Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net THE SCARLET LAKE MYSTERY A RICK BRANT SCIENCE-ADVENTURE STORY BY JOHN BLAINE GROSSET & DUNLAP, INC., 1958 NEW YORK, N. Y. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED _Printed in the United States of America_ [Transcriber Note: Extensive research did not discover a U.S. copyright renewal.] [Illustration: _Grim-faced men came running to help still the holocaust_] Contents I SPINDRIFT II ASSIGNMENT: ROCKET BASE III LAS VEGAS, NEVADA IV SCARLET LAKE V PROJECT PEGASUS VI SIGN OF THE EARTHMAN VII CARELESS MESA VIII PROJECT ORION IX GHOST TOWN CLUE X STRANDED IN STEAMBOAT XI DEADROCK OGG, MAYOR XII SERVOMOTORS MISSING XIII FLY THE WINGED HORSE! XIV CHECK PILOT XV THE OPEN HATCHWAY XVI THE BOARD SHOWS GREEN XVII WEIGHT, ONE TON XVIII OUT OF CONTROL! XIX THE UNYIELDING GROUND XX THE EARTHMAN List of Illustrations _Grim-faced men came running to help still the holocaust_ _Etched on the bar was a puzzling inscription_ _A bullet whined off the top of the rock pile, and then there was silence_ _"What are you doing here?" the man demanded_ _Rick hung in the air, as though suspended by some weird magic_ CHAPTER I Spindrift Rick Brant released the sling pouch with his left hand and let it drop smoothly to the end of its double string. The sling swung through a complicated arc, out to its full length, down again behind his back, then, with rapidly increasing speed, over his right shoulder. With a final whip he swung the pouch forward and released the free end of the string at precisely the right moment. The rock left the pouch at astonishing speed, whistling as it traveled out to sea. Over fifty yards from shore it slapped into the water only a few feet from a bottle that bobbed there as a target. Don Scott, nicknamed Scotty, nodded his approval. "Okay, David. Another hour of practice and you can go hunting Goliath." Rick grinned. "I'm getting the hang of it," he admitted. "Let's see you heave another one out there." The boys had collected a pile of assorted water-polished stones from the beach near Pirate's Field, and brought them to the front of the big Brant house facing the Atlantic Ocean. Scotty selected one of the larger ones, then checked his sling. The sling was simplicity itself. Two pieces of strong cord were connected to each side of the pouch, made of heavy canvas about four inches long and three wide. One string ended in a loop, which Scotty slipped over his right forefinger. The other string ended in a large knot, which Scotty held between his forefinger and thumb.