
preservers to ease the weight of the boys' wet clothing. "Watch out, you two!"
He tossed out the life rings and the boys wriggled into them.
"Got a towline?" Tom asked the officer in charge.
"Better than that-we brought a cradle," he called back.
8 THE RACE TO THE MOON
It was trailing behind the police launch on a length of cable. As the
steersman eased the boat around, Tom and Bud jockeyed the cradle into place
under the plane's nose and lashed it tightly to the wing struts.
"Wow-just in time!" Bud gasped. "She was sinking fast!"
Strong arms reached out to help the boys clamber into the launch.
"Thanks a million!" Tom panted, and Bud echoed his appreciation.
One of the crewmen grinned and said, "Looks like your Pigeon Special
turned into a lame duck!"
"And we might have turned into fish bait if it hadn't been for you fellows," Bud
replied.
The police launch started back to shore at moderate speed, with the plane
bumping through the water behind them. A slender, distinguished-looking figure
was waiting on the dock as they came alongside.
"Dad!" Tom cried.
"Thank goodness you boys are safe," Mr. Swift greeted them. "The rescue
squad recognized your plane's identification number and radioed word to
Enterprises. I got here as fast as I could."
The two Swifts closely resembled each other, although Tom Jr. was slightly
taller and lankier.
"What happened?" the elder Swift asked as the two boys jumped to the dock.
Tom explained how the repelatron's force wave had failed. "The soil make-up
in the next county

10 THE RACE TO THE MOON
must be different from the sample I used. Maybe the chemical fertilizer in the
fields had something to do with it."
"What about the plane's engine?" "Conked out. The electromagnetic field
around the repelatron must have shorted the ignition system."