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, 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 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?"
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 rea.s.suring 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 unwieldy 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, just out of sight of the guard, Scotty unslung 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 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, m.u.f.fled 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.
Shannon reached 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 Filipino 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!