There was a steady hum of current as the machine throbbed into action. To everyone’s relief, the cooling apparatus did its job effectively and the aluminum bars stood firm. Tom settled down to tending the dials in silent absorption. Bud, DANGER ZONE 37
Ted, and Chow watched in fascination as an hour, then another, went by.
Finally, they left to attend to other tasks.
To everyone’s amazement, Tom continued to run the machine throughout the night and into the next day. He broke off his vigil only long enough to eat a few bites of the hot, tempting food which Chow brought him at intervals.
It was late afternoon of the next day when Tom finally called a halt, after operating the machine to the limit of its capacity. Thirty hours had elapsed since the start of the test!
Bud, Chow, and Ted rejoined Tom and gathered around to watch in fascination as he drew off a tiny quantity of gas. He analyzed it in the Swift spectroscope, then measured its mass on a microbalance.
Bud saw the young inventor’s face turn bleak. “Failure?” he asked.
Tom shook his head. “Not exactly, fellows. But …” His voice trailed off in discouragement.
CHAPTER V
EXCITING PLANS
“WHAT’S wrong, boss?” Chow anxiously asked Tom.
The young inventor smiled wanly. “A million watts of electrical energy! And all my invention produced was this measly amount of gas!”
“But the spectroscope shows that it’s pure oxygen,” Bud spoke up.
“Yes, which weighs up to exactly one one-thousandth of a gram!”
Chow pushed back his ten-gallon hat and scratched his balding head.