Eddie didn’t argue, but he wished people would stop thinking that all radioactive materials were used to blow things up. He supposed, however, that since the atomic bombs were what really started what came to be called the Atomic Age, it would take some time to educate the public to the fact that atomic power was a much greater builder than a destroyer. Anyway, at the moment he didn’t want to get into a long discussion about it. “We didn’t find any uranium, Mr. Anderson,” he said. “But we had a swell trip,” Teena put in. “Thanks for letting us use the boat.” “You earned it,” Mr. Anderson reminded them. “By the way, those two fellows who have been fishing over the sand bar came in a while ago. Didn’t catch a thing. Sure a stubborn pair, aren’t they?” “Maybe they just don’t like to clean fish,” Eddie said. But he was glad Mr. Anderson had mentioned the men. It added evidence to his belief that they weren’t the least bit interested in fishing, anyway. After cleaning up the boat, he and Teena started along the dock. Eddie carried the metal tube rolled up in his blue jeans. “Any time you want a boat,” Mr. Anderson said, as they stepped off the dock and started across the beach toward home, “you’re always welcome to earn it the same way.” “Thanks,” Eddie called back. “We may need one again before long.” It was a little past three o’clock when they reached Eddie’s house. “You certainly made it in good time,” his mother said. “Any luck?” “Not at Cedar Point,” Eddie said. “But, Mom, we found something else. Where’s Dad?” “He’s not home from school yet,” his mother said. “What’s that you have wrapped up in your jeans?” Eddie told her quickly, without going into all of the background. “You think it has something to do with the stolen radioisotope?” his mother asked in disbelief, when he had finished. “I don’t know, Mom,” Eddie said. “But why would it be radioactive?” “You haven’t opened it, have you?” “No. It’s sealed tight,” Eddie said. “I—I thought Dad should do that.” “You’re right. You run it over to school and find your father.” Teena spoke up for the first time. “Eddie, if that tube really belongs out there and we took it, we—we might get in trouble.” “Belongs out there?” Eddie asked. “Maybe the Coast Guard is using it for some kind of a test or something,” Teena said. That was a possibility which hadn’t occurred to Eddie, yet he quickly dismissed it from his mind. The two men who had planted it out on the sand bar certainly had nothing to do with the Coast Guard or anything like that. Nor would it have been in the shack yesterday evening. “Not a chance,” he said. “Anyway, I’m going to take it over for Dad to see.” “I’ll call him and tell him you’re on your way,” his mother said. “You want to go along, Teena?” Eddie asked. “What a question,” Teena said. “Sure, I want to go.” “Eddie,” his mother reminded him, “you can’t go over to school in your swim trunks. Go slip on some denims.”