wouldn't do the things he's done, unless he's got a rocket-blasting good
reason!"

Roger quickly added, "And he wouldn't try to buck Captain Strong unless
he was playing for high stakes!"

"Right," said Tom. "The only thing that could have caused our watches to
go haywire, like the ships instruments, would be uranium. Lots of
uranium. And uranium is the only thing valuable enough to make Vidac
take such long chances."

"But how can you tell it's uranium?" asked Logan.

"Our watches are not ordinary timepieces, sir," explained Tom. "They are
specially constructed for use in space travel. Each watch is
electrically controlled and highly sensitive."

"Electric?" repeated Logan in amazement. "Electric wrist watches? That
small thing?"

Tom smiled. "Each is charged by a miniature power pack, sir."

"The uranium deposits out in the hills affected these watches,"
continued Astro, "the same way they affected the electronic instruments
on the spaceships coming in to Roald."

"I'll tell you what," said Jeff. "I'll make a check."

"Wait a minute," said Logan. "I just remembered something--"