Enemy Invasion
Biff moved quickly, noiselessly out of his cot. In the increasing
daylight, he could see that the strange object slithering over his bed
was a huge arm. He went over to his uncle, shook him gently, and when
Charlie Keene roused, Biff cautioned silence, pressing a finger to his
lips. Biff pointed to his cot.
Charlie Keene saw the arm and was up in a flash. From under his pillow
he took a gun. This action startled Biff even more than the mysterious
arm. He had no idea that his uncle thought they were in such danger that
there was reason for keeping a gun close at hand.
“Stay here,” Uncle Charlie whispered. “I’ll slip outside.”
Biff kept his eyes on the arm. He saw the arm slide over the cot, saw
the hand feel it. The hand withdrew quickly, the arm slipped back
outside the tent.
“Hold it!” Biff heard his uncle command. This stern order was followed
by an amazed “Why, what the—what are you doing here! Biff! Come
running!”
Biff leaped out of the tent. In the morning light, he saw his uncle
holding a gun on the giant Carib Indian, Crunch.
“Crunch!” Biff’s astonishment turned to delight at seeing his simple,
friendly enemy again. “What in the world? Why did you sneak up on us
like this!” he exclaimed.
Crunch stepped over to Biff.
“Not know who might be in tent. Want to find my friend, you. Have story
of big trouble for you and your friends.”
“What is it, Crunch? Tell me.”
“It is boss Dietz. See Crunch in Trinité. Make Crunch come back and work
for him. Last night, Dietz and Specks make camp on next island.” Crunch
pointed in the direction of an island about half a mile away.
“They leave Crunch to guard camp. But Crunch hear them talk. Tonight,
when you all asleep, they come to this island. They going to break up
your boats. Crunch wait until they far away, then come over here to give
warning. Dietz bad man, very—”
Crunch left his sentence hanging in air. He stared in disbelief at the
front of the tent.
He was looking at Derek. His eyes swung from Derek to Biff, then back to
Derek and back again from one boy to the other.
“Is more magic!” Crunch howled, terror in his voice. He turned to run.
“Wait, Crunch. Stop.” Biff ran over to the Indian and took him by the
arm. “It’s no more magic. There are really two of us. Me—I’m Biff.
That’s my name. He’s my friend Derek. Come here, Derek.”
Derek joined them.
“Touch him, Crunch.”
Crunch’s hand went out carefully. He touched Derek, then drew his hand
back quickly.
“You see, Crunch, he’s not a ghost, not a spirit. He’s a real person.
Just like I am. The only thing, we look very much alike.”
Crunch could only shake his head. If his faith in Biff had not been so
great, he would have turned and fled.
“All right, Crunch. You believe me? You know you’re not just seeing
things?”
Crunch nodded his head slowly.
“Okay, Crunch. We want to thank you for giving us this warning.”
“No want you to get hurt. Now Crunch go before boss comes back.”
Biff and Derek walked to the edge of the water with Crunch.
“I’ll fix some chow,” Uncle Charlie called.
The boys watched Crunch climb into a small dory and row off. He was
facing them as he pulled away, and he was still staring from one boy to
the other.
“What do we do now?” Biff asked when he and Derek rejoined Charlie
Keene.
“We carry on as if we knew nothing. We’ll explore another place this
morning. We’ll go to Trinité this afternoon and replenish our air and
food supplies. Tonight, we’ll be ready to give Dietz an unexpected
reception.”
The pearl diving that morning was no more productive than it had been
the previous day. Noon found the three in the cabin cruiser, heading for
Trinité. In town, Derek left Biff and his uncle. He was off on his quest
for his father.
The three met again at the prearranged hour of six o’clock and embarked
for the return trip to their island camp.
Tension mounted as the evening hours on the island dragged slowly by. At
11 P.M. Charlie Keene arose from his cot. He had ordered Biff and Derek
to try and rest.
“Let’s go.”
The boys followed Uncle Charlie down to the cabin cruiser and the dory.
“You both know what you’re to do?” he asked.
“Yes, Mr. Keene,” Derek replied.
“All set, Uncle Charlie,” Biff said.
“Crunch may or may not be with them. I imagine he will be. But I’m sure
we don’t have to worry about him now. Okay, Derek, into the cruiser.
Biff, you and I will hide behind the dory. Derek, you know when to start
and what to do.”
“I do.”
“All right. Take your positions.”
Derek waded out and climbed aboard the cruiser. Biff and his uncle dug
into the sand on the beach side of the dory.
Their wait began. It seemed endless. Biff kept glancing at the
illuminated dial of his watch. Twelve o’clock. Twelve-thirty.
“Think maybe they found out that Crunch warned us?” Biff asked in a low
voice.
“I don’t think so, Biff. How would they?”
Just after one o’clock, Biff and his uncle came alert. From a distance
over the water, they heard the sound of a boat engine. It grew louder as
the boat drew nearer. Then the sound stopped suddenly.
Biff was puzzled.
“Engine trouble, or have they given up the idea?” he whispered.
“Wait,” his uncle whispered back.
After a few minutes, a new sound came to their ears: the sound of oars
rasping against oarlocks, the soft splash of oar blades dipping in and
out of the water.
Biff knew now why the engine had been cut—so Dietz could approach
without awakening his prey.
The sound of a boat grating gently on sand was heard next. Dietz and
Company had made their landing. Biff and his uncle could hear two men
conversing in low voices. The voices came nearer. The enemy was standing
directly across from where Biff and his uncle lay hidden behind the
dory.
“Walk up toward the tent, Crunch.” It was Dietz’s voice. “Keep them from
coming down here if they wake up. Okay, Specks, start drilling.”
That was the plot! Drill holes in the dory. Make it unfloatable. What
devilment had they planned for the cruiser? These thoughts flashed
through Biff’s mind.
Just as Specks lifted one leg over the gunwale, Charlie Keene, still
hidden, let go with his automatic. Eight shots in rapid succession
shattered the night silence.
From the cabin cruiser came blast after blast from the boat’s foghorn.
_Hurrammppp!_ ... _Hurrammppp!_ ... _Hurrammppp!_
Specks leaped out of the dory.
“They’re laying for us,” Dietz shouted. “Run for the boat!”
Uncle Charlie had slipped in another cartridge clip, and this time his
eight rapid-fire shots were aimed just over the heads of the fleeing
Dietz and Specks. Derek kept working the foghorn. The noise tore at the
night.
Dietz slipped and fell into the water as he jumped for his boat. Specks
was frantically shoving it off the beach. Dietz scrambled in. Bullets
from the automatic’s third clip were stinging the water around Dietz’s
boat like angry wasps.
The frightened pair finally got their engine started, backed off at full
throttle, swung around and headed out to sea.
The foghorn continued its angry growling.
“Okay, Derek,” Uncle Charlie called. “Lay off. They’re long gone.”
Derek joined Biff and his uncle, and they watched the light of the
fast-disappearing boat. Then, the tension relieved, the three sank down
on the sand and howled with laughter.
When Biff was finally able to control his laughing spell, he got up with
a start.
“Crunch!” he exclaimed. “What happened to him? I didn’t see him get in
the boat.”
“He’s probably halfway across the Atlantic by now,” Charlie answered.
“Swimming his lungs out to get away from the evil spirits.”
A search of the small island was started. Crunch was found on the far
side, cowering behind a small sand dune.
Once the giant Indian had been calmed down—and Biff had to work hard on
him to convince him the evil spirits had fled—Crunch fell to his knees
and with outstretched arms, said to Biff:
“Please. Crunch stay with you now, work for you? Do anything you say.
Crunch afraid to go back to boss Dietz.”
“Good for you, Crunch. Glad to have you join us.”
The four walked back to the tent.
“I don’t know where you’re going to sleep, Crunch,” Biff said
doubtfully.
“Crunch not sleep—stand guard outside tent,” the Indian replied.
Biff turned to his uncle. “What’s Dietz trying to accomplish now?” he
asked.
“Harassment, Biff. Stalling. Working out a plan. First of all, he wants
to be around when we locate the exact spot of the pearl fishery.
Then—well—”
“Then what, Mr. Keene?” Derek asked.
“Nothing to worry about, Derek.”
“You’re holding something back, Mr. Keene. I want to know the truth. I
want to know what I’m in for.”
Charlie Keene spoke in a quiet voice. But his words were chilling.
“As far as he knows, your father is gone, Derek—if Dietz can get rid of
_you_, then the claim becomes open again.”