Tom Swift and his house on wheels

by Victor Appleton

CHAPTER IX

DISMAL MOUNTAIN

"Well, Ned, I guess that's about all!"

"Unless you want to put in another piece of bacon," was Ned Newton's rejoinder to his chum's implied question.

The two were sitting in the House on Wheels, about a week after the sensational race with the freight train. In the intervening time much work had been done on the new invention. The motor was thoroughly gone over, tuned up, and minor adjustments made. The furnishing of the interior of the House was completed, from kitchen articles to bed linen, and the vehicle was now equipped for a long or short journey, as the owner desired. Ned's particular province was the pantry, and he had furnished it, as Tom said, "with enough grub to last a month."

Following another and more severe tryout of the machine after the freight train race, Tom had suggested to his chum that they go on a week's crosscountry tour to further test the House on Wheels under varying conditions.

"Have you any particular object in view?" asked Ned.

"Well, I thought maybe I'd surprise Mary," was the answer.

"Surprise her?" questioned Ned. "What do you mean?"

"We could call on the Winthrops where she is staying."