Chapter 17 seventeen

Miles of dirt road meandered along.The quaint yucca leaves stand upright like sentinels, always warning the traveler not to reach out and grab it.Occasionally, a kangaroo rat ran across the white-striped road.Clumps of cacti provide shelter for panicked hares.Headlights fring the most deceptively deadly Jorah cacti with a silky sheen.Occasionally, a barrel-shaped cactus can be seen on the side of the road, standing there high, thick and thick.It brings to mind the miners of yore, who, stranded in the desert, were so thirsty that they would cut off the tops of large cactus, scoop out the succulent interior, collect the juice and drink it to quench their thirst.

Della.Streeter sat in the car with a penciled map she had made herself spread across her lap.She held a small flashlight and covered it with her hands so as not to interfere with Mason's driving.From time to time she glanced at the speedometer. Turn after a fifth of a mile!she says. Mason slowed the car and looked to the left for the turn.He finally found it, a few vague ruts in the desert. Della.Streeter turned off the flashlight, folded the map and put it in his bag.She said: There are three more.Six miles, we'll go down this road. The car went to the end of the lowland desert and climbed up to the plateau.

I see a little light.Della said. Is there a car coming? The light is a little red, oh, on the right, the campfire. The road suddenly turned a corner at the abrupt headland, and after rounding a rock, it suddenly opened up, and the red light could be seen clearly, it was a pile of bonfires. Did you see anyone?Mason asked. Not a single person.she says. The car stopped, and there were mixed cars on the ground. There was a new type of car parked in Yandinger.Next to Bowers' classic car, behind it is a trailer full of donkeys. Mason turned off the engine and turned off the lights. There was silence all around, only the sound of the engine shutting down in the car could be heard, which might not be heard at all, but in this empty desert, the sound was like the sound of rumbling guns from the distant sea.

In this boundless silence, the bonfire on the desert has become an artificial destruction of the environment, as out of place as a wisecrack on the execution ground. Hiss!Della."I was horrified," Streeter said. From about fifteen feet away in the darkness came a slow voice, Oh, it's you! Salt Dinger.Bowers raised his voice, okay, everyone, it's Lawyer Mason. Almost instantly, the whole camp came alive, first Dr. Kenward limped out of the darkness on crutches, then Wilma.Staller's slender figure against the orange light of the bonfire, after that, Yan Dinger.Bowers had just emerged from behind a bush of dark juniper.

Yan Dinger explained: With so many things happening, I have to be cautious.People around campfires are the best targets in the world.Seeing your car approaching, we thought we'd better find a safe place.What's wrong?What happened again? nothing.Let's hide for a while, is there any place for the two of us to stay here? Yan Ding'er smiled, waved his arm and said, "It doesn't matter where you live, come by the fire, and I'll make you a cup of tea." We still have camping gear in the car.Mason said. Take it later.Yan Dinger said, come on, sit down for a while.

The three of them came to the campfire, and Mason and Della shook hands with Dr. Kenward and the nurse, and sat around the fire.Yan Dinger took out an enamel pot that was blackened by the fire, poured the water from the kettle into the pot, put it on the fire, and said: I only use this to make tea, and the other to make coffee.Mr. Mason, I'm not running away from anything, but in town people don't understand a man's feelings for his partner.Clark's death broke me.People keep bringing it up, endlessly.I suddenly wanted to go to the desert, like a person who always wants something but can't tell what it is, and just at this moment, smelling the aroma of roast meat and coffee, he knows he is just hungry.

Dr. Kenward said: I need to take a good rest. It was arranged by Wilma and Yan Dinger. I am very grateful to him for bringing me. This is Banning.Clark's minerals?Mason asked. It's Banning's now, said Yan Dinger, and looking at his watch, he corrected himself and said it wasn't his until midnight.At that time, the right to purchase expires. Of course, Mason said, they can exercise their right to buy between now and midnight. They can do it.Yan Dinger said coldly. Dr. Kenward said suddenly: I want to say something about murder, but if it doesn't matter to you, I think it's best not to.

Yan Ding'er said a little emotionally: "You tell me." What do you want to say?asked Mason. Dr Kenward said: "The police don't trust me very much, I think they think someone mistook me for Benning.Clark just shot me. I think so too, Mason said, but the police don't trust me much either. Of course, it is natural to draw such a conclusion.At that time, I went to Banning.Where Clark used to camp.In the moonlight, I lay there sleeping wrapped in a sleeping bag with a distinct shape.Anyone would think it was Clark if he didn't know that Clark had gone to the desert and wanted to kill him.

Mason nodded. But, continued Dr. Kenward, I've been wondering if that's really the case. Are you saying someone knows who you are and wants to kill you? This is very possible. What is the motivation?Mason asked. Dr. Kenward hesitated. Come on, Mason urged, there was only one motive: you got the inside story.Yes or no? I didn't want to say so much.said Dr. Kenward. Oh, we've come to this point, Mason said to him, Doctor, it's you who found the medical condition probably poisonous.And I think it's only fair that you tell the person involved. Dr. Kenward smiled and said: You guessed it.Out of sheer habit, I kept the contents of my stomach from my first poisoning.It was the time we found arsenic in the salt shaker that Bradisen mother and son used.

Mason asks: What did you find? I had an analysis of the contents of my stomach before I left town, Dr. Kenward said, by telephone, but the analysis showed no arsenic. So how do symptoms appear?Mason asked. Obviously ipecac. What is the purpose of using ipecac?Mason asked. It is to cause the symptoms of arsenic poisoning. So what is the purpose of deliberately causing these symptoms? Dr. Kenward said coldly: Mr. Mason, this question should be answered by you. I will only talk about medical facts. But what about the metallic taste in the throat, the muscle cramps, the body aches? I had questioned Wilma carefully, and he said that, as far as she could remember, she might have suggested these symptoms to the patient.I asked her specifically if, when she first suspected arsenic poisoning, she asked the patient if he was experiencing muscle cramps, extensive abdominal pain, a burning metal sensation in the back of the mouth, and leg cramps.She can't recall now whether she asked these questions, and whether the patient told her about the symptoms.

Is it important?asked Mason. Very important.When patients are very ill, they are generally somewhat depressed, readily receptive to prompting, and occasionally hysterical.In such cases, a person usually has some symptoms of a certain disease, and soon after hearing about other symptoms of the disease, he will also have these symptoms. Are you sure the stuff in the salt shaker is arsenic?Mason asked. Definitely, and the results of the analysis bear it out. So why was arsenic put in the salt shaker? This is also a question that should be answered by you.Obviously there are two possibilities.One is that someone knew that Bradisen's mother and child were poisoned, and the symptoms were like arsenic poisoning, so they put arsenic in the salt shaker, trying to make everyone think that Bradisen was poisoned by arsenic. Another possibility?Mason asked. Someone really wanted to poison the Bradissons, hoping the poison would work the next day when the Bradissons used the salt shaker.But because of a coincidence, Bradisson somehow swallowed ipecac, which caused him to vomit. Mason said: Doc, have you considered that ipecac may have been deliberately eaten by the Bradisson mother and son to fake the symptoms of arsenic poisoning? As someone who respects science, I have done my best to examine the various possibilities that could explain these situations, and I have of course taken this into account. Is there any evidence? No. Is this explanation logical? There is no evidence to overturn it. You feel like someone is going to kill you because you know about the situation. This is very possible. They were silent for about a minute, and then Mason said: I'm going to think about it.Also, I want to put my sleeping bag on. Mason walked to the side of the car, pulled out the sleeping bag, connected the air pump to the engine, and inflated the air cushion. When he looked up, Yan Dinger.Bowers stood beside him. Mason asks: Have you set aside a place to sleep? We have a tent here, Yan Dinger said, girls can use it as a dressing room.No one would think that it would be more comfortable to sleep in it, or to sleep under the stars. Then put Streeter's sleeping bag next to that tent, Mason said, where do you sleep? Yan Ding'er said in a low voice: I can't calm down, I keep thinking about what happened.I spread a blanket on the road.I'm going to stand there guarding against someone touching it.You take the end of the sleeping bag, and I'll carry it over with this end.When it's done, the tea is ready to drink. The sleeping bags were put away, the duffel bags were unloaded from Mason's car, and the group gathered around the fire again.Yan Dinger hugged a bunch of wormwood and put it on the fire, the flames jumped up and lit up the surroundings brightly. Yan Dinger said while pouring tea: The air here is just different. Indeed, dry and refreshing.Mason said. I had a sinus infection a few months ago, Dr. Kenward said, but once I got here I got better and I felt much better. How is the injury?Mason asked. It doesn't matter.Also watch, and if complications arise, treat them as soon as possible.I need quiet, and believe it or not, quiet is so useful to me.Although this vacation is a bit forced, I am very happy. Nell.What are Sims doing?Mason asked, stay in the small building? Not there, Yan Dinger said, she went back to the Mojave, and she said she was reopening the old restaurant.he said sadly. It's awesome here.Della said. Many people hate the desert, said Yan Ding'er loudly, because they are afraid of it.Afraid they were the only ones left.Leave them in the desert for a week and come back and find them all crazy.I have seen once a man sprained his ankle and could not walk, and his companions had to go on, so they left him with enough water and food, and a lot of matches and wood, for what he had to do. Just sit quietly for three or four days until he can walk before moving forward.When he came back he was almost crazy, his ankles were all inflamed, and he said he would rather lose his whole leg than spend another ten minutes in the desert. I think deserts are beautiful.Wilma.Staller said. Of course beauty, Yan Dinger said, people are afraid of it because they are alone with the Creator here.Some people can't stand it.Would you like some more tea? The wormwood in the fire stopped crackling, and the bonfire burned quietly. How did you prospect?Mason asked, is it just running around, looking around in the desert? Holy crap, that's not the case.You have to know a little about geological formations and what to look for.Many prospectors picked up stones that might make them rich, and threw them away.Hey, let me show you something. Yan Ding'er put down his teacup, stood up, and walked to his car.After rummaging for a while, I took out a box-like thing. What's this?Mason asked. Black light, have you seen it? I've seen it used to identify counterfeits. You haven't seen it if you haven't used it in the desert.Gotta find a dark spot, try it behind this outcropping rock. I've got a bad leg, so I'll just stay here, said Dr. Kenward, and I don't want to get up and sit down all the time. They circled behind the rocks, and the light of the fire was obscured.The shining stars are like attentive viewers looking at the moving figures in the desert. Yan Dinger saw them looking at the stars, and said: Some people say that the stars blink because dust and other substances are mixed in the air, and different air currents will also make them blink.I don't understand, maybe you understand.I knew the stars here don't blink. Yan Ding'er turned on the switch, and a low chirping sound came from inside the machine. It was a transformer, Yan Dinger explained, that raised the mains voltage from six volts to one hundred and fifty volts.Here's a two-watt light bulb, and it's on. The darkness was shrouded in a strange color.It wasn't like the machine was glowing, it was as if the darkness itself had turned a kind of dark purple. Now, Yan Dinger said, I'm going to shoot a beam of ultraviolet light on this rock and see what happens. He turned to face the rock, turning the box-like thing around as well. The formations on the rocks at once displayed a thousand different colors of light.Some rays are blue, others are yellow-green, and others are bright green.Some luminous places are only the size of a pinhole, while some luminous color blocks are as big as basketballs. Della.Streeter held his breath, Wilma.Staller cried out.Mason didn't say a word, he was completely fascinated by the sight in front of him. What's this?Della.asked Streeter. I don't quite understand either.They call it fluorescent light, he said, and we use it when we're prospecting.You can tell minerals by their different colors.I have to admit that I patched this rock formation with a little bit of ore from other places.Didn't you ask me about prospecting? We did it at night.Drag some gear and search for mines with a black light.You may ignore some rocks when you pass by them during the day, but at night you use this to take a picture and you will find valuable things on the rocks.Oh, let's go back to the fire, before the doctor thinks we've dumped him.I just want you guys to look at this guy. Yan Dinger turned off the machine. Well, Dr. Kenward asked when they came back, how was it?It still works, right? really not bad!Mason said. It was spectacular, the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.Wilma.Staller said eagerly, do you know how it works? Probably, the bulb is filled with argon gas and the current consumption is very low. Generally, it has about two watts of power and can emit ultraviolet light.We can't see it with our eyes, but when the light hits different minerals, the wavelength of the reflected light changes and becomes visible light.The result is that the minerals glow in different colors, as if they were glowing themselves. Have you used these machines?Mason asked him. Ouch!My leg hurts a bit.It's okay, it doesn't matter. Let's add some tea!Yan Dinger refilled the tea while talking. The wormwood on the fire was almost burned, and the flames were jumping.Everyone's conversation stopped for a while. Silence once again controlled the surrounding atmosphere, wrapping people like a blanket. The flames flickered for a moment, then went out, leaving only a heap of red coke.The surrounding darkness suddenly enveloped, and the dots of stars became brighter.A breeze from the ridge behind the camp made the charcoal glow red.In the end, everything fell silent. Yan Ding'er stood up without saying a word, and walked into the darkness.He often walks around in the dark without lighting, which makes him familiar with the environment like a blind man, and walks firmly and confidently in the dark. Oh, I have to sleep, good night.Dr. Kenward tried to get up without Wilma's help, but she gave him a hand immediately. Why don't you tell me you want to stand up?she scolded. I don't want to rely on others. You have to overcome this bias, people always depend on others.Are you going to bed? Yes.If you help me put my shoes on!I don't want to bend that leg, thanks. Mason and Della.Streeter sat by the dying fire, immersed in the desert silence, watching the red charcoal. The mountains behind them formed a black silhouette against the western stars.Ahead of them, the lands to the east were lost in mysterious, shadowy darkness.They knew that there was only an endless desert in front of them.The charcoal fire was slowly dimming, and the night wind was no longer able to revive the flames. Mason touched Della.Streeter's hand, holding it, did not say a word, but their hearts are connected at this moment. The first flashes of the Northern Lights dimmed the hazy starlight in the east.A few minutes later, under the slightly yellowed sky, the outline of the mountains on the other side of the desert was like a winding ribbon.The yellow light became brighter as the moon rose, and the mountain was reflected in a golden light, and the huge shadow below the mountain was gradually shrinking as the moon rose. Mason and Della.Streeter gazed at the ever-changing scene surrounded by silence, and they sat there for more than two hours.