, then he called, "Go, Chahda! Get out of
here!"

The roar of the twin engines was his answer. By the time he had climbed
over the side and hauled in the ladder, the MTB was reaching top speed
as Chahda put the pirate island astern.

Rick glanced back. The pirate vintas were still clustered around the
shore near the cove. Far above them, the black rock of the volcano was
pink with the rays of the newly risen sun.

For long moments Rick stared at Shan, then he turned with a grin to
shake hands with his friends.

CHAPTER XX

The Patrol Takes Over

Colonel Felix Rojas of the Philippines Constabulary paced the deck of
the _Swift Arrow_ while he listened to the story related by the
Spindrifters. Next to the MTB was a gunboat of the Philippines Naval
Patrol, and beyond that a destroyer-escort loaded to the gunwales with
constabulary troopers.

Rick and his friends had arrived at the port of Dalun, on Tawi Tawi,
just in time to catch the two-ship convoy that was about to leave in
search of them. The presence of Colonel Rojas was a surprise, but, as he
explained, once reports of the pirates reached him, he had taken the
next plane home to assume command.

The group in the pilothouse of the MTB was complete, except for Shannon
and Elpidio Torres who were receiving medical treatment on the gunboat.

Hobart Zircon covered the story from the point of view of the searchers,
then Tony Briotti filled in the details of what had happened to him,
Shannon, and "Pete" Torres.

Colonel Rojas listened without interruption, then shook his head. "I
can't understand it. The pirates didn't want you and Dr. Shannon. They
wanted the Torres boy. Why didn't they simply kill the two of you?"

Tony Briotti shrugged. "It wasn't simple humanity, believe me. They have
none. I think they realized that Pete Torres had to be returned alive.
His father is too important a man in this country for Pete to be harmed.
It would mean that the entire armed forces of the country would be
turned loose to hunt the pirates down. So, if they planned to send Pete
home after getting the ransom, they also had to return us."

"Because young Torres would have reported your deaths, and the
Philippines armed forces would probably be augmented by American
warships," Colonel Rojas finished. "That's as good a reason as any.
We'll accept it for lack of anything else."

Rick spoke up. "There's one hole in Tony's reasoning. They also had to
assume that once t