CHAPTER 25 (PART - B) end of chapter 25


Tintin shared the rest of the strawberry scones he had with Nestor and Calculus who thoroughly enjoyed them. Snowy came in whining into the dining room trying to get Tintin to feed him more, but for another thirty minutes the attempts were futile until he finally realized they didn’t have a bowl for Cocoa. He opened up another can of that food that Snowy was not fond of plopping it into another container prompting him to eat up. Snowy gave Tintin a disgruntled look, but because he was hungry he ate it. Cocoa encouraged Snowy telling him it’s not that bad.

“Well Cuthbert you ready to show us these wonderful gadgets of yours?” Haddock asked skeptically.
“Oh yes, that’s right let’s go—“ Calculus said as they were getting up from the table until Nestor interjected.
“One last thing…the Bolt grandchildren came to work on the grounds the other day” Nestor reported.
“Oh yes, how did that go?” Haddock asked curiously.
“Well, but they stayed for dinner…the youngest grandchild was a bit of a nuisance…he asks too many questions and likes to snoop” Nestor concluded.
“You kept a close watch on that little whippersnapper didn’t you?” Haddock asked cautiously.
“Of course, luckily his brother and sister kept him from wandering off to parts of the manor that they know are off limits” Nestor nodded.
“He kind of sounds like me when I first started reporting” Tintin laughed.
“Maybe so Tintin, but we don’t need a reporter for what we have or our personal lives broadcasted to the rest of the community” Haddock explained.
“I bet he becomes a reporter, but I see your point” Tintin laughed.

“Let’s go to my lab!” Calculus redirected their attention.
Without further delay, they walked across the grounds to Calculus’ lab. It was always full of strange and unusual things. A chalkboard with mind boggling equations, flasks full of fluids, shelves full of books on theories, radios, various scientific measuring tools, and electronic equipment.

A huge generator took up a lot of space which had many buttons and displays. Some were abandoned projects Calculus stopped due to the destructive nature, such was the one when foreign Bordurian agents came to abduct him for his destructive sonic technology. Tintin never forgot that adventure chasing after Professor Calculus with Haddock and Snowy. Each step they took could have been their last, how luck and wits were on their side, and thanks to Madame Castafiore.

Tintin always appreciated Professor Calculus for his vast genius constantly trying to make life easier and safer at Marlinspike Hall although not always successful. Calculus never let too much idle time go by without starting a new project. The gates, the dog feeder, and many other small inventions and gizmos were some of the many Tintin had seen. Calculus led them into the heart of his sanctuary until they found a table with two small back packs made from a green camouflage material.

“Well gentlemen, I would like to present you with these back packs” he said taking one and displaying the many small utility pockets carefully sewn on.
“Where did you get those?” Tintin asked slightly impressed by how compact and well designed the bag looked. Tintin saw two Ts initialed on the bag.
“I got them from the Swiss government, but let me show you…” he said opening the bag revealing its contents.
“The first item Tintin is this” he said pulling out a medium sized black comb.
“A comb? Well that may help me keep my hair placed the way I like, but that’s about it” Tintin sighed.

“Oh but it’s not just any comb Tintin, the bottom prong has a radio receiver in it set on only one frequency as to not give away its secret. So if you ever get in a jam you can send out a signal as far as three thousand and five hundred meters!” Calculus explained showing Tintin the two small pin holes at the bottom, and then the miniscule button up at the top.
“That button activates the signal, the top prong allows you to hear if any message is sent your way, but you must put it right at your ear, or you will not be able to hear” Calculus explained.
“Wow professor! That’s some range for such a small device!” Tintin suddenly changed his tune.

Haddock stood there quietly observing as Calculus fished out another item. A small mirror, flask, magnifying glass, he stopped with a belt with two compact items on the sides. The belt was made of coarse black leather and each had a bronze belt buckle.

“This belt now, looks ordinary except the two compact boxes at the side. Should you ever need to scale rocks and your equipment fail, these utility belts simply by pressing the button on each side box, will cause a cable twenty feet long on each side to shoot up with a metallic like claw and grab on to something and slowly retract helping to pull you upwards” Calculus explained.
“We could have used those back in Tibet for sure!” Haddock explained.
“I know, thank goodness Tharkey came back for us or neither you nor I would be here to talk about it” Tintin agreed.
“Let me try that out…” Haddock said snatching the belt out the Professor’s hand.
“Captain! What are you doing!?” Calculus demanded.
“Trying this out!” he said putting on the belt.
“Captain! I can assure you that these have already been tested out by associates of mine. They aren’t meant for indoor use” the Professor scolded.

It was too late. Haddock had already put it on and press both buttons. Instantly two four pronged steel claws shot out away from him soaring up into the ceiling each digging into the wooden beam then pulling him up.
“Blisterin’ Barnacles! Get me down!” he said as he was being pulled up to the ceiling.
“Press the button to release Captain!” the professor instructed.
He pressed the release button on both sides and he fell down landing right next to Tintin.
“Oh that’s smarts!” Haddock said seeing stars for a moment.
“I told you captain, these are not toys” he warned laughing a little.
“Are you ok captain?” Tintin said bending down to help the captain up.
“I will be, just give me a second…” he said slowly standing back up.
“That truly is amazing professor! How are you able to make those prongs so strong?” Tintin asked in amazement.
“I had them made by the Swiss government using titanium” Calculus said with a gleeful look.
Calculus took out a pair of green colored goggles were black and fit comfortable on with a switch on the side.

“These Tintin, are night vision goggles I made myself not long ago, with a flip of a switch you should be able to see in dark places” Calculus said nonchalantly. Tintin and Haddock both nodded in awe as Calculus continued pulling items out of the small bag.

“Last but not least, a flare gun… it’s not a deadly weapon, but it can blind your foes should you find yourself in a bind; also, it can be shot almost a hundred feet up if you need assistance. Be careful if you use it as a weapon as anyone who sees this bright light will be blinded for almost a good minute. It’s brighter than the normal flare guns. You have six rounds of flare in it” Calculus finished.
“So please use them sparingly” the professor warned.
“What about my bag?” Haddock finally asked feeling a bit left out.
“Oh yes, for you a new pipe!” Calculus said opening the other bag showing the captain a fancy silvery and black looking pipe.
“That’s nice professor, but how is that going to help me other than enjoying my tobacco?” Haddock shrugged.
“That pipe is also a whistle captain, here, try blowing on it” Calculus said handing Haddock the pipe. The end of the pipe was curved and shaped like the end of a bugle.

Haddock skeptically blew hard on it and a loud blasting deafening sound made Calculus and Tintin both cover their ears.
“That whistle is about ninety decibels” Calculus nodded.
“Well unless I need someone’s attention and I want to smoke my tobacco, this device won’t be much help” Haddock sighed.

“It also can make a nice smoke screen captain” he said taking out three fairly small pellets that fit into the pipe in a small sealed plastic bag. “When you light your pipe and inhale a few times you will trigger these mini smoke bombs…don’t worry they don’t explode… to begin quickly flooding a room with smoke” Calculus finished.

“Ok, I guess it could be helpful…” Haddock nodded.
“Oh and here’s a nice bronze lighter I had ordered especially for you captain. It has enough fuel to last you for months. Nothing practical really, just nice to have” Calculus said handing Haddock a well crafted metallic bronze lighter.
“Each of you should have the other items in your bag that I showed you earlier… and one last item for both of you” Calculus stopped to grab two pairs of boots of different sizes off a shelf.
“Boots?” Tintin asked.
“They do look very nice” Haddock commented.
The boots were made of tough black leather and had a very interesting looking sole to them.

“These boots look nice and tough, but are as light as a feather. The soles have spring like material inside them putting a spring in your step allowing you to move fifty percent faster in them and maybe allowing your jumping abilities to propel you just a bit further” the professor finished putting them in front of Tintin and Haddock. Haddock and Tintin took off their shoes and immediately tried them on. Each of the pair of boots was a perfect fit and felt incredibly comfortable as if they were wearing a slipper.
“Wow professor these are really nice!” Tintin exclaimed not feeling in the slightest encumbered.
“It has a nice feeling to it eh boy?” Haddock said standing up tapping his feet.
“I assume the two of you are leaving for London tomorrow correct?” Calculus quickly added.
“Yes, we are” Tintin nodded. Haddock shook his head in disapproval.
“Well, I want you to take these canes to our friends Thompson and Thomson, but first let me demonstrate how they work” Calculus said quickly.
Tintin and Haddock were surprised at just how many things the professor had been working on as of late.
“You squeeze the top of the cane and watch…” Calculus demonstrated. The cane expanded out almost another foot as they realized the cane was made of some alloy rather than the wood look that it appeared to resemble.
“Watch this now!” Calculus said pointing the now five foot cane toward the wall. He squeezed the top of the cane again and a small dart shot out at the end sticking into the wall.

“I’m sure they will appreciate those professor, but I worry they may use them incorrectly” Tintin said with concern.
“Well then Tintin, I leave it up to you to teach them the proper use. There are nine dart in each of them and they each have just a bit of tranquilizing poison, make sure you explain that to them” Calculus pointed out.
“Well that one has only eight now” Tintin laughed.
“Actually, they have ten but the first dart is not poisoned…” the professor said using the other cane squeezing it shooting the first dart.
“There” he said twisting the top slightly. “Twisting the top a little will make the canes retract” he finished.

“Why thanks for all the gifts Cuthbert, I must say you never cease to amaze” Haddock said shaking his hand.
“What? Oh thank you captain… just remember a friendly ‘goat’ made them” Calculus laughed quickly getting laughs from both Haddock and Tintin. They gathered the small bags and other items and returned back to the manor for a good nights rest. The stars were out in full and the air was calm as they made their way back to the manor that late hour.
“Well good night gentlemen, I expect to see you for breakfast in the morning” Calculus said retiring to his room for the night.
“I guess we’d better go to bed and get some rest” Tintin said as he and Haddock stood at the top of the stairs then began walking towards his room.
“That’s right” Haddock suddenly grabbed Tintin’s wrist. “We are going to bed!” he whispered devilishly.
“Captain!” Tintin blushed. “I need to put my bag in my room and—“ Tintin was cut off as Haddock put his hand over his mouth. “You owe me you little siren! You’re coming with me!” Haddock laughed wickedly. Tintin couldn’t help but to smile as Haddock drug Tintin back to his bedroom, closed, and locked the door.

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