ance, the more worried he became.

"There's simply no reason for it," he said aloud.

Scotty looked up from the chair in which he was reading the Manila
_Times_. The husky ex-Marine didn't have to be told what his pal was
thinking. "No reason we can see," he agreed. "But there has to be a
reason."

Hobart Zircon spoke from the desk where he was writing a note to Hartson
Brant. "You might remember, Rick, that we've been on other expeditions
where the reason for certain events was just as puzzling."

Rick knew the kind of events the physicist meant. Only a few dozen yards
from this very room, in the ancient walled city across the street, he
and Scotty had been under rifle fire for a reason they couldn't have
guessed at the time.

"Listen to this," Scotty said suddenly. He read from the newspaper.
"'The American consulate reported today that three members of the
Spindrift Foundation staff have arrived in Manila to begin a search for
the American scientists reported missing a short time ago. The
scientists disappeared north of Davao.' End of item."

"That's short and to the point," Rick commented a little bitterly. "They
certainly don't make much fuss over two missing Americans, do they?"

"And it's on page seventeen," Scotty added. He folded the paper back to
the front page. "Look at this headline."

Across the top of the front page was emblazoned: WHERE IS ELPIDIO
TORRES?

"Who's he?" Rick asked.

"A Filipino kid. He ran away, got lost, or got kidnaped. No one knows
which. His father is a big sugar operator and politician. The kid has
been gone for weeks, but the paper is still playing it up at the top of
page one."

Rick snorted. "Headlines for one Filipino boy and page seventeen for two
American scientists. Some contrast!"

Hobart Zircon fixed a stamp to his letter and walked over to the boys.
"You're not thinking straight, Rick. Suppose two Filipino scientists
were lost in the Rocky Mountains, and the son of a leading American
citizen was missing. How would our own papers play it?"

Rick had to grin. "Emphasis on the local boy, I suppose. You're right,
Professor. I'm just upset. I'd hoped for more from the consul this
morning."

The vice-consul in charge of the case had nothing to add to what they
already knew, and had slim hope of obtaining more information. The
American ambassador had received assurances from the Philippines
government that all possible aid would be given to the Spindrift search
pa