"Decode this" revisited

Back in the heady, early days of this blog – that is, just about four years ago – I posted a bit of a puzzle: a six-word coded message from a novel, to wit:

Blime zax fernmo appentish wacko lushford.

I asked my readers three questions:

1. What is the translation of this code?
2. What book series is it from?
3. Bonus points for identifying the specific book in the series.

Well, as it happened, no one ever identified this piece of what I referred to as "arcane and utterly useless trivia". A few days later, I got sidetracked by starting a new job (that was the old new job in August 2005, not to be confused with the new new job in October 2008), and never followed up the post with the answers. I will now rectify that sorry situation, because I don't want to be the only one carrying around this mental baggage. As I noted in the original post, "... I just want to see if anyone else remembers this kind of thing, because the thought that it's just me is rather frightening."


And the answers are:

1. The code translates to "I am in trouble. Help me."
2. It's from one of the later volumes in the original Tom Swift series. (Not Tom Swift Jr. or any of that latter-day crap.)
3. More specifically, it's from Tom Swift and His Television Detector.
   

Like I said, it's obscure.

Oddly enough, the code doesn't have anything directly to do with the titular Television Detector, and didn't even originate with Tom himself. No, in this case, Tom's old chum Ned Newton invented a pocket-sized wireless radio transceiver, and along with it developed a handy code that he and Tom could use to call each other for help, just in case one of them should by chance ever get kidnapped or something. And dang, wouldn't you just know it? Next thing you know, Ned gets kidnapped and has to call Tom for help! What a coincidence! Darned lucky thing he invented that wireless and the code to use with it!

Well, anyway, that little code phrase – which, if memory serves, is the only one ever mentioned in the book – burned itself indelibly into my brain nearly 50 years ago. Heaven only knows what kind of valuable knowledge it has forever displaced. But what I wouldn't give to be a contestant on Jeopardy with a "Tom Swift" category on the board. "I'll take 'Tom Swift' for $100!" The other contestants stare in bewilderment as I intone, "What is Ned Newton's code for 'I am in trouble. Help me'?" Cue audience applause...

Oh, by the way, Googling the phrase doesn't help, mainly because the text of this book isn't yet online, as the first 25 books in the original series are. I believe the last few books are still under renewed copyright and thus not in the public domain.