like some of those we've seen."

Zircon found a position, too, and Rick searched for one that he liked.
He finally chose a place where a broken rock pile would give him cover.
It was so dark now that he could scarcely see.

There were plenty of noises down the hill, but no firing. Rick waited,
rifle thrust out before him. Were they gathering for a rush? And who
were they? Then he heard the noise of a dislodged pebble on the hillside
below him. He strained to see, but it was too dark. He thought: If only
I had the infrared light and the glasses! They were in one of the packs.
Stupid not to have thought of them at once, he berated himself. Now he
didn't dare leave his position until he found out what was below.

There was the sound of a body sliding over low brush almost directly
beneath him. He tensed, then as an afterthought, he reached into his
pocket and brought out the flashlight. With it, he thought, he could
blind the attacker and at the same time get a shot at him. He put his
thumb on the button and waited.

In a moment a figure loomed out of the darkness only a few feet away.
Rick sucked in his breath and half lifted his rifle for a one-hand shot.
At the same moment, he pressed the flashlight button.

The beam shot squarely into the face of Worthington Ko!

Rick put down his rifle quickly to extend a helping hand to the
merchant. And then he noticed something.

Shoot a light into the eyes of a man whose pupils are dilated by
darkness and there is a definite reaction. If the eyes are normal, the
pupils contract sharply.

One of Ko's did. Rick saw them, magnified by the thick glasses. The
other pupil didn't change at all.

And as the fact registered, Rick saw something else. In one of Ko's
hands was a grenade!

In the instant that Rick grabbed up his rifle and swung it like a club,
he guessed the answer.

_Ko was the Chinese with the glass eye!_

CHAPTER XI

The Goatskin Water Bag

Several things happened almost at the same time. The attackers awoke to
the fact that Rick's light made a good target and started shooting. Rick
dropped the flashlight as his rifle, swung with one hand, barrel
forward, connected solidly with the top of Ko's head. Scotty jumped to
see what was happening.

The grenade rolled from Ko's hand, and as it did, the safety handle flew
off! Ko already had pulled the pin!

A musket slug cracked into the rock inches from Rick's face and sent
chips of stone into his face.