Danny Dunn on the Ocean Floor
Page 9
“A good thing were none of us very fat,” said Captain Beaversmith. “We would have had to throw someone overboard. There isn’t much room in the Urchin, and any extra weight might have held us down. ‘Never weather-beaten sail more willing bent to shore…’ Thomas Campion.”
Joe cleared his throat. “Speaking of poetry,” he said modestly, “I—um—I have written a small poem for this occasion. I don’t suppose anybody would like to hear it…”
“I don’t know if I can bear poetry on top of that big dinner,” said Danny.
“—so I will recite it anyway,” Joe went on.
“Go ahead, Joe,” said Dr. Grimes. “After the ocean floor, nothing can frighten us.”
Joe stood up, took out a sheet of paper, and after bowing to the company, began to read:
“I like rattlesnake steak,
And pine-needle pudding and rose-petal cake,
But if someone should brew a kinkajou stew
Flavored with library paste—
I wonder how it would taste?
I like grasshopper tips,
And octopus omelet and pollywog pips,
But if someone should stuff some moths in a muff
And then proceed to dry them and fry them—
I wonder if I’d dare to try them?
I like all types of grass,
And whale blubber suet and snipes under glass,
But if someone should roast a goblin or ghost
And serve it up without heating—
I wonder: would I feel like eating?”
Everyone applauded and laughed, and Professor Bullfinch began, “My dear Joséph, you have a great future before you—”
A voice said, “There they are, Señores.”
Into the hotel restaurant came Ramon Almazan followed by five or six men. One of the men, tall and white-haired and with a neat, small beard, stepped forward and bowed.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “allow me to present myself. I am Dr. Hernando Guzman, Curator of Archeology of the National Museum of Mexico. These other gentlemen are from the newspapers.”
Professor Bullfinch rose and introduced himself and the members of the party.
Dr. Guzman said, “The name of the famous Professor Bullfinch is well known to me, as is also that of Dr. Grimes. When I received your telegram about the Image of the Sun I could not restrain myself from coming at once. Please forgive my bursting in on you, but surely you understand my eagerness to see this wonderful object.”
“I do, indeed,” said the Professor. “I have it safely stored in the vault of the Bank of Nomata, and tomorrow morning I will take great pleasure in delivering it to you.”
“I wish we could keep it,” Danny put in rather sadly. “It would have been fun to take home a real sunken treasure.”
Dr. Guzman regarded him in astonishment. “Fun?” he said. “Take it home? But it is a national treasure—like the Liberty Bell of your own country. We give you our deepest gratitude for finding it.”
“Oh, I know that,” Danny said hastily. “I was just wishing.”
“If it hadn’t been for these young people, the Sun Image would still be buried at the bottom of the sea,” said the Professor to Dr. Guzman.
“And don’t forget Ramon,” Joe put in. “Why, without his map we might never have found it.”
Ramon grinned. “My uncle said that I must tell you, he only meant the map for a joke. But he is glad you found the treasure. And I have a treasure for you, José. I have saved you half of the drops of root beer.”
“My pal,” said Joe with a wink.
“It’s quite a story,” said one of the newspapermen. “Can we get all the details from you, sir?”
The Professor put his hand on Danny’s shoulder. “In a moment,” he said. “But first, let me tell you, gentlemen—and you, too, Danny, and Joe, and Irene—that we will be taking home a great treasure from the sea, after all.”
“What?” cried Joe.
“Another Sun Image?” said Danny.
“Where did you get it?” Irene asked.
“Not another Sun Image,” the Professor smiled. “But a treasure just as great and valuable—perhaps more so. You remember my saying that the fish and seaweed in this part of the ocean sometimes grew to great size and were astonishingly healthy? We have suspected some quality of the water, but didn’t know what it was.
“And do you remember how the ocean floor was covered with little round things that looked like pebbles? Well, those nodules have been dredged up from many parts of the ocean floor. Scientists have analyzed them and found them to be very rich in important metals like manganese, cobalt, copper, and iron. The nodules are caused by deposits of those metals from the sea water on the shells of tiny animals called Foraminifera after the animals themselves have died.
“When we took the Sun Image aboard, I found that some of the nodules, or pebbles, had come with it. I began an analysis of them and discovered that the nodules in this particular region contain a curious new substance which has been precipitated from the sea water on the shells of the Foraminifera. This substance, I believe, has antibiotic qualities—it tends to destroy harmful bacteria, and I believe it may explain the size and health of the creatures and plants in the sea of this region.”
He looked benignly round at the amazed faces of his listeners. “You understand what this means?” he went on. “It is a real treasure, one that may help mankind, the treasure of better health and longer life.”
“Why, this is wonderful news,” said Dr. Guzman. “I congratulate you, my dear Professor.”
“Thank you. The credit, however,” said the Professor, “must go to our entire group, for we all had a share in the work. And Dr. Grimes, you know, is really the head of this expedition. It was all his idea from the beginning.”
Dr. Grimes coughed and bowed.
“Now,” the Professor said, taking Dr. Guzman’s arm, “if you will come with me to my room, I will show you some photographs we took of the Sun Image this afternoon after coming ashore. Meantime, Dr. Grimes, perhaps you’d be good enough to answer the questions of these newspaper gentlemen.”
He led the Mexican archeologist off, and the newsmen crowded round Dr. Grimes. Captain Beaversmith joined them, and he and Dr. Grimes told the story of the descent into the canyon and their adventures on the sea bottom. When they came to the point at which Danny had played the fish recordings, the reporters turned to the boy.
One of them said, “I’ve never heard any fish sounds before. In fact, I didn’t know they made any sounds. Could you play some of these recordings for us?”
“Sure.” Danny started for the door. “I’ll run up and get my tape recorder.”
He was back in a moment or two, and soon had the machine ready. He started it, and they listened in wonder to the soft peeping of the hatchetfish. “Now,” said Danny, “I’ll play the sound of the viper fish. That’s what we used to chase the hatchetfish away, so we could follow them.”
He snapped the switch. A high, thin, weird squealing filled the room. The newspapermen clapped their hands over their ears.
Dr. Grimes rubbed his forehead. “Ugh!” he exclaimed. “That noise would scare anything away.”
Irene began giggling. “But it’s you, Dr. Grimes,” she said. “Isn’t it, Dan? Turn the volume down and listen again.”
Danny did as she asked. “She’s got the best musical ear of all of us,” he said. “And she’s right. That’s your piccolo.”
“But—but it’s not possible!” cried Dr. Grimes.
“I’m afraid it is, though,” said Danny. “When you used the machine as an amplifier so you could outplay the Professor, you couldn’t get any sound out of it at first. You must have been recording then. You recorded your own playing and that automatically erased the viper fish sounds. So it was you, Dr. Grimes, who scared away
the hatchetfish.”
“And we are all grateful to you, too,” said Irene mischievously.
Dr. Grimes frowned. Then his long, severe face relaxed, and to everyone’s surprise, he grinned widely. “Well, well,” he said. “From now on, you may call me Pied Piper Grimes. It certainly is peculiar music.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Joe. “I’ve heard worse. It’s like what our friend Ramon said, once before.”
He clapped the Mexican boy on the back.
“Ramon? What did he say?” asked Danny.
“You must develop a taste for it,” replied Joe, as everyone laughed. “Like Munchy Chew Bar, no?”