ahda said. "Am plenty tired of pulling Spindrift chestnuts
out of fire. You know how cold it gets in these mountain? Last night I
freeze. I almost attack whole Ifugao village barehanded, just to get
blankets from supplies on truck. Tonight you take off clothes, put on
breechcloth, and stand out in cold. I stay in nice warm hotel, in
Baguio. Worrold Alm-in-ack say this tropical country. Hah! Like North
Pole is tropical."

Rick and Scotty grinned sympathetically. "If you weren't so in love with
being mysterious and adventurous," Rick pointed out, "you could sleep in
comfortable beds in warm rooms. But no. You have to be Chahda the
Vanishing Hindu. And a good thing, too, otherwise Scotty and I would be
floundering most of the time, not knowing where to turn next. Is Tony
okay?"

Chahda rose. He looked astonishingly like Pilipil and Balaban. From
haircut to bare feet he was an Igorot. Only his brown eyes,
proportionally bigger than those of the real Igorots, were different.

"Tony is okay. Or was last night. My pal Dog Meat is keeping eye on him.
You see Nast?"

"In Baguio, last night." Scotty told Chahda of their visit with Nast and
Lazada.

Chahda nodded. "Nast and Nangolat in cahoots. Nast picks up Tony at
airport, takes him to hut near Trinidad Valley. I see all this. At hut
is Nangolat, with truck of lumber. Nast turns Tony over to Nangolat, so
I drop Nast and follow Tony. Me and Dog Meat, we have fine time. You fly
overhead, too, but see nothing. Not even me. You getting blind, I think.
Lose famous Brant eyesight."

"We saw the lumber truck," Rick admitted. "But where were you?"

"Little way behind in jeep."

Rick remembered that they had seen a couple of jeeps on the road but had
paid no attention. He could see now what had probably happened.
Nangolat, after stealing the earth scanner, had taken the truck to the
hut at Trinidad Valley and camouflaged it with lumber. Tony had gone to
the airport, but had not found Nangolat--he had found Nast. But why?
Rick put the question aloud.

"Mix up in schedule," Chahda said. "Nast and Nangolat were to meet at
airport and wait for all of you. Catch whole lot at once when you go to
airport in the morning. But Nangolat has luck, and he gets earth
scanner. He takes truck to Trinidad, so you won't find it and get
scanner back. Nast comes to airport in morning, and finds no Nangolat,
but he finds Tony. So he takes Tony and goes to Trinidad Valley to hut
which he knows abo