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Ghosts with a cart had marched up and down the fields, hunting for the ghostly dead ... the image flashed through Rick's mind and he exclaimed, "The cart! That was why the ghosts needed the cart! They were lugging bags of powdered carnotite and spreading it around the fields when Belsely saw them!" "You've hit it," Scotty agreed.
The powder is definitely carnotite, and it matches ore produced on the Colorado Plateau. Steve has reported to the Atomic Energy Commission, and they'll be able to track down its origin without too much difficulty, since no two ores are precisely alike. Now, how did you two do last night?"
Why spread carnotite and then come back to measure it?" Bennett smiled. "I think I know, but I'd like to see this mine of yours. Can it be arranged?" Scotty said swiftly, "I'd better act as a lookout to intercept the Frostola man if he comes. I'll delay him while you two go into the mine." He was gone at a ground-eating pace. Rick led the AEC man to the hidden mine entrance.
Baxter took the cement bag and folded it neatly, then he took a plastic bag from his case and put the cement bag inside. "I can't be sure," he said. "About its precise identity, I mean. But it seems to be pulverized ore, and my guess would be carnotite. Don't worry about the radioactivity. You could live in a house made of this stuff and it wouldn't be dangerous. The level of activity is very low.
"But couldn't the carnotite have been stolen from a privately owned mine?" he asked. "Possibly, but we will assume it was in our hands when it was taken. This is because we want to discourage this kind of thing, and the FBI taking action is very discouraging to thieves." The boys appreciated this viewpoint. "I hope the FBI doesn't interfere with Rick's plan for exposing the ghost," Scotty said.
I'll analyze the sample and let Steve Ames know exactly what it is, but I'm betting on carnotite. If you find a few hundred tons of it, you can sell it to the Atomic Energy Commission. So long." The expert tipped his hat to the girls and walked to his car. "What was that all about?" Barby demanded. "You and Scotty seemed to know what he was talking about, but it was all Greek to Jan and me."
"And in this case, powdered carnotite was used in the fields, and chunks were put in the mine, to make victims think uranium was present," Rick added. He could see the picture pretty clearly now. "The carnotite was put in and then the field was planted with corn to make it look as innocent and natural as possible, I suppose." "That's how I figure it.
The boys told him what they knew, ending with yesterday's discovery. The AEC man nodded. "This field is 'hot, did you know that? It's obvious that powdered carnotite was spread here before the corn was planted. And from your story, it was spread in the field across the creek, too."
But some isotopes of uranium and thorium have little beta, with some alpha and gamma, so Baxter concluded we had powdered uranium ore. There are many kinds of ore. Pitchblende is the best, but carnotite, which is a gray rock with yellowish streaks, is also good ore. Got it now?" Jan Miller asked, "How do you know all this, Rick?" The boy chuckled.
"I don't have a flashlight with me." "No need. What we want will be right at the entrance, I'm sure." They crawled in on hands and knees, the AEC man pushing his bag before him. Inside, he looked around and selected several small pieces of rock. "We'll check the samples, but it's just a formality. I recognize this stuff. It's carnotite. You can see the yellow streaks clearly.
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