The two boys started out across the valley
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TRIPHIBIAN ATOM1CAR
plain, then upward along slopes clad in a greenish-brown stubble of camel grass. As they traveled higher, leaving the camp far behind, the uplands FIERCE TRIBESMEN
135
became more fertile. Dense shrubbery and wooded patches appeared.
Suddenly the boys were startled by the sound of thundering hoofbeats. They gaped in surprise, as two fierce-looking hill tribesmen came gallop-136 TRIPHIBIAN ATOMICAR
ing over the ridge on horseback. The turbaned, baggy-trousered riders were shouting and brandishing long glittering spears.
Tom’s face tightened. “We’d better take to the air quick!”
He stabbed the repelatron button on the dashboard and the atomicar zoomed up and away in the nick of time, as the tribesmen hurled their spears upward. The well-aimed weapons only pinged against the underside of the car.
“Whew!” Bud muttered as the boys flew on. “Some reception!”
Tom felt a surge of worry at the evident hostility of the hard-riding mountaineers. Did this portend trouble for his base camp? Yet, from all accounts he had read of Kabulistan, the days when wild tribesmen raided innocent travelers were long past.
“Maybe they were just overly enthusiastic,” Tom remarked hopefully.
“That kind of enthusiasm I can do without,” Bud retorted. “Maybe those ‘rumors’ Simon Wayne told us about are true.”
Presently, since there was no further sign of the attackers, Tom decided to land. He set the atomicar down gently on a level spot near a small blue lake.