excitement of
trying to solve a mystery. Sometimes the success or failure of a project
had hung in the balance, but this one was different. The fate of an
island and nearly 32,000 people depended on solving the riddle of the
missing governor. Rick felt the weight of the responsibility.

The plan he and Scotty developed was simple and logical. They would
start with the governor's movements on the morning of his disappearance
and continue from there.

At the governor's residence they learned from his butler that Montoya
had left the house promptly at eight o'clock, as he did every morning.
He drove himself, in a small English car that he used for personal
transportation. But, as they knew from the visit to the executive
offices, he had never arrived.

The next stop was to determine his route. It wasn't difficult; there was
only one main road from the outskirts of Calor into town, although there
were many side streets.

With Honorario as interpreter, they began the time-consuming job of
questioning householders along the route.

Honorario was personally interested in the job. He had learned from them
of Connel's perfidy, and he said quietly, "Ruiz is my friend. We do not
yet know if he will live, or, if he lives, if he will be a whole man
again. I owe it to him to do my best in this matter. You may depend on
me."

Not until they had reached the outskirts of Calor did they find what had
happened. Through Honorario, an old lady who had seen it all through her
window told them the story.

"A big military truck was across the road," Honorario reported. "It was
keeping cars from passing. The little car of the governor came, and it
had to stop. An officer got in with the governor. The truck moved away
and the governor drove off. The old woman thinks the officer was
pointing a gun at the governor. She did not know it was the governor,
but her words to describe him were enough."

Rick whistled. "Military? Does that mean the governor got caught by some
kind of revolutionary group?"

Honorario shrugged. "Who knows? But I have heard of no revolution. The
governor is popular, and the people are satisfied. But you should know,
my friends, that on this island the _comandante_ of our small military
is the lieutenant governor. I think we are not dealing here with
revolution, but with Senor Jaime Guevara!"

"We're stuck," Scotty said. "I suppose we could keep on asking and try
to get a line on where the governor's car went, b