could do without earthquakes. They were unnerving.

Scotty finished dressing, and Rick slipped on his shoes. It was time for
the others to be back. Connel should have arrived only a few minutes
behind them, but it would take longer for the others because they had
gone around the mountain in the other direction.

The boys walked to the staff conference room and found Hartson Brant and
Julius Weiss. The two were busy unrolling long strips of paper covered
with blue shadings.

"Find anything yet?" Rick asked his father.

"No. We're just getting ready to take a look. How did it go?"

"No trouble. Zircon must still be in the shower. Probably Connel is,
too. He must have been right behind us."

The scientists started poring over the traces.

"Here's your first shot," Hartson Brant said. He pointed to where a
series of squiggles began. Rick could see nothing of interest. All the
pen marks looked about the same to him. It would take expert analysis to
make anything out of them.

The boys left the scientists to their work and wandered out into the
parking lot. "I want to take a closer look at that crack," Rick said.

"Same here. Suppose it goes to China?"

Rick grinned at his pal. "That's a myth. If you drilled a hole straight
down through the center of the earth from here you wouldn't come out
anywhere near China. You'd be in the Southern Hemisphere."

"Don't get technical on me, boy."

The crack, however, went down only about three feet, gradually narrowing
until it was closed. Even so, it was impressive. Rick knew that the
actual break must continue down into the earth for some distance,
perhaps for hundreds of feet. The force it took to shake the earth like
that was awesome. Again he was reminded sharply of the kind of forces
against which the Spindrift group was trying to contend, and he felt for
the first time that the job was completely hopeless. What could mere men
do?

A horn honking wildly brought him to quick attention. He turned and saw
a jeep coming along the western road into the parking lot. Brad Connel!
But where was Ruiz? Then, as the jeep neared, Rick saw. The San Luzian
was lashed to an improvised stretcher lying across the back of the jeep!

The geologist drew to a stop, his face chalky.

"Get a doctor!" he shouted. "Quickly! Ruiz got caught in the last
explosion. I think he's dead!"

CHAPTER IV

Seismic Tracings

Ruiz, the short, friendly San Luzian, was not dead, but he was on