第44章

“You’reonlyfitforthegrocery。”saidGordon-Nasmythscornfully，sittingdownandhelpinghimselftooneofmyuncle’scigars。“I’msorryIcame。But，still，nowI’mhere。Andfirstastoquap；quap，sir，isthemostradio-activestuffintheworld。That’squap！It’safesteringmassofearthsandheavymetals，polonium，radium，ythorium，thorium，carium，andnewthings，too。There’sastuffcalledXk——provisionally。

Theretheyare，muckeduptogetherinasortofrottingsand。

Whatitis，howitgotmade，Idon’tknow。It’slikeasifsomeyoungcreatorhadbeenplayingaboutthere。Thereitliesintwoheaps，onesmall，onegreat，andtheworldformilesaboutitisblastedandscorchedanddead。Youcanhaveitforthegetting。

You’vegottotakeit——that’sall！”

“Thatsoundsallright。”saidI。“Haveyousamples？”

“Well——shouldI？Youcanhaveanything——uptotwoounces。”

“Whereisit？”。

Hisblueeyesmiledatmeandscrutinisedme。Hesmokedandwasfragmentaryforatime，fendingoffmyquestions；thenhisstorybegantopieceitselftogether。Heconjuredupavisionofthisstrangeforgottenkinkintheworld’slittoral，ofthelongmeanderingchannelsthatspreadanddivaricateandspendtheirburdenofmudandsiltwithinthethunderbeltofAtlanticsurf，ofthedensetangledvegetationthatcreepsintotheshimmeringwaterwithrootandsucker。Hegaveasenseofheatandaperpetualreekofvegetabledecay，andtoldhowatlastcomesabreakamongthesethings，anarenafringedwithbone-whitedeadtrees，asightofthehard-bluesealinebeyondthedazzlingsurfandawidedesolationofdirtyshingleandmud，bleachedandscarred。Alittlewayoffamongcharreddeadweedsstandstheabandonedstation，——abandonedbecauseeverymanwhostayedtwomonthsatthatstationstayedtodie，eatenupmysteriouslylikealeperwithitsdismantledshedsanditsdecayingpierofwormrottenandobliquepilesandplanks，stillinsecurelypossible。

Andinthemidst，twoclumsyheapsshapedlikethebacksofhogs，onesmall，onegreat，stickingoutunderaribofrockthatcutsthespaceacross，——quap！

“Thereitis。”saidGordon-Nasmyth，“worththreepoundsanounce，ifit’sworthapenny；twogreatheapsofit，rottenstuffandsoft，readytoshovelandwheel，andyoumaygetitbytheton！”

“Howdiditgetthere？”

“Godknows！。Thereitis——forthetaking！Inacountrywhereyoumustn’ttrade。Inacountrywherethecompanywaitsforgoodkindmentofinditrichesandthentake’emawayfrom’em。

Thereyouhaveit——derelict。”

“Can’tyoudoanysortofdeal？”

“They’retoodamnedstupid。You’vegottogoandtakeit。

That’sall。”

“Theymightcatchyou。”

“Theymight，ofcourse。Butthey’renotgreatatcatching。”

Wewentintotheparticularsofthatdifficulty。“Theywouldn’tcatchme，becauseI’dsinkfirst。Givemeayacht。”saidGordon-Nasmyth；“that’sallIneed。”

“Butifyougetcaught。”saidmyuncle。

IaminclinedtothinkGordon-Nasmythimaginedwewouldgivehimachequeforsixthousandpoundsonthestrengthofhistalk。Itwasverygoodtalk，butwedidn’tdothat。Istipulatedforsamplesofhisstuffforanalysis，andheconsented——re