Danny Dunn and Heat Ray by Raymond Abrashkin & Jay Williams

Author:Raymond Abrashkin & Jay Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, sci-fi, young adult, middle grade, adventure
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
Published: 2016-11-22T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Irene Tries Glamour

On the way home from school they stopped at Joe’s house, at his insistence, to pick up the notebook in which he wrote his poems. Joe wanted to be a writer when he grew up, and was well known in school for the poetry he composed.

“I want to have the notebook handy,” he explained, stuffing it in his back pocket, “because maybe I’ll think of some rhymes for laser. And don’t say ‘blazer’ because I’ve got that,” he added.

“Are you making a poem about it?” Danny asked.

“Uh-huh. Might come in handy. If Mr. Pippit decides to buy the thing, maybe he can use a good poem to celebrate it.”

Irene said, “While we’re on the subject, Danny, tell us your idea for a practical use for the laser. Don’t be so mysterious. What did you mean by a muddy solution?”

Danny tapped the side of his nose with a forefinger. “One of my best ideas,” he said. “This is so good it scares me.”

“Hmm,” muttered Joe. “Should I start running now?”

“Take it easy. Now, look, you know Burton’s Bog?”

“The big marshy place near Mr. Glenn’s farm?” said Irene. “Of course. The place where they say a cow once sank in and vanished in the quicksand.”

“Yep. Well, there must be hundreds—thousands—of such places all over the country. They’re no good to anybody. But if you could find a way of draining away the water and making the ground solid, farmers could grow things on the dry earth. Okay, my idea is to build a big laser and use it to evaporate the water. No need to drain a marsh, then. You could just dry it out with the heat ray. Simple?”

Joe shook his head gloomily. “Too simple. There’s something wrong with it. I don’t know what, but I’m sure it’ll end in trouble.”

“Don’t pay any attention to him,” Irene said. “It’s a fine idea, Danny.”

“Suppose it sets fire to the whole countryside?” Joe grumbled. “Suppose it burns a hole right down to the center of the earth and starts a volcano?”

Danny winked at Irene. She nodded. Suddenly, they caught hold of Joe from each side and began tickling him unmercifully, in the ribs.

“Wait! Stop!” he yelled, squirming. “Cut it out! I can’t—hee, hee, hee—stand it! Eek, ook, awk! Yow! No, no, no!”

He collapsed and fell to the sidewalk, and they let him alone. He finished laughing, sat up, and wiped his face.

“All right,” he said. “If that’s the way you want to answer intelligent scientific criticism—now, wait a minute. Don’t tickle me any more, my stomach hurts from laughing. But seriously, how are you going to build a laser big enough to dry up Burton’s Bog?”

“Oh, we won’t. We’ll use the Professor’s laser,” said Danny.

“But that’s so small it won’t dry up more than a square yard.”

“A square yard is all we need. We’ll take a couple of buckets of water and make a muddy patch in the garden, behind my house,” Danny explained. “A kind of model marsh. It’ll be enough to demonstrate how the idea will work.

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