Tom Swift and His Wireless Message, or, The Castaways of Earthquake Island , is Volume 6 in the original Tom Swift novel series. Tom Swift & friends decide to trial an experimental airship near the New Jersey coast, and are unexpectedly swept out to sea by hurricane winds. Unable to steer or navigate without tearing the airship apart, the hapless crew must simply let the storm take them wherever it will. Unfortunately, the storm proves too much for the craft and Tom makes a crash landing on the uninhabited and crumbling Earthquake Island. Title: Tom Swift and his Wireless Message Author: Victor Appleton AUTHOR OF "TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR-CYCLE," "TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT," "TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP," "TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT," "TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT," ETC. ILLUSTRATED BOOKS BY VICTOR APPLETON THE TOM SWIFT SERIES TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR-CYCLE Or Fun and Adventures on the Road TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR-BOAT Or the Rivals of Lake Carlopa TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP Or the Stirring Cruise of the Red Cloud TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT Or Under the Ocean for Sunken Treasure TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT Or the Speediest Car on the Road TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE Or the Castaways of Earthquake Island TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS Or the Secret of Phantom Mountain TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE Or the Wreck of the Airship TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER Or the Quickest Flight on Record TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE Or Daring Adventures in Elephant Land (Other Volumes in Preparation) TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE CONTENTS I. AN APPEAL FOR AID II. MISS NESTOR"S NEWS III. TOM KNOCKS OUT ANDY IV. MR. DAMOM WILL GO ALONG V. VOL-PLANING TO EARTH VI. THE NEW AIRSHIP VII. MAKING SOME CHANGES VIII. ANDY FOGER"S REVENGE IX. THE WHIZZER FLIES X. OVER THE OCEAN XI. A NIGHT OF TERROR XII. A DOWNWARD GLIDE XIII. ON EARTHQUAKE ISLAND XIV. A NIGHT IN CAMP XV. THE OTHER CASTAWAY XVI. AN ALARMING THEORY XVII. A MIGHTY SHOCK XVIII. MR. JENKS HAS DIAMONDS XIX. SECRET OPERATIONS XX. THE WIRELESS PLANT XXI. MESSAGES INTO SPACE XXII. ANXIOUS DAYS XXIII. A REPLY IN THE DARK XXIV. "WE ARE LOST!" XXV. THE RESCUE-CONCLUSION CHAPTER I AN APPEAL FOR AID Tom Swift stepped from the door of the machine shop, where he was at work making some adjustments to the motor of his airship, and glanced down the road. He saw a cloud of dust, which effectually concealed whatever was causing it. "Some one must be in a hurry this morning," the lad remarked, "Looks like a motor speeding along. MY! but we certainly do need rain," he added, as he looked up toward the sky. "It"s very dusty. Well, I may as well get back to work. I"ll take the airship out for a flight this afternoon, if the wind dies down a bit." The young inventor, for Tom Swift himself had built the airship, as well as several other crafts for swift locomotion, turned to re- enter the shop. Something about the approaching cloud of dust, however, held his attention. He glanced more intently at it. "If it"s an automobile coming along," he murmured, "it"s moving very slowly, to make so much fuss. And I never saw a motor-cycle that would kick up as much sand, and not speed along more. It ought to be here by now. I wonder what it can be?" The cloud of highway dirt rolled along, making some progress toward Tom"s house and the group of shops and other buildings surrounding it. But, as the lad had said, the dust did not move at all quickly in comparison to any of the speedy machines that might be causing it. And the cloud seemed momentarily to grow thicker and thicker. "I wonder if it could be a miniature tornado, or a cyclone or whirlwind?" and Tom spoke aloud, a habit of his when he was thinking, and had no one to talk to. "Yet it can hardly be that." he went on. "Guess I"ll watch and see what it is."