Hearing of a deposit of valuable platinum in Siberia, Tom started for that lonely place, and, to reach a certain part of if, he had to invent a new machine, called an air glider.  It was an aeroplane without means of propulsion save the wind.

In the book, “Tom Swift in Captivity,” I related the particulars of how he brought away two immense men from giant land.  One, Koku, he kept for himself, while the other made a good living by being exhibited in a circus.

When the present story opens Tom had not long been home after a series of strange adventures.  A moving picture concern, with which Mr. Nestor was associated, wanted some views of remarkable scenes, such as fights among wild beasts, the capture of herds of elephants, earthquakes, and volcanos in action, and great avalanches in the Alps.  Tom invented a wizard camera, and got many good views, though at times he was in great danger, even in his airship.  Especially was this so at the erupting volcano.

But our hero came swiftly hack to Shopton, and there, all Winter and Spring, he busied himself perfecting a new motor for an airship—­a motor that would make no noise.  He perfected it early that Summer, and now was about to try it, when the incident of the torn newspaper happened.

“Have you got all the pieces, Tom?” asked Ned, as he passed his chum several scraps, which were gathered up from the floor.

“I think so.  Now we’ll paste them together, and see what it says.  We may be on the trail of a big mystery, Ned.”

“Maybe.  Go ahead and see what you can make of it.”

Tom fitted together, as best he could, the ragged pieces, and then pasted them on a blank sheet of paper.

“I guess I’ve got it all here now,” he said finally.  “I’ll skip the first part.  You read me most of that, Ned.  Just as you told me, it relates how the government agents, having tried in vain to get a clew to the smugglers, came to the conclusion that they must be using airships to slip contraband goods over the border at night.”

“Now where’s that mention of Shopton?  Oh, here it is,” and he read: 

“’It is suspected that some of the smugglers have been communicating with confederates in Shopton, New York.  This came to the notice of the authorities to-day, when one of the government agents located some of the smuggled goods in a small town in New York on the St. Lawrence.  The name of this town is being kept secret for the present.”

“’It was learned that the goods were found in a small, deserted house, and that among them were letters from someone in Shopton, relating to the disposal of the articles.  They refuse to say who the letters were from, but it is believed that some of Uncle Sam’s men may shortly make their appearance in the peaceful burg of Shopton, there to follow up the clew.  Many thousands of dollars worth of goods have been smuggled, and the United States, as well as the Dominion of Canada custom authorities, say they are determined to put a stop to the daring efforts of the smugglers.  The airship theory is the latest put forth.’”