CHAPTER XX

Enemy Invasion

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 uncle, shook him gently, and when Charlie Keene roused, Biff cautioned silence, pressing a finger to his lips. Biff pointed to his cot.

Charlie Keene saw the arm and was up in a flash. From under his pillow he took a gun. This action startled Biff even more than the mysterious arm. He had no idea that his uncle thought they were in such danger that there was reason for keeping a gun close at hand.

“Stay here,” Uncle Charlie whispered. “I’ll slip outside.”

Biff kept his eyes on the arm. He saw the arm slide over the cot, saw the hand feel it. The hand withdrew quickly, the arm slipped back outside the tent.

“Hold it!” Biff heard his uncle command. This stern order was followed by an amazed “Why, what the—what are you doing here! Biff! Come running!”

Biff leaped out of the tent. In the morning light, he saw his uncle holding a gun on the giant Carib Indian, Crunch.

“Crunch!” Biff’s astonishment turned to delight at seeing his simple, friendly enemy again. “What in the world? Why did you sneak up on us like this!” he exclaimed.

Crunch stepped over to Biff.

“Not know who might be in tent. Want to find my friend, you. Have story of big trouble for you and your friends.”

“What is it, Crunch? Tell me.”

“It is boss Dietz. See Crunch in Trinité. Make Crunch come back and work for him. Last night, Dietz and Specks make camp on next island.” Crunch pointed in the direction of an island about half a mile away.

“They leave Crunch to guard camp. But Crunch hear them talk. Tonight, when you all asleep, they come to this island. They going to break up your boats. Crunch wait until they far away, then come over here to give warning. Dietz bad man, very—”

Crunch left his sentence hanging in air. He stared in disbelief at the front of the tent.

He was looking at Derek. His eyes swung from Derek to Biff, then back to Derek and back again from one boy to the other.

“Is more magic!” Crunch howled, terror in his voice. He turned to run.

“Wait, Crunch. Stop.” Biff ran over to the Indian and took him by the arm. “It’s no more magic. There are really two of us. Me—I’m Biff. That’s my name. He’s my friend Derek. Come here, Derek.”

Derek joined them.

“Touch him, Crunch.”

Crunch’s hand went out carefully. He touched Derek, then drew his hand back quickly.

“You see, Crunch, he’s not a ghost, not a spirit. He’s a real person. Just like I am. The only thing, we look very much alike.”

Crunch could only shake his head. If his faith in Biff had not been so great, he would have turned and fled.

“All right, Crunch. You believe me? You know you’re not just seeing things?”

Crunch nodded his head slowly.

“Okay, Crunch. We want to thank you for giving us this warning.”

“No want you to get hurt. Now Crunch go before boss comes back.”

Biff and Derek walked to the edge of the water with Crunch.

“I’ll fix some chow,” Uncle Charlie called.

The boys watched Crunch climb into a small dory and row off. He was facing them as he pulled away, and he was still staring from one boy to the other.

“What do we do now?” Biff asked when he and Derek rejoined Charlie Keene.

“We carry on as if we knew nothing. We’ll explore another place this morning. We’ll go to Trinité this afternoon and replenish our air and food supplies. Tonight, we’ll be ready to give Dietz an unexpected reception.”

The pearl diving that morning was no more productive than it had been the previous day. Noon found the three in the cabin cruiser, heading for Trinité. In town, Derek left Biff and his uncle. He was off on his quest for his father.

The three met again at the prearranged hour of six o’clock and embarked for the return trip to their island camp.

Tension mounted as the evening hours on the island dragged slowly by. At 11 P.M. Charlie Keene arose from his cot. He had ordered Biff and Derek to try and rest.

“Let’s go.”

The boys followed Uncle Charlie down to the cabin cruiser and the dory.

“You both know what you’re to do?” he asked.

“Yes, Mr. Keene,” Derek replied.

“All set, Uncle Charlie,” Biff said.

“Crunch may or may not be with them. I imagine he will be. But I’m sure we don’t have to worry about him now. Okay, Derek, into the cruiser. Biff, you and I will hide behind the dory. Derek, you know when to start and what to do.”

“I do.”

“All right. Take your positions.”

Derek waded out and climbed aboard the cruiser. Biff and his uncle dug into the sand on the beach side of the dory.

Their wait began. It seemed endless. Biff kept glancing at the illuminated dial of his watch. Twelve o’clock. Twelve-thirty.

“Think maybe they found out that Crunch warned us?” Biff asked in a low voice.

“I don’t think so, Biff. How would they?”

Just after one o’clock, Biff and his uncle came alert. From a distance over the water, they heard the sound of a boat engine. It grew louder as the boat drew nearer. Then the sound stopped suddenly.

Biff was puzzled.

“Engine trouble, or have they given up the idea?” he whispered.

“Wait,” his uncle whispered back.

After a few minutes, a new sound came to their ears: the sound of oars rasping against oarlocks, the soft splash of oar blades dipping in and out of the water.

Biff knew now why the engine had been cut—so Dietz could approach without awakening his prey.

The sound of a boat grating gently on sand was heard next. Dietz and Company had made their landing. Biff and his uncle could hear two men conversing in low voices. The voices came nearer. The enemy was standing directly across from where Biff and his uncle lay hidden behind the dory.

“Walk up toward the tent, Crunch.” It was Dietz’s voice. “Keep them from coming down here if they wake up. Okay, Specks, start drilling.”

That was the plot! Drill holes in the dory. Make it unfloatable. What devilment had they planned for the cruiser? These thoughts flashed through Biff’s mind.

Just as Specks lifted one leg over the gunwale, Charlie Keene, still hidden, let go with his automatic. Eight shots in rapid succession shattered the night silence.

From the cabin cruiser came blast after blast from the boat’s foghorn. _Hurrammppp!_ ... _Hurrammppp!_ ... _Hurrammppp!_

Specks leaped out of the dory.

“They’re laying for us,” Dietz shouted. “Run for the boat!”

Uncle Charlie had slipped in another cartridge clip, and this time his eight rapid-fire shots were aimed just over the heads of the fleeing Dietz and Specks. Derek kept working the foghorn. The noise tore at the night.

Dietz slipped and fell into the water as he jumped for his boat. Specks was frantically shoving it off the beach. Dietz scrambled in. Bullets from the automatic’s third clip were stinging the water around Dietz’s boat like angry wasps.

The frightened pair finally got their engine started, backed off at full throttle, swung around and headed out to sea.

The foghorn continued its angry growling.

“Okay, Derek,” Uncle Charlie called. “Lay off. They’re long gone.”

Derek joined Biff and his uncle, and they watched the light of the fast-disappearing boat. Then, the tension relieved, the three sank down on the sand and howled with laughter.

When Biff was finally able to control his laughing spell, he got up with a start.

“Crunch!” he exclaimed. “What happened to him? I didn’t see him get in the boat.”

“He’s probably halfway across the Atlantic by now,” Charlie answered. “Swimming his lungs out to get away from the evil spirits.”

A search of the small island was started. Crunch was found on the far side, cowering behind a small sand dune.

Once the giant Indian had been calmed down—and Biff had to work hard on him to convince him the evil spirits had fled—Crunch fell to his knees and with outstretched arms, said to Biff:

“Please. Crunch stay with you now, work for you? Do anything you say. Crunch afraid to go back to boss Dietz.”

“Good for you, Crunch. Glad to have you join us.”

The four walked back to the tent.

“I don’t know where you’re going to sleep, Crunch,” Biff said doubtfully.

“Crunch not sleep—stand guard outside tent,” the Indian replied.

Biff turned to his uncle. “What’s Dietz trying to accomplish now?” he asked.

“Harassment, Biff. Stalling. Working out a plan. First of all, he wants to be around when we locate the exact spot of the pearl fishery. Then—well—”

“Then what, Mr. Keene?” Derek asked.

“Nothing to worry about, Derek.”

“You’re holding something back, Mr. Keene. I want to know the truth. I want to know what I’m in for.”

Charlie Keene spoke in a quiet voice. But his words were chilling.

“As far as he knows, your father is gone, Derek—if Dietz can get rid of _you_, then the claim becomes open again.”