5. The Professor Finds the Answer

The Professor is standing by the window.
"Hello Curly. Hello Boysie. I spotted you through my new telescope. Isn't she a beauty?"

"It certainly looks a very fine telescope," replies Curly.

"It's probably one of the most powerful telescopes in the whole world," says the Professor. "I built it myself, you know. Would you like to take a peep through it?"

Boysie doesn't like to say that the telescope looks no more powerful than the ones you can buy in shops. Curly puts her eye to the telescope and almost falls over in surprise. "Look here, Boysie! You can see the rock pool where the crab spoke to me!"

Boysie takes his turn and exclaims, "Gosh! I bet you could see the Man in the Moon with this."

"If there was a Man in the Moon," says the Professor, "I'm quite sure we could see him."
"Actually," the Professor continues, "I did see some strange objects in the sky last night."

"Strange objects? What sort of strange objects?" enquires Curly.

"I'm sure I don't know," replies the Professor. "They were just... um... well... sort of strange."

"Could they have been flying saucers?" asks Boysie.

"They may have been. Who knows? Now, you didn't come to see me about things in the sky."

"No, Professor," says Curly. "We wanted to ask you if you know where the sea has gone."

The Professor rubs his chin. "I didn't know the sea had gone anywhere."

"A crab told us that the tide should be in by now. Take a look through your telescope. You will see that the tide is still out."

"You're right!" says the Professor. "I knew there was something wrong but I couldn't think what it was. How strange!"
He takes a small book from a shelf. "Let me look at my Tide Tables."
He turns the pages and then says: "Ah ha! Yes! The crab is right. High tide should have been one hour ago. This is indeed a strange mystery."

"Where do you think the sea has gone?" asks Curly. "Could it have gone down a giant plug hole?"

"No, no," laughs the Professor. "The earth is solid. Even if there was a drain there would be nowhere for the water to go."

"Perhaps someone is stealing the sea," suggests Boysie.

"I don't think that's very likely, Boysie, but I may be wrong. Now let me think."
The Professor rubs his chin again. "The moon causes the tides. If the moon moved away the tides would stop. No, it can't be the moon."

"Why do you say that?" asks Curly.

"The moon is where it should be. Look. You can see it, even in daylight. Perhaps Boysie is right and someone is stealing the sea."

"This is terrible!" says Curly. "If all the water goes we won't be able to paddle."

"I think that paddling is the least of our worries," replies the Professor. "What about the fish and the whales and the boats?"

"What can we do?" asks Curly. "We must be able to do something."

The Professor looks through his telescope and spots something. "Well, well, well. I think I see what is happening."

"What is it?" asks Curly. "What have you seen?"

"The river is flowing backwards. Take a look."

Curly looks through the telescope. "It looks all right to me."

"What can you see?" asks the Professor. "Can you see a branch of a tree?"

"Yes," Curly replies, "It's floating on the water."

"And which way is it going? Towards the sea or away from the sea?" asks the Professor.

"Away from the sea! That must mean that the river is flowing backwards!" exclaims Curly.

"If the river is flowing backwards," says Boysie, "then it must be taking the water from the sea!"

"You're right," says the Professor, "So now we know what is happening but we don't know why it is happening."

"How shall we find out?" asks Curly.

"I will ring some other professors to see if they can offer any suggestions," says the Professor.

"What can we do to help?" asks Curly. "We ought to be doing something."

"Grimblegrot will fly you to the river in my helicopter," says the Professor. "I will come and see you off. If you start investigating, I will try to meet you later."