d
it out of the ground as he passed. Then there was a gasp from Pilipil as
a spear caught him in the thigh. Instantly Scotty knelt, rifle blazing.
Rick and Balaban helped Pilipil while Dog Meat yanked the spear free.
They rushed the wounded Igorot to the waiting jeeps.

"Let's go," Chahda yelled. "What's the delay?"

"Lend a hand," Rick called, and willing hands helped lift Pilipil into
Chahda's jeep. Rick tumbled in behind him.

"All aboard!" Scotty yelled. "Take off!" he fired a last shot at the
oncoming Ifugaos, then jeep wheels spun in the dirt, headlights flashed
on, and they were on their way.

Not until they had climbed to the safety of the mountain peaks
overlooking Banaue did they pull to a stop. Pilipil's leg was their
first concern. They examined the wound in the glare from the jeep's
headlights. It was ugly, but not crippling, and it was already starting
to clot. Rick bound it with a clean handkerchief. Then, their wounded
taken care of, the boys took time to exchange notes with Tony.

"I walked right into it," Tony said. "Literally. I walked to the
airport, expecting that I could ride back with Angel. I had a grave
suspicion, of course, that he was Nangolat, but I'm afraid it didn't
occur to me that there was any danger in charging him with it."

Rick shook his head. "Did you expect him to give up without a struggle?"

"I'm afraid I did. However, he wasn't there. There was no one on the
field at all, except a couple of workmen on the far side. I went over to
see if the plane was all right, and a sedan arrived. Nast was in it. He
didn't waste words. He just thrust a pistol at me and ordered me in."

"We have an idea of what happened then," Scotty said. "From Chahda. He
was following Nast."

"I hoped he was," Tony said. "I was afraid that unless Chahda knew my
whereabouts I probably would be completely cut off from help. Well, time
enough later for the rest of the story. You know I came from Baguio in
our own truck?"

"We know," Rick said. "Chahda again. Now Chahda is going to lead us to
the truck, and we're going to get our equipment back."

"Do you know where the truck is?" Scotty asked Chahda.

"Dog Meat does. Nangolat drove it to a village on the north side of the
valley. Nangolat is there now. Maybe we meet him on the road, maybe at
the village. We make flying raid, okay? Swoop down, take truck, and
leave."

"Sounds good to me," Scotty said. "We'll use one jeep to attack, with
the other s