“Might as well,” Eddie said. “Sure doesn’t look like we’re going to find anything out here. Lot of trouble for nothing, huh?” “Oh, no, Eddie,” Teena disagreed. “We’re having fun aren’t we? After all, you’re supposed to have fun during vacation.” “Be better, though, to have fun and find some uranium, too,” Eddie said. Teena laughed. “You sure do want everything,” she remarked. Eddie switched off the Geiger counter. They found some shade under a wind-twisted oak and ate their lunch. Eddie glanced at the sun. “It must be one o’clock,” he said. “Guess we’d better be starting back. The water will be a little choppier than this morning. Won’t be so easy to row. I don’t want to get home late, or my mom will scalp me.” “Let’s go,” Teena said. “Anyway, we’ve done enough prospecting out here to know there’s no uranium around.” On the way back to the boat Eddie tried out the Geiger counter in a couple of places they had missed. The results were the same—negative. He put the Geiger counter into the bottom of the boat, pushed the boat into the water, and jumped in after Teena. A slight breeze angling in over the bow made rowing difficult. Less than halfway across the bay, Eddie’s arms and shoulders began to ache. “Eddie,” Teena said from her seat in the stern, “why don’t I sit there beside you and row with one of the oars? We’ve done it before. Just give me a little time to get the swing of it.” “O.K.,” Eddie said tiredly. Teena moved up beside him on the wide center seat and took the starboard oar handle in both hands. After a couple minutes of splashing and going in circles, they settled down to pulling together smoothly and evenly. “Hey, this is the best deal,” Eddie admitted. “You see,” Teena said, “even girls can be some help.” Eddie smiled. As they were approaching the near end of the under water sand bar, he craned his neck around. “Good,” he said, “those two men have gone, so we won’t run across them again.” They kept pulling together. The water turned light in color as the sun reflected off the yellowish sand lying a scant ten feet beneath the surface. Suddenly Teena stopped rowing. “Eddie,” she said, “what’s that?” “What’s what?” Eddie asked, resting on his oar. “That clicking.” “Clicking?” He heard it then, almost beneath the seat. He glanced down. “Yipes!” he exclaimed. “I—I forgot to switch off the Geiger counter before I put it in the boat. Boy, if the battery is weak, Dad’ll—” He reached toward the switch. His hand stopped in mid-air. The needle of the radioactivity gauge was quivering far over to the right, and the clicking which had attracted Teena’s attention was much louder and faster than the normal background count. “Teena! There—there’s radioactivity around here!” “In the water?” “No. Maybe underneath the water. Maybe on the sand bar. This is a sensitive Geiger counter. It could pick it up all right.” “Hey, the clicking’s getting weak again,” Teena said.