When Jerry Hall managed to get a homing pigeon off through the magnetic fog rings surrounding the Magic Island, the hopes of the Gregory party ran high. Several hours have now passed. It is daylight. The pigeon should have reached the rescue boat with Johnson aboard, but no word has come from Johnson. The radio is silent. Mrs. Gregory and Joan are pacing the deck of the yacht, waiting for news, while Jerry and Captain Tex Bradford are looking around on the strange isle of Euclidia. Here it is after eight o'clock, Joan. That pigeon has been gone for eight hours. And if Johnson has the other boat in the position we expect him to be in... Oh, I forgot we're being overheard, of course. No, Mother. When the fog ring is down and the air is clear as you see it today, it is almost impossible for the sound waves to be picked up this far from the control room. It is only when we are indoors or against some opaque surface that the danger of being overheard is great. And with the fog ring down, there is nothing for the sound waves to be refracted from. Then G-47 and his men must figure that they are very safe today. I have never seen the island as unprotected as it appears to be now. And that is dangerous, Mother. In what way, dear? Nothing on Euclidia is ever what it appears to be. And the fact that it is apparently quiet and safe makes me very sure that some horrible danger threatens. What could happen, Joan? I feel we're all reasonably safe so long as G-47 wants Captain Bradford's formula and doesn't get it. That is true. But how long will it be before he does get it? I think you're needlessly afraid of these scientists, Joan. Tex Bradford is one of the cleverest men I know, and it's entirely possible that he may outwit G-47. I hope you are right, Mother dear. How good it is to hear you say that, Mother dear. For fourteen long years I've looked the world over for you, and at last we're together. Everything seems so bright and cheerful today, the sea so green and sparkling, the air so clear. It's almost as if this island were all a horrible dream. All that is because the alarms and prisms show there is no boat within two hundred miles of us. But let one of those alarms ring, or a shadow cross the plate of one of the reflectors, and in less than thirty seconds the ring of magnetic fog will surround and cover the island. And it becomes just a prism, shut off from the world. We'll find some way to get back to that world, dear. And then you'll love it just as we do. One thing that worries me, Mother. Yes, dear? That little pigeon left there in his coat. Should we not hide it? G-47 was taken away as soon as he discovered the other one has been used. Tex and I thought of that, but decided it was safer to leave it there. But Mother, Mother? Yes, of course, but he should be. Mother, what are you talking about? Oh, excuse me dear, but the significance of something you said a moment ago just occurred to me. Something I said? Yes, you said the fog was not in use, and the watch relaxed on the island because the alarms registered no disturbance within two hundred miles. That is right, Mother. A boat of any size with motors running would set off the alarms at two hundred miles. Then that means that Johnson is not where we expected him to be. He should be within two hundred miles. And if he's not, where is he? Would that mean the little pigeon could not get to him? It might, though twice the distance would be easy for the bird. But if Johnson's boat is running away or far off the course, it could give the pigeon serious trouble. Then Captain Bradford's formula would be lost with the little pigeon. The formula wouldn't matter if it didn't fall into someone else's hands, as Tex could always write that out from memory. But I would hate to lose a little Homer. We've used them all over the world and never lost one. Mother, this Tex you call Captain Bradford, his name is Charles Bradford, is it not? Yes, dear. Tex is only a nickname. Most of the captain's old friends call him that. I think he learned to fly in Texas during the war. And your name is Patricia. Yet Captain Bradford calls you Pat. Is that also a nickname? Yes, dear. Pat is short for Patricia. Well, then I want a nickname also. The captain is Tex, you are Pat, Gerald is Jerry, and I want to be... Hmm. It is not so easy to make a nickname for Joan, is it? I want to hear your name, Joan. It's both short and pretty and I like it. It is a nice name, Joan Gregory. And you gave my name to this beautiful boat. You are a wonderful mother. Hey, Mrs. Gregory, Joan, where are you? Back here at the stern rail, Jerry. Okay, come up. Jerry is such a noisy boy, Mother, but I like him. He always wants to laugh and make fun of things. Jerry is a fine, happy lad and Tex and I are glad we brought him. Oh boy, oh boy, have I got some news. Captain Bradford sent me over here to tell you folks about it. He'll be along in a minute. What is it, Jerry? You have a happy sound in your voice, Jerry. It must be that you have good news. Has Tex found out something to our advantage? He sure has, but we'd better get in the cabin, Mrs. Gregory. It is perfectly safe to talk here, Jerry, when the fog ring is down. That's what you think, but when I was over in the sound chamber with Tex, we heard you and Mrs. Gregory talking about the pigeon. Oh, then we said too much. Oh, you didn't say anything G-47 didn't know already. He saw there was only one pigeon at daylight, and of course he tumbled quick that the other one had been sent away. He just laughed at us. Then what could you have to tell that would be good news? Well, come inside the cabin where we'll be safe with the opaque cloth. Then I'll tell you about it as much as I can till Tex gets here. Now, what is it, Jerry? Well, old G-47 let Tex and I look through the universal prison reflectors. They were trying to locate Johnson's boat. They got wise about the boat as soon as they noticed the pigeon was gone, I guess. And could you see the boat, Jerry? Yeah, that's why old G-47 is up a tree. G-47 is up a tree? Uh-uh. Where is the tree, Jerry? Forget it, forget it. I mean, it's got G-47's goat. Got his goat? But G-47 has no goat. Never mind, my dear, just let Jerry tell his story. Gee, thanks, Mrs. Gregory. I can't teach English and tell a story at the same time. Now look, G-47 is worried because a boat got inside the 200-mile alarm limit without setting off the alarm. And it's Johnson's boat too, I guess. But Tex wouldn't say a word in front of those scientists over there. Just look wise. That doesn't sound just right though, Jerry. Johnson would have been tearing along with his motors wide open, and that alarm would surely have picked it up. Can't that boat be used as a sailboat? Why, of course, it's equipped with sail as an emergency measure, but I still... But nothing. Johnson's got the sails up. The motors ain't working, and he's sneaking within 200 miles of here. That is remarkable, Jerry. Could you see the boat plainly in the reflectors? Yeah, we could see it all right. But that's where the big laugh comes in, and old G-47 is stuck. I can't see why you feel so cheerful about it, Jerry. Joan has told us that their airplanes will do 500 miles an hour. Yes, Jerry. And if Johnson's boat has been located within 200 miles of here, it will be an easy matter for G-47's men to go out and destroy it and be back here in less than an hour. Well, I guess it would be if G-47 wanted to destroy it. Jerry, what do you mean? Well, what I mean is... Oh, here's Tex now. He can tell you better than I can. Well, Jerry, I see you've started on the news. Well, he hasn't told us enough to do us any good, Tex. Is your Mr. Johnson's boat really within the 200-mile limit, Captain? Yes, and our scientific friends don't seem to know just what to do about it. But Tex, they'll attack Johnson, won't they? I think not. I dropped a hint or two as to what would happen if they did. But Captain, it would be very easy for these Euclideans to destroy one boat without danger to themselves. Sure, but that's the catch in it, Joan. They don't want to destroy it. G-47 figures that Johnson has come to rescue us and that he will have all our valuable equipment on board, including the materials necessary to compound my formula. And naturally, he wants those materials. Then why doesn't he just capture the boat and take what he wants? Though he wouldn't find it on board, would he? No, but as I started to tell you, I dropped a small hint that spoiled all their plans and will hold them steady for a while, I think. G-47 admitted he knew about the pigeon. So I admitted that the message on the pigeon contained orders to Johnson to abandon and destroy the ship if attacked. Did you really send such orders? No, but G-47 won't harm that boat as long as he thinks anything of value is on it. Wonderful, Tex. Now we have time to get the truth to Johnson. I do not like it at all. Why? What's the matter with it? G-47 would not give up so easily. Something is wrong. What could he do about it? Many things. And I'm afraid you will hear more from G-47 about this. Oh, you're always so gloomy. Joan has lived 14 years on this island, Jerry. She knows more about the power here than we do. Even so, I don't see where anything could be wrong with this unless... Uh-huh. That could be it. What, Tex? Joan, could those reflectors they let me look in be tampered with? I mean, so that they could distort the image from me and see it clearly themselves? See something they did not let me see? I am not sure. But I know that unless you understand the readings of all the instruments and graphs on them, it would be easy to confuse you as to what you were looking at. Gee, Tex, you don't think there's any mistake about that. You'd know Johnson's boat, wouldn't you? I mean, as plain as we could see it there. Well, I ought to, kid, but Joan has set me wondering. You think it's possible they showed you a false image or the image of another boat just to get you to say or do something that might help them to locate and run down Johnson's boat easier? Well, about that, Joan. Could that be done? It could be done easily. I remember when that poor old sailor was here on the island. The Euclideans would often let him look in the reflectors and show him a battleship approaching, telling him it was coming to take him home. And they'd laugh at him and show him it was merely a reflection of a ship model being built in one of the construction chambers right here on the island. Oh, this is certainly a mad setup. Joan's all worried because G-47 isn't worried enough about the pigeon. What do you think, Captain? Yeah, that worries me too. And now that Joan has shown me that my visit to the reflectors might have been just a game at my expense, I don't know. And then too, you must remember that the alarm did not ring. And if your boat was within 200 miles, it should have rung. And if the boat is not within 200 miles, that's equally as bad, as Johnson couldn't possibly know enough of what we're up against here to keep outside the 200-mile limit. That one cold message we got through to him on the radio, that might have tipped him off to staying away. Yeah, but if he turned off too soon and ran away too fast and too far, the pigeon didn't get to him. So there we are right back where we started. Come in. G-47. Oh, gee whiskers. The pigeon. He's got the pigeon text. Yes, I see. If you have finished your stupid soliloquies, one of you might want to take this pigeon and return it to the coat. Then the pigeon didn't get through the fog? But why? There's nothing metallic on it. A ring of gas within the fog. The bird fell to the island. Then you've had that pigeon since midnight last night. And all that show worry over the boat and reflectors was for my benefit, eh? Tex, your formula's gone from the bird's leg. Oh, Captain Bradford, G-47 has your formula. Precisely. My assistants are working to compound it in the laboratory now. When they succeed, the lives of you three will be of no further use to the world.
