CHAPTER I
TO THE RESCUE
“But, Professor, do you really think it’s true?” asked Ned Slade,looking at the elderly gentleman, whose bald head glistened in thesunlight, as he sat leafing the pages of a scientific book.
“Is what true, Ned?” inquired Jerry Hopkins, who had crossed the roomto look out of a window.
“What Professor Snodgrass was telling just now, about a fortune inradium being on a lonely little island in the Colorado River, somewherein the Grand Canyon.”
“Radium!” gasped Bob Baker, turning slowly in a big chair.
“Yes, radium,” answered Ned, at whose house the other motor boy chumshad called to meet their old friend, the professor, who was paying ashort visit to Mr. Slade. “Radium, Bob. Do you get the idea, or are youstill trying to figure out how long it will be until lunch time?”
“Aw, quit it,” begged the fat lad. “I guess I can think of somethingbesides grub, once in a while. But I wasn’t listening very closely.What is it about radium? That’s the stuff they use to set diamonds in,instead of gold; isn’t it?”
“Say, what’s the matter with you, Bob?” cried Jerry, a tall, andwell-built lad, as he wheeled around from the window. “Set diamonds inradium? You’re thinking of platinum, I guess.”
“Oh, that’s right!” admitted Bob.
“Radium!” broke in Ned. “I guess they’d be more likely to set radium ina diamond, if they could; eh, Professor?”
“Well,” admitted the little scientist with a smile, “it’s valuableenough to be set in diamonds, but I’m afraid it would be too dangerousto carry around that way. It can’t be exposed carelessly, you know.”
“Dangerous?” asked Bob. “How’s that?”
“Radium, that wonderful metal, as it is sometimes called, and aboutwhich so much has been written, yet about which even the greatestscientists admit that they know very little, can cause very severeburns if brought near a person, and not protected in some way.
“The rays, or emanations from it, pass through almost all substances,you know, and not only does it cause burns, but also forms of mentaldiseases. It is a dangerous, as well as very valuable, metal.”
“But what’s this Ned said about some being on an island in the GrandCanyon of the Colorado?” persisted Bob. “That sounds interesting. Maybethere’s a chance for us to take a trip, and get some. Let’s hear moreabout it, Professor, please.”
“Well, I don’t know that I can say much,” came from the scientist. “Ijust happened to see a mention of radium in this book I was looking at,and I just told Ned that there was said to be a valuable deposit of iton this island--Snake Island, I believe it is called--though I don’tknow why. Probably from some Indian name.”
“And I asked him if he believed it was true,” added Ned.
“As to that I can’t say,” resumed Uriah Snodgrass. “All I know is thatsome years ago a scientific expedition from Hartwell College set outto learn if the rumor about the radium was true. They had the story,I understand, from some prospectors who were searching for gold. Theprospectors landed on this island, because their boat was wrecked, andone of them picked up a piece of stone, whether it was hornblende orpitchblende I can’t recall, but you know radium is often found in thosesubstances.
“At any rate, one of the prospectors kept this piece of mineral,and when he and his friends left the island he took it with him, notknowing what it was. Later he gave it to a scientist, as a curiosity,and the latter at once recognized what it was, and learned where itcame from.
“It was sent to Hartwell College, with which the scientist wasconnected, and aroused a great deal of interest. An expedition was atonce fitted up, and about a year ago started for Snake Island.”
“Did they get there?” asked Bob eagerly. “And did they get any gold?”
“They did not, I regret to say,” replied the professor rather solemnly.“As for gold, they would scarcely have picked it up, had there beenany, if there was radium to be had, for there is no comparison in thevalues of the two. With radium at ten thousand dollars, or so, anounce, you can easily figure what a little bit would be worth.
“At any rate, the expedition never even got to Snake Island. Theystarted down the Colorado in a boat, but it was wrecked, and the partybarely escaped alive. This so discouraged them that they returned, andas far as I know, no one since has set foot on the place where theradium is supposed to be. Yes, it was a sad piece of business.”
“Why sad?” asked Jerry Hopkins. “Because science missed the chance toget the radium?”
“Well, yes, in a way, but one of the searching party was lost.”
“Drowned?” asked Ned.
“As to that no one ever knew. He fell into the water when the boatwas wrecked, and none of his friends ever saw him again. They had awatch kept on the river below, but the body was never seen. The mandisappeared completely. He was quite a friend of mine, too, in a way,for we corresponded, and exchanged scientific books, though I only sawhim a few times. Hartley Bentwell was his name, and he was one of thebest authorities on radium that I ever heard of. I often wonder whatbecame of him. He gave his life up in the interests of science.”
“And do you really believe there is radium there?” asked Ned, after apause.
“Yes, I think I do,” answered the professor quietly. “I had thegood fortune to see the piece of mineral, containing some, thatthe prospector picked up years ago. There was no doubt but that itcontained radium, for all the manifestations were present. And if therewas one bit of radium on that island, there must be more.”
“Unless it’s all evaporated by this time,” put in Bob.
“Radium doesn’t evaporate,” said the professor with a smile. “Thesmallest piece you can imagine, will give off what you might call‘rays’ or ‘sparks’ for thousands of years, and, at the end of thattime, the most delicate scales would show no loss of weight. It’s thesame way with pure musk. A grain of it has been known to scent, saya box, or chest of drawers, for fifty years, and, at the end of thattime, the whole grain of musk was still there.”
“That’s strange,” murmured Jerry.
“Oh, that’s not nearly all the strange facts about radium,” went on Mr.Snodgrass. “I could talk to you for hours about it and not half finish.”
“Tell us more about Snake Island,” suggested Ned.
“That’s all I know,” and the professor closed the book that had startedthe conversation. “I only heard what I have told you. It was becauseI was interested in Mr. Bentwell, and felt his loss so much that thetale impressed me. I often thought I would like to have a try forthat radium myself, not because of the fortune, but because of thescientific value of the metal, or mineral, whichever you choose to callit. But I never seemed to get the time, and I had so many other thingsto do, gathering----”
The professor suddenly stopped talking, and made a dive for a certainspot on the carpet. He came down on his hands and knees, holding hispalms together.
“I got it!” he cried triumphantly. “Ned, please get my smallest insectcase. It’s in my right hand coat pocket,” and the scientist remained onhis knees, a look of joy on his face.
“Did you fall?” asked Bob innocently.
“No, indeed, I jumped,” replied the professor. “As I was speaking Ihappened to see a new variety of pink-winged moth fluttering on thecarpet, and as this moth----”
“Moths in my carpet!” cried Mrs. Slade, entering the room at thatmoment. “Oh, Professor! Let me kill it at once! Where is it?”
“I have it safe,” answered Mr. Snodgrass with a smile. “As for killingit, I’ll do that, but it must be carefully done, so as not to crush it.Have you the box, Ned?”
“Yes, here it is,” and the lad drew out a small, glass-topped case fromthe professor’s pocket.
“Well, as long as you have the moth, I suppose it can’t eat holes in mynew carpet,” said Mrs. Slade. “I must put some cedar oil around, andkill the horrid things.”
“Oh, I beg of you
, if you see any more to save them for me!” imploredthe professor. “There you are, my little pink beauty!” he exclaimed, ashe put the moth in the case where it soon died, for the box containedcyanide of potassium, the fumes from which are almost instantly fatalto insect life. “That is worth many dollars to my college collection,”went on the scientist. “I would not have missed that for the world.This has been a lucky day for me. Let me see, what was I talkingabout?” and he looked at the boys through his powerful spectacles,while he absent-mindedly brushed the dust from his trousers.
“It was radium, and you said you’d like to go to Snake Island,”suggested Ned.
“Oh, yes, and I had told you about how my friend lost his life seekingthe place. Indeed I would like to go, but I am afraid it is out of thequestion. However, I suppose some one will get the fortune some day,”and the professor carefully put the insect box in his pocket, lookingthe while, carefully over the carpet for more specimens.
“Well, that surely was a queer yarn,” remarked Bob. “I say, Ned, whatdo you say if we have something to eat on it. I’m hungry, and----”
“You don’t care who knows it!” finished Jerry with a laugh.
“That’s all right,” put in Ned good-naturedly, for the chums werealmost like brothers, and made themselves perfectly at home in eachother’s houses. “I guess it must be almost lunch time. I’ll go see ifit isn’t ready. I reckon we can all eat some, even Professor Snodgrass,if he can spare the time from his specimens.”
“Oh, yes,” laughed the scientist. “I am ready----”
At that moment there came an interruption in the shape of a small boy,very excited, and out of breath, who dashed up on the porch, on whichopened the library windows of the room where the three chums and theprofessor had been talking.
“Whoop!” yelled the small lad.
“Andy Rush!” cried Ned.
“Wow!” yelled Andy, getting his second wind. “Come on,fellows--’sawful--dam’s busted--river’s got loose--houses being washedaway--people in the water--dogs--chickens--boats--fearful--terribleexcitement--come on--don’t lose a minute--the whole place may go--bigflood--whoop--come on--don’t wait--wow!”
For a moment the three chums gazed at the excited small lad. Then Jerryasked, sternly:
“Andy, is this true, or are you joking?”
“True? Of course it’s true! Come on--rescue--big damage--dam’sbusted--save lives!”
“Fellows, I guess we’d better go!” cried Jerry, and, followed by hischums, and the professor, he rushed from the room, Andy coming after,and giving vent to excited whoops at every other breath.