Then they started on the long voyage across the Atlantic, and though they had one bad experience in a storm over that mighty ocean, they got safely home to Shopton in due season.
There is little more to tell. The platinum proved to be even more valuable than Tom had expected. He could have sold it all for a large sum, but he preferred to keep most of what he had for his inventive work, and he used considerable of it in his machinery. Ned disposed of his, selling Tom some at a lower price than market quotations, and the Russians got a good price for theirs, turning the money into the fund to help their fellow exiles. Mr. Damon also made a good donation to the cause, as did Tom and Ned.
Mr. Petrofsky and his brother, with the other exile, joined friends in New York, and promised to come and see Tom when they could.
"Well, I suppose you'll take a long vacation now," said Mary Nestor, to Tom, when he called on her one evening to present her a unique ring, with the stones set in some of the platinum he had dug in the Siberian mine.
"Vacation? I have no time for vacations!" said the young inventor. "I'm soon going to work on my silent airship, and on some other things I have in mind. I want more adventures."
"Oh, you greedy boy!" exclaimed Mary with a laugh.
And what adventures Tom had next will be found in the next book of this series, which will be entitled, "Tom Swift in Captivity; Or, a Daring Escape by Airship."
Tom had several offers to give exhibitions in his air glider, from aviation committees at various meets, but he declined.
"I haven't time," he declared. "I'm too busy."
"You ought to rest," his chum Ned advised him.