nto the dark depths of
the lake. Rick was glad the reel of wire had a geared handle. Pulling
that weight up would be no fun.

Once the slackening of the wire told them that bottom had been reached,
Zircon put the messenger on the wire and let it go. Seconds later, a tug
on the wire told them it had struck and Rick reeled in.

Other samples were taken at five, ten, and fifteen feet from the bottom.
Zircon marked the bottles, then they paddled back to shore.

Long Shadow spoke up. "Of course you have testing equipment?"

"At our camp near Korse Lenken," Zircon assured him.

"You'll find what you expect," the Eurasian said.

"Thank you. And now, we'll also thank you to lead us out of here."

"No," Long Shadow said.

"You're beaten," Zircon said reasonably. "Why not admit it and
co-operate? We've nothing against you even if there were law in Tibet.
See us to the outside and open the barred gate and you're at liberty to
go."

Rick started to protest, then he realized Zircon was right. Law in this
part of the world was the law of the rifle. There was nothing they could
do to Long Shadow or Ko.

Long Shadow considered. "I suppose you're right. My little business deal
is over, at least for the time being." He raised his voice and yelled in
Tibetan.

The boys grabbed up their rifles as Tibetan heads showed from the caves,
black eyes blinking in fear.

"They will carry me and Ko," Long Shadow said calmly. "Now let us be on
our way." He smiled. "I must admit I have a selfish interest in all this
worry about getting to the outside. This ankle is beginning to hurt, and
I won't mind having one of the lamas with medical skill take a look at
it."

"How about letting a Hong Kong police doctor take a look at it?" Rick
asked. Long Shadow's cheerfulness was getting on his nerves. The man
acted more like a guest than a prisoner.

"I don't think we need go that far," Long Shadow replied. "The lamas are
quite capable."

"I wasn't concerned about your ankle," Rick corrected. "I was thinking
that the Hong Kong police might like to get their hands on the kind of
citizen who goes around shooting up hotels with a Schmeisser machine
pistol."

Long Shadow stopped smiling abruptly. "You couldn't prove that," he said
swiftly.

"Why not?" Scotty asked, "We'll let the police see if the slugs from
your machine pistol don't match those in the hotel wall. By the way,
where is the Schmeisser? I haven't seen it around."

Long Shadow