Flambo spoke with them for several minutes. Then he turned to Hank with a puzzled look. “They are frightened of something,” he reported.
“Of the flying car?”
“No, although they were a bit scared of that at first. Oddly enough, it seems to have something to do with that famous lost ruby mine.”
Hank scoffed impatiently. “You mean just because it’s supposed to be accursed by Shaitan?”
The effect of Hank’s words was startling! The tribesmen cowered back, making superstitious gestures to ward off evil, their eyes blazing with fear.
“A bad mistake,” Flambo scolded. “These are Yezidi Kurds-very shy and superstitious. They are so afraid of the devil they will not even pronounce his name.”
Flambo singled out his own acquaintance, the man who had sent news of the crash, so he could speak to him alone. But the fellow shrank back fearfully and refused to reply.
Flambo repeated his questions, first pleading, then angry. He and Hank both emptied their pockets, hoping to tempt the nomad with money or gifts. But the man would say nothing.
Flambo sighed and gave up with a shrug. “It is hopeless. He probably is afraid to talk for fear his fellow tribesmen would kill him.”
SURPRISE BLAST-OFF 171
“Won’t he even point out the direction of the plane crash?” Hank asked in exasperation.
Flambo shook his head. “It happened over the valley of the cursed ruby mine. But where that is-who can tell?”
At that very moment, in the underground mine laboratory, Tom Swift was about to carry out a daring plan. He had obeyed Simon Wayne’s orders and set about putting his midget atomic power plant back in working order.