Read Dolphin Island for Free Online Page B

was warmly greeted by a reception committee in which technicians,
     fishermen, clerical staff, and children were all mixed up together. The island community
     was extremely democratic, everyone regarding himself as the equal of everyone else.
     But Professor Kazan, as Johnny soon discovered, was in a class of his own, and the
     islanders treated him with a curious mixture of respect, affection, and pride.
    Johnny also discovered that if you came down to the beach to watch the
Flying Fish
arrive, you were expected to help unload her. For the next hour, he assisted an impressive
     flow of parcels and packing cases on its way from boat to “Stores.” The job had just
     been finished, and he was having a welcome cool drink, when the public address system
     asked him if he would kindly report to Tech Block as soon as possible.
    When he arrived, he was shown into a large room full of electronic equipment. Professor
     Kazan and Dr. Keith were sitting at an elaborate control desk, and took no notice
     of him at all. Johnny didn’t mind; he was too fascinated at what was going on.
    A strange series of sounds, repeated over and over again, was coming from a loud-speaker.
     It was like the dolphin noises that Johnny had already heard, but there was a subtle
     difference. After about a dozen repeats, he realized what this was. The sounds had
     been slowed down considerably, to allow sluggish human ears to appreciate their fine
     details.
    But this was not all. Each time the string of dolphin noises came from the speaker,
     it also appeared as a pattern of light and shade on a large television screen. The
     pattern of bright lines and dark bands looked like a kind of map, and though it meant
     nothing to Johnny’s untrained eye, it obviously conveyed a good deal to the scientists.
     They watched it intently every time it flashed on the screen, and occasionally they
     adjusted controls that brightened some areas and darkened others.
    Suddenly, the Professor noticed Johnny, turned off the sound, and swiveled around
     in his seat. However, he did not switch off the picture, which continued flashing
     silently and steadily with such hypnotic rhythm that Johnny’s eyes kept coming back
     to it.
    All the same, he made the most of this first opportunity of studying Professor Kazan.
     The scientist was a plump, gray-haired man in his late fifties; he had a kindly but
     rather distant expression, as if he wanted to be friends with everyone, yet preferred
     to be left with his own thoughts. As Johnny was to discover, he could be excellent
     company when he relaxed, but at other times he would seem to be somewhere else altogether,
     even when he was talking to you. It was not that he bore much resemblance to the “absent-minded
     professor” of the popular imagination; no one could be less absent-minded than Professor
     Kazan when it came to dealing with practical matters. He seemed to be able to operate
     on two levels at once: part of his mind would be coping with the affairs of everyday
     life, and another part would be wrestling with some profound scientific problem. No
     wonder, therefore, that he often appeared to be listening to some inner voice that
     no one else could hear.
    “Sit down, Johnny,” he began. “Dr. Keith radioed about you while I was over on the
     mainland. I suppose you realize just how lucky you’ve been?”
    “Yes, sir,” answered Johnny, with considerable feeling.
    “We’ve known for centuries that dolphins sometimes help humans to shore—in fact, such
     legends go back for over two thousand years, though no one took them very seriously
     until our time. But you weren’t merely pushed to land; you were carried a hundred
     miles.
    “On top of that, you were brought directly to
us
. But why? This is what we’d very much like to know. I don’t suppose you have any
     ideas?”
    Johnny was flattered by the question, but could do little to answer it.
    “Well,” he said slowly, “they must have known that