own on the other side. That way,
if any trouble developed, they would be only a few yards from the
cornfield, and could certainly lose themselves until Zircon and Scotty
could come roaring in.

They passed under a lighted house, and through the split bamboo floor
laths they could see two men drinking _basi_, or some other native
beverage, from sections of bamboo. Now and then the two men talked in
casual, drowsy tones.

Nowhere was there a sign of guards until Rick and Chahda passed
completely through the village and emerged under the great branches of a
mango tree. Ahead of them was a field of grain, probably millet, and
beyond it was the western shore of the island. As they watched, two men
walked along the shore toward each other, met, chatted for a moment,
then turned and walked away from each other again.

"Guards," Rick said softly. "Walking their patrols along the beach."

It was as he suspected. The two guards, patrolling the beach, could see
everything that offered danger by walking from where they had met to
points roughly halfway around the island.

"Maybe they see us in the vinta," Chahda whispered. "But maybe they no
think much about it."

Rick thought he might be right, but the greater probability was that
they hadn't been seen at all, especially if they had approached the
shore while the guards were walking toward each other near the western
end of the island.

"We'll be a little more cautious on the way back," Rick returned softly.

"Is so," Chahda agreed. "What we do now?"

Rick motioned toward the street that led from the volcano to the western
shore. "Cross that and look at the houses on the other side. Come on."

With a quick look around to be sure no one was watching, or showing any
undue interest in them, he moved out from the shadow of the mango tree
and headed past the irregularly placed houses to where the wide strip of
yellow dust marked the street.

They reached the street's edge without incident, and paused for another
quick look before crossing. As Rick glanced up the street a flicker of
yellow high in the air caught his eye. He lifted his head and stared
directly at it. A fire! It was high up on the face of the cliff behind
the village, where they couldn't have seen it from the street under the
cliff.

He wondered. Was it a beacon for pirates who might be out in the vintas?
Apparently it was on a shelf of some sort more than a hundred feet above
the village.

Then, as he wa