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."That's the thing!" he cried."I wonder I didn't think of it before.I cansignal for help by pounding on the sides of the tank with the wrench.Theblows will carry a good deal farther than my voice would." Every one knows howfar the noise of a boiler shop, with hammers falling on steel plates, can beheard; much farther than can a human voice.Tom began a lusty tattoo on the metal sides of the tank.At first he merelyrattled out blow after blow, and then, as another thought came to him, headopted a certain plan.Some time previous, when he and Mr.Sharp had plannedtheir trip in the air, the two had adopted a code of signals.As it wasdifficult in a high wind to shout from one end of the airship to the other,the young inventor would sometimes pound on the pipe which ran from the pilothouse of the Red Cloud to the engineroom.By a combination of numbers, simplemessages could be conveyed.The code included a call for help.Fortyseven wasthe number, but there had never been any occasion to use it.Tom remembered this now.At once he ceased his indiscriminate hammering, andbegan to beat out regularly one, two, three, fourthen a pause, and seven blowswould be given.Over and over again he rang out this numberforty seventhe callfor help.Tom Swift And His Submarine BoatChapter Five.Mr.Berg is Suspicious16"If Mr.Sharp only comes back he will hear that, even in the house," thoughtpoor Tom "Maybe Garret orMrs.Baggert will hear it, too, but they won't know what it means.They'llthink I'm just working on the submarine."It seemed several hours to Tom that he pounded out that cry for aid, but, ashe afterward learned, it was only a little over an hour.Signal after signalhe sent vibrating from the steel sides of the tank.When one arm tired hewould use the other.He grew weary, his head was aching, and there was aringing in his ears; a ringing that seemed as if ten thousand bells werejangling out their peals, and he could barely distinguish his own pounding.Signal after signal he sounded.It was becoming like a dream to him, whensuddenly, as he paused for a rest, he heard his name called faintly, as if faraway."Tom! Tom! Where are you?"It was the voice of Mr.Sharp.Then followed the tones of the aged inventor."My poor boy! Tom, are you still alive?""Yes, dad! In the starboard tank!" the lad gasped out, and then he lost hissenses.When he revived he was lying on a pile of bagging in the submarineshop, and his father and the aeronaut were bending over him.Page 17 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Are you all right, Tom?" asked Mr.Swift."YesII guess so," was the hesitating answer."Yes," the lad added, as thefresh air cleared his head."I'll be all right pretty soon.Have you seen AndyFoger?""Did he shut you in there?" demanded Mr.Swift.Tom nodded."I'll have him arrested!" declared Mr.Swift "I'll go to town as soon asyou're in good shape again and notify the police.""No, don't," pleaded Tom."I'll take care of Andy myself.I don't reallybelieve he knew how serious it was.I'll settle with him later, though.""Well, it came mighty near being serious," remarked Mr.Sharp grimly."Yourfather and I came back a little sooner than we expected, and as soon as I gotnear the house I heard your signal.I knew what it was in a moment.There wereMrs.Baggert and Garret talking away, and when I asked them why they didn'tanswer your call they said they thought you were merely tinkering with themachinery.But I knew better.It's the first time we ever had a use for 'fortyseven,' Tom.""And I hope it will be the last," replied the young inventor with a faintsmile."But I'd like to know whatAndy Foger is doing in this neighborhood."Tom was soon himself again and able to go to the house, where he found Mrs.Baggert brewing a big basin of catnip tea, under the impression that it wouldin some way be good for his.She could not forgive herself for not havinganswered his signal, and as for Mr.Jackson, he had started for a doctor assoon as he learned thatTom was shut up in the tank.The services of the medical man were canceled bytelephone, as there was no need for him, and the engineer came back to thehouse.Tom Swift And His Submarine BoatChapter Five.Mr.Berg is Suspicious17Tom was fully himself the next day, and aided his father and Mr.Sharp inputting the finishing touches to theAdvance.It was found that some alteration was required in the auxiliarypropellers, and this, much to the regret of the young inventor, wouldnecessitate postponing the trial a few days."But we'll have her in the water next Friday." promised Mr.Swift
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