“Ho, Massa Tom!” yelled Eradicate in his high-pitched voice. “I save yo’!”
But Koku also had a desire to be of service to the master who had been so kind to him, and he likewise pressed forward.
There was a look of pain, grief, and anxiety on the face of Mr. Swift, and his friends were about to murmur some words of sympathy, for it looked as if Tom had been killed, when suddenly that young man stirred, put his hand to his head in a dazed fashion, and then sat up.
“Glory be!” shouted Eradicate. “He am alive!”
There was no doubt of it. Tom Swift was not only alive, but he did not seem to be hurt. There were black marks on his hands and face and his clothing was torn, also he was mud-stained where he had fallen into a soft spot on the turf. But he seemed not to be crippled or otherwise seriously injured.
His first glance, after he had looked toward his father and the advancing friends, was to his shop, and when he saw smoke pouring from several windows he leaped up with a cry of alarm.
But a moment later Garret Jackson, the shop manager, who had been among the first to enter the building, came running out to call:
“Fire’s out! Not much damage done!”
“Thank goodness for that!” murmured Mr. Burch.
“What happened, Tom?” asked Mr. Damon, with the freedom of an old friend. “Sounded as if the place went up.”