Free Tom Swift and His Atomic Earth Blaster by Victor Appleton II

name; I presume they can be trusted."
    "I’m afraid the question is whether you can be trusted," Tom replied. "But all right."
    To Tom’s surprise Dr. Sneffels hung up the phone immediately without a time having been set. We’ll see if he shows, Tom thought, and informed Harlan Ames of the note, the call, and the visit.
    As Tom finished changing clothes and re-entered the lab, he suddenly broke out laughing. "Chow! Were you waiting for me all this time?"
    "Sure was!" said the Texan ominously. "Specially when I saw’d you hadn’t taken a nibble ’r bit o’ your sandwich!"
    Tom apologized. "Sorry, Chow—I thought I’d change my clothes first, and I guess I got sidetracked, and—I forgot!"
    "I’ll get you some fresh soup," Chow said. As he turned Tom thought he heard him murmur, "Water through a sieve, shore ’nuff."
    The young inventor worked hard on various aspects of the earth blaster all through the rest of the day, summarizing his progress in his electronic journal, which his father had access to. Dad will be pleased at how far I’ve gotten, Tom said to himself.
    A knock on the door announced the arrival of Bud Barclay. "Feel like dinner in town tonight?" Bud asked.
    "Sure," his pal replied. "But you may have to wait a while. I’m expecting a mystery visitor sometime after six."
    Bud glanced at his watch. "Almost seven now."
    Tom was surprised at how the time had flown. He quietly gave Bud a brief account of the telephone conversation with Dr. Sneffels, and showed him the message.
    "Shall I leave?" Bud asked. "Sounds like he may be antsy with others in the room."
    Tom shook his head. "Let him be. I’d like you here, flyboy—you may have to help me toss the guy out!"
    At seven-sixteen the gate guard informed Tom that his guest had arrived, and presently he was shown into the lab by plant security.
    "Just buzz if you need anything, Tom," said the security staffer meaningfully.
    Tom shook hands with Dr. Sneffels, who was wearing a white toupee and large thick-framed eyeglasses, which he removed with a glance at Bud. "Dr. Sneffels, this is—"
    "I know who he is," said the man.
    "Thanks for the rescue yesterday," Bud offered as they shook hands.
    "I’m a fair marksman; it’s a hobby," Sneffels responded. "Along with boating, and—but I’ll get to that."
    Tom asked him to take a seat and bade him go ahead with his story.
    "And quite a story it is," said the man. "You won’t want to believe it. But I’m absolutely sincere.
    "I’m something of an amateur spelunker—a cave explorer. Done it since I was a young boy. Pretty good at it, too. Tom—Bud—have you ever run across the Great Pawnauck Mountain Mystery?"
    "Did the Hardy Boys solve that one?" cracked Bud.
    "I’ve heard of it," Tom answered.
    "A reporter wrote a book about it some forty years ago. There was a little flap—then it was forgotten. Everyone assumes it was just a hoax. The man talked about old legends going back to the 1800’s concerning the area of Pawnauck Mountain in the Appalachians. There were sightings of mystery lights, half-seen figures that disappeared, mining operations that were plagued by unexplained disasters. A whole village of miners supposedly vanished overnight—twenty-two families, men, women, children."
    "What you’re describing sounds like a typical urban legend," Tom commented.
    The man nodded. "Of course, yes. The reporter said he’d had a strange experience of his own while exploring the area. He claims he was exploring deep in one of the natural caves when a landslip opened up a new extension, which he entered. Inside he claims he found a huge sealed room, obviously artificial, lit by a weird light-green luminance. In niches along the walls were the mummified corpses of…"
    He paused and Bud almost fell forward from his chair. "Of what?"
    "Of strange creatures. Like nothing ever seen on earth. You can read the book for a description."
    "Were these ‘creatures’ supposed to have been intelligent beings?"