ve on a moment's notice, then they drove down the mountain
at breakneck speed, with Chahda holding on for dear life. Fortunately,
they had to pass through only one gate, and the gatekeeper waved them
right through. They passed Igorot villages, narrowly missing chickens
and pigs, then bounced across a river bed and into Bontoc.

The trip had taken one hour. The boys pulled up in front of the road
commissioner's office and ran in. De los Santos met them. "You are
excited!" he exclaimed. "Is something wrong?"

"Very wrong," Rick replied. "We must use your phone. How do I get
Baguio?"

"I will get it for you. Who do you want?"

"The constabulary!"

Santos looked startled, but he cranked the phone several times, talked
in Ilokano, and finally handed the phone to Rick.

A voice at the other end said, "Constabulary detachment. Corporal
Alvarez."

Rick said quickly, "We need help at Banaue. A party of Americans are
trapped by Ifugaos. Unless they get help quickly, they'll all be
killed!"

Corporal Alvarez replied, "There must be a mistake. The Ifugaos are
peaceful."

"Not any more," Rick yelled. "I just came from there. They're throwing
spears. They mean business!"

Suddenly the corporal was unable to understand. Rick yelled, begged, and
threatened, to no avail. At last he hung up, defeated. "Something's
fishy," he said. "Very fishy. The corporal knew what I meant, I'm sure.
He treated it as a joke. Chahda, Lazada is behind this!"

Santos coughed. Rick whirled on him. "What do you know about it?"

"Nothing, I assure you."

The man was lying. Rick was sure of it. He grabbed him by the lapels and
said, "Talk. Talk! My friends may lose their lives unless we can do
something."

Chahda took a hunting knife from his belt and put the point against
Santos' throat. "Talk," he said gently. "You have two seconds." He
pushed a little.

Santos' light-brown complexion turned dirty gray. "All right," he
gasped. "I am a good man, but Lazada is my boss. I do not like what he
has done. Last night he stayed here, and I heard him talk to the
American, Nast. They laughed about how they had told the constabulary
that a group of crazy Americans were up here and would be calling them
with a practical joke, to which they should not pay attention. They told
the constabulary this both in Baguio and Manila."

"And they believed him, because he is Assistant Secretary of the
Interior," Rick said bitterly. "Now what? We'll never convinc