Reading skills - IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES

     When the two men removed all the supplies from the plane, Jan Irwin said good-bye to his friend Walt.
     "Don't forget to give that letter to my wife", he said.

     I'll do it at once", Walt Leonard replied, smiling. "And you find us some uranium — it's just what Cele needs. It means money for her and your little son. And then try not to meet any huge bears here in the mountains. They are very dangerous!"

     Jim felt very unhappy as he watched the plane above him in the air. For three weeks he would be quite alone in this far-away place of the Canadian Rockies. If for any reason this plane did not return he would surely die. Even with enough food, no man could cross the frozen peaks and make his way on foot over hundreds of miles of wild country. But of course, Walt Leonard would return on time and the expedition would be successful. If there was any uranium in the mountains, he had twenty-one days to find it. Now he must work and not think of any bad things!

     As an experienced traveller he skilfully built a small shed against the wall of a large rock. For these three weeks of summer, nothing better was needed. Sweating in the strong morning sun, he put all his supply in the shed. All except dynamite for which he made a hole in the ground over a hundred metres away. Only a fool has his sleeping-place near a box of dynamite.

     The first two week passed all too qiuckly but he did not find any uranium. There was one more chance left, and just enough time to explore it. So early one morning towards the end of this third week, Jim Irwin prepared for his last expedition into the north-east region which he had not yet visited. He took the Geiger counter and put on the ear-phones. Then he took his rifkle and started, telling himself that he would use his last chance. The rifle was very heavy but - the brownish-yellow bears of Canada were no small danger and difficult to kill. He had already shot two, a very unpleasant thing as the big bears were disappearing all too fast. And the rifle had come to be of great use several times when the situation was risky. His pistol he left in the shed.

     The clear, frosty air and the bright sun on blue-white ice-fields made him feel happy. Therefore he was singing softly at the start in spite of the fact that he was not lucky in his looking for uranium. He planned to do a one day's journey to the new region, spend about thirty-six hours exploring it, and be back in time to meet the plane at noon. Except for his emergency packet he took no food or water. It would be easy enough to shoot some small animal, and the rivers were full of fish.

     All morning Jim walked, hoping for success every time the counter began working. But it always worked for a very short while. The region had nothing radioactive of value. It appeared they had chosen the wrong place. He no longer felt happy. And they needed success, especially Watt. And his wife, Cele, who was about to be a mother. But there was still a chance. He would use these last thirty-six hours — he would not sleep at night if necessary.

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