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THE DEADLY DUTCHMAN A RICK BRANT SCIENCE-ADVENTURE STORY, No. 22 BY JOHN BLAINE Grosset & Dunlap ASIN: B0006BQZI4
After attending the International Technological Youth Conference in Europe, Rick Brant’s pleasant expectations of a motor-scooter sightseeing tour across part of the Continent are shattered when he and his friend Don Scott find themselves abruptly involved in a deadly manhunt in Holland. For some unknown reason, Scotty is the prime target of a treacherous group headed by a deadly Dutchman. The dangerous chase rises to a smashing climax in the dark waters of a canal inAmsterdam. In The Deadly Dutchman, John Blaine has written another thrilling Rick Brant adventure packed with high-voltage suspense and explosive excitement.
CHAPTER I The Letter Rick Brant was suffering from an acute case of spring fever. Like other periodic plagues, including seventeen-year locusts, smog, and hoof-and-mouth disease, the fever varied in intensity from year to year. Rick’s case this year was a bad one. The staff scientists of the famed Spindrift Scientific Foundation always observed Rick’s annual attack of spring fever with mixed interest and amusement. Dr. Hartson Brant, the Foundation Director and Rick’s dad, claimed that the onset of spring fever in his tall son was as certain a sign of spring as the vernal equinox, the budding of pussy willows, or the first flight of grosbeaks headed north. Rick’s symptoms ranged from outbursts of energy to complete lethargy. This year, the energy peaks, which Dr. Brant called “Rick’s hyper-phase,” were fewer. Thedrowsinesses , which the scientist called “Rick’s hypo-phase,” were longer and deeper. A brief hyper-phase had set in when school let out today, and Rick had dissipated the burst of energy by walking home. He scrambled across the tidal flats that separated the island from theNew Jersey mainland-it was ebb tide-and reached the Brant front porch before the hypo-phase set in. There he collapsed into a comfortable chair. Somewhere in the spring-drugged recesses of his mind, Rick was aware that Scotty and the girls should be arriving. Don Scott, with Rick’s sister Barby and Jan Miller, had chosen to return home in normal fashion, stopping at the Whiteside post office, then taking a motorboat from Whiteside Landing to the island. Rick stared through half-closed eyes out across the lawn and sea wall to where breakers rolled in from theAtlantic . The rhythm of the waves had a hypnotic effect. He watched them drowsily, and tried to stir his lethargic mind to wakefulness. He had a problem, which Scotty shared. For the first time within memory, they had no summer plans. They had no jobs. They had no trips planned. There was no Spindrift expedition in prospect. In a few weeks, it would be vacation time, and they would be completely unprepared. The boy yawned and rubbed a limp hand through his brown hair, as though trying to rub an idea into his sleepy head. Could they go surfing? Sure they could. Right in the Spindrift front yard.Great idea. Carry a board down to the sea wall and call it a vacation. Or maybe a hike up the Long Trail intoCanada would be fun. But the very thought of a hike exhausted Rick in his present weakened condition. He closed his eyes. It might be nice to sleep all summer. The scientists could write a paper about a new kind of teen-age
phenomenon. “Spindrift youth reverses seasons; hibernates during summer.” At Rick’s feet Dismal, the family pup, was curled into a shaggy little ball. Diz was suffering from spring fever, too. As Rick drowsed, the little dog caught a sound and lifted his head. One of the island motorboats was approaching. Normally, Diz would have hurried to meet it, but he was too sleepy. He thumped his tail in symbolic greeting and sighed deeply. Both Rick and Diz were sound asleep by the time the motorboat occupants came around the house from the cove on the north