For the first time since Jerry Hall, Mrs. Gregory, and Tex Bradford have been prisoners on their captive yacht at the Magic Island of Euclidia, they have a chance to escape. G-47, their mad scientific captor, has allowed them to remain aboard their yacht. With the aid of the opaque cloth made on the island, our friends have insulated a cabin on the yacht and may talk in safety. Their radio is useless for transmission, but through code messages received from the operator on the other Gregory boat, help may soon be near. Captain Bradford is about to explain the plan to Jerry as Joan and her mother come into the cabin. Now hurry and get under this thing, Pat. You too, Joan. Well, Pat, thanks to you and your determination to take the Boson and Boson's mate with us on every cruise, we're about to get a message to Johnson. How long will it take Johnson to get within range? It all depends on what time he sails from San Pedro. We'll keep our receiver open and he'll let us know when he's within striking distance. And how much we'll all owe to the little Boson and his mate. I'm certainly glad now we've always carried them and trained them. Hey, for the love of Pete, will you two quit talking and tell somebody else what it's all about? Yes, Mother. You and the captain talk so fast. Jerry and I do not know what it is all about. I'm sorry, Joan. I was just going to explain it to Jerry when you and your mother came back to the cabin. You see, Joan dear, we haven't had a chance to show you over the whole boatage yet and we forgot you hadn't seen the pigeons. Well, of all the nuts, I'm the worst. I watched those pigeons all the way down here from Los Angeles and never thought to ask a question about them. But what can pigeons have to do with getting a message to your friend Johnson? They're not just pigeons. They're homing pigeons. Gosh, and I never even thought of it. Don't feel too badly, Jerry. You're quick enough to see the significance in most things. Say, Joan. Yes, Captain Bradford? Didn't you ever hear them talk about homing pigeons here on New Cladif? I have never heard a word about them. So it must be that the scientists do not talk much about them. For they are so sure no one can escape from the island that they discuss most things before all of us. I hope you're right. It seems possible that you are. This infernal inclidate is so far ahead of the world in scientific development, they must have forgotten the old standbys or scorn to use them. G-47 always says that all things scientific are superior to the finest things in nature. That belief is the first weakness in the reasoning of G-47 that I have found. I guess he figures that homing pigeons are old fashioned. That may be, but they're the only possible method of getting a message through that magnetized fog and all the other electrochemical devices this island is protected with. Do these pigeons really carry messages? You bet they do, and they fly fast, too. It is wonderful to learn that. We have pigeons on Euclidia also, but they are used only for pigeon pie. We have none that can talk. Only our parrots can talk, and they are not trained to carry messages. Our pigeons can't talk either, my dear. Then how do they carry messages? Oh, Joan. Now you are laughing at me. Well, I'm sorry, honey, we shouldn't do that. You see, these pigeons can't talk. We write a message on a piece of thin, strong paper, then tie it to their leg with a fine wire band and turn them loose. They are taught to return to one place, or one kind of a place, and someone is waiting there to get the message. Well, if we're going to do anything with them, we'd better get busy and send one off, because if old G-47 finds us looking too happy, he'll know we've got some plan, and then he'll make kindling wood out of this yacht to find out what it is. Nevertheless, we'll have to be patient for several hours, maybe a day or two. Why can't we let the pigeon go now, right away? We've got to wait till Johnson gets the other boat within the range these birds can cover. We're about 4,000 miles from Los Angeles on this island, and the longest recorded flight over water was only a little over 1,000, and that's about the limit so far as I know. Well, if Johnson started from here the same time he got my first message that we were in danger, before old G-47 got me with that ray gun and made me change the message, Johnson's boat ought to be 1,000 miles out of San Pedro by now. How fast is this ship, the ship that Mr. Johnson is in, how fast will it travel? He'll be using our diesel-motored cruiser, and although it's nearly a hundred foot boat, it's built on hydropane specifications, and Johnson runs as if it's had wings. So he ought to average from 50 to 55 knots for the run. Golly, whiskers, who ever heard of a big boat going 55 knots an hour for 4,000 miles? We have a number of things that the world in general never heard of, son. That boat will do all of that, but the worry is that heavily loaded with all my scientific equipment on board it will burn a lot of fuel. And how will the fuel be replenished, Captain? From various ships Johnson will contact along the run, ships flying Mrs. Gregory's merchant pennant, which will then put out from several ports to meet him. Boy, you're sure some mysterious people, all right. But just so as it comes out, okay, I guess I can wait for the answers till you get ready to give them to me. You are an intelligent boy, Jerry. I know it. Now you two keep still. We've got to figure just when to get that pigeon off to Johnson. There are many things to be planned and done before this flight can start. One thing, Tex, we must remember that magnetic fog and use string rather than wire on the leg band. Tex, I know what to do. A thread from this cloth of theirs. You do not have to worry about that all the time. At sometimes the fog is not magnetized. Are you sure about that, Joan? That would make it easier, wouldn't it, Tex? That would make it almost simple. But how can you tell that the fog is not magnetized all the time? I have heard the scientists talking about it. They magnetize the fog only when danger is near, and they have instruments which warn them of a boat or airplane a hundred miles away. G-47 says the constant utilization of current in the magnetism of the fog ring is too heavy a drain on the electric supply, which is difficult to replenish quickly. Well, that sounds reasonable. With all the machines they have running, all electrically driven, I imagine, they should conserve their power as much as possible. But how can you tell when the fog is magnetized and when it is not? It is magnetized only when the danger signal shows. Where is this danger signal gag? There is a red light in the center of the island by night and a red signal by day. Then if we make sure the red light is not displayed, we may safely send the pigeon. I think it will be quite safe, Mother. It looks as if we're getting somewhere at last. But suppose G-47 discovers these pigeons before we can use them. I got it. It's dark now. I'll go out and get the pigeons and bring them in here. Then he can't see them through this cloth. I will go with you, Jerry. Now hold it, you kids. We'd better not go near the pigeons till we want them. But Tex, what if someone on the island notices them before we want them? Did you see the pigeons when you looked in that machine in their headquarters, Jerry? Sure. I saw everything on the yacht. The pigeons were playing. I thought so. Then we don't dare to move them. Chances are they haven't attracted any attention. Maybe they won't. But you can bet someone is watching this boat every minute. And if anything was moved and brought in here where they couldn't see it, they'd be down for a look-see in a second. If G-47 knows all about the things these pigeons can do, and he must know it, I cannot understand how he let you keep them at all. He would know they could fly out with messages. That worries me too. You suppose they're just waiting to trap us when we use the pigeons? They're smart enough to be at that. G-47 might figure I'd try to send a pigeon out with a formula. Joan knows all these guys and how crazy they are. What do you think about it? It is obvious that G-47 knows about the pigeons, and he would know that they were what you called them. Homing pigeons. Yes, homing pigeons. But he is so scornful of nature and so secure in his own inventions that he might be careless about it. That's possible, of course. Every man will make a mistake sometime, and this may be the one G-47 will make. Dex, how close has Johnson got to beat us before there's a good chance of these birds getting to his boat? We'll let him get as close as possible, though these are well-trained birds, well cared for and in the best of condition. They should make 500 miles straight as an arrow and right on schedule, providing weather conditions and other influences were favorable, of course. How far away will these automatic alarms on the island detect a foreign object? A large boat with motors can be located 200 miles away, an airplane 10,000 feet in the air, and even a rowboat or a swimmer 20 to 25 miles. And these alarms are strictly automatic, operating and registering disturbances all the time? At all times, and everything which comes within range of the alarms leaves a record on a recording device. Gosh, this is sure a tough one. If we get out of this one, we'll have something to tell the folks back home, and I think we'll get out sometime. Well, how will we know when Johnson is near enough to turn loose one of the birds? He'll keep on our radio beam, and we have a code that is simple but effective, so we'll be advised of his position at all times. I hope these men don't get wise to the fact that receiving Johnson's apparently hopeless message is of value to us. It would be easy enough for them to block Johnson's carrier wave. Captain Bradford, do not think me impertinent. You are a wise man, and I am only a young girl. But I would like to offer a little advice. Your offer is gladly accepted. Advice is what we need most of. I should figure in your place that G-47 knows what every message you receive means to you. And the only reason he is letting you receive them is that he believes he can trap you into something which may give him access to your formula. Oh, gee whiz, Joan. You're too scared of that old guy. Joan has lived here all her life, Jerry. Fourteen of her fifteen years. And she's seen many things done on this island that we couldn't even imagine. Well, just the same. Everybody's got to make a mistake, and it's old G-47's turn now. I think you may be right, Jerry, but we should be very careful. Now here's another place where you can be a lot of help to us, Joan. Suppose we do get a pigeon free, get one outside the fog wall and start it north for Johnson's boat. What if they do run it down with or catch it? The large ray guns would do it, but they are not too accurate at any great distance. How much is a great distance to these guys? Something less than fifty miles, I think. That seems a long way to us, my dear. Too far. But suppose the pigeon got away for, say, an hour and a half to two hours before they discovered it. Then what? These birds do forty miles an hour. The floor of the island would open up, and a fleet of tiny airplanes shoot out. They will fly over five hundred miles an hour and stay in the air for eighteen hours. And they'd soon fly the birds down. Our only hope is to get a pigeon out soon after dark and hope they don't discover it till daylight. Are you sure the pigeon can find the other boat? Yeah. Suppose he sees something else to land on. What then? Those pigeons have been trained between these two boats and never failed. They've covered distances up to five hundred miles, and I think they could do a thousand if they had to. And Johnson has a pair on his boat which are trained to come to this boat, and only exhaustion would make them land on anything else. That's right, and that's something else to worry about. How come? Well, if Johnson should send a pigeon before we do, the pigeon thing is exposed. Yes, but I know. Quiet, here's Johnson. J-24Y. J-12 calling Bradford on J-24Y. Can you hear me, J-24Y? No signal from you. Your beam may be broken by a storm. I am using land relay. Storm directly on Los Angeles beam to last position you gave me. Stand by for location of storm center. Try to reach me through land relay. I'll tell you what, when he gives us a location of the storm center, that will be his own position. He's telling us in code how near his boat is to us. Advise you try directional beam to coast of Chile. Ask them relay to me. Storm center, can you hear me? Storm center is.
