by John Blaine
“You’re right!” Zircon hurried to the controls and headed the Swift Arrow south. Gradually he opened the throttles until, at a safe distance from the island, the MTB was moving at full-cruising speed. Only then did the four take time to talk.
“Any radio contact?”Rick demanded.
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Zircon’s wide grin answered him.
“Are they all right?” Scotty yelled.
“Yes. Want to say hello?”
Rick jumped for the radio unit the scientist held out, and plugged in the earphone. Scotty took Chahda’s set.
“Rick and Scotty here,” Rick called. “Do you hear us?”
Tony Briotti’s familiar voice answered.“Rick and Scotty! You two young cliff hangers! What took you so long to get back? Zircon kept us posted, and we were worried sick. We kept watching the village, expecting you to be hauled in as prisoners.”
Rick explained about the unfavorable wind, and Scotty added, “Besides, we took it easy crossing the volcano. We hammered spikes in a few rough places to make it easier when we come back for you.”
“You can’t,” Tony said swiftly. “Boys, believe me, we’re grateful for the attempt, but you can’t get away with it. There’s a lookout in position to see us at all times, and there’s no way you can sneak up on him.
I’ve told Zircon this. You must not try!”
“How is Dr. Shannon?” Rick asked.
“Fine.We’re all fine, although we could use a bath and some home cooking. But don’t try to change the subject, Rick. You must not try to get us out of here. You’d end up in this prison, if not dead.”
Rick could see that the conversation was leading nowhere, and he knew now that the scientists were all right. “We’re tired, Tony,” he said wearily. “It’s been a rough night.”
“All right, boys. One of us will be awake at all times, so call us whenever you wish.”
Zircon looked at them anxiously as they put the radio units away.“How about it? Is Tony right?”
“Right as radishes,” Rick assented. “The lookout is where we can’t reach him, except with a gun, and the noise of a shot would defeat us. I’m sure there’s some way out of this, but I can’t think straight. I’m too tired.”
“Below and into your bunks, both of you,” Zircon commanded. “Chahda and I will stand by until we’re in safe waters, then we can all get some sleep.”
Rick needed no second invitation. He was asleep in five minutes. Hours later a ray of sun through the porthole woke him out of deep, dreamless slumber. He stretched luxuriously. A wash and a cold drink would be just right, he decided, and wondered how long he had been asleep. His watch told him it wastwo thirty in the afternoon.
He got to his feet and saw that Scotty was out of his bunk, probably on deck. Chahda was sleeping quietly, even though the swinging quiver Rick had placed on a hook near the bunk struck him in the elbow every time the boat rolled.
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Rick lifted the quiver down and started to hang it where Chahda wouldn’t be bothered. He paused, brows furrowed. He had the answer to their problem in his hands. An arrow was silent.
He shook his head and put the quiver away. It would mean putting a hunting arrow through the guard’s head without warning. He knew perfectly well he was incapable of killing a man in cold blood, no matter what the provocation. It would be an easy shot, but one he would never make.
Zircon and Scotty were relaxed on deck when Rick joined them after a quick shower. They greeted him soberly.
“Did you dream the right answer?” Scotty asked.
“Didn’t dream at all,” he retorted. “I’ve had only one idea, and it won’t do.” He told them about the bow.
Zircon smiled understandingly. “I quite agree, Rick. I couldn’t do it either, even if I had the skill.” He changed the subject. “I talked with Howard while you were sleeping. He agrees with Tony. We must not make the try.”
“Let’s not give up,” Scotty pleaded. “We haven’t explored every possible idea.”
“True,” Zircon agreed. “Rick, you don’t know all that Tony and Howard told us. It seems there was a reason behind their kidnaping after all.”
“What?”
“Yes. Remember the missing Filipino boy fromManila ? Elpidio Torres? Seems he’s a young naturalist.
He ran away from home to join Shannon and Briotti when he read of their expedition in the papers. And how do you suppose he did it?”
The light dawned. “Of course,The young Moro guide!” Rick exclaimed. “I get it now. The pirates weren’t after our boys at all. They were after the Torres kid. Only to get him, they had to grab Briotti and Shannon, too!”
“Exactly right.Tony and Howard didn’t even know who he was. They hired him in good faith. Then, when the pirates showed up in the Bagobo village, they tried to defend the boy and got taken, too. They were brought here in the rented sailboat, along with the Torres boy. The sailboat was repainted and taken intoIndonesia to be sold. Now, Tony says, the pirates are getting restless. If the ransom for the Torres boy isn’t forthcoming in a few days, they may all vanish for good.”
Rick swallowed hard. There must be a way to get that guard! He looked at Scotty. “Could you bean that lookout with a stone from a sling?”
Scotty shook his head. “Angle and range are wrong. I might be lucky, but I might not. If not, there goes the ball game. Of course I could make a sling easily enough.”
The boys referred to the ancient variety of sling, rather than the modern slingshot. Both were adept in its use, although Scotty was the better shot.
Scotty continued, “Why does a bowshot have to be lethal? You’ve got some blunt arrows.”
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The moment the words “blunt arrows” were spoken Rick’s mind went into high gear. The arrows in the quiver wouldn’t do; at that range, with so powerful a bow, even a blunt arrow in the head would kill. But if he could somehow give the arrow a broader and blunter head, so the impact would be spread over a greater area, it could stun without killing.
“Professor, get the details on when the lookout is changed and anything else that might he useful,” Rick said quickly. “I think I’ve got an idea that will work, thanks to Scotty’s comment.”
He hurried below, went forward, and rummaged around in the rope locker. He moved to the paint locker and examined everything within reach. There was nothing suitable. Disappointed, he went on deck and examined the superstructure. A wooden barrel plug would be ideal, but they didn’t have a barrel aboard. There was only a fifty-gallon steel drum used as a spare fuel supply. If worst came to worst, he could fashion a head from a piece of the fender board. Then his eyes suddenly fell on the flagstaff astern and he let out a yell of delight.
Scotty and Zircon watched as he unshipped the staff from its holder and pulled it down. It had a gilded sphere about the size of a baseball on top. Rick tested it anxiously. It was glued tightly.
“Scotty!” Zircon bellowed. “There’s a saw in the tool chest, and I believe I saw a brace and bits.”
Both Scotty and Zircon had seen instantly what Rick was after. The large, smooth ball would spread the arrow’s impact over a greater area. Scotty returned in a moment with the tools, and sawed the ball off.
Then Rick got a blunt arrow from the quiver and cut the metal tip off with his knife. He bored a hole of the proper size in the base of the ball. The arrow fitted perfectly.
Rick tested the balance of the now-ungainly arrow and shook his head. “I’m not sure I can hit anything with it.”
“Get the bow!” Zircon commanded. “Scotty, put a screw through the base of the ball to hold it on the shaft. I’m going to rig a backstop so Rick can practice.”
The scientist found a tarpaulin and strung it up like a curtain across the stern. At the center of the tarpaulin he pinned a work glove.
Rick studied the setup. The canvas would give, absorbing the shock of the arrow and allowing it to fall on deck. It would be all right. He didn’t want t
o chance losing the ball.
He consulted with Scotty, and they paced off the approximate distance he would have to shoot, then he climbed on the pilothouse roof to get the proper elevation. Spreading the bow a few times to loosen his muscles, he began to practice.
The arrow was terribly nose heavy, and its whole response to the bow was changed. At first he missed by two or three feet. Then, as he continued to practice, his accuracy began to improve.
He stopped after a while and had a coke. “Illnever be able to shoot a normal arrow again,” he complained.
Scotty grinned. “Make this shot and you’ll never have to shoot again.”
By the time Chahda emerged, rubbing sleep from his eyes, Rick was on target. Four out of five shots hit the glove. Then, nine out of ten were in the palm.
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Zircon called a halt, took the glove from the tarp, and slipped it on. He tucked a folded handkerchief into the glove,then stood with hand outstretched before the tarp. “Hit it,” he invited.
“I’ll hurt you,” Rick objected.
“No. My hand will give with the arrow. I want an idea of the impact.”
Rick nodded. He nocked the arrow, took a firm stance, and drew. For an instant he held, then loosed smoothly.
The ball smacked into the scientist’s hand. The scientist swung lightly with the blow and stood grinning, the ball and its projecting shaft held firmly in his hand.
“A real beanball ,” Zircon boomed. “It will do, Rick. Now check your equipment and put it away. We have to make plans.”
Rick realized the professor had chosen an apt simile when he said beanball . Like a fast ball hurled by a big-league pitcher, the arrow could be caught in the hand, but would knock for a loop anyone it hit in the head. Now all he had to do was shoot straight just one time.
Zircon gathered the boys around him. “Tony says the lookout changes at sundown, and again sometime near dawn. So, if we make our try as soon after dark as possible, well have until dawn to return. And this time, there will be no beating to windward with the vinta. We’ll take it in as you did last night. But when it’s time to leave, Chahda will come after us in the big boat. Meanwhile, we say nothing to Tony and Howard. We’ll explain after we’ve landed.”
The Hindu boy looked pained. “I not go?”
Zircon put a hand gently on the boy’s wounded shoulder. “You can’t climb without opening that shoulder, Chahda. So you’re elected to operate the boat. You’ll keep your own radio set and we’ll call you in when we’re ready to be taken off. And when we call, come a-running!”
“That I will do,” Chahda promised.
“Right.Now, from your description of the climb, boys, I think we need a few rope ladders. Let’s get started making them!”
CHAPTER XVIII
Under Cover of Darkness
Hobart Zircon’s usually booming voice couldn’t have been heard more than two yards away as he spoke into the tiny Megabuck radio unit.
“We’re starting down the western slope of the volcano. How are things, Tony?”
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Rick and Scotty, their ears close to the tiny earphone Zircon held out, heard Briotti’s reply. The kidnaped scientists had given up trying to dissuade them.
“Everything normal,Hobart.The lookout is settling down now. He’s one of the regulars. He relaxes completely as a sleeping cat, but he’s wide awake. Don’t let his appearance deceive you.”
“We won’t,” Zircon promised. “We’ll call you again as we get into the danger zone.Chahda?”
The Hindu boy answered instantly. “Here.”
“Fine.Keep listening and you’ll know how we’re doing.”
“Will do.Tell Rick shoot straight.”
Rick grinned. It was good advice. Nevertheless, apprehension had kept him in a sweat. He had never before been in a position where success or failure- and probably all their lives-hung on a single shot.
Scotty put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “This is just another shot, old son. You’ve made far tougher ones on the course back home.”
“He’s right.” Hobart Zircon added. “You showed this afternoon that you could hit a small target with that unwieldly club you invented. Let’s go.”
Scotty took the lead, following the route he and Rick had explored the night before. Rick followed close on his heels, and Zircon brought up the rear. In spite of his bulk, the scientist was light-footed and silent.
They reached a point where the boys had tied a rope to a boulder the night before and now they paused to attach the rope ladder Rick carried. It was one of four they had fashioned. Two already had been placed. Zircon carried the last one. Scotty went down first, with Zircon following cautiously.
The ropes creaked, but held. Zircon stepped to firm ground and Rick followed down the ladder. They negotiated a bend in the trail,then Scotty stopped and held up his hand.
Rick took Shannon’s bow from the quiver. While he was getting ready, Zircon made a last check with Tony and Chahda. When Rick signaled, Scotty led the way down the last few dozen yards of steep lava to the final shelf.
There, justout of sight of the guard, Scotty un-slung his rifle . The dark-haired boy went forward and peered over the edge of rock that shielded them. For a long moment he surveyed the scene below,then backed away. Rick caught his gesture. It was time.
He had planned how he would do this. He couldn’t shoot in a lying-down position, and kneeling would expose him to the guard just as surely as standing upright would do-if the guard happened to be looking.
So, he would shoot while standing erect. His accuracy would be better that way.
Rick fitted the arrow’s nock to the bowstring, got his fingers in position to draw, and flexed the bow slightly. Then, taking a deep breath, he stepped calmly forward to the edge of rock.
It took only three steps to bring him within sight of the guard. He had a quick vision of a black velvet cap, hunched shoulders, and a rifle held casually across the knees. He drew smoothly, held for the Page 71
briefest instant, and released the shaft.
Scotty was at his side, rifle ready,the moment the shaft left the bow.
It wasn’t necessary. Rick had an instant’s impression of sound, like a baseball slapping into a catcher’s mitt. The guard didn’t even move from his position. His shoulders slumped a little more and his head went forward between his knees. He stayed that way. The arrow skittered across the stone shelf and stopped.
Rick knew his aim had been a little off. The ball had caught the guard behind the ear, instead of directly in the back of the head. Cold sweat bathed the boy at the nearness of it. He had almost missed!
But there wasn’t time to think about that now. Scotty and Zircon were already moving into action. The big scientist unwound the rope ladder from around his waist while Scotty drove spikes into a cleft in the lava. His wooden mallet, muffled with cloth padding, made only a dull, almost inaudible sound.
Zircon secured the end of the ladder to the spikes,then put his weight on it, testing. It held. He moved forward, and lowered the free end over the cliff.
Rick and Scotty stood by to give a hand to the men on the ledge below. They were already on their way, Howard Shannon first.
Rick eyed the village anxiously. He was sure they were practically invisible against the dark lava, but he wouldn’t feel secure until they had moved out of sight.
Shannonreached the top, and Rick and Scotty helped him over. A Filipino boy was next up, and Rick knew this must be the famous Elpidio Torres. The boy came up the ladder like a sailor and scrambled over the top without help.
Tony Briotti was last. The youthful archaeologist wasted no time in swarming up the ladder to the top, and in a moment the six of them were shaking hands in silent glee.
Scotty pulled the ladder up, so it wouldn’t be seen dangling, then whispered urgently, “Let’s get going.”
By prearrangement, Scotty led the way with Zircon next in line, followed by Shannon, Briotti, and the Fil
ipino boy, with Rick bringing up the rear. He paused long enough to unstring the bow and put it back in the quiver.
As the group paused before making the difficult stage of the journey around the cone, Rick took the Megabuck unit from Tony. In the excitement no one had called Chahda.
“On our way back now, Chahda,” Rick said calmly.“All six of us.”
The Hindu boy’s yell of triumph and relief almost shattered Rick’s eardrum. He whispered, “Stow it, you wild Indian. You’ll ruin my hearing.”
“Sorry,” Chahda said, but he didn’t sound it. “Hurry back now. I wait for word to come.”
Rick followed as the group started off again. He wondered how the guard was doing. By all reckoning, the man should still be unconscious. He’d better be!
The party reached the eastern slope of the volcano, directly under the cone, and started the last descent.
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The rope ladders made the trip comparatively easy, except for the final drop before the ground leveled off somewhat. It was a rough stretch, too long for a ladder. A single rope had been saved for the purpose. Rick took it from Scotty and made it fast around a spike they had driven earlier. Zircon was the first to use it. He went down swiftly, keeping hold of the rope in case of a slip.
Scotty followed, thenShannon . The lanky zoologist was halfway down when Rick felt the rope tighten with a jerk and he heardShannon ’s choked cry of pain. Rick rechecked to be sure the rope was secure, then motioned to Briotti and the Filipino boy. “Go on. We’ve got to get down to him.”
Scotty and Zircon, climbing back from below, reachedShannon ’s side before Rick and the others could get there. In a few moments the six were clustered together.
“A rock turned under me,”Shannon explained. “I felt the bone snap in my leg. You’d better go on. You can send help back to me later.”
“Nonsense,” Zircon grated. “Boys, what can we use for a splint?”
Rick was already pulling arrows out of the quiver. “These are Dr. Shannon’s. I’m sure he won’t mind if we use them.”