"Sugriva!" That was Dr. Aiken breaking into the conversation. "The rare and precious metal you spoke of—"
"Banaratha," supplied the blue lord. "That is its name."
"Banaratha," nodded the old archeologist. "Would it by any chance look like—this?"
And he brought from his pocket an object, handed it to the Gaanelian. For the first time since they had met him, Sugriva's calm was shattered into a thousand bits. His mouth dropped agape, his eyes widened, he rose, hand half-atremble. "But this—" he cried—"this is banaratha itself! The pure metal, the rare and vital gem of metals!"
"Sweet potatoes!" howled Red Barrett. "Now where'd Doc get a hunk of that boogie-woogie stuff? Give me a gander, Doc!" Then, as he craned at the object Sugriva so tremulously held in his palm, his tone changed to one of disappointment. "Why, what's all the shouting about? That stuff's nothing but plain, old everyday—"
"Aluminum!" cried Lake O'Brien, glimpsing it. "Now I understand, Doctor! Of course it was rare—in this day and age! Until 1886 aluminum was so rare and so expensive as to be a laboratory curiosity.[12] Then Charles Martin Hall discovered that an electrolysis of bauxite dissolved in cryolite did the trick! So that's the 'rare metal' which fuels the Bow? Then, boys, we're walking ore-mines! Turn out your pockets!"
Ramey Winters had no pockets to turn out. He still wore the garb in which he had first visited Lanka, not having found time yet to change back to more comfortable garments. But his contribution was not needed. Dr. Aiken, Syd and Lake O'Brien, Red Barrett, all wore Twentieth Century clothes. They went to work on themselves, "Like mongrels scratching for fleas!" as Lake O'Brien put it. And the result of their self-appraisal was, a few minutes later, a pile of miscellaneous objects on a table before them which Sugriva declared positively would not only charge, but re-charge and charge yet again the dreadful Bow of Rudra!
Tunic-buttons, "luck-pieces" Barrett had picked up in Shanghai, a belt-buckle, suspender-clips from Syd's gaudy braces ... these were some of the aluminum items they found on them. The tiny reflector Dr. Aiken had first shown Sugriva, a waterproof match-box from Syd, a patent screw-top container of ephedrine-inhalant used by Lake in hay-fever season ... these joined the growing pile. It was an amazing assortment of junk. But looking upon it, the time-farers felt new hope dawning within them for the first time since Ravana's flight from Chitrakuta. And Ramey cried exultantly:
"We'll go back to the plan I suggested! We'll take the Bow from Ravana if I have to kill him with my bare hands to do it! We'll reach Lanka if we have to swim there—"