ays does. Wonder how Tony is making
out?"

Tony had gone to see a colleague, a Filipino archaeologist by the name
of Dr. Remedios Okola. It was through Okola that arrangements had been
made with the Philippine Government for their expedition--or would be
made. Their permit had not yet been issued.

"I didn't know they had a university here." Scotty added, "Until Tony
started writing to this Filipino scientist."

"You should read the stuff Tony brought," Rick replied. "The Philippines
has a dozen universities."

Scotty grinned. "Chahda is probably taking a course in one of them.
Getting a degree of D.D."

Rick took the bait. "What? Doctor of Divinity or Doctor of Dentistry?"

"Neither. Dean of Disappearances."

Rick groaned. Still, it was true. Chahda was the most disappearing
person he had ever known. The truth was, as he well knew, Chahda loved
the dramatic. The little Hindu boy thoroughly enjoyed baffling his pals
with theatrical appearances and disappearances. Not that he did his
vanishing act just for fun, however. There was usually a good reason.

Arrangements had been made by mail and confirmed by phone that morning
for hangar space at Manila International Airport. While giant
transpacific passenger liners landed or took off, and while the busy
twin-engined island hoppers of Philippine Air Lines kept the field
active, the boys assembled the Sky Wagon.

Even allowing for Rick's pride of ownership, the Sky Wagon was a beauty.
It was painted pure white with a red strip along the fuselage. It could
carry four, plus a fair amount of cargo. It had flaps which permitted
slow landings and short take-offs, and it had retractable landing gear
and variable-pitch propeller.

Under the rear seats was a special feature--a small hatch through which
a winch-driven cable could be operated.

This was a typical Rick Brant labor-saving device. Back home, Rick was
the errand boy for Spindrift Island, an island off the New Jersey coast
where the famous Spindrift Foundation was located. Until he acquired the
Sky Wagon, his grocery shopping meant landing at Whiteside Airport,
hiking into town, picking up the groceries, lugging them back, loading
them in the Cub and flying back to Spindrift.

Now he could phone in his order, get into the Sky Wagon, lower the
weighted cable, and swoop low over the grocery store, which was located
on the outskirts of Whiteside. The hook at the end of the cable snagged
another cable hung betwe