Part 1 (1/2)
The Golden Skull
by John Blaine
CHAPTER I
The Head-hunter
It was hot in the cabin of the freighter _Asiatic Dream_ The heaviness of the tropical heat outside the shi+p 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-di the colared 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 the them was Dr Anthony Briotti Clad in tropical tan shorts and nothing else, he looked like a college athlete Little about hiist 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 ht of the famous island He knew its outline He had coh the faint light of a new nized the old Spanish prison rock below the overhang of Corregidor, and he reuns had blasted at the japanese from that very point
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadowThen, because he was busy with his idor and thought no onally across the three-dimensional chessboard and said triumphantly, ”Checkh 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'selse”
”Won by your wits, eh?” Scotty mopped his wet face ”And you only half armed!”
Rick shi+ed a chessame 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 A an old copy of the _Almanac_, and he quoted fro in Bo the adventure of _The Lost City_, the Indian boy had been with them on several expeditions Noas to meet them in Manila to help them in their search for one of ancient history's most fabulous treasures
Rick, a tall, sliht-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 faster A shadowy forht the flash of light on steel He yelled, ”Watch it!”
Tony ed off the shi+p'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 ar his feet to lift the ht him in the Adam's apple and flooded his eyes with tears of pain He loosened his grip involuntarily and felt the man squir a roundhouse right thatoff balance Then the assailant was on the rail, poised Scotty lunged for his ankle as the man dived cleanly out and away from the shi+p 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