"You told us the answers in Baguio," Rick reminded him. "Lazada told Nangolat he couldn't refuse a permit--which we never got, by the way--but that he would hinder us in other ways. Nangolat thinks Lazada is his friend, all right. Lazada must have told him that our real plans were to carry off the golden skull, probably to America. And why?"

"Because Lazada wants Ifugaos to ma.s.sacre us after we have located skull," Chahda said. "That way, no witness. Dead men not telling stories on witness stand. Then Lazada and Nast shoot poor Nangolat and take stuff. Or something like that."

"Nice people," Rick commented.

The Sky Wagon was crossing the ridge. Soon they would be back on the scene. Chahda got into the rear seat, ready to throw the message and bags out through the access hatch.

"Wait until I signal," Rick reminded him, and put the Sky Wagon into a dive. He followed the road for a distance, then saw the truck and used that for a landmark. As he flashed past the Spindrift refuge he saw that the Ifugao warriors were in a semicircle around the edge of the meadow.

Apparently the siege was still on. Now to drop the message. He gauged his distance and alt.i.tude. He wanted to be sure the message landed within reach.

"Get ready," he called, and circled until he was headed directly at the recess. When a crash into the terrace wall seemed imminent he yelled, "Now," and zoomed up into a screaming wing over. When he circled again, Tony and Scotty were reading the message.

The second time around, Chahda dropped the bags. Then there was a wait while Scotty and Angel set up the pickup poles.

The Ifugaos were obviously curious, nor were they the only ones. Rick saw Lazada, Nast, and the rest of their party emerge from the village and walk to a place on the terrace just beyond the meadow. They could not be seen by anyone within the recess, but they could watch what was going on in the meadow.

Scotty knew that Rick could not make pickups while flying toward the recess, so he was setting up the poles in such a way that Rick could fly parallel to the terrace wall in which the recess was located.

The pickup was very simple. Each bag was attached to a circle of cable about eight feet in diameter. When ready for pickup, the bag was put on the ground between the two poles and its cable was placed on angle irons at the tops of the poles. The cable was not anch.o.r.ed. The only purpose of the poles was to lift the cable far enough off the ground for convenient pickup.

Soon the first bag was in place and Scotty and Tony retired to the recess to watch. Rick pushed a b.u.t.ton on his control board and the cable in the rear of the plane unwound. It was heavy, woven steel, terminating in a weighted six-inch hook.

Rick knew from many previous pickups the alt.i.tude at which to fly. He circled for the run, dropped to the correct alt.i.tude, and glued the plane's nose on the poles. The Sky Wagon pa.s.sed over the poles, and the hook on its cable caught the cable stretched between the poles. That cable slid off the supports. The fast-moving plane took up the slack and the bag of artifacts was jerked from the ground. A touch of the b.u.t.ton and the electric motor reeled it in. Chahda pulled the bag through the hatch, unhooked it, and put it in the luggage compartment. They were ready for another run.

Tony had dug up enough stuff for seven bags. That was a lot of artifacts. Each time Rick asked, "Was that one the skull?" And Chahda would shake his head.

The seventh bag was the skull. Rick was sure because of the clasped-hands wave Scotty gave him, and because Tony did not retreat into the recess. As Rick turned for his run he saw the sleek form of a military plane slip past. Help had arrived. He sighed his relief and held up his run to watch. The plane buzzed the Ifugaos and dropped a container with streamers attached. An Ifugao--Rick thought it was Nangolat--ran to get it.

Rick could imagine what the note said. "Do not attempt further harm to the Americans or your village will be bombed." Or some similar threat.

Nangolat might not like it, but he would obey.

"Here we go," Rick said. He put the Sky Wagon on course and held it steady. The poles pa.s.sed from sight and there was a strong jerk on the plane. That skull was heavy.

"Bag tearing! Reel in!" Chahda yelled.

Rick pushed the b.u.t.ton and the winch whined, then suddenly screamed as the load was released. Gone! The skull was gone! He swung in a vertical bank just in time to see Nast lift the bag to his shoulder. Rick pounded the seat beside him with helpless rage!

The golden skull had fallen within reach of Nast and Lazada; it was in the hands of the enemy. Rick swung in a tight circle and saw them run to the station wagon and climb in.

"They waste no time," Chahda said bitterly. "That Lazada, he move fast."

"We'll never see that skull again," Rick muttered. "What rotten luck!"

The Hindu boy's face tightened with determination. "We get that skull back. Rick, fly to Bontoc. Open throttle wide and let us go!"

"There's nothing we can do at Bontoc," Rick objected. "No one there, or in Baguio either, would dare question Lazada."

"Go to Bontoc," Chahda urged. "Leave this to me, Rick. Chahda will take over."

"But what can you do?"

"I will know when the chance comes. You and Scotty will be ready.

Somehow, some place, we will get our chance--and the golden skull will be ours again!"

CHAPTER XIX

The Nipa Hut

Colonel Felix Rojas paced the floor of Tony Briotti's room in the Manila Hotel. He was in uniform now, but his visit, as he made quite clear, was not official. At least not yet.

Rick had just finished relating the story of how the golden skull had fallen into the hands of Lazada. "Can't you just go to him and demand the skull?" he asked.

Rojas smiled sadly. "If only it were that simple. Suppose two Malays arrived at your Department of Defense and claimed that your a.s.sistant Secretary of the Interior had stolen a valuable Indian necklace from an archaeological expedition. What would happen?"

Rick knew perfectly well what would happen. "They would get thrown out--if they could get anyone to listen to them in the first place."

"Exactly. The situation is not particularly different, except that I'm sure we pay more attention to Americans here than you would to Malays in your country. After all, you owned us for nearly half a century."

"You warned us," Scotty said. "Why?"

Rojas shrugged. "I may as well be frank. I knew of Nangolat's visits to Lazada. In fact, I was present at one meeting. And I knew that our esteemed a.s.sistant Secretary was hungry for that buried gold. If I could prove some of the things I know about that man, he would no longer hold public office. He would be in jail. My hands were tied, officially, but unofficially I tried to warn you. I couldn't come right out and denounce Lazada."

"Of course not," Tony agreed. "We're grateful that you were able to say as much as you did."

Rojas nodded. "Let us continue. After you flew back to Bontoc, what happened?"

Rick picked up his tale. "Pilipil was on the mountain, waiting. We dropped down and signaled for him to go to Banaue in the jeep, then we landed at Bontoc and picked up the other jeep. Chahda became an Igorot again. He took the jeep and started for Baguio right away, while I stayed behind in Bontoc."

"I don't get the point of that," Rojas interrupted.

"Chahda intended to follow Lazada or Nast, whoever had the skull. They were coming over the mountain in a fast station wagon, and there were only two routes they could take--north to the Kalinga country, or south to Baguio. We didn't think they would go north. So Chahda started for Baguio, knowing that they would probably catch up to him before the jeep reached the Baguio gate. They were in so much of a hurry that they would not suspect an Igorot who pulled to the side of the one-lane road to let them pa.s.s him, which would make trailing them easier."

"Smart," Rojas said. "Then your friends arrived at Bontoc late that afternoon, and you flew them back to Baguio, leaving Angel Manotok to bring the truck."

"Yes. Of course we paid off Pilipil, Balaban, and the Igorots who had guarded the plane. Dog Meat rode back with Angel."

"And you haven't heard from your Hindu friend since?"

"No."

Rojas picked up his cap. "I would like very much to find Lazada with that golden skull in his possession. It would be a major service to the Philippines, because it would give the Secretary and the President positive grounds for his dismissal. I ask a favor. If you hear from your friend, will you let me know?"

"First thing," Tony Briotti promised.