CHAPTER XVII
The Radio Link
Dawn was showing its first pale light in the east when Rick and Scottytied the vinta at the stern of the _Swift Arrow_ and climbed aboard.Hobart Zircon and Chahda greeted them with relief.
"We thinking you lost or caught," Chahda said happily. "Glad we wrong."
Zircon added, "We were about to make a run toward shore, hoping to seeyou."
"It was the wind," Scotty said wearily. "We had to beat to windward allthe way back. Did you ever try tacking a vinta for hours against a stiffbreeze?"
Rick slumped down on a convenient bench. "Save the talk for later. We'dbetter get out of here. It's nearly daylight."
"You're right!" Zircon hurried to the controls and headed the _SwiftArrow_ south. Gradually he opened the throttles until, at a safedistance 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.
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 inthe 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 youngcliff 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 tobe 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 roughplaces to make it easier when we come back for you."
"You can't," Tony said swiftly. "Boys, believe me, we're grateful forthe attempt, but you can't get away with it. There's a lookout inposition to see us at all times, and there's no way you can sneak up onhim. 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 homecooking. But don't try to change the subject, Rick. You must not try toget 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 knewnow that the scientists were all right. "We're tired, Tony," he saidwearily. "It's been a rough night."
"All right, boys. One of us will be awake at all times, so call uswhenever you wish."
Zircon looked at them anxiously as they put the radio units away. "Howabout it? Is Tony right?"
"Right as radishes," Rick assented. "The lookout is where we can't reachhim, except with a gun, and the noise of a shot would defeat us. I'msure there's some way out of this, but I can't think straight. I'm tootired."
"Below and into your bunks, both of you," Zircon commanded. "Chahda andI will stand by until we're in safe waters, then we can all get somesleep."
Rick needed no second invitation. He was asleep in five minutes. Hourslater a ray of sun through the porthole woke him out of deep, dreamlessslumber. He stretched luxuriously. A wash and a cold drink would be justright, he decided, and wondered how long he had been asleep. His watchtold him it was two thirty in the afternoon.
He got to his feet and saw that Scotty was out of his bunk, probably ondeck. Chahda was sleeping quietly, even though the swinging quiver Rickhad placed on a hook near the bunk struck him in the elbow every timethe boat rolled.
Rick lifted the quiver down and started to hang it where Chahda wouldn'tbe bothered. He paused, brows furrowed. He had the answer to theirproblem in his hands. An arrow was silent.
He shook his head and put the quiver away. It would mean putting ahunting arrow through the guard's head without warning. He knewperfectly well he was incapable of killing a man in cold blood, nomatter what the provocation. It would be an easy shot, but one he wouldnever make.
Zircon and Scotty were relaxed on deck when Rick joined them after aquick 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 itwon't do." He told them about the bow.
Zircon smiled understandingly. "I quite agree, Rick. I couldn't do iteither, even if I had the skill." He changed the subject. "I talked withHoward while you were sleeping. He agrees with Tony. We must not makethe try."
"Let's not give up," Scotty pleaded. "We haven't explored every possibleidea."
"True," Zircon agreed. "Rick, you don't know all that Tony and Howardtold us. It seems there was a reason behind their kidnaping after all."
"What?"
"Yes. Remember the missing Filipino boy from Manila? Elpidio Torres?Seems he's a young naturalist. He ran away from home to join Shannon andBriotti when he read of their expedition in the papers. And how do yousuppose he did it?"
The light dawned. "Of course! The young Moro guide!" Rick exclaimed. "Iget it now. The pirates weren't after our boys at all. They were afterthe 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 hiredhim in good faith. Then, when the pirates showed up in the Bagobovillage, they tried to defend the boy and got taken, too. They werebrought here in the rented sailboat, along with the Torres boy. Thesailboat was repainted and taken into Indonesia to be sold. Now, Tonysays, the pirates are getting restless. If the ransom for the Torres boyisn'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 atScotty. "Could you bean that lookout with a stone from a sling?"
Scotty shook his head. "Angle and range are wrong. I might be lucky, butI might not. If not, there goes the ball game. Of course I could make asling easily enough."
The boys referred to the ancient variety of sling, rather than themodern slingshot. Both were adept in its use, although Scotty was thebetter shot.
Scotty continued, "Why does a bowshot have to be lethal? You've got someblunt arrows."
The moment the words "blunt arrows" were spoken Rick's mind went intohigh gear. The arrows in the quiver wouldn't do; at that range, with sopowerful a bow, even a blunt arrow in the head would kill. But if hecould somehow give the arrow a broader and blunter head, so the impactwould be spread over a greater area, it could stun without killing.
"Professor, get the details on when the lookout is changed and anythingelse that might be useful," Rick said quickly. "I think I've got an ideathat 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. Therewas nothing suitable. Disappointed, he went on deck and examined thesuperstructure. A wooden barrel plug would be ideal, but they didn'thave a barrel aboard. There was only a fifty-gallon steel drum used as aspare fuel supply. If worst came to worst, he could fashion a head froma piece of the fender board. Then his eyes suddenly fell on theflagstaff astern and he let out a yell of delight.
Scotty and Zircon watched as he unshipped the staff from its holder andpulled it down. It had a gilded sphere about the size of a baseball ontop. Rick tested it anxiously. It was glued tightly.
"Scotty!" Zircon bellowed. "There's a saw in the tool chest, and Ibelieve I saw a brace and bits."
Both Scotty and Zircon had seen instantly what Rick was after. Thelarge, 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. ThenRick got a blunt arrow from the quiver and cut the metal tip off withhis 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 baseof the ball to hold it on the shaft. I'm going to rig a backstop so Rickcan practice."
The scientist found a t
arpaulin and strung it up like a curtain acrossthe stern. At the center of the tarpaulin he pinned a work glove.
Rick studied the setup. The canvas would give, absorbing the shock ofthe arrow and allowing it to fall on deck. It would be all right. Hedidn't want to chance losing the ball.
He consulted with Scotty, and they paced off the approximate distance hewould have to shoot, then he climbed on the pilothouse roof to get theproper 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 waschanged. At first he missed by two or three feet. Then, as he continuedto practice, his accuracy began to improve.
He stopped after a while and had a coke. "I'll never be able to shoot anormal 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 ontarget. Four out of five shots hit the glove. Then, nine out of ten werein the palm.
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 handoutstretched 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 aninstant he held, then loosed smoothly.
The ball smacked into the scientist's hand. The scientist swung lightlywith the blow and stood grinning, the ball and its projecting shaft heldfirmly in his hand.
"A real beanball," Zircon boomed. "It will do, Rick. Now check yourequipment and put it away. We have to make plans."
Rick realized the professor had chosen an apt simile when he saidbeanball. Like a fast ball hurled by a big-league pitcher, the arrowcould be caught in the hand, but would knock for a loop anyone it hit inthe head. Now all he had to do was shoot straight just one time.
Zircon gathered the boys around him. "Tony says the lookout changes atsundown, and again sometime near dawn. So, if we make our try as soonafter dark as possible, we'll have until dawn to return. And this time,there will be no beating to windward with the vinta. We'll take it in asyou did last night. But when it's time to leave, Chahda will come afterus in the big boat. Meanwhile, we say nothing to Tony and Howard. We'llexplain 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 climbwithout opening that shoulder, Chahda. So you're elected to operate theboat. You'll keep your own radio set and we'll call you in when we'reready 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 afew rope ladders. Let's get started making them!"