ping it off with his
gloves. Then brushes and cloths completed the job. He held up a human
jawbone, inlaid with gold. His eyes sparkled. "Typical, except for the
gold. The human jawbone is a common Ifugao relic. In fact, they suspend
their musical instruments from human jawbones." He put it down carefully
and started to work on the next object. It turned out to be a pipe,
again typical Ifugao work except for the fact that it was of gold.

Rick examined it. He had seen pipes something like it before, but made
of clay. "I thought tobacco was an American product," he observed. "How
come these primitive Asiatics had it?"

"Asia used tobacco long before the Indians introduced it to Europeans,"
Tony replied. "But it's curious that the pipe forms should be so
similar. That pipe was made by a process we now use in America for very
delicate castings. It is called the 'lost wax' process."

"Funny name," Chahda said, interested.

"Yes, until you know about the process. The Ifugao makes the pipe he
wants out of wax, then coats it with clay, leaving a hole in the clay.
Then he puts the clay in the fire. The clay hardens, but the wax melts
and runs out. The Ifugao, then, has a mold exactly like the pipe he made
of wax. He melts the metal he chooses--gold, in this case--and pours it
into the clay mold. When the metal cools, he breaks off the mold, and
there is his pipe."

"Lost wax," Scotty said. "You're right. It fits."

At that moment Angel Manotok came into the recess. "I've been listening.
Don't think I'm presuming, please, but could we work faster? Perhaps
talk about it later?"

Angel was right, of course. Tony said, "I shouldn't have taken the time
to clean those things. We'll collect them mud and all." He went back
into the hole and worked rapidly, filling the buckets as fast as the
boys could haul them up.

Rick thought that the crypt probably was dry when the objects were first
placed in it. But the water used to irrigate the rice terraces had
seeped through between the carefully selected stones that lined the pit,
bringing fine particles of dirt and gradually building up a reservoir of
mud in the bottom. Most of the water seeped in and seeped out again, but
the particles of soil remained.

Tony suddenly gave a cry. "I think I have it!" He braced an object on
his knee and wiped it. "It is! And by its weight, it's thick-walled but
hollow! What a find! Boys, this is wonderful! Tremendous!"

The scientist tried to pl