The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-10-08
WHEN x.9oo ExPLODEs-
 CHAPTER XVII

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 KNOWLEDGE of her power al IA this moment, and of the ven- geance she was about to wreak on the Tyler girl, gave Leana Sormi'c face a wild look of exhilaration She threw her transmitter switch as if the act were Q definite little finale.
 And finale 1t wasl Not even Leana Sorrni, brilliant scientist had known the extreme potency of x.eo0lill
 Simultaneously with her touch of that switch, all of hellfire 1t. self belched over the universe.
 The earth shook in Q staccatc of doom. Tonto Mountain, 1t ap- peared, was lifted skyward. A great spreading bulk hlacked out the light of day, extended east ward over a full five miles, then came pelting roaring crashing down in an all-consuming bomb. bardment.
 The top half of Mummy Ridge itself was blown square oil and . minute later 1t and all It's area there to the east were buried under countless tons of debris The very physiography of moun- tain range was being altered. And nobody = no living soul = heard Leana Sormi give her long, hys- terical scream.
 TNROM other points of view Gas II told countless times in the months and even years to follow) the explosion of Tonto Mountain was that of a volcano, no less. Ex- cept that this particular volcano spewed fire from only one side of its mouth, after first bursting out
 The actual eruption was not straight up, but angled. The great force of the explosion naturally took the path of least resistance. The west half of Tonto Mountain was Q bulwark of granite, virtu- ally solid rock Q mile thick at its base. A flat white face of that granite had showed ct the peak to form c landmark for centuries. But in natures own eruptions cons ago she had loosened and stirred the eastern half of Tonto, upending Its strata and puing there loose boulderS, smaller rocks and soils. It was this loose de- posit which gave way under the force of x-90Vs explosion.
 The granite half stood firm, merely shaken by the recoil.
 The circumstance proved to be extremely fortunate for puny hu- man beings who had dared en- sconce themselves in natures bosom here. It was as If nature had kept a benign hand over them and their little huts. Not that the huts escaped damage-every win- dow in the scientists village was broken, and every china dish, every bit of glass equipment in the labora- tory.
 Rock chimneys were toppled over. One cabin was moved quite of its toupndation. The stables, filmsy structures at best, were flattened and three of the horses killed. A dozen major or minor avalanches were started on neigh. boring mountains.
 WHEN Carolyn and Leana left W him ct the stables shortly after s o'clock, Bob Hale fingered to rub down his black gelding rather than give the task to a stable boy.
 About IS minutes later he was called to the stable telephone. It was Leana.
 Robert, dear," she began, "is 1t too much to ask that you drive in to Blair for me, at once? There Is some equipment - e microscope part = which I simply must have in the laboratory early tomorrow morning, and I really wanted 1t tonight. It was due on the mall stage today and the Blair post ofilce closes at G."
 Surely, Leanal I can drive right over now. Our group doesn't eat until 2. Be Q pleasure"
 He didn't rush because there was abundant time, but he did take his car immediately and head of down the old road from the mine. It swung south and west from Tonto Mountain, winding in picturesque way.
 When he reached Blair he