“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.”
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?”
“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.