Read Online Mad Scientists' Club by Bertrand R. Brinley, Charles Geer - Free Book Online
Authors: Bertrand R. Brinley, Charles Geer
Tags: Fiction, Science Clubs
Ads: Link
out of the shadow of the trees at the edge of the clearing, where he had been standing guard, and walked over to Freddy Muldoon.
"Listen, Freddy," Jeff warned, "stop that! One more of those and we're going to leave you back at the clubhouse after this."
"That wasn't me!" Freddy insisted. "Honest, Jeff, I didn't even open my mouth."
Jeff swung around in our direction. "Well, who was it then?" he demanded.
"I think it came from over there," said Freddy, pointing in the direction of the east side of the clearing, where the statue of the Confederate soldier stood.
Jeff dashed to that side of the clearing and poked around among the bushes. Then he came back to where we were standing by the cannon. "I've got a feeling there's somebody around here who isn't supposed to be," he said. Then he turned back toward the trees where he had been standing guard. "Wait a minute! I've got an idea."
There was a caretaker's tool shed a few feet back in the woods, and we could hear the door of it creak as Jeff opened it. In a minute he was back in the clearing, trailing a long length of garden hose behind him. "Go back in the shed and turn the water on full!" he whispered to Homer.
The next thing we knew, a high-pressure stream of water shot out of the end of the hose. To our amazement, Jeff directed it straight at the statue of the Confederate soldier. The full force of the stream hit the statue square in the side of the face. The Rebel cap flew off its head and landed in the bushes at the edge of the clearing. The statue lost its balance and toppled to the ground.
What happened next we couldn't believe. No sooner had the statue hit the ground than it bounced to its feet, let out a Rebel yell, and high-tailed it down the hill toward the road. By the time we came to our senses, it had disappeared in the dense undergrowth of the lower slope.
Jeff was laughing so hard he dropped the hose and rolled on the ground. We all got a good soaking before Homer could dash back to the shed and shut off the water.
"That guy can run as fast as my cousin Harmon," said Freddy Muldoon.
"That was your cousin Harmon!" Jeff blurted out from where he was sitting on the ground. "He's been waiting here for us ever since it got dark."
"How'd you know he was there?" I asked.
"I stumbled over the real statue when I went back in the bushes over there," Jeff explained. "I knew there were only two statues up here, so one of the Rebels had to be a fake"
"Pretty sneaky!" said Freddy Muldoon.
"Reminds me of 'The Purloined Letter,'" Henry observed. "Here we are, with scouts staked out for security, looking under rocks and bushes for snoopers, and Harmon was standing right in the middle of us all the time. I always did say Harmon was smart. You've got to give him credit."
"Yeah! And that means he heard everything we said and knows everything we did," said Homer.
"Except," said Henry, tapping his camera, "he doesn't know what we have on this film!"
Before we left Memorial Point, Henry put us all to work rigging up some more of his infernal apparatus. From his duffel bag he took two round objects about the size of overcoat buttons and taped them to the underside of the cannon, where they couldn't be seen.
"What are these things, Henry?" asked Freddy.
"They're silicon infrared detectors," said Henry. "They're very sensitive to small changes in temperature. If anybody comes near the cannon, the heat of his body will be enough to set up a small electric current in them. We can use that current to trigger a circuit and start a radiosonde beacon sending out a signal. If we keep a receiver turned on back at the clubhouse, we can record that signal on a graph. If anybody comes nosing around here, we'll know when he came and how long he stayed."
"How'll we know who it is?" asked Dinky.
"I brought along some infrared film," Henry explained. "We can rig up a camera in the same circuit and get a pretty good picture even in the dark -- probably good enough so we can
"Listen, Freddy," Jeff warned, "stop that! One more of those and we're going to leave you back at the clubhouse after this."
"That wasn't me!" Freddy insisted. "Honest, Jeff, I didn't even open my mouth."
Jeff swung around in our direction. "Well, who was it then?" he demanded.
"I think it came from over there," said Freddy, pointing in the direction of the east side of the clearing, where the statue of the Confederate soldier stood.
Jeff dashed to that side of the clearing and poked around among the bushes. Then he came back to where we were standing by the cannon. "I've got a feeling there's somebody around here who isn't supposed to be," he said. Then he turned back toward the trees where he had been standing guard. "Wait a minute! I've got an idea."
There was a caretaker's tool shed a few feet back in the woods, and we could hear the door of it creak as Jeff opened it. In a minute he was back in the clearing, trailing a long length of garden hose behind him. "Go back in the shed and turn the water on full!" he whispered to Homer.
The next thing we knew, a high-pressure stream of water shot out of the end of the hose. To our amazement, Jeff directed it straight at the statue of the Confederate soldier. The full force of the stream hit the statue square in the side of the face. The Rebel cap flew off its head and landed in the bushes at the edge of the clearing. The statue lost its balance and toppled to the ground.
What happened next we couldn't believe. No sooner had the statue hit the ground than it bounced to its feet, let out a Rebel yell, and high-tailed it down the hill toward the road. By the time we came to our senses, it had disappeared in the dense undergrowth of the lower slope.
Jeff was laughing so hard he dropped the hose and rolled on the ground. We all got a good soaking before Homer could dash back to the shed and shut off the water.
"That guy can run as fast as my cousin Harmon," said Freddy Muldoon.
"That was your cousin Harmon!" Jeff blurted out from where he was sitting on the ground. "He's been waiting here for us ever since it got dark."
"How'd you know he was there?" I asked.
"I stumbled over the real statue when I went back in the bushes over there," Jeff explained. "I knew there were only two statues up here, so one of the Rebels had to be a fake"
"Pretty sneaky!" said Freddy Muldoon.
"Reminds me of 'The Purloined Letter,'" Henry observed. "Here we are, with scouts staked out for security, looking under rocks and bushes for snoopers, and Harmon was standing right in the middle of us all the time. I always did say Harmon was smart. You've got to give him credit."
"Yeah! And that means he heard everything we said and knows everything we did," said Homer.
"Except," said Henry, tapping his camera, "he doesn't know what we have on this film!"
Before we left Memorial Point, Henry put us all to work rigging up some more of his infernal apparatus. From his duffel bag he took two round objects about the size of overcoat buttons and taped them to the underside of the cannon, where they couldn't be seen.
"What are these things, Henry?" asked Freddy.
"They're silicon infrared detectors," said Henry. "They're very sensitive to small changes in temperature. If anybody comes near the cannon, the heat of his body will be enough to set up a small electric current in them. We can use that current to trigger a circuit and start a radiosonde beacon sending out a signal. If we keep a receiver turned on back at the clubhouse, we can record that signal on a graph. If anybody comes nosing around here, we'll know when he came and how long he stayed."
"How'll we know who it is?" asked Dinky.
"I brought along some infrared film," Henry explained. "We can rig up a camera in the same circuit and get a pretty good picture even in the dark -- probably good enough so we can
Similar Books
