CHAPTER XVI
The Black Cliff
Heavy seas broke against the rocky base of the island. Rick surveyed thecove they had chosen with some misgiving. The vinta wouldn't be safe iftied to shore. The breaking surf would batter it to bits before theycould get back.
Scotty moved to his side. "Now what?"
"Swim," Rick said grimly. "Around that point looks like the mostsheltered place, but it isn't good. The wind blows these waves halfwayaround the world, and they've got plenty of steam."
"Have to chance it," Scotty stated.
They maneuvered the cranky craft into the meager shelter of the pointRick had indicated, then dropped the stone anchor. It dragged along thebottom briefly, then caught in a cleft between two underwater rocks. Itwould hold unless the rope broke.
The boys took their belongings and bundled them in their clothes, alongwith shoes and weapons. Then, holding the bundles high with one hand,they slipped into the water. In a few moments the two were rubbingthemselves dry and putting their clothes on again.
Rick tried the radio unit while they rested. "Rick to Zircon."
"Standing by, Rick. Where are you?"
"Ashore." He described the situation briefly.
"I should have thought of that," Zircon replied. "The eastern shore isto windward. You were bound to have surf. Are you all right?"
"Yes. We're starting out now. We'll talk to you from on top, if it'ssafe." He hung the little radio around his neck by its lanyard, andstood up. "Ready to climb Mount Everest, brother Scott?"
Scotty stared up at the slope of the volcano. "If you are, brotherBrant."
Neither boy was an experienced mountaineer, but both knew the principlesof operation. They roped together and started the long climb. It waseasy at first. The slopes low down were not steep, and the broken lavagave plenty of hand and footholds. But as they reached a point Rickestimated to be about two hundred feet above the water, the slopesteepened sharply.
"Rest a moment," Scotty suggested. "We'll last longer if we take abreather once in a while."
Rick knew Scotty was right, but he resented the need for sitting idlyfor even a few minutes. He used the five-minute rest period to report toZircon that all was well.
Rick led the way again as soon as the luminous dial of his wrist watchshowed that five minutes had elapsed. Twice he and Scotty were stalledfor a brief time, but finally found a route and improved it by hammeringthe steel spikes in clefts in the rock. With the hammer padded, thesound was muffled to a point where it couldn't be heard more than a fewfeet away. The spikes could be used to belay their rope on the way down.
The last stage of the upward journey was to the top of the cone. It wasnearly vertical, but wide cracks made it less difficult than some of theareas below. Scotty was leading now. He reached the top, then waited forRick to join him.
Silently the two boys looked out over the dark sea, and Rick wished fora moment that he could see the view by daylight.
"Let's check the crater," Scotty suggested. He drew his flashlight, theninched forward across the rubble of the rim. Rick stayed beside him.
"Any danger of the beam being seen?" Scotty asked softly.
"No. The angle is wrong. If you keep it directed toward the crater, itwill be invisible from the sea."
Rick watched as Scotty switched the light on. The pencil of light sweptdownward, and finally lost itself in nothingness.
The two boys stared at each other.
"The whole island's hollow!" Rick breathed. "I'll say this thing has acrater!"
"Plenty deep," Scotty agreed. "Well, that tears it. Nothing to do but goaround. You lead the way."
Rick felt his way down until at last he was standing on the shoulder ofthe ancient volcano just below the final sweep upward to the crest. In amoment Scotty joined him. Slowly and carefully they started the longjourney around, taking the southern slope as previously agreed.
It was hard going. In spots the lava was crumbly and gave under foot orhand. In others it was dense as steel slag.
When Rick estimated that over half the distance around the volcano hadbeen covered he called Zircon and reported, then told the big scientistit would be their last contact for a while.
Within a hundred feet the lights of the village came in sight far below.The boys paused to survey the situation, and to examine the western partof the island. Most of it was visible from their vantage point. Only thecove where the vintas were kept and the section of village closest tothe cliff were out of sight. Rick could see the beach clearly, andwondered if the guards were looking their way.
"Go carefully," Scotty whispered. "This is no time to start alandslide."
"Good advice," Rick whispered back. "But which way do we go now?"
"The slope to the left looks pretty good," Scotty answered softly. "Wecan cut back when we get down a little."
At the bottom of the slope, they found another drift that angled awaytoward the north. By the time they reached the bottom of it, Rickwhispered that they must be directly above the cave. He could see thelighter path of the street that ran from below the shelf toward thewestern end of the island. Now all that remained was to make their waydown to within reach of the scientists.
They moved with extreme caution, fearful that the slightest noise wouldgive them away, or that a wrong step would start a rockslide. It waspainful work, going down backward most of the way. Once they reachedwhat seemed to be a dead end, and lay on their stomachs surveying asheer wall nearly twelve feet high.
Rick solved the problem by finding a lava boulder big enough and stableenough to serve as a rope anchor. They took an extra length of lineScotty carried and made it fast, then went down the rope hand over hand.
The whole village was spread before them now. Rick could even see thecross street that ran below the base of the cliff, and he knew they mustbe nearly within sight of the shelf on which the scientists wereimprisoned.
"Tough section below," Scotty whispered so low that Rick could barelyhear him. "I think it drops off sheer."
Another dozen feet of slow progress proved that Scotty was right. Therewas a small shelf, then the slope dropped away abruptly. Both boys layflat, and slowly inched up to the drop and looked over.
Rick felt Scotty's hand grip his arm like an iron clamp at the samemoment that he realized that another shelf was directly below, a tinycampfire burning on it!
But that wasn't what Scotty had seen. At a point off to their right, andonly slightly below them was a second, smaller shelf. On it sat a pirateguard, rifle across his knees, staring out to sea.
Rick swallowed his heart, which had climbed into his throat. They werein plain sight of the guard, or at least their heads were. He backedaway as rapidly as the rough surface allowed, until the guard was nolonger in sight. He and Scotty held a whispered exchange, their voicesno louder than a zephyr.
"Keep your eyes off him," Rick said. "He may feel someone looking athim."
"Right. He's in a wonderful position. He looks down on the shelf wherethe fire is located. Did you see the ladder?"
Rick hadn't.
"It leads from his perch to the shelf. I suppose ladders lead down tothe ground from there."
The guard was an obstacle Rick hadn't expected. He wondered if the guardon duty last night had seen him slug the pirate, and he decided itdidn't make much difference. As Zircon had said, they had to assume thewhole colony was alerted.
"Let's look out one at a time," he whispered. "I didn't see anyone onthe ledge."
He inched forward once more and put his head over the edge of the drop.The fire on the rocky shelf was a small one, probably only a cookingfire. There wasn't anyone in sight. He guessed the scientists must bein a cave under the rock on which he crouched. He could only hope theywere awake.
Rick estimated the situation. It was perhaps thirty feet down to theshelf. The guard was ten feet below, and twenty feet to his right. Henoticed that the guard didn't look down at the shelf. He was awake, buthis attention was focuse
d outward. In all probability he was a lookoutrather than a guard, watching for signs of ship movement to the west,the direction from which danger to the pirates might be expected tocome.
The boy withdrew and joined Scotty. "No sign of anyone on the shelf. I'mgoing to lower the radio unit, anyway."
"Okay. Let's get the rod out."
Rick had carried the rod-section case on his back, tied to shoulders andbelt with line. He untied the line swiftly and assembled the rod. Scottyhelped him put the reel in place and feed the line through the guides.Then Rick carefully wrapped the radio unit in his handkerchief, and putthe whole thing in a black denim ditty bag borrowed from Chahda for thepurpose. He secured the drawstring of the ditty bag to the end of thefishing line and inched forward again. Scotty moved forward, too, hisrifle unslung and ready for action.
Rick hadn't even bothered with a note. Both Shannon and Briotti wouldrecognize the radio unit instantly. There were no others like it outsideof Spindrift. They would immediately put it to use and be talking toZircon before the two boys had moved away from the position over theirheads.
Carefully Rick pushed the tip of the rod out far enough so the ditty bagwould clear all obstructions on the way down, then he swung the bagclear and began to feed out the line.
The bag went down an inch at a time, while he concentrated on keepingthe motion slow but steady. A sudden jerk might attract the guard'sattention, but very slow motion probably wouldn't.
_A sudden jerk would attract the guard's attention_]
He was sweating profusely by the time the bag got within reach of theshelf below. He began to worry. He had seen no one. Had the piratesremoved the scientists, leaving the lookout in his usual position?
He kept the bag moving until suddenly strain went off the line and heknew it was down. He could see it in the faint glow from the fire, lyingmotion-less on the rock below. Long moments ticked by and he felt thetrickle of sweat down his face, the sweat of apprehension. Why didn'tsomeone show up?
And then, as though in answer to the frantic thought, a man stepped intoview below, and casually dropped his coat over the ditty bag.
Rick almost sobbed with relief. Tony Briotti! The familiar crew cut hadgrown long, but it was Tony!
Swiftly the boy drew his knife and cut the line, letting the loose endtumble down. Then, careful of the fishing rod, he withdrew from the edgeand touched Scotty to indicate he should withdraw, too.
For a few seconds they just lay there, weak with relief. Then Rickdisassembled the rod and restowed it. Scotty reslung his rifle. On handsand knees, the two started their retreat. Not until they were certainthat the guard could no longer see them did they stand upright and beginto move more rapidly.
Their mission was a success, but perhaps the plan was not. Rick was nolonger filled with enthusiasm for his scheme. The guard had changed allthat.
How were they going to get the scientists out with a guard watchingthem?