Роберт Артур - The Mystery of the Fiery Eye

“But where are we going?” Bob asked as the old truck bounced and jounced away from the salvage yard.

“That’s what I want to know, too,” Pete echoed. “You’re being awfully mysterious, Jupe. I think you ought to let us in on your plans. After all, we’re your partners.”

“We’re going to test the message Mr. Horatio August left for Gus,” Jupiter announced, looking rather pleased with himself. “Hans and Konrad are going with us as a security measure. I don’t think anyone will dare attack us with them to contend with.”

“All right, all right,” Pete groaned. “Never mind all the words. Tell us what’s up.”

“Well, Bob gave me the clue when he told me Gus’s great-uncle lived in Dial Canyon, which was formerly Sundial Canyon,” Jupiter explained. “I should have figured it out for myself. After all, I sat there tied to a chair in the kitchen and saw the shadow of the peak move across the lawn just like the shadow of a sundial.

“You see, Gus, your great-uncle thought that you’d catch on, knowing how interested he was in different ways of telling time. He had an idea you or your father would put that together with the name of the canyon and the message and understand what he meant, while someone who didn’t know about his hobby wouldn’t.”

“I still don’t understand,” Gus declared.

“Wait a minute!” Bob cried excitedly. “Sundial Canyon — the shadow of the natural sundial on the lawn marks the place where the ruby is buried, and Gus has to delve for it. Is that the answer?”

“Correct, Records,” Jupiter said.

“But it’s a big lawn,” Pete interjected. “How do we know the right spot?”

“The message tells us,” Jupe answered. “Let’s go over it again. May I have it, Gus? Thanks.”

He spread out the message and read parts of it as the truck bounced along.

“...‘August is your name and August is your fame and In August is your fortune’ — that’s to get Gus’s attention to the word August, while just seeming mysterious to an outsider. Then, ‘Let not the mountain of difficulty in your way stop you; the shadow of your birth marks both a beginning and an ending’...”

“That’s a sentence that seems to say one thing, and says another. Gus’s great-uncle figured he would know that the mountain he meant is the peak above Dial Canyon, and that the shadow of his birth meant the shadow of the mountain at the time of his birth — that is, on August sixth at half past two in the afternoon. Correct, Gus?”

“That’s right. I’m beginning to see it now, Jupiter. August — mountain — shadow — time of my birth — it all rather hits you in the eye as soon as you know you’re talking about a giant sundial.”

“The rest of the message is pretty plain,” Jupiter stated. “...‘Delve deeply’ is clear enough. Most of the rest is just talk to help confuse an outsider. The phrase ‘time is of the essence’, though, means two things. One is to hurry and find the ruby. The other goes back to the sundial idea; the right time is very important.”

“Two-thirty today. That gives us hardly an hour!” Pete exclaimed.

“We’ll make it. It’s only a few more miles.”

Pete stared hard behind them. They were alone on the road, with no other cars in sight. “I guess we aren’t being followed,” Pete said.

“I’m sure that we are on the right track now,” Jupiter said. “With Hans and Konrad to back us up, I see no more obstacles.”

They rattled onwards, then turned on to the narrow road into Dial Canyon. Here the cliffs came close to the road, but presently it widened into the flat space where the house was built. Hans pulled to a stop. He called back to Jupiter.

“What we do now, Jupe? Somebody here ahead of us.”

The boys stood up and stared ahead in dismay. The flat area held several large trucks, a bulldozer, and a giant diesel-operated shovel.

Just now the huge steel jaws of the shovel were chewing away at the house of Horatio August. Most of the roof and one side was gone already, for the shovel simply took large bites out of the structure and dropped the debris into a waiting truck. The bulldozer was smoothing the ground behind the house, ripping up trees and the remnants of a garden with the greatest of ease.

“The demolishers!” Pete exclaimed. “Mr. Dwiggins said the house would be torn down soon so that several new houses could be built here.”

“And they’re bulldozing the grounds to level them!” Bob groaned. “Maybe they’ve already dug up The Fiery Eye!”

“I think not,” Gus said, frowning. “Look. The shadow of the mountain is over that way, on the lawn, and they’re nowhere near there yet.”

A truck full of debris from the house pulled up in front of them.

“Out of the way!” called the driver. “I’ve got to get by. We’re on a time schedule on this job.”

Hans pulled the salvage yard truck off the road and the other vehicle roared by. Already another truck was being filled with splintered rubbish from the fast-disappearing house.

“Drive on to that open spot,” Jupiter called to Hans. “Then stop. If anybody asks us any questions, I’ll do the talking.”

“Okay, Jupe,” Hans agreed. He drove the truck another two hundred yards and stopped where it would be out of the way. The boys piled out and stared at the remains of the house. A short stout man, dressed in a suit but wearing a metal safety helmet, came across the lawn towards them.

“What are you kids doing here?” he demanded, his tone unfriendly. “We don’t want any spectators.”

Bob and Pete had no idea what to say, but Jupiter had an answer ready.

“My uncle bought all the old furniture left in that house,” he said. “He thought he might have left some so he sent us out to look.”

“Nothing in that house!” the short man said emphatically. “Stripped bare. So turn round and get going.”

“Can’t we watch for a few minutes?” Jupiter asked. “Our friend — ” he pointed to Gus — “is from England and he’s never seen American demolition methods. He’s very interested.”

“I said get going,” the man growled. “This is no circus. You kids might get hurt and our insurance doesn’t cover that.”

“Just for — ” Jupiter took a quick look at his watch. It said two-fifteen. “For fifteen minutes?” he begged. “We’ll stay way over here, out of the way.”

But the man, who seemed to be the foreman, was not in an agreeable mood. “Now!” he said. “On your way!”

The boys all stared at the shadow of the peak that lay across the lawn. In fifteen minutes that point of the shadow would indicate the spot where The Fiery Eye was hidden.

“Yes, sir, we’ll go,” Jupiter said. “I’m sure you won’t mind if I take one picture of the house, though. It won’t take a minute.”

Without waiting for an answer, he started for the point of the shadow on the lawn, adjusting his camera as he went. The foreman started to yell after him, then decided it was not worth the trouble. Jupiter stopped about a yard away from the end of the shadow, faced the house, and took a picture. Then he put down the camera and tied his shoelace. After that he came trotting back.

“Thank you, sir,” he said. “We’ll leave now.”

“And don’t come back!” the man said disagreeably. “Tomorrow we’re bulldozing this whole place. In three months we’ll have six new homes built round a central swimming pool. If you want to come back then, you can buy one of the houses!” And he gave a short laugh.

Jupiter climbed into the truck, and the others glumly followed him. Hans started the motor and drove slowly away. Pete sighed.

“That’s rough,” he said. “To be chased away just as we almost have our hands on Gus’s inheritance. And tomorrow they’ll bulldoze the lawn. We’re licked.”