Moro lifted
his hand, too, and said something in the native tongue. It might have
been a greeting; neither boy ever knew for sure.

Chahda walked right up to him, muttering something that was probably
Hindu double talk. The Indian boy moved so that the Moro swung around,
trying to understand what Chahda was saying.

For an instant the pirate's back was to Rick. He moved like a charging
panther. The pistol came out of his sash and descended barrel first, all
his desperate strength behind it. He felt it slam down on the pirate's
turban and connect solidly with the head underneath.

Chahda caught the man as he fell, and in an instant the two boys had
hauled him under the nearest house.

Rick found the man's pulse and breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. It
was thready and slow, but it was there. The pirate would wake up, but
not for some time. The dog sniffed inquiringly at the fallen Moro, but
made no noise. Rick took Chahda by the arm and pulled him out into the
street again, pausing anxiously to see if the brief and violent meeting
had attracted attention. Apparently it hadn't. There were no signs of
life in nearby houses, and no one looked out of those with lights
farther along the street.

Rick decided they had better conduct their search with all possible
speed. The boys moved rapidly along the street at the top of the T,
toward the waterfront on the south. The dog trotted alongside, their
firm friend now. Rick knew the boat dock must be at the end of the
street. That would certainly mean guards, and it wouldn't be wise to go
too close.

He had a sudden thought that the scientists might be prisoners on one of
the vintas, then rejected it. No vinta they had seen was big enough to
serve as a prison, and there had been no sign of the boat the missing
men had rented. That could also mean the scientists weren't even on the
island. But if not, where could they be?

Chahda's hand on his arm stopped Rick. He saw that they had nearly
completed their inspection of this particular street. The masts of
vintas and the sheen of water among the pirate craft were visible
directly ahead.

He put his lips close to Chahda's ear and whispered, "Let's cut west,
through the houses."

Rick's idea was to go through the quadrant of town they were now
traversing, until he saw the waterfront on the west. Then they could
cross the street that he pictured as the stem of the "T" and turn back
toward the mountain, going through the t