Read Online Tom Swift and His Electronic Retroscope by Victor Appleton II - Free Book Online
Authors: Victor Appleton II
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feel somewhat uncomfortable. However, when they approached again with respectful nods he seemed as friendly as ever. When Tom spoke of his plan to dig for relics near the end of the ancient road, Quetzal said approvingly:
"You are a very wise young man. Perhaps you will find another stone carved by my people’s ancestors—or the others."
As the chief walked away and Tom returned to Bud and Castillez, Bud wore a puzzled frown. "What do you make of it?"
Tom shrugged. "He may be embarrassed because his whole village is afraid of the giant."
"I mean, what do you make of that stuff the other guy told us—the cave man business, and crushing jaguars?"
"It beats me," the scientist-inventor replied with a chuckle. "Another thing. If that’s the guy who sabotaged our helium tank, what’s his game?"
Castillez made a suggestion, thoughtfully. "It is possible he is only curious about the plane. If perhaps he’s lived his life here, in the jungle, he may never have seen an airplane except distantly in the sky."
After stowing the helium tank in the safety of Chief Quetzal’s hut, Tom hunted up Doc Simpson, finding him behind a hut at the further side of the village. Chow, who had taken Bud’s place, was helping him examine a half-dozen of the men. After greeting Tom, Doc discussed the progress he had made. "I will definitely be taking five of these six men back to the States. They’re really amazing subjects, Tom."
He told Tom that their basal metabolism—the rate at which their bodies used energy—was five to eight percent higher than that of the average North American. "Here’s another interesting feature," he added, as he held an instrument up to one man’s eyes to allow Tom to see. "Notice this trace of a fold of flesh at the inner corner of each eye, called the epicanthic fold. When large, it’s what gives Asians their characteristic facial appearance. In fact, all these people in this village show unusually strong chromosomal indicators connecting them to Asian ancestors many generations back."
"That seems to bear out the theory that Indian tribes crossed over to this continent from Asia back when Alaska was joined to Siberia by a land bridge," Tom commented.
"Yes, or perhaps travelled across the Pacific by boat."
As Doc proceeded to give the Mayas a more detailed examination, Tom left him and returned to the parked truck. He was anxious to finish assembling the retroscope and to try out the new-version scanner he had brought back from the Sky Queen .
With Bud’s help, the improved camera soon stood completed in the afternoon sunlight in front of Chief Quetzal’s hut. Most of the village seemed to have quietly gathered around, respectfully standing back and giving Tom a space in which to work. Even the stolid chief himself seemed fascinated and somewhat awed.
"It looks complicated, ahau, but the basic principle is fairly simple," Tom said to him with a smile.
The main chassis of the retroscope was flat, shallow, and rectangular, like an oversized shirt box. It was clamped inside an X-shaped frame of support struts, which were in turn connected to a low wheeled platform on the ground. A metal cylinder extended from the front of the camera, widening at the end to a disk that was slightly concave on the side that would face the carved surfaces. Fastened to the top of the console was a big, transparent dome, looking like an embedded half-bubble.
The entire camera apparatus was connected to two other units. A flexible hose ran from the back of the camera chassis to a collection of pumps and compressors with a small, compact tank—like a thermos bottle—at its center. This unit had a valve wheel on top. In addition several long, thick wire leads ran back and forth from the camera to a fairly bulky box-shaped console that stood separately a few feet away.
He walked about the apparatus, touching its various parts as he spoke. "This cylinder is the main scanning mechanism, by which we detect the underlying
"You are a very wise young man. Perhaps you will find another stone carved by my people’s ancestors—or the others."
As the chief walked away and Tom returned to Bud and Castillez, Bud wore a puzzled frown. "What do you make of it?"
Tom shrugged. "He may be embarrassed because his whole village is afraid of the giant."
"I mean, what do you make of that stuff the other guy told us—the cave man business, and crushing jaguars?"
"It beats me," the scientist-inventor replied with a chuckle. "Another thing. If that’s the guy who sabotaged our helium tank, what’s his game?"
Castillez made a suggestion, thoughtfully. "It is possible he is only curious about the plane. If perhaps he’s lived his life here, in the jungle, he may never have seen an airplane except distantly in the sky."
After stowing the helium tank in the safety of Chief Quetzal’s hut, Tom hunted up Doc Simpson, finding him behind a hut at the further side of the village. Chow, who had taken Bud’s place, was helping him examine a half-dozen of the men. After greeting Tom, Doc discussed the progress he had made. "I will definitely be taking five of these six men back to the States. They’re really amazing subjects, Tom."
He told Tom that their basal metabolism—the rate at which their bodies used energy—was five to eight percent higher than that of the average North American. "Here’s another interesting feature," he added, as he held an instrument up to one man’s eyes to allow Tom to see. "Notice this trace of a fold of flesh at the inner corner of each eye, called the epicanthic fold. When large, it’s what gives Asians their characteristic facial appearance. In fact, all these people in this village show unusually strong chromosomal indicators connecting them to Asian ancestors many generations back."
"That seems to bear out the theory that Indian tribes crossed over to this continent from Asia back when Alaska was joined to Siberia by a land bridge," Tom commented.
"Yes, or perhaps travelled across the Pacific by boat."
As Doc proceeded to give the Mayas a more detailed examination, Tom left him and returned to the parked truck. He was anxious to finish assembling the retroscope and to try out the new-version scanner he had brought back from the Sky Queen .
With Bud’s help, the improved camera soon stood completed in the afternoon sunlight in front of Chief Quetzal’s hut. Most of the village seemed to have quietly gathered around, respectfully standing back and giving Tom a space in which to work. Even the stolid chief himself seemed fascinated and somewhat awed.
"It looks complicated, ahau, but the basic principle is fairly simple," Tom said to him with a smile.
The main chassis of the retroscope was flat, shallow, and rectangular, like an oversized shirt box. It was clamped inside an X-shaped frame of support struts, which were in turn connected to a low wheeled platform on the ground. A metal cylinder extended from the front of the camera, widening at the end to a disk that was slightly concave on the side that would face the carved surfaces. Fastened to the top of the console was a big, transparent dome, looking like an embedded half-bubble.
The entire camera apparatus was connected to two other units. A flexible hose ran from the back of the camera chassis to a collection of pumps and compressors with a small, compact tank—like a thermos bottle—at its center. This unit had a valve wheel on top. In addition several long, thick wire leads ran back and forth from the camera to a fairly bulky box-shaped console that stood separately a few feet away.
He walked about the apparatus, touching its various parts as he spoke. "This cylinder is the main scanning mechanism, by which we detect the underlying
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