“I will, dad.  Mr. Jackson, will you help me charge the batteries of my car?  I think they need replenishing.  Then I’ll get right along to Mansburg.”

Mansburg was a good-sized city some miles from the village of Shopton, and Tom and his father had frequent business there.

The young inventor and the engineer soon had the electric car in readiness for a swift run, for the charging of the batteries could be done in much less than the time usual for such an operation, owing to a new system perfected by Tom.  The latter was soon speeding along the road, wondering what sort of an airship Mr. Fenwick would prove to have, and whether or not it could be made to fly.

“It’s easy enough to build an airship,” mused Tom, “but the difficulty is to get them off the ground, and keep them there.”  He knew, for there had been several failures with his monoplane before it rose like a bird and sailed over the tree-tops.

The lad was just entering the town, and had turned around a corner, twisting about to pass a milk wagon, when he suddenly saw, darting out directly in the path of his car, a young lady.

“Look out!” yelled Tom, ringing his electric gong, at the same time shutting off the current, and jamming on the powerful brakes.

There was a momentary scream of terror from the girl, and then, as she looked at Tom, she exclaimed: 

“Why, Tom Swift!  What are you trying to do?  Run me down?”

“Mary—­Miss Nestor!” ejaculated our hero, in some confusion.

He had brought his car to a stop, and had thrown open the door, alighting on the crossing, while a little knot of curious people gathered about.

“I didn’t see you,” went on the lad.  “I came from behind the milk wagon, and—­”

“It was my fault,” Miss Nestor hastened to add.  “I, too, was waiting for the milk wagon to pass, and when it got out of my way, I darted around the end of it, without looking to see if anything else was coming.  I should have been more careful, but I’m so excited that I hardly know what I’m doing.”

“Excited?  What’s the matter?” asked Tom, for he saw that his friend was not her usual calm self.  “Has anything happened, Mary?”

“Oh, I’ve such news to tell you!” she exclaimed.

“Then get in here, and we’ll go on.” advised Tom.  “We are collecting a crowd.  Come and take a ride; that is if you have time.”

“Of course I have,” the girl said, with a little blush, which Tom thought made her look all the prettier.  “Then we can talk.  But where are you going?”

“To send a message to a gentleman in Philadelphia, saying that I will help him out of some difficulties with his new electric airship.  I’m going to take a run down there in my monoplane, butterfly, to-morrow, and—­”

“My! to hear you tell it, one would think it wasn’t any more to make an airship flight than it was to go shopping,” interrupted Mary, as she entered the electric car, followed by Tom, who quickly sent the vehicle down the street.