"But there's no smoke," said Mr. Damon, "Bless my spyglass! I always thought there was smoke at an explosion."
"This is a sort of smokeless powder," explained Tom. "It throws off a slight vapor when it is ignited, but not much. I guess it's safe to go out now. Come on!"
He dropped the pushbutton connected with the igniting battery, and, followed by the others, raced to the scene of the experiment. A curious sight met their eyes.
A great hole had been torn in the hillside, and another where the improvised gun had stood. The gun itself seemed to have disappeared.
"Why—why—where is it?" asked Ned.
"Burst to pieces I guess," replied Tom. "I was afraid that charge was a bit too heavy."
"No, here it is!" shouted Mr. Damon, circling off to one side. "It's been torn from the carriage, and partly buried in the ground," and he indicated a third excavation in the earth.
It was as he had said. The terrific blast had sheared the gun from its temporary carriage, thrown it into the air, and it had come down to bury itself in the soft ground. The carriage had torn loose from the concrete base, and was tossed off in another direction.
"Is the gun shattered?" asked Tom, anxious to
