Then Chahda hauled in on the rope until Zircon was directly alongside. The Hindu boy had thrown over the ship's boarding ladder. Zircon grabbed it and held. Rick and Scotty left the rope and swam rapidly toward the boat. Both had realized that Zircon would need help. So had Tony, who was already helping Shannon to the ladder. Chahda lowered a line with a bowline in the end, and Zircon slipped the loop over Shannon's shoulders and made sure it was secure under his arms. Then the big scientist hurried up the ladder and called down, "Hold him away from the side! Rick, get on the ladder. Scotty, come help me. Tony, keep his feet clear." In a moment all hands were in position. Rick wrapped one leg around a wooden rung and slipped one arm behind the ropes. Then, as Scotty and Zircon hauled, he held Shannon out from the boat so the injured leg could not strike the side or a rung. As soon as Shannon's shoulders were at the railing, Tony went by Rick and helped pull the scientist aboard. Rick waited to give Torres a hand, noting as the Filipino boy climbed up that the rough bandage on his wounded arm was stained with fresh blood. The boy gave him a wide grin as he climbed to safety. A rifle slug interrupted Rick's answering grin. It slapped into the hull only a few feet away. With his free hand he found his knife and severed the rope that held the barrel, then he called, "Go, Chahda! Get out of here!" The roar of the twin engines was his answer. By the time he had climbed over the side and hauled in the ladder, the MTB was reaching top speed as Chahda put the pirate island astern. Rick glanced back. The pirate vintas were still clustered around the shore near the cove. Far above them, the black rock of the volcano was pink with the rays of the newly risen sun. For long moments Rick stared at Shan, then he turned with a grin to shake hands with his friends. CHAPTER XX The Patrol Takes Over Colonel Felix Rojas of the Philippines Constabulary paced the deck of the _Swift Arrow_ while he listened to the story related by the Spindrifters. Next to the MTB was a gunboat of the Philippines Naval Patrol, and beyond that a destroyer-escort loaded to the gunwales with constabulary troopers. Rick and his friends had arrived at the port of Dalun, on Tawi Tawi, just in time to catch the two-ship convoy that was about to leave in search of them. The presence of Colonel Rojas was a surprise, but, as he explained, once reports of the pirates reached him, he had taken the next plane home to assume command. The group in the pilothouse of the MTB was complete, except for Shannon and Elpidio Torres who were receiving medical treatment on the gunboat. Hobart Zircon covered the story from the point of view of the searchers, then Tony Briotti filled in the details of what had happened to him, Shannon, and "Pete" Torres.