“Oh, Tom! suppose you should be lost, too? Suppose you should be killed?”
“That can happen but once,” declared Tom.
“Only once! But that’s the horror of it! Oh, Tom!” and Mary gave a slight shudder.
“Let’s not worry about that, Mary.”
But both knew that Mary would carry a load of worry in her heart, and not entirely for her father.
CHAPTER XVI
THE TRANSATLANTIC VOYAGE
It was possible, of course, to cable funds to Captain Olaf Karofsen for the financing of a searching party to go in quest of those marooned on the giant iceberg. But Tom Swift knew that the result of such a search could not be known in the United States for weeks. He felt that he could not restrain his desire to take an active part in the search. Mary’s father and Mr. Wakefield Damon must be found soon. And he believed the best way to do this was to go personally with the searching party.
Mr. Swift might have had some objections to his son’s plan. He was getting old, and, although his health now was much improved, he worried whenever Tom left him for any extended trip.
In this case, however, he knew the young fellow felt strongly that his duty lay in the only chance of quickly assisting Mr. Nestor. The Winged Arrow had proved her speed, her seaworthiness, and her balance in the air. If she was good for anything at all, here was a set of circumstances seemingly made by Fate for the trying-out of the flying boat.
“Go if you must, my boy,” said the old gentleman, with his hand on Tom’s shoulder when he agreed to the arrangement. “But be very, very careful.”