The Golden Skull: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story Read online

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  THE GOLDEN SKULL

  A RICK BRANT SCIENCE-ADVENTURE STORY

  BY JOHN BLAINE

  GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERSNEW YORK, N. Y.

  COPYRIGHT, 1954, BYGROSSET & DUNLAP, INC.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  _Printed in the United States of America_

  _The Ifugaos, faces distorted with hatred and fury,pursued them._]

  Contents

  I THE HEAD-HUNTER

  II MANILA AFTER DARK

  III THE GODS OF BANAUE

  IV INSIDE THE WALLS

  V MANOTOK THE MIGHTY

  VI CHAHDA CHECKS IN

  VII IGOROT COUNTRY

  VIII THE BONTOC ROAD

  IX IFUGAO COUNTRY

  X AMBUSH

  XI WARRIORS THREE

  XII THE IFUGAO VILLAGE

  XIII THE PEACEFUL PROFESSION

  XIV SIGN OF THE DRAGON

  XV UNDER THE DRAGON'S CLAWS

  XVI FLYING SPEARS

  XVII MAKE OR BREAK

  XVIII THE SKY WAGON

  XIX THE NIPA HUT

  XX SURPRISE PACKAGE

  THE GOLDEN SKULL

  CHAPTER I

  The Head-hunter

  It was hot in the cabin of the freighter _Asiatic Dream_. The heavinessof the tropical heat outside the ship penetrated through the steel andflaking paint of the deck to turn the cabin into an oven.

  Rick Brant and Don Scott, stripped to their shorts, were oblivious ofthe heat. They sat hunched over a three-dimensional chessboard, studyingthe complex moves of their newest hobby. Now and then they glared ateach other, or paused to wipe the sweat from their faces or arms, butotherwise they concentrated on the three-layer board and the chessmen.The rivalry was intense, and had been ever since Hartson Brant, Rick'sdistinguished scientist father, had introduced them to the game backhome on Spindrift Island.

  Watching them was Dr. Anthony Briotti. Clad in tropical tan shorts andnothing else, he looked like a college athlete. Little about himsuggested that he was an archaeologist with an international reputation.

  Presently he rose and left the cabin, heading for the deck. He didn'tbother to say where he was going; he knew the boys wouldn't even notice.On deck, Briotti leaned against the rail and peered ahead to where therocky fortress of Corregidor loomed at the mouth of Manila Bay. Hispulse beat faster at the sight of the famous island. He knew itsoutline. He had commanded a destroyer during World War II. Even thoughthe faint light of a new moon showed only vague outlines, he recognizedthe old Spanish prison rock below the overhang of Corregidor, and heremembered that his guns had blasted at the Japanese from that verypoint.

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow move fleetingly. He turnedbut saw nothing. Then, because he was busy with his memories, he turnedback to the dim, haunting view of Corregidor and thought no more aboutit.

  Below, Rick Brant moved his king diagonally across the three-dimensionalchessboard and said triumphantly, "Checkmate!"

  Scotty rose, drew back one muscular leg as though to kick the set intothe air, then grinned. "Had to let you win. Bad for morale to lose allthe time. Next time I'll teach you how to lose."

  Rick snorted. "You let me win like a mother bear would let me walk offwith her cubs. It's my remarkable intellect that won that game, andnothing else."

  "Won by your wits, eh?" Scotty mopped his wet face. "And you only halfarmed!"

  Rick shied a chessman at him. "Wait until we teach this game to Chahda."

  Scotty chuckled. "He'll probably beat us both at once, then we'll findout he learned how to play from the latest edition of _The WorldAlmanac_."

  Chahda, their Hindu friend, had learned about America by memorizing anold copy of the _Almanac_, and he quoted from it at every opportunity.Since their first meeting in Bombay during the adventure of _The LostCity_, the Indian boy had been with them on several expeditions. Now hewas to meet them in Manila to help them in their search for one ofancient history's most fabulous treasures.

  Rick, a tall, slim boy, with light-brown hair and brown eyes, led theway up the ladder to the deck. Scotty, bigger and slightly darker incoloring, followed close behind. They walked toward the bow, searchingfor Briotti, their eyes not yet accustomed to the darkness.

  Rick called, "Tony?"

  "Here by the rail," the archaeologist answered.

  The boys moved toward him, but someone--or something--moved faster. Ashadowy form sped past them, and Rick's quick eyes caught the flash oflight on steel. He yelled, "Watch it!"

  Tony moved, and a steel blade clanged off the ship's rail. Rick andScotty leaped forward, grasping for the shadow. The steel blade liftedagain. Scotty grabbed a wrist and twisted. The blade clattered to thedeck. Rick got his arms around a sweaty waist and squeezed, bracing hisfeet to lift the man off the deck. Then an elbow caught him in theAdam's apple and flooded his eyes with tears of pain. He loosened hisgrip involuntarily and felt the man squirm free. Scotty yelled, "Gethim!"

  Tony Briotti swung a roundhouse right that missed and sent him sprawlingoff balance. Then the assailant was on the rail, poised. Scotty lungedfor his ankle as the man dived cleanly out and away from the ship intothe dark water. The three rushed to the rail, watching for the swimmer.

  "Man overboard!" Tony's voice lifted in a shout that brought the crewrunning.

  For a few moments there was confusion as the officers and crew tried tofind out what had happened, and then the searchlight on the bridge wasmanned and its white beam cut the water.

  There was no swimmer. But off toward Bataan Peninsula the lightreflected from the patched sail of a _banca_, an outrigger canoe,sailing toward shore with a bone in its teeth.

  A few moments later the three Spindrifters stood in the captain'soffice, staring at a Filipino bolo, a long, slightly curving machetewith a square tip. Tony hefted it and shuddered. "If you hadn'tyelled--well, this thing landed right where my head had been a secondbefore."

  "If I hadn't said anything," Rick replied, "it wouldn't have beenanywhere near your neck. I put the finger on you by calling your name."

  Scotty snapped his fingers. "Of course! The guy must have been hiding,until he heard us call. Then, when you answered, he knew you were theone he was after, and he went for you."

  Tony stared, incredulous. "But why? I can't imagine why a mountainIgorot would board the ship for the express purpose of killing me!"

  It was Rick's turn to stare. "How did you know he was an Igorot?"

  "Either an Igorot or an Ifugao," Tony replied. "I caught a glimpse ofhis head structure as he jumped onto the rail. Besides, the haircut isdistinctive. It looks as though a bowl had been put on the head and allhair removed that it didn't cover."

  Rick knew that an Igorot was a primitive native of the PhilippineMountain Province. All of them had received a series of lectures onPhilippine ethnology from Tony before leaving home. The Igorots boreroughly the same relationship to the regular Filipino as AmericanIndians do to the white American. Ifugao natives were much like theIgorots, but with a slightly more advanced culture. They, too, lived inMountain Province, the objective of the Spindrift expedition.

  The trip had grown out of an earlier expedition to Kwangara Island inthe western Pacific. Dr. Anthony Briotti had helped translat
e thetablets found in the sunken temple of Alta Yuan, and had discovered theconnection between the early people of the Philippines--of whom theIgorots and Ifugaos were the descendants--and the white dragonworshipers of Alta Yuan.

  One plaque from the sunken temple had described the Ifugao rice terracesof Mountain Province in unmistakable detail, and also had described askull of gold which was said to have magic properties.

  Tony Briotti had been so enthusiastic about locating this fabulousskull, and proving the connection between Alta Yuan and the Philippines,that Hartson Brant, head of the Spindrift Foundation, had madearrangements for the small expedition. None of the other Spindriftscientists could be spared, so Tony Briotti had only Rick and Scotty asassistants. Chahda was to join them in Manila. The boys thought that washelp aplenty. No other helpers were needed.

  "I don't believe it," Tony stated. "It is simply beyond possibility thatan Igorot could have boarded this ship with the express intention ofkilling me. More likely, he boarded the ship to steal, thought he wasdiscovered, and headed for the rail where his banca was tied. I was inthe way. That's all."

  "No one saw the banca approach," the ship's captain said, "but of courseit could have. We've been traveling at only a few knots, and the bancacould have approached from the stern, thrown a line over the rail, andtied up. Dangerous, but a clever native could do it. They're like cats.Make fine sailors." He added, "Never heard of it being done before, butthere's no reason to think it was an attempt at murder. Thieves in theOrient are willing to take long chances."

  Rick stared through the port at the lights of Manila. He was verythoughtful. Let Tony try to brush the incident aside. He knew better. Heknew it in his bones. There was trouble ahead for the Spindrifters.

  He caught Scotty's worried frown, and he knew that his pal's thoughtswere the same.