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THE GOLDEN SKULL
A RICK BRANT SCIENCE-ADVENTURE STORY
BY JOHN BLAINE
GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK, N. Y.
COPYRIGHT, 1954, BY
GROSSET & DUNLAP, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
_Printed in the United States of America_
[Illustration: _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 heaviness
of the tropical heat outside the ship penetrated through the steel and
flaking paint of the deck to turn the cabin into an oven.
Rick Brant and Don Scott, stripped to their shorts, were oblivious of
the heat. They sat hunched over a three-dimensional chessboard, studying
the complex moves of their newest hobby. Now and then they glared at
each other, or paused to wipe the sweat from their faces or arms, but
otherwise they concentrated on the three-layer board and the chessmen.
The rivalry was intense, and had been ever since Hartson Brant, Rick's
distinguished scientist father, had introduced them to the game back
home on Spindrift Island.
Watching them was Dr. Anthony Briotti. Clad in tropical tan shorts and
nothing else, he looked like a college athlete. Little about him
suggested that he was an archaeologist with an international reputation.
Presently he rose and left the cabin, heading for the deck. He didn't
bother 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 the
rocky fortress of Corregidor loomed at the mouth of Manila Bay. His
pulse beat faster at the sight of the famous island. He knew its
outline. He had commanded a destroyer during World War II. Even though
the faint light of a new moon showed only vague outlines, he recognized
the old Spanish prison rock below the overhang of Corregidor, and he
remembered that his guns had blasted at the Japanese from that very
point.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow move fleetingly. He turned
but saw nothing. Then, because he was busy with his memories, he turned
back to the dim, haunting view of Corregidor and thought no more about
it.
Below, Rick Brant moved his king diagonally across the three-dimensional
chessboard and said triumphantly, "Checkmate!"
Scotty rose, drew back one muscular leg as though to kick the set into
the air, then grinned. "Had to let you win. Bad for morale to lose all
the time. Next time I'll teach you how to lose."
Rick snorted. "You let me win like a mother bear would let me walk off
with her cubs. It's my remarkable intellect that won that game, and
nothing else."
"Won by your wits, eh?" Scotty mopped his wet face. "And you only half
armed!"
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 find
out he learned how to play from the latest edition of _The World
Almanac_."
Chahda, their Hindu friend, had learned about America by memorizing an
old copy of the _Almanac_, and he quoted from it at every opportunity.
Since their first meeting in Bombay during the adventure of _The Lost
City_, the Indian boy had been with them on several expeditions. Now he
was to meet them in Manila to help them in their search for one of
ancient history's most fabulous treasures.
Rick, a tall, slim boy, with light-brown hair and brown eyes, led the
way up the ladder to the deck. Scotty, bigger and slightly darker in
coloring, followed close behind. They walked toward the bow, searching
for 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. A
shadowy form sped past them, and Rick's quick eyes caught the flash of
light on steel. He yelled, "Watch it!"
Tony moved, and a steel blade clanged off the ship's rail. Rick and
Scotty leaped forward, grasping for the shadow. The steel blade lifted
again. Scotty grabbed a wrist and twisted. The blade clattered to the
deck. Rick got his arms around a sweaty waist and squeezed, bracing his
feet to lift the man off the deck. Then an elbow caught him in the
Adam's apple and flooded his eyes with tears of pain. He loosened his
grip involuntarily and felt the man squirm free. Scotty yelled, "Get
him!"
Tony Briotti swung a roundhouse right that missed and sent him sprawling
off balance. Then the assailant was on the rail, poised. Scotty lunged
for his ankle as the man dived cleanly out and away from the ship into
the dark water. The three rushed to the rail, watching for the swimmer.
"Man overboard!" Tony's voice lifted in a shout that brought the crew
running.
For a few moments there was confusion as the officers and crew tried to
find out what had happened, and then the searchlight on the bridge was
manned and its white beam cut the water.
There was no swimmer. But off toward Bataan Peninsula the light
reflected 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's
office, staring at a Filipino bolo, a long, slightly curving machete
with a square tip. Tony hefted it and shuddered. "If you hadn't
yelled--well, this thing landed right where my head had been a second
before."
"If I hadn't said anything," Rick replied, "it wouldn't have been
anywhere 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 the
one he was after, and he went for you."
Tony stared, incredulous. "But why? I can't imagine why a mountain
Igorot 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 of
his head structure as he jumped onto the rail. Besides, the haircut is
distinctive. It looks as though a bowl had been put on the head and all
hair removed that it didn't cover."
Rick knew that an Igorot was a primitive native of the Philippine
Mountain Province. All of them had received a series of lectures on
Philippine ethnology from Tony before leaving home. The Igorots bore
roughly the same relationship to the regular Filipino as American
Indians do to the white American. Ifugao natives were much like the
Igorots, but with a slightly more advanced culture. They, too, lived in
Mountain Province, the objective of the Spindrift expedition.
The trip had grown out of an earlier expedition to Kwangara Island in
the western Pacific. Dr. Anthony Briotti had helped translate the
tablets found in the sunken temple of Alta Yuan, and had discovered the
connection between the early people of the Philippines--of whom the
Igorots and Ifugaos were the descendants--and the white dragon
worshipers of Alta Yuan.
One plaque from the sunken temple had described the Ifugao rice terraces
of Mountain Province in unmistakable detail, and also had described a
skull of gold which was said to have magic properties.
Tony Briotti had been so enthusiastic about locating this fabulous
skull, and proving the connection between Alta Yuan and the Philippines,
that Hartson Brant, head of the Spindrift Foundation, had made
arrangements for the small expedition. None of the other Spindrift
scientists could be spared, so Tony Briotti had only Rick and Scotty as
assistants. Chahda was to join them in Manila. The boys thought that was
help aplenty. No other helpers were needed.
"I don't believe it," Tony stated. "It is simply beyond possibility that
an Igorot could have boarded this ship with the express intention of
killing me. More likely, he boarded the ship to steal, thought he was
discovered, and headed for the rail where his banca was tied. I was in
the way. That's all."
"No one saw the banca approach," the ship's captain said, "but of course
it could have. We've been traveling at only a few knots, and the banca
could have approached from the stern, thrown a line over the rail, and
tied 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, but
there's no reason to think it was an attempt at murder. Thieves in the
Orient are willing to take long chances."
Rick stared through the port at the lights of Manila. He was very
thoughtful. Let Tony try to brush the incident aside. He knew better. He
knew it in his bones. There was trouble ahead for the Spindrifters.
He caught Scotty's worried frown, and he knew that his pal's thoughts
were the same.