set this stuff in the back
of the jeep instead of disconnecting it? Chahda could carry the probe."

"Good idea. Then it will be ready for use."

Scotty and Angel had been watching for signs of life in the valley
below. At Rick's hail they joined the group.

"Last instructions," Tony said. "We will try to persuade Nangolat that
our intentions are good, that we do not want to violate taboos, and that
we will do everything in our power to persuade the authorities that the
artifacts should remain in the Ifugao country."

"If Nangolat is not there," Angel added, "I will explain to the Ifugaos
that we are friends, that we are helping them to find sacred things that
were lost many years ago."

"And if none of this works," Scotty picked up, "we will make one sweep
with the scanner, looking for the cache, while holding off the Ifugaos.
If they "attack", that is. If one sweep turns up nothing, we will then
beat a retreat."

"We'll have to worry about spears," Tony said, "but the Ifugao spear is
primarily a stabbing weapon, and they are not the marksmen that the Zulu
is with an assagai. The risk will not be very great. I need not warn you
to keep under cover as much as possible. And to shoot low if we must
shoot. A leg wound will put a man out of action just as effectively as a
hole in the head, at least when his only weapon is a spear. We don't
want bloodshed. We archaeologists are a peaceful lot."

"Let's go," Scotty said. He climbed into the truck. "Let's make peace
with the Ifugaos."

"Put your truck into four-wheel drive," Rick called. He started the
jeep, then shifted into his own four-wheel drive. Then, with a toot of
the horn, he started off. A few yards down the road Balaban and Dog Meat
were waiting. Scotty slowed to let them climb aboard. Then the
two-vehicle caravan speeded up to the maximum the mountain road allowed.

Tony leaned forward, watching intently for the turn-off. Rick kept the
jeep in second as he led the winding way down the mountainside toward
the bottom of the valley. The road was dirt and badly rutted. If they
should meet another car, one would have to back up until a turn-around
was reached. But it was unlikely that another car would be out at this
time of morning. Chances were that a car passed this way only once in a
great while.

They were among the rice terraces now. No matter which way Rick looked,
his eyes met terraces. Some were no bigger than table tops, perhaps
filling a tiny spac