Chapter III. Ned is Worried

Tom Swift did not answer for several seconds. He stood holding the paper Ned had given him, the sun slanting on the picture of the big British tank. But the young inventor did not appear to see it. Instead, his eyes were as though contemplating something afar off.

"Well, this gets me!" cried Ned, his voice showing impatience. "Here I go and get a picture of the latest machine the British armies are smashing up the Boches with, and bring it to you fresh from the mail--I even quit my Liberty Bond business to do it, and I know some dandy prospects, too--and here you look at it like a--like a fish!" burst out Ned.

"Say, old man, I guess that's right!" admitted Tom. "I wasn't thinking about it, to tell you the truth."

"Why not?" Ned demanded. "Isn't it great, Tom? Did you ever see anything like it?"

"Yes."

"You did?" Cried Ned, in surprise. "Where? Say, Tom Swift, are you keeping something from me?"

"I mean no, Ned. I never have seen a British tank."

"Well, did you ever see a picture like this before?" Ned persisted.

"No, not exactly like that But--"

"Well, what do you think of it?" cried the young banker, who was giving much of his time to selling bonds for the Government. "Isn't it great?"

Tom considered a moment before replying. Then he said slowly:

"Well, yes, Ned, it is a pretty good machine. But--"

"'But!' Howling tomcats! Say, what's the 'matter with you, anyhow, Tom? This is great! 'But!' 'But me no buts!' This is, without exception, the greatest thing out since an airship. It will win the war for us and the Allies, too, and don't you forget it! Fritz's barbed wire and dugouts and machine gun emplacements can't stand for a minute against these tanks! Why, Tom, they can crawl on their back as well as any other way, and they don't mind a shower of shrapnel or a burst of machine gun lead, any more than an alligator minds a swarm of gnats. The only thing that makes 'em hesitate a bit is a Jack Johnson or a Bertha shell, and it's got to be a pretty big one, and in the right place, to do much damage. These tanks are great, and there's nothing like 'em."

"Oh, yes there is, Ned!"

"There is!" cried Ned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean there may be something like them--soon."

"There may? Say, Tom--"

"Now don't ask me a lot of questions, Ned, for I can't answer them. When I say there may be something like them, I mean it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that some one--perhaps the Germans--may turn out even bigger and better tanks."

"Oh!" And Ned's voice showed his disappointment. "I thought maybe you were in on that game