They passed the vinta at a distance of a hundred yards. There were only
three men aboard, and they were fishing. Then Rick cut closer to the
island while Scotty kept a sharp lookout for shoal waters and coral
heads.

Details were clearly visible now. There were a dozen huts on the island,
and only a handful of people were visible. Zircon took the long glass
from Scotty and inspected carefully, "Apparently it's a small fishing
community. I see nets, and another three vintas pulled up on shore.
There seems to be ... Wait!"

Rick watched as the scientist swung the long glass into the air,
followed something for a moment, then lowered it, his face grim.

"I caught a glimpse of a man releasing something into the air, and
managed to pick it up with the glass. It was a pigeon. And you know what
that means!"

The boys did. "Which way did it go?" Rick asked.

"Due east."

Rick swung the MTB onto an easterly course without another word. He knew
from the chart that the biggest island of the three in the Datu Amman
Group lay that way. The third island was about ten miles to the north.
Release of the carrier pigeon could mean only that the island they were
now passing was a lookout position, from which the people on the biggest
island had now been notified of their arrival. And that meant ... what?
Rick had a good idea, which inspection should soon prove!

"Land ho!" Scotty called down. "It's a peak of some sort."

Rick saw it a few moments later, a golden glitter on the ocean as the
fast-setting sun struck land.

The four watched as the land mass slowly took shape. "It's a mountain,
all right," Zircon said, excitement in his booming voice. "Looks like a
volcanic cone. Can you see it clearly, Scotty?"

"It's a cone, and not much land under it, either. Hey! Vintas ahead!
Must be a hundred of them!"

Rick felt excitement surge through him. That was too many vintas for a
simple fishing community on an island of small size!

"They're forming a line between us and the island!" Scotty called down a
moment later.

Rick could make out the tips of sails, and as the _Swift Arrow_ forged
ahead, the entire fleet slowly came into view. Scotty was right. The
vintas were in a line--like a planned defense!

The island was almost entirely visible, now. A volcanic cone, perhaps
five hundred feet high, formed most of the island. From the base of the
cone, flat land spread out toward the oncoming MTB, ending in a white
beach.

"Get