“By the way,” the meteorologist added, “there’s a SOUTHWARD HO! 135
government seismologist right there in Washington who recently returned from the Antarctic. His name is Dorset. I understand he made a cruise down there on a Navy cutter, checking up on volcanic disturbances and earthquake tremors. Why not have a talk with him? He’s now employed by the National Bureau of Standards.”
“Fine!” Tom said. “I’ll go see him at once.”
He took a taxi and was soon in conference with the man. Dorset was interested to hear of Tom’s plans and proved helpful. He even suggested a good spot for a base camp.
“In my opinion, your best bet is somewhere along the foot of these mountains,” the seismologist said, pointing to an area on the map west of the great Ross ice barrier. “I flew over this territory in a Navy plane while studying the Mount Erebus volcano.”
“Thanks. I’ll look it over,” Tom said, adding, “An ice-free lake has been reported somewhere among those mountains, hasn’t it?”
“Right,” Dorset replied. “That may be a sign your molten iron is particularly close to the surface in that vicinity. I’d say it should be a good area to investigate.”
Tom thanked Mr. Dorset for the valuable information that he had given him, then hurried to the airport, where he took off in his jet. But as Tom streaked toward Shopton, he chafed at the delay in
136 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER
his plans. Every day lost meant an added advantage for Bronich and the Kranjovians! By the time he reached home, Tom had come to a decision. At a meeting with his father and Uncle Ned in the Enterprises office, Tom said: “I’d like to go on ahead in the Sky Queen to survey a site for our main camp.”