"We'll drive him off from the blockhouse. When he sees that we are well fortified, he is sure to withdraw until he can bring up more men. Your Wai Wais will have taken care of them. That's when we'll surprise him by dashing out to the boats and starting down the river."

They spent the rest of the day bringing the supplies in from the boats and putting the blockhouse into shape. The small windows of the square, squatty building were equipped with screens, but most of them were in poor condition. Mr. Brewster insisted upon repairing them first.

"Let's get fortified against mosquitoes and other insects for tonight," he suggested. "During the evening, we can strengthen the shutters and fix loopholes 168 .

so as to fight off Serbot and his pests tomorrow or whenever they come this way."

While the others worked late into the evening, Joe Nara strode about wearing a gun belt with two revolvers poking from its holsters, ready for trouble. Later Nara and his Wai Wais slept under netting on their monterias, so as to get a good rest.

In the blockhouse, the other members of the party took turns at guard duty through the night. At dawn, Jacome awakened Biff, who was scheduled to take over at that time. From one of the screened windows, Biff saw the squatty figures of Igo and Ubi emerge from Nara's monteria. They roused the other Indians, and soon were stealthily moving off among the trees, to seek a trail to the rapids.

The next few hours were the longest that Biff had ever experienced. The others woke up, had breakfast, and strolled about the camp. But the very air seemed charged with expectancy. It would probably be mid-afternoon, perhaps even later in the day, before a move came from the other camp-if a move came at all.

Mr. Brewster, Hal Whitman, and Jacome were all carrying their rifles, fully loaded, but that was purely a matter of precaution.

"Nara's party can't have reached the rapids yet," Mr. Brewster told Biff and Kamuka. "Even so, they won't make a move unless Serbot starts out with his main force. If he sends some men ahead, they PARTNERS IN CRIME 169.

may try some sniping so, naturally, we must be ready. But that will show their hand-"

A sudden interruption came from the surrounding trees, the blasts of a dozen guns or more. Mr. Brewster wheeled and fired back from the spot where he was standing, midway between the blockhouse and the boats. Mr. Whitman and Jacome were nearer the blockhouse. They turned and fired, too.

A bigger volley answered from a wider angle, accompanied by the whine of bullets that were high, but close. Whitman was shouting from near the blockhouse: "This way! Quick, or you'll be cut off! Serbot is here with his whole outfit!"

Amid new gunbursts, Mr. Brewster made a rapid decision. He pointed the boys to the sh.o.r.e and told them: "Quick! Get to Nara's monteria. Start it down the river, and don't stop until you reach Stannart's yacht!"

The boys were on their way, and Mr. Brewster was dashing back to the blockhouse, to join Whitman and Jacome. He made it safely, although he drew the fire of Serbot's followers, who were now visible as they came clambering, shouting, from the surrounding brush.

But Biff and Kamuka were now beyond the range of immediate gunfire when they boarded the monteria. Then they had the big motor started, and 170 .

the heavily loaded boat was plowing its way out to the middle of the Orinoco.

When Biff looked back, he saw tiny figures on the sh.o.r.e, but the boat was now half a mile away, too far for bullets to reach it.

"Serbot staged a surprise attack of his own," Biff told Kamuka, who was with him in the stern. "And Dad had promised Nara that he would get this *monterm down the river. So here we are!"

"Soon we reach rapids," was Kamuka's comment. "I better get ready so we can work like team."

The s.p.a.ce under the thatched cabin was stacked with packs as well as sacks of ore, so Kamuka didn't try to crawl through it to reach the bow of the boat. Instead, he scrambled over the low roof, picked up a paddle from the forward c.o.c.kpit, and waved back to Biff as he took his position.

Soon the white foam of the rapids showed ahead. Biff steered for what looked like the main channel, and the monteria was swept into a series of whirlpools that licked the sides of jutting black rocks. The contrast in color helped Kamuka ward off those obstacles, while Biff did some fancy piloting to keep to the channel.

Then, as Biff veered from a new hazard in the shape of a sandbank, he saw what he had feared most. Human figures rose from the tall gra.s.s beyond the sandy shoal and aimed rifles directly at the swift-moving boat and the boys who manned it.

They were Serbot's reserves, Biff realized, stationed PARTNERS IN CRIME 171.

here to block the flotilla if it came down the rapids, and Biff was sure he saw the gleaming face of Urubu in the midst of the group. Urubu was finding it an easy task with only a single monteria coming his way. He waved his hand as a signal to fire.

As the rifles barked, Biff gunned the motor, adding enough speed to carry the boat from the path of fire. But Urubu's crew was aiming again, this time at point-blank range. Fortunately their fire never came. The tall gra.s.s stirred behind them, and from it sprang Igo, Ubi, and the rest of Nara's Indians.

The Wai Wais had been stalking Urubu's riflemen to the edge of the sandbank. The first blast of gunfire had given away the position of Urubu's men. Now, the Wai Wais were engulfing them like a human tidal wave, while Biff and Kamuka resumed their battle with the rapids, keeping the big, clumsy boat clear of the rocks and sand.

Finally, the water subsided, and they were chugging peacefully down the river past the little settlement of Puerto Carreno and a great jutting point of sand where the Meta River flowed in from the left to join the Orinoco.

Kamuka waved his paddle and pointed ahead. Moored well away from the channel was a sleek white craft that could only be Mr. Stannart's yacht, the Coronet. Though small, it had a trim build that marked it seaworthy, capable of braving the Caribbean, yet also suited to river travel.

Smiling men in trim uniforms appeared on deck 172 .

as Biff maneuvered the monteria alongside the yacht. The boys made their boat fast and clambered up a rope ladder to find Mr. Stannart coming from his cabin to greet them. Biff introduced Kamuka, then started to pour out his story in one breath: "Dad's upriver in a lot of trouble. Old Joe Nara is somewhere along the rapids. But we've brought the gold ore from the mine, down there in the boat-"

Mr. Stannart smilingly interrupted with a wave toward the cabin as he suggested: "Step in there and tell me all about it. I have a friend who would like to hear it too. You will agree when you meet him-"

The boys entered the compact cabin, then stopped short in amazement. Mr. Stannart's friend was smiling, too, but in a way that was anything but pleasant. For both Biff and Kamuka had seen that fixed smile before.

The man who awaited them in the cabin was Nicholas Serbot!

CHAPTER XX.

The Tables Turn GRIPPED by utter astonishment, Biff could only stare from Serbot to Stannart. When he found his voice, he blurted out accusingly: "You two must have been working together from the very start!"

"Not quite," declared Mr. Stannart dryly, "although I must say that Mr. Serbot and I have continually operated along similar lines. However, it wasn't until after your father told the Ajax Corporation about Lew Kirby and his wonderful mine that I even heard of Nicholas Serbot."

"And I," rejoined Serbot, with his same fixed smile, "had never heard of the Ajax Mining Corporation."

"Despite the fact that your father was impressed by Kirby's story," Stannart told Biff, "Ajax still had to investigate it. Kirby had samples of gold that might have come from many places, and his map could have meant nothing. It was necessary to obtain some reports from the upper region of the Rio Negro. I learned 174 .

that certain European interests were checking on the same story."

"And I," added Serbot, "happened to represent some of those interests."

"So while the directors of the Ajax Corporation dawdled," continued Stannart, "I contacted the compet.i.tion. I had much to offer that they needed, as Mr. Serbot will agree."

"And I," said Serbot, "advised them to meet the price, which included-this."

By "this" Serbot referred to the stolen portion of Kirby's map, which he spread on the desk in front of him. Biff started to say something, then caught himself. Gregg Stannart recognized what was in Biff's mind and promptly expressed it.

"I needed a go-between," Stannart a.s.serted. "Some way to enable Serbot to use the information I could give him without bringing suspicion on myself."

"So you gave me that letter!" exclaimed Biff. He turned accusingly toward Serbot. "And you tried to steal it from me on the plane! It was all arranged beforehand!"

"All very nicely arranged," agreed Stannart, "because I wanted to keep my job with Ajax if the El Dorado story proved to be a hoax."

"Since I might have seen the address on the envelope you carried," Serbot told Biff, "you and your father guessed that I sent Pepito to steal your precious map, which was exactly what I wanted. What you didn't guess was that Stannart was in on the game. The funniest part"-for once, Serbot's smile seemed real- THE TABLES TURN 175.

"was that I had a carbon copy of Stannart's letter to your father, here in my pocket all the time!"

Biff swelled with indignation until he happened to glance toward Kamuka. All this talk had left Kamuka totally unimpressed. In Kamuka's eyes, Biff saw only the same appeal that had been present that day when Biff had pulled the other boy from the quicksand. Biff suddenly realized that now they both were in something equally deep and probably just as deadly. Since he couldn't say anything that would help, Biff said nothing.

Stannart turned to Serbot and put the question: "What should we do with these boys?"

"I don't know," returned Serbot harshly. "Maybe they should have upset their boat and drowned, coming down through those rapids. If something like that had happened-"

"No, no," Stannart interrupted. "Your men will have taken care of Brewster and his party by now. But we still need the boys to help us. Suppose we take them up the river, as far as the torn portion of your map-"

Stannart was leaning forward, pointing to the map with one hand, but he had his other hand in his pocket, as though gripping a gun.

"Of course!" exclaimed Serbot, who had one hand in a pocket, too. "Then they could take us back to where they came from, to this El Dorado that Nara talked about."

Both Stannart and Serbot were glaring hard at Biff as though now it was his turn to speak. Biff's throat 176 .

was dry, for he realized that these two men, in their desire for gold, would think nothing about snuffing out his life and Kamuka's. Somebody had to speak for Biff right then-and somebody did, from the door of the cabin.

"n.o.body talks about El Dorado," a crackly voice announced, "except Joe Nara, the man who owns it."

There in the doorway stood old Joe, both his guns drawn from their holsters, one fixed on Stannart, the other on Serbot. At Nara's nod, the two men brought their hands from their pockets empty. They knew the old man meant business.

"Pretty smart, both of you," Nara said. "I never even guessed your game, Stannart, probably because I never met you before. But having seen you now, I think I would have known you for a rat from away back.

"But I figured you out, Serbot. I knew what you were after-that cargo of mine. So I stayed with them." Nara gave his head a quick tilt, to smile at Biff and Kamuka. "Yes, boys, I sent my Wai Wais down to the rapids, while I stayed in the cabin of my monteria.

"Next thing I knew"-Nara gave a chuckle-"you were bringing me downriver, and a right good job you were making of it, too. Finally, you hauled up beside this yacht and went on board. When you didn't come back, I reckoned you might be needing old Joe, so I moseyed on board, and here I am."

Still keeping Stannart and Serbot covered with his guns, Nara shifted his elbow toward his hip pocket to indicate a coil of rope that projected there.

THE TABLES TURN 177.

"Take that rope," Nara told the boys, "and tie them up tight. Gag them, too, with their handkerchiefs. If they don't have any, use your own. Make a good job of it. I want them to be here when I send around for them."

Biff and Kamuka followed Nara's instructions eagerly. They did a good job with the gags, too, while Nara, brandishing his guns, kept talking to Stannart and Serbot in an accusing tone.

"I figured you out before I ever met you," declared Nara, "because I knew I'd be meeting up with rats some time, and you just happened to be it. You figured you'd get rid of me if you could, and even if you couldn't you'd jump my claim. After all, who was Joe Nara? Just some crazy guy who thought he'd found El Dorado.

"Crazy, yes, but like a fox. I came down the Orinoco more than once to make sure my claim was registered after each political shakeup in Venezuela. I didn't even take any chances on this last trip."

Nara paused, then chuckled as he turned to the boys who had finished tying Stannart and Serbot in their chairs.

"Remember how I dropped from sight in Puerto Ayacucho?" asked Nara. "Do you know where I was most of the day? Having lunch with His Excellency, the governor of the Amazonas Territory, that's where. I told him some people were trying to steal my claim. He said he wouldn't let them get away with it.

"After I left his office, I snooped around and hap- 178 .

pened to be handy when you ran into trouble with Urubu. I'd finished my business with the governor. He said if he didn't hear from me, he'd send some soldiers downriver to look me up."

Nara examined the knots that the boys had tied and gave an approving nod. He beckoned them out through the cabin door, which he closed behind him. The yacht's crew suspected nothing, for they helped Nara and the boys over the rail and down into their waiting monteria.

As they started up the broad Orinoco, Nara pointed to some boats that were coming toward them.

"Government boats," he chuckled, "bringing those soldiers I spoke about."

When they met the boats, they found the other monterias with them, manned by Biff's father, Mr. Whitman, and Jacome. The Venezuelan troops had arrived at the blockhouse during the battle and had helped rout Serbot's followers, who were commanded by Pepito.

In the rapids, they had contacted Nara's Wai Wais, who had overpowered and captured Urubu and his crew. Igo and Ubi would be along later, Mr. Brewster stated, bringing their prisoners with them.

"But we saw no sign of Serbot," declared Mr. Brewster. "I think we should offer a reward for his capture. I'll talk to Mr. Stannart about it, when I see him on the yacht."

"You better wait, Dad, rill we tell you what happened," Biff advised soberly.

THE TABLES TURN 179.

Mr. Brewster was shocked when he heard Biff's story. "I can hardly believe it!" he exclaimed. "Gregg Stannart, of all men! But now that I think of it," he added thoughtfully, "there's been a piece missing from the puzzle right along-and Stannart was it!" He shook his head. "I still can't believe it."

Now Mr. Brewster was more eager than anyone to take Stannart and Serbot into custody. As they approached the Coronet, they noticed excitement on the deck. Mr. Brewster studied the yacht through his binoculars and announced: "I see Stannart and Serbot, both of them. The crew must have found them in the cabin and released them."

A fast boat containing a squad of Venezuelan soldiers sped ahead to board the yacht. Sight of the military uniforms must have quenched any desire for fight in Stannart and Serbot, for suddenly a little motor launch scooted from the far side of the yacht and bounded through the choppy waves toward the left bank of the river.

Only Stannart and Serbot were in the tiny tender. The boat with the Venezuelan soldiers turned to pursue it, opening rifle fire, but the fugitives kept on. Then, just as it seemed sure they would be overtaken, the chase ended. The soldiers, about to fire at close range, suddenly lowered their rifles.

"It's too late," declared Mr. Brewster glumly. "They can't be captured now. They have pa.s.sed the middle of the river and are across the international line, in Colombian jurisdiction."

180 .

The captain of the yacht was astonished when told the reason for Stannart's flight. He and his crew had known nothing about Stannart's double-dealing. They had supposed that Serbot was simply a friend who had come on board to meet the owner. They had been puzzled to find the pair bound and gagged after Nara and the boys had left.

Stannart had claimed that Nara and the boys had tried to rob him. The yacht captain had accepted that explanation until Stannart and Serbot saw the Venezuelan soldiers and suddenly took flight. Then it was plain that something was wrong.

Contact was made with Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and from there, radiograms were relayed to and from New York. Word finally came from the directors of the Ajax Mining Corporation, stating that they had checked their accounts and found that Stannart had taken most of the available funds before starting on his Caribbean yacht trip.

The Ajax Corporation obtained an order enabling them to take over the Coronet, and the yacht was placed in Mr. Brewster's charge. They also authorized Mr. Brewster to complete the transaction with Joe Nara on whatever terms might be mutually satisfactory.

That was done on board the Coronet, which was still anch.o.r.ed near the junction of the Meta and the Orinoco. Mr. Brewster set the date when the Ajax Corporation would take over the mine with a down payment of a quarter of a million dollars to Joe Nara THE TABLES TURN 181.

and a block of El Dorado stock that would guarantee him a share of all future profits.

That same day, Joe Nara prepared to start back up the Orinoco with Igo, Ubi, and the other Wai Wais, who were eager to rejoin their fellow tribesmen as the guardians of El Dorado. Hal Whitman arranged to go along to represent the Ajax Company, taking Jacome with him. Kamuka packed his few belongings, expecting to accompany them. The Indian boy was saying a reluctant good-by to Biff on the deck of the yacht, when Mr. Brewster quietly commented: "You don't have to go, Kamuka, if you'd rather come with us."

Kamuka's eyes popped wide with eager surprise. Biff showed the same feeling, when he exclaimed, "You really mean it, Dad?"

"I do," rejoined Mr. Brewster. "Hal Whitman told me he has made plans to send Kamuka to a new school that is opening in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. But Hal can't possibly get down there for the next few weeks, or more. So there's no reason why Kamuka can't come home with us. Then he can fly to Brasilia after Mr. Whitman arrives there."

Biff turned and clapped Kamuka on the shoulder.

"Will we have fun, Kamuka! First, the yacht will take us out into the Atlantic Ocean-"

"I have heard of it," put in Kamuka. "They say it is bigger than a thousand Amazons."