II14-1959-TOM SWIFT and His Electronic Retroscope by Victor Appleton II

Author:Victor Appleton II [pseud.] [Appleton, Victor II]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Published: 1959-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

11. A NARROW ESCAPE

CRIES and groans went up from the natives. Many had been hit by flying bits of rock. Bud was bleeding from a cut on the cheek, and Dick Folsom had been grazed on the forehead.

"Brand my flyin' flapjacks, what was in that stone?" Chow gasped in bewilderment. "A charge o' blastin' powder?"

"I sure wouldn't be surprised!" Bud snapped, dabbing his cheek with a handkerchief. "Maybe our helpful friend here can tell us!" He clenched his fists angrily and started toward Hutchcraft.

"Take it easy, pal!" Tom said, stopping him. "We have enough trouble already."

"Thanks to Hutchcraft!" Bud stormed. "If you ask me, he knew this would happen!"

The Bostonian looked pale and somewhat frightened by the havoc he had caused. But before he could answer Bud's charges, Tom intervened.

"We'll talk about that later," the young scientist said firmly. "Right now, it's more important to help these people who have been hurt!"

Jack Murray and Chow were sent to bring first-aid kits from the vehicles. Meanwhile, Tom and Ahau Quetzal did their best to calm the excited Mayas.

Fortunately, the only injuries were minor cuts and bruises. As Tom applied antiseptic and bandages, the superstitious victims began to calm down.

When the situation was finally under control, Tom turned back to Hutchcraft. "Where did that stone come from?" he demanded.

"It wasn't really a carved stone," Hutchcraft admitted sheepishly. "I found it in your truck, and thought I'd play a trick on you."

"Fine trick!" Bud growled. "I suppose if someone had lost an eye, you'd be laughing your head off!"

"I didn't know the thing would explode!" Hutchcraft said sulkily. "I only wanted to get even for Chow's nasty attack on me last night. I thought I could fool you fellows into believing your machine wouldn't work. Just a harmless prank, that's all."

Bud received his lame excuses with a snort of disgust.

Tom picked up what was left of the stone. He examined it, together with several of the exploded fragments. "You say you found this in our truck?" he asked Hutchcraft.

The Bostonian nodded. "It looked like an ordinary stone. I assumed it was something you'd used to prop up your equipment."

"It's a form of mica, hydrous silicate," Tom said. "Must have been dumped into the truck on a hauling job back in Shopton. I guess that explains its blowing up."

"How come?" Bud asked, still suspicious.

"This stuff breaks down under radiation," Tom explained. "It must have absorbed too much output from the camera and exploded. The pieces that hit us are now vermiculite."

Bud and the others were mollified, so Tom resumed his retroscope test. Several other stones were "photographed." But in every case the picture was far from clear.

"That's worse'n my old TV set, boss," said Chow, squinting his eyes. "Can't you tune it any sharper?"

"I'm afraid not, Chow," Tom said with a rueful grin. "The camera's discrimination just isn't good enough."

Chow scratched his bald head. "Reckon I'll have to take your word for it."

"What I mean is, the camera is being thrown off by outside radiation," Tom explained.

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