Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle

Tom is daydreaming of African Safaris while test-firing his new Electric Rifle. It works too well and toasts a hole in his neighbor's dining room wall, prompting an outraged visit from the toastee-in-question. A quick application of cash settles ruffled feathers, and some unspecified safety features are added to the weapon, to prevent a recurrence of the accident. As luck would have it, a famous African Safari Master is in town, shopping for a new big game rifle. He hooks up with Tom and a new custom-built airship, the Black Hawk, is designed & constructed. Tom, Ned, Mr. Damon and the hunter, Mr. Durban, are off to the Dark Continent via steamship, in search of ivory and adventure. Danger encroaches at every turn, and Tom gets to use his new weapon to slay an amazing variety of beasts that swim, crawl, and stampede around him. Needless to say, the rifle is effective on smaller but no less dangerous creatures, too, and does fearful duty when the group is attacked by savage tribesmen. You can probably guess the outcome, but you'll have to read the story to be sure. Victor Appleton was used as a pseudonym by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books. Created by Edward Stratemeyer, the Stratemeyer Syndicate was the first book packager to have its books aimed at children, rather than adults. The Syndicate was so successful that at one time it was believed that the overwhelming majority of the books children read were from the Stratemeyer Syndicate.