Sword in Sheath by Andre Norton

Author:Andre Norton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media

10

NOT ON THE MAP

“Three times nine is twenty-seven,” van Bleeker muttered “Twenty-seven like those — !”

“Twenty-seven!” Kane goggled down at what he held. “There're only three.”

“You don't understand,” Lorens cut in. “That diver was from Borneo, and there they believe in the old superstitions. Every ninth pearl they find is put into a bottle with two grains of rice, the stopper being made from a human finger bone. After certain incatations the pearls are supposed to change the rice grains into gems of equal value. So, if this man was true to the old customs, three pearls in the bottle mean that he had found twenty- seven to begin with. He was diving in a rich and practically untouched bed if he was able to find twenty-seven like those.”

“The question being,” pointed out Sam, “where did he come from? Are there any islands near here?”

“Not marked on the chart, no. How long, Felder, could he have lived with that wound?”

The slim, dark-faced young officer raised his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “How can any man tell, Captain? Those natives have great powers of endurance. The first blood on the bandage was dried, and he must have died just as our men reached him. Three hours, four, maybe more since he was shot. And who knows whether he was just now coming from the pearling bed? He might have brought those up months ago in a very distant place.”

“I think not,” Kane interrupted. “Suppose he was trying to escape from somewhere — maybe last night. He was shot at, made it to the outrigger, and pushed off — Couldn't a current have pulled him out here?”

Van Bleeker hunched over the chart table thumbing a hastily unrolled map. Felder had caught some of the captain's fever and was working out his own calculations.

“There is a drift, sir — “ the Eurasian ventured. “Southeast—”

Van Bleeker stabbed the points of the dividers into the map.

“Southeast shall we try then. But with caution, you understand. And, Felder, take the keys to the gun locker and break out the arms. We have no wish to share the fate of this poor devil.”

The Sumba changed course and sailed on. Upon her deck men worked to enfold in canvas the body of the diver, sewing the stuff smoothly about the pitiful form. And van Bleeker came forward when they had finished to read over that narrow bundle the words of the burial service. When it slid overside into the green depths Kane knew a queer feeling of loneliness. They would probably never know the name or history of the dead man; he would become just an entry in the ship's log, to be reported to the proper authorities when the Sumba made port again — if she ever did.

Now why should that thought cross his mind at this time? There was no reason for the Sumba to run into trouble. Well armed and manned, the freighter could stand up against anything now cruising these waters since there were certainly no enemy subs or destroyers out — the war was over.

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