Rick Brant - The Golden Skull Part 32

"Of all the rotten lies!" Rick exclaimed angrily.

"Yes. But he was an official of our government and I believed him. Then he goaded me. He said that only an Ifugao would allow such a thing to happen, because the Ifugaos were less than men. Men would protect their treasures. I was emotionally upset already. His goading drove me berserk. I was truly mad. So, I acted as I did."

"Tell them what happened at Banaue," Okola said gently.

"Dr. Briotti convinced me that he was not trying to steal our treasure.

That is, he almost convinced me, and he did convince our priests. But Lazada came, and he said the American amba.s.sador was already demanding custody of the treasure as soon as it was found. You know what happened then."

"We sure do," Scotty said.

"Then the jeep got away, and later the plane came. We did not keep attacking, because many of our young men had lost heart. They couldn't see the sense of rus.h.i.+ng into the muzzles of your rifles over some treasure they knew nothing about. I had worked them up to the point of attacking once, but I could not do it again. Then the plane dropped the sack. We did not know what was in it, except that it must be part of the treasure. Lazada carried it to his car. I followed and demanded the bag.

He said he had no bag, although it was in plain sight. He was smiling.

He said the plane got all the bags; he didn't have any. I saw at once what he was doing. He was going to take the bag and pretend that he had never seen it, and it would be the word of a group of poor Ifugao natives against the word of a great official. I saw red. I reached for him, and Nast struck me with his gun."

Nangolat rubbed his head. "He knocked me out, and he knocked sense into me. I walked to Bontoc and took the bus south. Now I am ready to be punished."

Rick was deeply touched by Nangolat's recital. He remembered how favorably impressed they had been that first day, when they thought he was Angel. "Speaking for myself," he offered, "I am grateful to Nangolat for a warm reception at Banaue, and for an interesting visit to the rice terraces."

Scotty took the cue. "As for me, I haven't had so much fun in a fight since that free-for-all at Canton Charlie's in Hong Kong."

Chahda bowed. "I also represent ancient Asia people. Very grateful to Nangolat for fine demonstration of how Ifugaos fight. Very different from Hindu method."

The three boys looked at Tony. He had suffered the most at Nangolat's hands. Nangolat had tried to kill him, then had kidnaped him, and had intended to take his head.

Tony smiled. "And I am grateful to Nangolat for personally conducting me to Banaue and for putting on such an interesting series of rituals and dances."

Angel Manotok went to Nangolat and took his hand. "Can a Filipino be less of a friend than an American? It was too bad I fell on my head and almost fractured my skull. How nice it was of you, Nangolat, to pretend to be me so I would not lose face with the Americans by not appearing to work for them."

There were tears in the Ifugao's eyes. "What a magnificent group of storytellers you are!"

Colonel Rojas grinned. "Sounded like the truth to me, Nangolat. And if anyone wants to know what kind of men the Ifugaos are, send them to me.

I led Mountain Province warriors against the j.a.panese. They attacked tanks barehanded. They fought like fiends. They made me proud to be a Filipino."

Tony Briotti picked up the golden skull. "We have a lot of work to do, Nangolat. We'll need your help. And all of us will have to testify against Lazada."

"Golly, that's right," Rick said. "What a nuisance that will be. We'll have to wait around for weeks."

"Not that long," Colonel Rojas promised. "This is one case that will be tried in a hurry. But you will have to stay a while. You will my guests.

There's a lot of the Philippines you haven't seen. We might even be able to stir up a little excitement for you."

"No, thanks," Rick said.

"Sorry," Chahda said.

"Need peace and quiet," Scotty said.

Tony laughed. "Don't believe them. They may stay quiet until tomorrow, but I doubt it. What do you have in mind?"

"I'd like to take them to Mindoro Island, south of here, to hunt timarau. In case you don't know, those are water buffalo. They rate as the most dangerous game animal in Asia."

"Too exciting for me," Rick said.

But in later years when the Ifugao expedition was mentioned, Rick, Scotty, and Chahda always talked much more about the hunting on Mindoro than they did about their encounter with the Ifugaos. And they were prouder of the timarau heads in the study than of the Ifugao spears that had been thrown at them and brought back by Angel as souvenirs.

_The_ RICK BRANT SCIENCE-ADVENTURE _Stories_

BY JOHN BLAINE

THE ROCKET'S SHADOW THE LOST CITY SEA GOLD 100 FATHOMS UNDER THE WHISPERING BOX MYSTERY THE PHANTOM SHARK SMUGGLERS' REEF THE CAVES OF FEAR STAIRWAY TO DANGER THE GOLDEN SKULL THE WAILING OCTOPUS THE ELECTRONIC MIND READER THE SCARLET LAKE MYSTERY THE PIRATES OF SHAN