"Make it six, if you can," Tom said with continued briskness.
"It interests me. I'll do my best. And I want you to get your
money's worth."

"All right. Make it six," said Mr. Bartholomew. "But the
quicker you dig something up, the better for me. Now, that is the
first part of my proposition."

"All right, sir. And the second?"

"If you succeed in showing me that you can build and operate an
electric locomotive that will speed two miles a minute on a level
track and will get a heavy drag over the mountain grades, as I
said, as surely as two engines of the coal-burning or oil-burning
type, I will pay you a hundred thousand dollars bonus, besides
buying all the engines you can build of this new type for the
first two years. I've got to have first call; but the hundred
thousand will be yours free and clear, and the price of the
locomotives you build can be adjusted by any court of agreement
that you may suggest."

Tom Swift's face glowed. He realized that this offer was not
only generous, but that it made it worth his while dropping
everything else he had in hand and devoting his entire time and
thought for even six mouths to the proposition of developing the
electric locomotive.

He looked at his father and nodded. Mr. Swift said, calmly:

"We take you on that offer, Mr. Bartholomew. Tom has the facts