l was loud. He probably was
in the hotel. "Waiting, Rick. Where you been?"

Rick quickly sketched the day's activities, and Chahda replied that he
had spent time with his Indian contacts but had discovered nothing new.

"Okay, Rick," Chahda concluded. "I try to find out why headman lies.
Tomorrow I go to Bagobo village to sell tax-tills. Be back noon, meet
you hotel."

"I hope you find out more than we did," Rick said.

Chahda urged, "Please not to worry. This good day's work. One man who
lies maybe has keys to many doors!"

CHAPTER IV

The Headman's Secret

On the following morning Major Paulo Lacson joined the Spindrifters for
breakfast at the hotel. The young officer answered questions about the
region for an hour, but Rick refrained from bringing up the subject of
the headman until breakfast was over. But that was deferred when Scotty
asked a startling question.

"Major, what ever happened to the boat our friends came in?"

Lacson's eyebrows went up. "Boat? What boat?"

"You mean you didn't know they came by boat?" Zircon bellowed
incredulously.

The major shook his head. "This is the first I have heard of a boat. I
assumed they came by air. The instructions I got from Manila were simply
to find two missing Americans, with their names and descriptions. Since
most Americans stay at this hotel I inquired and found they had checked
out. That established their presence in Davao. It didn't occur to me to
be interested in where they had come from, although I knew from my
instructions that it was Zamboanga. Later, I checked the airline to see
if they had left by air, but there was no record."

It was incredible, but there it was. Rick knew it was the kind of slip
that often happens when the background given with instructions is not
complete.

"I will get on this right away," Lacson said. "You have a description of
the boat?"

"I'm afraid not. It was chartered in Zamboanga. Can you get a
description from there?"

"Of course. It's strange the detail of the boat never came to light.
Why, I even had a full description of their Moro guide."

"Guide?" The three said it simultaneously. It was their turn to be
astonished. No one had mentioned a third person in the party.

"You didn't know?" Lacson clapped a hand to his forehead in a gesture of
chagrin. "The lack of communications is ridiculous! Yes, they had a
guide. Apparently they picked him up in Zamboanga. A young Moro, no
outstanding features, w