"Oliver," yelled Stiffy, "that thing wasn't there before. Look, it almost blocks the canyon!"
The boulder was black but it crawled with a greenish glow, a faint network of somber fire.
The breath caught in Meek's throat.
"Stiffy," he whispered.
Behind him, Stiffy almost sobbed in excitement. "Yeah, I know. It's a meteor. And it's lousy with radium."
"It just fell," said Meek, voice unsteady. "That's what shook up the place. Wonder is it didn't crack the dome wide open."
"We better jump for it," urged Stiffy, "if we don't want to get plumb burned. Can't go near that thing without lead sheathing."
Meek flung himself sidewise, throwing up his arms to shield his helmet, struck on his shoulders and rolled. Slowly, benumbed from the fall, he crept out of the shadow of a high rock wall into the starlight.
Stiffy was sitting on the ground, rubbing his shins.
"Barked them up some," he admitted.