Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 14 – And His Electronic Retroscope

Quetzal looked at the two white men as if he failed to understand. When Bud repeated his questions, the chief shrugged and mumbled something in the Mayan tongue.

57

58 ELECTRONIC RETROSCOPE

“Reckon he jest don’t want to understand,” Chow whispered.

“Guess you’re right,” Bud agreed under his breath. “I’d better change the subject.”

The chief’s unblinking stare made both Americans feel somewhat uncomfortable. However, he seemed as friendly as ever when Bud spoke of other things, such as Tom’s return to dig for more relics.

“Your friend is a very wise young man,” Quetzal said approvingly. “Perhaps he will find another stone carved by my people’s ancestors.”

As the chief walked away, Bud turned to Chow with a puzzled frown. “What do you make of it?”

Chow shrugged. “Must be mighty skeered o’ that there giant. So skeered he don’t even want to talk about it.”

“I mean, what do you make of that stuff he told us-the cave-man business, and crushing jaguars?”

“It beats me,” the Texan replied with a chuckle. “I sure ain’t hankerin’ to buddy up with the critterl An’ if you’re askin’ me what an oversize cave man’s doin’ in this pygmy country, I can’t make head nor tail o’ that.”

“Neither can I,” Bud confessed. “Another thing. If that’s the guy who sabotaged our helium tanks, what’s his game?”

Chow shook his head. “I reckon there’s no tellin’ what a loco jungle critter might do.”

Bud nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe he’s just

MIGHTY MAX 59

curious about the plane. Speaking of that, we’d better go back and stand guard.”