While he stood, shocked by his mother's statement, Ken heard the phone
ringing in the next room. On battery power at the telephone central
office, he thought.
His mother answered, and there was a pause. "Professor Maddox is at the
college," she said. "You can probably reach him there, or I can give him
your message when he comes home."
She returned to the doorway. "That was the power company. They want your
father and Dr. Douglas to have a look at their generators.
"Ken, what do you think this means?" she asked worriedly. "What will
happen if all our power goes off and doesn't come back on? Do you think
your father has any idea what's causing the trouble?"
Ken shook his head. "I don't know, Mom. So far, nobody seems to know
anything."
In less than 15 minutes, Professor Maddox hurried into the house.
"Couldn't get my car going," he said. "It's stalled on the campus
parking lot. The power company wants me to go to Collin's Dam."
"I know," said Mrs. Maddox. "They called here."
He paused a moment, staring out the window, a look of bewilderment on
his face. "This thing seems to be more serious than I would have
believed possible. There's just no explanation for it, none at all!"
"Any chance of my going along, Dad?" Ken said.
"I'm afraid not. We're going in Dr. Larsen's car, and it's half loaded
with instruments. I hope we make it there and back without breaking
down.
"I'll probably be back early this evening, but don't hold dinner on my
account."
"There will be only sandwiches," said Ken's mother. "I can't cook
anything."
"Of course. Just leave me some of whatever you have."
From the doorway Ken watched his father and the other two scientists. He
thought he detected a loginess in the engine as Professor Larsen drove
away from the curb.
What they hoped to accomplish, Ken didn't know, but he felt certain they
would find the same thing in the generators that had been found in the
automobile engines. The bearings were probably frozen so tight that they
and the shaft had become one solid piece of metal. He hoped the
scientists would bring back some samples of the metal.
By 4 o'clock all the members of the science club had arrived. They met
in what Ken called his "science shack," a small building next to the
observatory. Here he kept the amateur radio equipment belonging to the
club, and his own personal collections in the several different fields
in which he had been interested since his Boy Scout days.
In each of his companions, Ken could see the effect of the feeling that
now pervaded the town. Their usual horseplay was almost forgotten, and
their faces were sober to the point of fear.
"We aren't going to be able to run our blower by electricity," said Joe
Walton. "We can't even get power for the precipitating filters."
"Let's scrounge anything we can find that runs on gasoline or coal oil,"
said Al Miner. "If we act fast we ought to be able to pick up some old
motorcycle engines or some power lawn mowers from the dump. Thompson's
have probably got some. We can try people's basements, too. Let's get as
many as possible, because we don't know how long any one will last, and
we may have to run the blower for weeks, in order to get any kind of
sample."
"Good idea," said Ken. "Here's something else: Who's got a car left to
gather this stuff in?"
The boys looked at each other.
"Ours was still running this morning," Frank Abrams said, "but I won't
guarantee how long we can count on it."
"Pretty soon there won't be any we can count on. We've got to get a
horse and wagon before they start selling for as much as a new Cadillac
used to."
"My uncle's got one on his farm," said Dave Whitaker. "He would probably
loan it to me, but he's five miles out of town."
"Take my bike," said Ken. "See if he'll let you borrow it and a wagon
for at least a couple of weeks or longer. Bring some bales of hay, too."
"Right now?"
"Right now."
When Dave had gone, Al said, "What about the blower? Anybody know where
we can get one of those?"
"I think there's one at Thompson's," said Ted. "They pulled it out of
Pete and Mary's restaurant when they remodeled."
"That would be just a little kitchen blower. Not big enough--we need a
man-sized one."
Ken said, after a long pause, "There isn't one in town. The chances of
getting one from somewhere else are practically zero. Frederick is 50
miles away and by tomorrow there may not be a car in town that would go
that far."
"Look," said Al, "how about the air-conditioning systems in town? There
isn't one that's any good where it is, now. Both the high school and the
college have big ones. I'll bet we could get permission at either place
to revamp the intake and outlet ducts so we could put in our filters and
precipitators. Your father and his friends could swing it for us at the
college."
"You might be right! It's worth trying. For precipitators we can rig a
battery-powered system that will put a few thousand volts on the
screens. Art will let us have enough car batteries for that. I think
we're set!"
* * * * *
Dave Whitaker did not return until dusk, but he had succeeded in getting
the horse and wagon, and a load of hay. He deposited this in his own
yard before driving back to Ken's place.
During the next two or three hours the boys found two old motorcycle
engines, a power lawn-mower motor, and one old gasoline-powered washing
machine. All of these they took down to Art Matthews' place and begged
him for space and tools to overhaul the equipment.
"You can have the whole joint," Art said dejectedly. "This pile of junk
will never move!" He waved a hand at the cars lined up and down both
sides of the streets near his place.
By 9 o'clock they had succeeded in getting all of the small engines
running, but they dared not test them too long, hoping to conserve all
possible life that might be left. When they were through, they returned
to Ken's house. Mrs. Maddox had sandwiches ready for them.
No word had been heard from the three scientists who had gone to the
power plant. Maria called, anxious about her father.
"I'm worried, Ken," she said. "What would happen to them out there if
the car breaks down and they have no place to go?"
"They'll be all right," Ken reassured her. "They probably found
something bigger than they expected at the dam. If they should have
trouble with the car they can find a phone along the road at some
farmhouse and let us know."
"I can't help worrying," said Maria. "Everything feels so strange
tonight, just the way it does before a big thunderstorm, as if something
terrible were going to happen!"
Ken sensed the way she felt. It was all he could do to hold back the
same reaction within himself, but he knew it must be far more difficult
for Maria, being in a foreign country among strangers with customs she
didn't understand.
"Why don't you and your mother come over here until they get back?" he
asked.
"Suppose they don't come back at all? Tonight, I mean."
"Then you can sleep here. Mom's got plenty of room."
"I'll ask Mamma. If it's all right with her, we'll be right over."
Ken hoped they would come. He found himself concerned beyond all reason
that Maria and her mother should be made comfortable and relieved of
their worries.
He went out to the backyard again, where all the other members of the
club were still lounging on the grass, watching the sky. The comet was
twenty degrees above the horizon, although the sun had long since set
below the western mountains. No one seemed to feel this was a night for
sleeping.
"Let's try your battery portable for a few minutes," said Joe Walton.
"I'd like to know what's going on in the rest of the world."
Ken brought it out and turned it on. The local station was off the air,
of course, and so was the one in Frederick. Half the power there came
from the Collin's Dam. More than one-third of the usual stations were
missing, but Ken finally picked up one coming in clearly from the
northern tip of the state.
The announcer didn't sound like an announcer. He sounded like an
ordinary man in the midst of a great and personal tragedy.
"Over three-fourths of the cars in the United States," he was saying,
"are now estimated to be out of commission. The truck transportation
system of the country has all but broken down. The railroads have
likewise suffered from this unbelievable phenomenon.
"All machinery which involves rolling or sliding contact between metal
parts has been more or less affected. Those equipped with roller
bearings are holding up longer than those equipped with bushings, but
all are gradually failing.
"In New York City half the power capacity has gone out of commission.
Some emergency units have been thrown into operation, but these cannot
carry the load, and even some of them have failed. Elsewhere, across the
nation, the story is similar. In Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis,
Washington, San Francisco--the power systems are breaking down along
with motor and rail transportation.
"For some hours now, the President and his Cabinet have been in session
with dozens of scientific leaders trying to find an explanation and a
cure for this disastrous failure of machinery. Rumors which were
broadcast widely this morning concerning possible effects of the comet
have been thoroughly discredited by these scientists, who call them
superstitions belonging back in the Middle Ages.
"One final report has just come over the air by shortwave. In the
Atlantic Ocean the Italian steamer _White Bird_ has radioed frantically
that her engines are dead. Over eight hundred passengers and crew are
aboard.
"All ship sailings have been canceled since noon today. Vessels at sea
are returning to nearest port. There is no ship available which can take
off the stranded passengers and crew of the _White Bird_. She floats
helpless and alone tonight in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
"As a power-conservation measure, broadcasting on this network will
cease until midnight, eastern standard time. Turn your radios off. Keep
all unnecessary lights off. Avoid consumption of power in every possible
way. Be with us again at midnight for the latest news and information."
There was a restlessness in all of Mayfield. None of the townspeople
felt like sleeping that night. Ken's group watched the comet until it
disappeared below the horizon. Some of them observed it through the
telescope. On either side of the Maddoxes' yard the voices of neighbors
could be heard under the night sky, speaking in hushed tones of the
thing that had happened.
Maria and Mrs. Larsen arrived, and Maria joined Ken and his friends in
the backyard. He told her what they had heard on the radio.
"That ship ..." Maria said slowly. "The _White Bird_, out there alone in
the ocean--what will become of all those people?"
Ken shook his head slowly. "There's no way to get to them. There's not a
thing that can be done. Nothing at all."
They remained quiet for a long time, as if each were thinking his own
thoughts about the mystery and loneliness and death riding the forsaken
ship in the middle of the ocean, and how soon it might be that the same
dark shadow settled over the cities and towns.
Maria thought of her far-off homeland, and the people she knew, suddenly
frightened and helpless in their inability to get power and food.
Ken thought of the scenes that must be occurring in the big cities of
the United States. People everywhere would not be sleeping tonight. They
were all citizens of a civilization that was dependent for its life on
turning wheels and on power surging through bright wires across hundreds
of miles of open country. Without those turning wheels, and the power in
those wires there was no food, there was no warmth, there was no life.
They listened to the radio again at midnight. There was little that was
new. The President's council had found no solution, nor had they come to
any decisions. Scattered riots and public disorders were springing up,
both in Europe and America. On the high seas, the captain of the _White
Bird_ was begging for assistance, demanding to know what had happened
that no ship could be sent to his aid.
Word finally came from Ken's father and his companions that their car
had failed after leaving the dam to return home. They had reached a
farmhouse where they would spend the rest of the night. They would try
to find some kind of transportation in the morning.
In the early-morning hours Ken's friends drifted away, one by one, to
their own homes, and as dawn approached, Ken finally went up to his own
room and slept. Maria and her mother, with Ken's mother, had retired
only a short time earlier.
When he awoke at 9 o'clock Ken had no idea whether or not the school
officials planned to hold classes that day, but he felt that for himself
and the other members of the science club there would be no return to
normal activity for a long time. Since his father would not return for
an indefinite time Ken determined to approach President Lewis of the
college regarding the use of the idle blower and ventilation ducts in
the Science Hall.
He had met President Lewis a number of times and believed the president
would listen to him.
Another matter had disturbed Ken since last night. As soon as he was
awake he called the office of Mayor Hilliard. The Mayor's secretary
answered and said, "Mayor Hilliard is in conference. He will not be
available today."
Ken hesitated. "Tell him it is the Maddox residence calling. I think
Mayor Hilliard will answer."
In a moment the Mayor's voice boomed on the phone. Normally hearty, it
was now weighted with overtones of uncertainty and fear. "Professor
Maddox, I was just about to call you. Would you...."
"This is not Professor Maddox," said Ken. "I'm his son, Kenneth."
"My secretary said...." The Mayor sounded angry now, although he knew
Ken well.
"I didn't say my father was calling," said Ken. "I've got something to
say that I think you will want to hear, and it will take only a minute."
"All right. Go ahead."
"In a day or two the entire town is going to be without power,
transportation, or communication with the outside world. The science
club of the high school has a 1000-watt amateur transmitter that can
reach any point in the United States and most foreign countries. It
requires power. We can operate from batteries, and I would like to ask
you to authorize that all automobile batteries and those belonging to
the telephone company be immediately seized by the city and placed in
official custody, to be used for emergency communication purposes only.
They should be drained of electrolyte and properly stored."
"I appreciate that suggestion," the Mayor said. "I think it's a good
one. Would you boys be able to take care of that?"
"We'd be glad to."
"It's your assignment, then. We are calling a town meeting tonight in
the college auditorium. We especially want your father to be there if he
can, and we'll issue orders for the battery conservation program at that
time."
By noon Ken had gained an interview with President Lewis and had
received permission for his group to make use of the largest blower on
the campus for their air-sampling project. They loaded their tools and
themselves into the ancient wagon belonging to Dave Whitaker's uncle and
spent the rest of the day working at Science Hall.
Ken's father called again to report they had succeeded in renting a
horse and buggy at an exorbitant price from a farmer. When told of the
town meeting that evening, he promised to try to reach Mayfield in time.
Ten minutes before the 8 o'clock deadline, Professor Maddox drew up in
front of the house. He called to Ken without even getting down from the
seat of the wagon. "Get your mother, and let's go!"
Mrs. Maddox appeared, worried and concerned. "You've had nothing to
eat," she protested. "At least come in and have a sandwich and a glass
of milk. It's not cold, but it's fresh."
"No." Professor Maddox shook his head. "We don't want to miss any of the
meeting. Get a coat and come along. It will be chilly later."
Maria and her mother came also. The small wagon was loaded to capacity
as it moved slowly up the hill toward the campus. People were streaming
toward the auditorium from all directions. Most of them were afoot. A
few others had found a horse and wagon. A dozen or two cars chugged
protestingly up the hill, but it appeared that most of these would not
be operating another 24 hours.
As they approached the hall, Professor Maddox chuckled and pointed a
finger ahead of them. "Look there. I'm sure that every citizen of
Mayfield is present or accounted for, now."
Ken glanced in the direction of his father's gesture. The creaky wagon
of Granny Wicks was drawn slowly along by her emaciated horse. Granny's
stick-thin body jounced harshly on the rough seat. Ken fought against a
ridiculous uneasiness as he recognized her.
He knew his father had not heard Granny's speech on the post office
steps, but he was little surprised when his father said, "I'm afraid
Granny Wicks, with her profound knowledge of omens and signs, is about
as much an authority on this matter as any of the rest of us here
tonight!"