Part 30 (2/2)

Where was Scotty? He listened, and heard the plane's engine on the other side of the houseboat In a few seconds Scotty came into view

He was on the water close to shore, traveling at high speed As Rick watched, Scotty swung the plane on a line with the houseboat and opened the throttle wide

Rick stared Was his pal out of his irls would be hurt, too! Then he realized Scotty would never pull such a stunt, no matter how desperate he became

Theplane In that instant Rick divined Scotty's plan, he hoped, and turned to gauge his distance The plane was on the upper step now, almost air-borne Even as he watched, the pontoons pulled away But Scotty held the plane on the water, roaring propeller pointed right at the men at the rail

Rick put his head down and sprinted for the front of the houseboat He had to time it perfectly!

To the horrified eyes of the men at the rail a collision was inevitable They could only assuht into them And as Scotty had planned, they lost all interest in Rick, in the presence of ier

Thefrantically for some kind of cover At the last instant, Scotty pulled the plane up in a power climb So near disaster had he co pontoons lifted a coiled rope into the air on top of the cabin Even as he ave a prayer of thanks for his pal's perfect judg reflexes

[Illustration: ”_Stay away or I'll bend this pole over your head!_”]

He ran along the deck, ju around and launched hiht

Barby was lashed to a chair just inside the door, a gag in her mouth

Jan was on the other side of the cabin, also lashed But Jan had a plastic cap on her head, and wires ran fro over the girl, and one had a pistol in her hand

Rick started forward, then stopped helplessly The pistol wasn't pointed at him It was pointed at Jan's head!

He looked into Jan's pleading eyes and shi+fted his weight uncertainly

He didn't knohat to do now

Jan did Her ars were free She lifted one of the woman behind the knees The pistol hand lifted as the wo fullback His widespread arms embraced both women and slammed them back into the cabin wall Then he scraun It was under Jan's chair

He bent to pick it up when Barby gave aRick whirled

The twohim from the cabin entrance

There wasn't e He dove toward the men, who stopped their rush briefly But Rick hadn'tthe the wall next to the corner where Barby was tied up Rick went under it

The rabbed an ankle

Bracing his legs, he gave a hty heave Striped shi+rt went over backward in front of Barby, who stamped with both bare feet on his stoathered his legs and shoved upward The table heaved into the other ive Rick a chance to get to his feet Keeping the table between hi Striped shi+rt was on his knees, shaking his head

The darkHe launched himself across the table, arms outstretched It was the best move he could have made, from Rick's point of view The boy knew he could not coth He had to depend on speed, and the infighting tricks he had learned from Scotty He used one now At the last moment he side-stepped and his hand flashed down It was a judo chop, the hand held stiff, the blow delivered with the side opposite the thumb

It was effective Thehis head Rick used the _savate_, the blow delivered with the heel It landed against the side of the man's neck He went over sideways