“Ah-ha!” ejaculated Mr. Damon. “The famous Dr. Raddiker, the European scientist? Bless my medical dictionary! he is a wonderful man.”
“Yes? Well, maybe. But he has exploded a regular medical bomb in the Nestor household. He says the only sure cure for Mr. Nestor’s complaint is for him to leave home.”
“Change of climate, Tom?”
“Very much so. The temperature isn’t right for him here. He has got to go where the quicksilver takes a toboggan to the bottom of the glass.”
“Bless my thermostat! You don’t mean——?”
“That is it, exactly,” Tom assured him. “Dr. Raddiker declared the only cure for this disease is a cold climate—a much colder climate than ours. And that Mr. Nestor will have to remain in that colder climate for several weeks, if not months. Now, you know that Mrs. Nestor could never stand such an experience. Her bronchial trouble would be aggravated.”
“Well, well!”
“Mr. Nestor cannot go alone. Her mother would never feel comfortable an hour if Mary went with him, even to the North Cape, for instance. It is not to be thought of.”
“Bless my chilblains!” interrupted Mr. Damon excitedly. “If it is a cold country he needs, and all that, what could be finer than Iceland?”
“At least,” chuckled Tom Swift, “the name of that island is most suggestive.”