Mystery of the Caribbean Pearls

Biff was wedged tightly between the two men. They pressured him toward the exit. He could have resisted, probably could have escaped in the crowded terminal, but since they were...

Biff watched his uncle struggle to break free of the Indian’s crushing grasp. He saw the tendons in his uncle’s neck grow taut and stand out as Charlie Keene heaved his shoulder...

Biff turned around. He could see the fat, satisfied grin on Specks’ face. Biff recrossed the room and stood over the comfortably sprawling Specks. He wasn’t too big a man. “Bet...

Derek’s cuts from the giant band shells were many but not deep ones. Biff and his uncle cleaned the cuts, treated them with a disinfectant, and put Derek to bed.

Two happier people couldn’t be found among the gay crowds of tourists swarming the streets of Willemstad than Biff Brewster and Charlie Keene. They were standing at the bottom o...

“Make yourself comfortable, Biff,” Uncle Charlie invited, when they were back in his room at the Del Mar. “You must be tired. Night flight, exciting morning. Get much sleep on t...

For the next three days, activity went on at a feverish pace. Camp was hastily set up again on the same island, and even when it was late in the day, Biff, Derek, and Uncle Char...

Charles Keene was winging his way back to Curaçao. Derek Zook was in La Trinité across the Island of Martinique from Fort-de-France. Biff Brewster was still a prisoner in the ce...

Just after daybreak, Charlie Keene and Derek were at the waterport where Keene kept his seaplane. He warmed up the plane’s twin engines. He pointed the plane’s nose into the win...

The sudden nightfall, the quick spread of darkness, was most fortunate for Biff. He selected a secluded spot not far from the arched gateway and holed in to catch his breath and...

It was nearly five o’clock when Biff, Derek, and Charlie Keene reached the dock in the harbor of the Baie du Trésor. They rode a truck five miles out of La Trinité. The truck wa...

“Don’t know how much skin diving you’ve done, Derek—you said some—but Biff can tell you that all diving equipment must be carefully and thoroughly checked out before you go down.”

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 uncl...

“Oh dear! I really don’t know what to say.” A frown spread over Mrs. Brewster’s pleasant, friendly face, drawing her arched eyebrows closer together. “It seems to me that Biff i...

The only immediately noticeable difference distinguishing the boys was their clothing. Biff was hatless, as always. The other boy wore a hat. Biff wore light gray slacks, a soft...

The three had settled down on the soft white sand. No one spoke, their minds whirling with thoughts of Dietz. The giant Indian, Crunch, was a few feet removed, squatting on his...

Derek had watched Charles Keene climb over the balcony railing and onto the ledge leading to the next room. He had held his breath as he watched the older man press close to the...

In La Trinité, Biff, his uncle, and Derek moved about with haste. Following a speedy lunch, they shopped for enough supplies to last them for their expedition into the interior...

“I want to see this,” Charlie said. He walked over to the window. Biff was right beside him. Crunch stood in the sand, staring at the open door. It took several moments for the...

Biff walked along the lonely, winding road, alert, ears tuned for any sound, and admitting frankly to himself that his nerves were on edge. It was nearly eleven o’clock by the t...

“Gosh, Uncle Charlie. It’s one thing for me to substitute for Derek when it’s only a joke. Like at the airport. But to do this—this is for big stakes.”

Derek was seated on the edge of a small cot. The only other furniture in the room was a straight chair. Biff could see through a narrow opening into the second of the two rooms...

Biff scanned the lobby of the hotel carefully as he emerged from the elevator. No sign of Derek, no sign of Dietz. They had left only minutes before Biff reached the lobby.

In the morning, the three breakfasted in silence. Biff wanted to say something to cheer up Derek. But what was there to say? Derek’s face was white and drawn. It was plain to se...

The _chabasco_ had struck with the quickness and lashing fury that is the nature of this most feared of tropical storms. A _chabasco_ strikes without warning, with tornado-like...