Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave Read online

  Joe blushed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I guess I know what you mean. It’s the way I am when I’m working on a poem, for instance.”

  “Exactly,” said Dr. Tresselt. “In fact, scientists and artists are alike in many ways.”

  They all went into the house, and Mrs. Dunn, a comfortable, jolly-looking woman with hair as red as her son’s, shook Dr. Tresselt’s hand.

  “Professor Bullfinch told me we might not see you until dinner-time,” she said. “Fortunately, I didn’t believe him. Lunch will be ready in a few minutes. Come along, Dr. Tresselt, and I’ll show you to your room.”

  The three grownups went upstairs. Danny sighed, jamming his hands deep into his pockets.

  “Well, I’m glad we got him home,” he said. “But I sure hated to leave that cave.”

  “What?” said Joe. “You mean that the tree I saw really was the one that marked where the entrance was?”

  “I knew that,” Irene said, quietly. “And Danny, I think it was—well—noble of you.”

  Danny shrugged, kicking at the rug with one toe. “Yeah, I must have been sick or something. I’ll just never find the way back to that spot.”

  “Yes, you will,” Irene smiled mischievously. “I dropped back, you know, and when I did I spotted the cave entrance. So, as we went down the hill, I marked the trail by breaking twigs so that they pointed back toward it, and by tying knots in the long grass. We can find the way easily.”

  Danny brightened. “Gosh, Irene, you’re great! I was so busy with Dr. Tresselt that I never even thought of doing that.”

  “He’s nice, isn’t he?” Irene said.

  “There’s one thing,” said Joe. “How could you tell that was a geologist’s hammer? I didn’t know geologists went around hammering things.” He scratched his head. “To tell the truth, I don’t know what they do go around doing.

  “Geologists study the earth,” Danny replied. “They study the rocks, and how mountains were formed, and how old the earth is, and what happens to rivers and lakes and oceans. They have to know all sorts of sciences—botany, chemistry, physics, mineralogy. They have these special hammers, with narrow heads and sharp picks on them, so they can take samples of rocks and minerals.”

  He turned down the long hall that led to Professor Bullfinch’s private laboratory, which was built on to the back of the house. “Let’s go look in the Professor’s library,” he said. “I want to see what Dr. Tresselt meant when he talked about ‘sedimentary rock.’”

  “I’ll join you later,” Joe said. “I’ve—um—got dirt all over my hands. I’ll just run into the kitchen and wash up.”

  He left them, and Dan and Irene went on to the laboratory, Irene remarking, “Joe must have sunstroke or something. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him say right out that he wanted to wash his hands.”

  The laboratory consisted of two rooms, one small one fitted with shelves on which were books, notebooks, and files, and a larger one in which were stone-topped tables, stools, and all the varied equipment the Professor needed for his researches.

  “Hey, look!” Danny said, as they entered this large room. “Professor Bullfinch has a portable TV set.”

  On one of the lab tables stood a small metal case with a glass screen on one side about a foot square, and a blunt, cone-shaped projection on the other.

  “I didn’t know the Professor watched television programs,” said Irene.

  “Oh, he must be using this for experiments,” Danny said. “Hmm…I wonder if it’s one of those color sets.”

  He examined the top of the case, in which were set tuning dials and switches, like those in an ordinary television set. “This dial must show the channels,” he said. “But gosh! this must be an experimental model of some kind, because it goes up to Channel 75.”

  He studied the switches for a moment and then snapped one of them. The set began to hum softly, and the screen glowed.

  “Let’s try Channel 25,” he said. “Maybe it comes from some foreign country.”

  He twiddled the knobs until a picture suddenly came into focus. He and Irene stared at it.

  It was obviously a kitchen, although everything was shadowy and indistinct, and no details showed. They could make out a sink, a window, and part of a table. It looked very much like a shadowgraph, in which only the silhouettes of things showed against the light.

  “It’s not very clear, is it?” Irene said. “And it’s certainly not in color.”

  “I’ll see if I can get it a little sharper,” said Danny. He turned one of the dials.

  “Look!” Irene cried. “The picture’s moving.”

  As the dial turned, the scene itself moved, as though the invisible camera were traveling. All at once something else came into view.

  It was unmistakably a refrigerator. The door stood open. A figure straightened up, holding something which they decided was the leg of a chicken. The figure did a little jig and then began to gnaw at the chicken leg.

  “You know,” said Dan, “there’s something awfully familiar about that television actor, even though all you can see is his outline.”

  Irene put her hands over her mouth to stifle a scream of laughter.

  “The hair—the long nose—the way he moves,” she said. “Of course he looks familiar. It’s Joe!”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The See-Ray

  Danny rubbed his nose thoughtfully, as he gazed at the image on the screen. “I think you’re right,” he said, slowly. “And you know something else? I don’t think this is a television set.”

  “That is correct, my boy,” said the Professor, from behind him.

  He had come into the laboratory that instant, with Dr. Tresselt, and he walked over and put a friendly hand on Danny’s shoulder.

  “Gosh, Professor, I didn’t mean to fool with it,” Danny said. “But it does look just like a portable television set, and I thought—”

  “No harm done,” said Professor Bullfinch. “I can understand your confusion. As a matter of fact, I was just about to demonstrate it to Dr. Tresselt, so you’ve saved me the trouble of turning it on.”

  He beckoned to the geologist to come closer. “Look here, Alvin. It is set for a distance of twenty-five feet.”

  “Oh,” said Danny. “Not Channel 25.”

  “No.” The Professor laughed. “So far, this experimental model has a range of about seventy-five feet. What you are seeing now is—um—the kitchen on the other side of that wall.”

  Dr. Tresselt stooped to peer into the screen. “Very interesting,” he said. “So this is the C-ray.”

  “A little joke of my own,” smiled the Professor. “See-ray.”

  “A kind of X-ray, actually?”

  “Well, a radiation operating at the same short wave length as X-ray. But I produce it so that a much smaller amount is easily detectable. I can thus time the reflection of the rays almost like—well—radar. As you see, the screen is similar to that of a radarscope. But the sensitivity is so great that I can detect it easily, and thus there is no radiation danger.”

  “I see,” said Dr. Tresselt. “The same job with less juice, you might say.”

  “Exactly. I thought it might have some value in geology, or mineralogy, since you can, in effect, see right through solid rock with it.”

  The geologist shook his head. “We’d have to try it. It might develop all sorts of bugs under field conditions. And I doubt that it would be able to select between layers of, say, limestone and sandstone.”

  “That’s why I wanted to show it to you,” said the Professor. “I thought you might take it with you on your next expedition.”

  Dr. Tresselt was looking at the screen again. “Whatever else it does, it certainly shows up icebox raiders very well,” he said. “I presume that’s your friend Joe?”

  “Yes, it is,” Danny said. “And—well,
don’t you think, Professor, that if the machine can pick out Joe and what he’s eating as well as it does, that it could show fossils, or crystals, in rocks?”

  The Professor stroked his chin. “Not quite the same, Dan,” he replied. “In this case, the ray is probing through a solid wall to pick up objects in empty space—the kitchen. But Dr. Tresselt isn’t sure it will be able to select objects buried in another solid, like stone.”

  “It was good thinking, though,” said Dr. Tresselt. “You certainly are interested in science, Dan. How about you, Irene? Don’t you sometimes feel left out of things?”

  Irene looked indignant. Before she could answer, Danny said, “Gosh, no. She knows more than I do about some branches of science. Not very much, though,” he added, hastily.

  “I’m going to be a physicist when I go to college,” Irene said. “You know there are women who are scientists—”

  Dr. Tresselt lifted his hands apologetically. “I’m sorry,” he said. “You’re right. I spoke without thinking.”

  Irene looked happier.

  “She’s so crazy about science, she even wears it,” Danny grinned.

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand,” said the geologist, looking perplexed. “How can you wear science?”

  Professor Bullfinch snapped off his C-ray machine, with a chuckle.

  “I think I know what Danny means. Irene has been making up a science charm bracelet. Aren’t you wearing it today, my dear?”

  “No, Professor, I forgot it,” said Irene.

  “All the charms on it stand for different branches of science,” Danny explained. “She’s got a four-leaf clover that stands for botany, and a lump of iron—one of the elements—for chemistry. What else is there, Irene?”

  Irene frowned. “Well, there’s a tiny magnifying glass for microscopy, and a computer switch for mathematics, and a little nut and bolt for engineering, and a dried cocoon for insect studies, and on my birthday my father gave me a tiny gold tag with Einstein’s equation—E = MC2—engraved on it. That’s for physics.”

  “What a list,” laughed Dr. Tresselt. “Excellent! Sounds very complete. But what have you for geology?”

  “Gee, I haven’t anything yet. What do you suggest?”

  “We must try to find her a little fossil, or perhaps a handsome little crystal of some sort, eh, Bullfinch?”

  The Professor nodded. Before he could reply, however, Joe came into the laboratory. “Hello, everybody,” he said. “I just came in to say goodbye. I’ve got to go home for lunch.”

  Danny looked innocently at his friend. “Hands all washed?” he asked.

  “Sure. Why?”

  “But Joe—you don’t mean to say you still have room for lunch?” Irene cried.

  “Why not?” Joe said, but his face began to turn red.

  Danny put his fingers to his forehead. “I am in contact with the spirit world,” he said, in a mysterious voice. “I am now receiving a message from beyond—from a ghost—from the ghost of a roast chicken. It tells me you went into the refrigerator while my mother was out of the kitchen, and that you took a drumstick and ate it…”

  Joe gave a long whistle. Then he shrugged.

  “Okay,” he said. “I confess. What did you do, peek through the window?”

  “Easier than that,” said Danny. “We watched you through the wall.”

  “Uh-huh,” Joe grunted. “Why didn’t you walk right through, then, and show me where the mayonnaise was?”

  “It’s true, Joe,” said Irene. “Ask the Professor. We watched you with his new C-ray.”

  “Nobody’s safe any more,” Joe mumbled. “I always got into trouble with Danny. Now, I can’t even trust the Professor. Next thing you know, there’ll be rays to make sure you do your homework, and rays that make you wash behind the ears—”

  “Come, now, Joe,” said Professor Bullfinch, taking out his pipe and filling it. “Things aren’t quite that bad.”

  “Not yet, maybe,” Joe said, gloomily. “I should think you scientists could find something better to invent than a ray for spying on a poor hungry kid like me… pale, and thin… just picking up a few crumbs…”

  The others burst into laughter. The Professor said, “Joe, I give you my word I didn’t invent the C-ray to make you unhappy. We’ll never use it to watch you again.”

  “That cheers me up,” said Joe, looking sadder than ever.

  “I hate to break up the National Research Council convention,” said Mrs. Dunn, putting her head into the room, “but lunch is ready.”

  Danny said, “Oh, Mom. Do you think Joe and Irene—”

  “I’ve already called their mothers,” Mrs. Dunn said, placidly. “There’s enough lunch for everyone. Joe won’t need quite as much as the rest, as he’s already had part of his.”

  “Oh, help!” wailed Joe. “How about that? She’s got a C-ray, too!”

  Irene sniffed. “Hmf! You ought to know that mothers don’t need science to find out things. You probably left the drumstick on the table.”

  “On a chair, as a matter of fact,” said Mrs. Dunn. “And his face is greasy. Come on, everyone.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Making Plans

  Lunch was a cheerful affair. They all sat round the long, oval table in the sunny dining room, and feasted on cold chicken, ham salad, Swiss cheese, and some of Mrs. Dunn’s famous chocolate cake. When they had eaten all they could hold, and the grownups were sipping their coffee, Joe said, “That’s one kind of ray I hope they never invent—an eating ray.”

  “Good heavens, Joe,” said Mrs. Dunn. “What on earth made you think of that?”

  “Oh, the Professor’s new C-ray,” Joe explained. “I just hope they never come up with anything to take the place of eating.”

  “I don’t think you need worry,” said the Professor, pulling out his old pipe. “Even if anyone succeeded in inventing such a device, I don’t think most people would care for it. Food is too much fun.”

  “I agree,” said Joe. “Boy! There are times when I get the feeling that science develops things that are supposed to be good for us, but that just make trouble.”

  Dr. Tresselt’s blue eyes seemed to throw out sparks of amusement. “I know how you feel, Joe,” he said. “But my stars, boy, nobody can be alive and never have any trouble! Being alive is just meeting troubles every day and overcoming them. Just to stand up straight against the pull of gravity is a fight, isn’t it?”

  “I think Joe would rather spend his days lying down,” Irene giggled.

  “Nothing wrong with that,” Joe said. “You know, I can be as lively as anyone else, but there are times when I’d like to run away and live in a cave and be a hermit, and not have to—”

  Danny’s head snapped up. “Joe,” he said, “you’re brilliant.”

  “I am?” Joe raised his eyebrows.

  “Yes, sir. I always knew it.”

  “You did?”

  “That’s a wonderful idea.”

  “It is, huh?” Joe blinked. “I am proud and humble. Uh… which particular one of my many ideas are you talking about?”

  “Why, mentioning the cave, of course. I’d forgotten all about it. How about going this afternoon?”

  Dr. Tresselt had pricked up his ears. “Cave? What cave?”

  “Oh, one Danny discovered,” said Irene.

  “We were going to explore it this morning, when we found you. Danny made us leave it—he said it was more important to get you home.”

  Professor Bullfinch opened his eyes wide at this, but before he could say anything, Dr. Tresselt said, crisply, “What’s it like? Shallow? River running out of it? Carbonate of lime concretions?”

  “Gee, Dr. Tresselt, I really don’t know much about it,” Danny answered. “You see, I found it last spring. I didn’t have any light with me so I couldn’t really explore it
. But it didn’t look shallow—it seemed to go ’way in. There’s no river, and I don’t know about carbonate of lime.”

  Dr. Tresselt rose to his feet. “Let’s go,” he said.

  “Hold on a minute, Alvin.” Professor Bullfinch caught him by the wrist. “I absolutely forbid your dashing off into the hills this afternoon. I have arranged to introduce you to Herbert Jaffe, the chief of Midston’s Geology Department—a great admirer of your work. He, in turn, is giving a faculty tea party for you, and he wants to take you around the school.”

  “Oh—heck!” said Dr. Tresselt, with a despairing look. “No way out of it?”

  “Absolutely none. While you’re here, you’ve got to meet some of these men. They are looking forward to it.” The Professor tapped his chin with his pipe stem, thoughtfully. “However, tomorrow—”

  “Hooray!” Danny burst out. “An expedition!”

  “Take it easy, Danny,” cautioned the Professor. “I didn’t say anything about an expedition. But we might just stroll up there in the morning, and—er—sort of glance inside…”

  “We can call it the Bullfinch-Tresselt Underground Expedition,” said Irene. “We’d better make a list of all the things we’ll need.”

  “Rope,” Danny said, taking out his pencil. “And flashlights and spare batteries.”

  “A first-aid kit,” Irene said.

  “You’ll need provisions, too,” Joe put in.

  “Aren’t you coming?” Danny said.

  “Oh, sure, you’ll need somebody to help you eat them.”

  “Better put down warm clothing, too,” said the Professor. “It’ll be a lot chillier inside than out in the sun.”

  “I have another idea, Professor Bullfinch,” said Danny. “You could bring along the C-ray. You said it ought to be tried out in the field. This would be a way of doing that, wouldn’t it?”

  “Fine,” said the Professor. “A good thought. We ought to be able to check whether it picks up discontinuities in a homogenous mass.”

  “I’m almost certain it won’t register fossil layers,” Dr. Tresselt said, shaking his head. “I don’t see how—”