The Titus Brothers Contractors company have won a government contract in Peru to blast a tunnel through a mountain and connect two isolated railroad lines. The deadline is approaching, and the contractors have hit a literal wall: excessively hard rock which defies conventional blasting techniques. The company is under pressure to finish, or else the contract will default to their rivals, Blakeson & Grinder. Mr. Job Titus has heard of Tom Swift and Tom’s giant cannon, which is used in protecting the Panama Canal, and wants to hire Tom to develop a special blasting powder to help them finish the excavation. Mr. Damon, Tom’s very good friend, arrives in the middle of this conversation, and is unaware of the situation. By coincidence, Mr. Damon is invested in a business which procures cinchona bark from Peru, but production has all but ceased, prompting Mr. Damon to invite Tom to accompany him to Peru and discover the source of the problem. Tom, Mr. Damon and Mr. Titus (along with Koku, Tom’s giant) embark for Peru. On the way, they encounter Professor Swyington Bumper, who is on a life-long quest to locate the lost city of Pelone. Professor Bumper returns to Peru each season, and has thus far been unsuccessful. When Professor Bumper discovers that Tom is headed to the same general area, Rimac, Professor Bumper decides to join the company. (Introduction by Wikipedia)     [chương_files]  

Tom Swift, that prolific youthful inventor, is engaged in trying to help the Allies win WWI. After reading newspaper accounts of the British tanks, Tom takes a sheet of paper and sets out to design a better one from scratch. And fortunately, he can throw the whole family business behind his venture. He has two problems: First, his friends and acquaintances are questioning his patriotism because he hasn’t enlisted as a rifleman for the front lines. Even his girl is worried his blood isn’t true-blue. But that’s because he is developing his tank in secret, and they don’t know he’s concentrating on winning the war the American way, with machines. The second problem is that the German spies have penetrated the secret of what is being built in the high-security shop on the Swift property. And they will stop at nothing to steal its design – not kidnapping Tom, and not kidnapping the tank itself, complete with crew. Tom and his buddies had better work fast, or the American riflemen are going to find the Kaiser’s soldiers using American-designed tanks against them! (Summary by Mark F. Smith)     [chương_files]