"The P-E have moved far and fast," Bud remarked. "One more jump, and they'll be here!"
       Tom mulled over the problem as he finished his mushroom omelet.
       "Our two jobs are coming to a head at the same time. We must fend off a P-E invasion from space. And we've got to keep the Brungarians from stealing the mastodon and starting an avalanche."
       "Which do we tackle first?" Bud wanted to know.
       "The Brungarians, Bud. We'll leave the problem of the galaxy ghosts until night when they become visible. Another thing. Their odyssey from Saturn indicates that they move in steps. Perhaps strong sunlight diminishes their powers of radiation. I doubt if they'll be a threat to us for some time."
       "So the Brungarians head the list of Swift targets," Bud concluded.
       "Right, pal. I've changed my mind about going alone to the cave. You and I will handle this together. It's back to the mastodon."
       Although the boys had had little sleep recently, they had no intention of going to bed. Cold showers and Chow's snacks had revived them. The urgency of the double crisis gave them the stimulation they required to carry on.
       First Tom went to the lab and had his assistants mix the chemicals containing copper nitrate. After placing a pinch of the chemical on a metal dish, he touched a match to it. Instantly flickering blue flames flashed up.
       "That's the secret of the mysterious fire," he told Burkart and Alvarez who were watching. "If you lay this tuff in the snow and then light it, you can show the villagers there's nothing supernatural about the blue flames they've seen blazing on their snowy mountaintop."
       "What shall I do after the demonstration?" Burkart queried.
       "Give each man in the village a copper nitrate torch. That way, they'll learn to use the blue fire instead of being frightened by it."
       "And since you've already introduced them to the mysterious snowman, they need no longer be afraid of him," Burkart observed.
       "Yes, but you may as well take this plaster cast of Pedro's footprint as proof," Tom suggested.
       "It explains why the Spaniard called the homeland of his race Patagonia," Bud observed. "The word comes from the Spanish meaning Big Feet."
       Tom summoned his highly skilled technicians. The eight of them gathered around Tom while he detailed the strategy he intended to follow.
       "Four of you will stay here to work on tonight's experiment," Tom said. "The other four will work on lifting the mastodon out of the cave."
       "I counted fifteen Brungarians," Bud cautioned. "We'll need reinforcements."
       "I know where to find them, Bud. The villagers are on our side now."
       Tom nodded toward Burkart, Alvarez, and the four technicians he had chosen.
       "Suppose you fellows go to the village. First give the people a copper nitrate fire demonstration. Then lead them up the mountain to the strategic jumping-off place."
       "Which place is that?" Burkart asked Tom.
       "The icy overhang where Bud and I stopped during the storm. That's where we heard the whispering voices." Tom explained how to find the spot. "Wait until I call you."
       "Then come on the double," Bud advised. "Tell the Indians to pitch into the Brungarians."
       Burkart, Alvarez, and the four technicians promised to do this. They set out for the village in a jeep.
       Tom checked the progress of the work of the other four men. They had placed several clear Tomasite boxes in the receiving tank of the Transmittaton. Each box contained a substance that Tom intended to expose to the radiation of any P-E the machine might capture. And each had a tight lid which opened and closed by remote control.
       Bud rapped on the lid of a cube-shaped Tomasite box with a handle. "This one's not finished. But it's different from all the rest."
       "It has to be different, Bud," Tom replied. "That's the one we'll use for carrying the galaxy ghost if we catch one."
       "Carry it?" Bud grinned. "Where are you taking it––sightseeing?"
       Tom was serious. "There's no telling what the creature may do. I want to be able to get it outdoors pronto if it shows signs of blowing up the lab or poisoning all of us with its deadly radiation!"
       Tom assigned three lab technicians to work on the Tomasite tank. He warned them to keep the project going at top speed because he would need the gadget that night.
       The fourth member to be left behind was Cliff Culbertson. He had come to the Swift organization because of a desire to help Tom perfect his inventions. Tom counted on him more than on any other aide.
       "Cliff, how about assisting Dad in checking out the Racodio? That's the most sensitive device we'll be using to deal with the P-E."
       The young man held u his hand, making a circle with his thumb and forefinger. "Will do, Tom. You can depend on the Racodio being ready when you get back tonight."
       Tom and Bud went to get the equipment for their upcoming expedition to the mountain.
       "Here are the pencil radios," Bud said, "and the copper nitrate torch. What's that you're carrying?"
       Tom hefted a Tomasite bar with a button at one end and a triangular point at the other.
       "My latest soldering tool, Bud. High-speed and electrically operated. You'll see how it works on the Melt Master if we don't run into a disaster up there in the cave."
       Each slung a rucksack over his shoulder, then hurried outside and mounted the ponies that were waiting. The boys rode off to climb the peak where they had seen the mastodon. They left their mounts at the snow line. tom and Bud climbed to the cave, and paused before entering it to look down the slope. Far below, they could see Burkart and the villagers toiling up the mountain, their blue torches burning brightly.
       "They're not exactly the U.S. Cavalry," Bud remarked. "I just hope they come charging to our rescue if the going gets sticky."
       "You and me both, fly-boy," Tom replied.
       Peering cautiously through the crevice in the rock wall, and seeing no one, the boys slipped into the passage. They found the large cave empty, traversed the smaller tunnel, and reached the mastodon cave.
       This time it was full of sunlight beaming down through the open roof. But it was not vacant! A man crouched beside the Melt Master, his hand on the switch. Brungarian engineers had repaired the machine. A bright new coil of wire gleamed where Tom had wrenched out the old one. The machine was operable again.
       "He's aiming at the mastodon!" Bud shouted. "He'll melt the ice and start an avalanche!"
       Tom turned on the Tomasite soldering tool and leaped forward. His arm swept up, then forward in a terrific thrust. The electronic tip cut through the metal of the Melt Master and penetrated the mechanism. Dense acrid smoke seeped from the inside of the Melt Master.
       The figure crouching beside it rose to his feet with a cry of rage. Tom gasped. This was the man who had accosted him on Santa Lucia Hill!
       "So it's you, Swift!" he snarled.
       "And you're the Tall One!" Tom countered.
       "Yes, but you've discovered the truth too late," the man said with a leer. "You'll never get away to tell what you know. Look up there."
       The Tall One pointed to the open roof. Angry shouts came from outside. A circle of swarthy faces appeared in a ring and stared down furiously. Equipped with ropes and hoisting gear, the men began sliding down into the cave.
       Reacting instantly, Tom shouted, "Run!"
       He and Bud raced into passage and back to the large cave with the chimney.
       "Burkart! Help!" Tom called frantically up the flue. "Help! Get up here!"
       "And fast!" Bud yelled.
       "I hope Burkart got the message," Tom panted.
       The boys could hear shouts and the pounding of feet in the passage they had just left.
       "We'll be killed if they corner us here." Bud groaned. "Come on!"
       The two ran along the main passage and out through the crevice in the rock wall. They reached the mountain slope and scrambled down. The Brungarians were in pursuit.
       "Where are Burkart and the others?" Bud called to Tom. The next second he lost his footing and slid about thirty feet.
       Tom helped him up. Some Brungarians were on skis and were advancing rapidly.
       "Faster!" Tom urged. "Change course and backtrack if they get too close."
       Suddenly there were shouts below them. More Brungarians? Moments later a file of blue torches appeared from under an icy overhang.
       Bud cried out, "The villagers!"
       "And Pedro Martinez is leading them!" Tom shouted.
       The enemies met head-on. The natives fought so fiercely that the Brungarians, amazed and frustrated, began to disperse in all directions. When the battle was over, Alvarez came up to Tom.
       "This is the way I repay you, señor," he declared.
       Tom smiled. "I appreciate your risking your life for me."
       Alvarez led Bud and the four technicians to the opening in the roof of the mastodon cave. Their assignment was to signal the Sky Queen with torches of blue fire. The Flying Lab was ready to lower the X-raser.
       Tom hurried back to the cave to be there when the X-raser descended. He rushed through the passage into the big cave, and on into the smaller passage and the mastodon cave.
       Preoccupied with the thoughts of victory, Tom failed to notice that he had company until a harsh, threatening voice commanded:
       "Stop!"