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

Touched, Tom made a short speech of thanks and said he would move the retroscope there later. Then Tom announced that he would try at once to make a photograph with his special camera to discover how the faint carving on the medicine man’s jade ball had looked originally.

This time it was Chow’s turn to be astonished. He asked Tom to explain.

“You mean that contraption o’ yours kin take a picture o’ what somethin’

looked like a long time ago?” Chow asked.

“That’s why I call my invention a ‘retroscope,’ ” Tom replied. “The name is formed from Greek and Latin words meaning to ‘see back.’ “

Chow asked with a grin, “Could it make a picture o’ me back when I was a handsome young feller with a full head o’ hair?”

Everyone burst out laughing.

“I’ll be satisfied if it does the trick on these Mayan stones,” Tom replied.

The natives were so curious that Tom agreed to move his retroscope setup outside Quetzal’s hut where all could watch. Then he switched on the BALL OF MAGIC 93

power supply, consisting of several Swift solar batteries hooked to a small motor-generator unit.

As the equipment warmed up, Tom tuned various dials and trained the scanner eyes on the jade ball. Presently a magnified picture of the old Mayan pictographs began to form on the reproducer screen.

Gasps of delight rose from the natives, who crowded closer for a better look.

Their awe increased, a moment later, when Tom flicked a lever and pulled a photographic film from the machine showing the same design pattern.

Though the picture was far from clear, Tom was able to make out a set of Mayan numerals, giving the date when the sastun was made. He read this off to Quetzal: 9.4.0.0.0 13 Ahau 18 Yax.