"Noon!" exclaimed Logan. "Why it can't be more than nine at the most!" He pulled out a large gold watch from his coverall pocket. "Sure—it's a quarter to nine!"
Jeff looked at his watch. "Same here!" He smiled. "You must be wrong, Roger."
"You probably forgot to wind it," said Tom. He glanced casually at his own watch and suddenly exclaimed. "Say, my watch has three-thirty!"
"And mine says four twenty-two!" cried Astro.
Roger and Tom looked at each other, eyes widening.
"You don't think—?" began Tom, hardly daring to breathe.
"Yes, I do!" said Roger. "Remember what happened to the instruments?"
"Uranium!" exclaimed Astro.
The word echoed in the kitchen like the blast of a bomb. The boys looked at each other, too startled to explain to Logan and Jane, who, though they were listening intently, were unable to fathom the boys' reasoning.