Two long ropes were arranged so that a sled could be towed on either side of the Water Witch. Once this was done, the boys rechecked their equipment, attached the regulators to the tanks, and carried them to the beach.

Zircon would pilot the boat, following the 120-foot mark on the chart. Tony would act as tender at the stern, while Rick and Scotty would ride the sleds. The first leg would take them through the reef channel, then south to the tip of the island, reverse course and north again, staying at the twenty-fathom mark. Zircon was sure that he would be able to follow the prescribed course by judging his distance from the reef.

When all was in readiness, they loaded their gear aboard the Water Witch, including the spare tanks. Only the runaway tank was missing, and Rick had determined that its wild flight had not weakened it. The valve and pressure gauge had been recovered after a considerable search, and the tank could be refilled with the others.

Zircon took the Water Witch through the reef, and the boys donned their equipment while Tony swung the ladder outboard. Rick checked his own straps, and then those of Scotty, while Scotty returned the favor. Then each checked the flow of air through his mouthpiece, and made sure the reserve rod was in the "up" position. This done, they entered the water. Tony tossed the boards over and made sure the lines were secured.

Rick and Scotty paddled the boards to the extreme length of the lines, then separated as much as the lines allowed. They were about thirty feet apart and a hundred feet behind the boat.

They waved their readiness to Tony, who relayed the go-ahead to Zircon. The boat started slowly.

Rick moved forward on his board, and the weighted board tilted down. It acted as a hydrofoil, its forward motion pulling it deeper into the water. Rick waited until he was only ten feet from the bottom, then shifted his weight back again. Obediently the board tilted upward and raced for the surface. Rick moved forward again just in time to keep from breaking through the surface. By adjusting his weight, he could keep the board level, or go up or down. It wasn't easy and he had to fight the board level almost constantly.

Bubbles rose from the regulator between his shoulder blades as he breathed rhythmically. The lung performed effortlessly, giving him as much air as he needed. He felt the pressure on his ears as he steered the board toward bottom, and there was an instant of pain before his ears adjusted.

The bottom was sandy. To his right he saw the wall of the reef, and once a startled snook shot out of his way. To his left he could see Scotty. Before he knew it the boat had throttled down, a signal that they were at the southern end of the reef. He tilted upward and surfaced.

Tony called, "How is it?"

"Great!" Rick called back. "But we'll need lots more line. It was shallow on the way down, but if we try to go any deeper the angle of the line will make the boards come up."

"You should try it," Scotty said. "Honestly, Tony, it's wonderful!"

"I'll try it a little later," Tony promised. "I'm giving you all the line we have, about three hundred feet each. If you can't make it, surface. We'll have to splice the two lines together and use just one board."

Zircon came to the stern and bellowed, "You forgot these!"

He tossed in two fishing floats and coils of line. Those were in case they found the wreck. Whoever spotted it was to drop off his board, secure the line to the wreck, and let the float rise to the surface. In that way, they would have a guide.

Each boy took one of the units and fastened it to his weight belt.

"We're off!" Zircon called. "Ready?"

The boys yelled that they were. Rick fitted his mouthpiece and checked the seal of his mask. Scotty did the same, then both tilted their boards and slid under.

On the northbound leg they had trouble keeping the boards down because of the tendency of the lead rope to pull the front of the boards up, but by crawling far forward, they managed.

They were deeper than they had ever gone before, but Rick felt no sensation of fright or strangeness. It was a green world, not dark but yet not bright. The light was subdued, filtered by the fathoms of water. The bottom was mostly clear sand, dotted now and then by patches of growth. There did not seem to be many fish, or perhaps their eyes were not adjusted to the subdued light. Scotty was close to the reef on the northbound leg, while Rick was about twenty feet farther out.

For long moments there was only the sensation of rushing through the water, the distant throb of the engines, and the sound of their own bubbles. Then, ahead, Rick saw a mass of growth and tilted his board upward just in time to clear it.

Scotty hooted once, then again. Rick turned in time to see his pal's board leap ahead, free of Scotty's weight. Sudden fear gripped him. Had Scotty been caught? Instantly he released his own board and saw it scoot for the surface. He reversed his course and swam rapidly back.

The obstruction he had cleared was dead ahead. And there were fish! So many that they seemed like a swarm of flies around it. The biggest was not more than five inches long. Then he saw Scotty. His friend was fastening the float line to a projection!

Rick's heart leaped. What he thought was a rock formation on the sea floor was the wreck of a ship! Scotty had recognized it and dropped off. The Maiden Hand? He hooted and Scotty looked up. The other boy shook his head.

It wasn't the Maiden Hand, then. But how did Scotty know? In a moment, when he joined the other boy, he saw the curling edges of steel plate. This was a steel ship, then, and not a very large one at that. He estimated its length as not more than a hundred feet. Still, it was a wreck—their first. There, at twenty fathoms, he and Scotty shook hands solemnly while the tiny fish swam around them like curious gnats.

Scotty finished tying his line and unwound it from the wooden spool. The float rose upward and vanished far overhead. They heard the throb of the returning boat, and Rick hooted twice, the signal to surface. Scotty nodded, and they went up, slowly, careful to breathe naturally and not to overtake their small bubbles, as doctrine dictated. In a moment Rick saw the hull of the boat, propellers barely turning, and knew that Zircon was holding position overhead.

They broke water off the side of the Water Witch, and Rick waited until Scotty hailed the scientists. "We found a wreck, but it's a steel ship."

"Come aboard!" Tony called, and helped them up the ladder when they complied. The tanks were cumbersome when out of the water.

"It's a fish paradise!" Rick said excitedly. "I'm going to get my camera working and take some pictures. You've got to go down and look, both of you."

"How did you spot it?" Zircon asked.

"Scotty did. I thought it was a rock formation and went over it, but Scotty dropped off."

"I saw curled plate," Scotty answered. "I knew it wasn't the Maiden Hand, with steel sides, but I didn't think we'd want to pass up a wreck."

"You were so right," Rick agreed, grinning.

A check of their tanks with the gauge showed that only about five minutes diving time remained at the twenty-fathom depth, so the regulators were transferred to spare tanks. Tony and Zircon, already in trunks, donned diving gear and followed Scotty's line to the bottom. The boys waited impatiently, Scotty taking the helm to hold the boat in place.

Ten minutes later the scientists surfaced, and Rick helped them aboard. Tony removed his mask and grinned. "It's as wonderful as you said it was."

"What kind of ship was it?" Rick asked.

Tony had been a destroyer skipper during the war and he knew ships.

"Probably an interisland cargo carrier of some kind. At any rate, it appears to be a small cargo ship. It's so overgrown with marine growth that the shape is cluttered. It might have been a small tanker."

"We can explore it from stem to stern," Rick suggested excitedly.

Scotty joined them and commented, "But not right now. We'll have to go ashore and charge the tanks. There may be time for one more dive this afternoon if we hurry."

"Besides," Hobart Zircon said with a smile, "I'm hungry. As you say, Rick, diving certainly develops the appetite!"

They docked, and Tony and Zircon went off to see about preparing sandwiches. The boys decided that rather than carry the tanks back and forth from the pier to the shed, it would be more sensible to bring their small, portable gas-driven compressor to the pier.

Scotty went after it while Rick tied the tanks to the afterrail of the Water Witch, in position for filling.

A yell from Scotty stopped him. He looked up and saw his friend beckon, and ran down the pier to the house. The scientists joined him and Scotty at the shed where the compressor had been stored.

"We've been sabotaged again," Scotty told them flatly. "There's oil in the compressor!"

"Are you certain?" Zircon pressed close to examine the machine.

"Yes. I stumbled over my own feet and tipped the compressor on its side. And oil ran out through the air fitting. Look!" Scotty held up his hand, and it was smeared with glistening oil.

A cold shiver traced its way down Rick's spine. Oil in a compressor was blown into fine particles, too small to be seen. If they got into an air tank they would be breathed in, leaving a thin coating on a diver's lungs. The result was a condition almost exactly like pneumonia, called "lipoid pneumonia." Their special filter, designed by Zircon, probably would have taken all the oil particles out of the air before it got into the tanks, but that didn't alter the fact that faced them. Someone had deliberately put oil in the compressor. Someone just didn't want them around!



CHAPTER VIII

The Fancy Frogmen

"The question is," Rick stated, "when was the oil put in? While we were at Charlotte Amalie? Or while we were out hunting the wreck just now?"

"In Charlotte Amalie, of course," Tony said. "Why do you think it might have been done just a little while ago?"

Rick shrugged. He had no answer to that. The question had popped into his mind unbidden.

"We didn't take the compressor apart," Scotty reminded him.

That was true. But Rick had started it in Charlotte Amalie to be sure it was functioning. There was no oil in it then. He said as much.

"You started the compressor at the same time you checked the tanks," Zircon reminded him. "I believe the oil was put in at the same time the valves were loosened."

That seemed reasonable. Rick put aside his hunch. "Well, we found it in time, anyway. Now Scotty and I will have to tear the compressor down and clean it before we can recharge the tanks."

"After lunch," Tony said. "Don't you remember? A diver is supposed to rest after each dive. Relax, and I'll have some sandwiches ready in a few minutes."

All hands were hungry. Scotty stowed away four sandwiches and Rick did nearly as well. Then they started work on the compressor. It wasn't a hard job, but it was tedious, and nearly two hours elapsed before they finished. Each part had to be washed in soap and water, then carefully dried. Finally, the compressor was ready. They carried it to the boat, started the gas engine, and connected the tanks. But before the air started to flow, Rick carefully inspected the filter system to be sure that hadn't been tampered with too.

"You know," he observed, "these enemies Steve is hunting know a lot about sport diving."

Scotty considered. "They knew that tanks could be dangerous, and they knew that oil in a compressor is dangerous. You're right, Rick. They know plenty about it."

"But it doesn't do us much good to know that they know," Rick concluded. "Well, now what? It will be a few hours before all the tanks are charged."

"Where are Zircon and Tony?"

"Napping. We probably should join them."

"Not me. There's nothing to do after sundown but sleep. I'd like to take a walk and look the island over."

Rick sighed. "Always an eager beaver. I'll go with you, if you don't walk fast."

They turned north and walked up the beach. Somewhere off this stretch of beach was the Maiden Hand. But where? They strolled along leisurely, stopping now and then to examine some bit of beach flotsam. There were shells, but most of them were small and water worn.

"We'll have to collect a few shells on the reef," Rick said. "Barby will be disappointed if we don't."

"That's easy enough to do," Scotty replied. "I saw half a dozen different varieties this morning."

They passed a beach house, obviously empty. Rick gestured toward it. "Funny how few people there are here. If I owned a place on this island I'd be here all the time."

"Unless you had to make a living," Scotty added practically. "This isn't the season for vacations. I expect vacation time finds plenty of activity here. There's one cabin occupied to the south of us. I saw people there this morning. They're probably the same ones who waved at us from a boat when we flew over day before yesterday."

"The boat isn't there now," Rick observed. "At least, I haven't seen it."

"They may have gone to St. Thomas for supplies. Or they may have gone home." Scotty pointed to what seemed to be the largest house on the island, near the northern tip. "That's quite a place. Let's go have a look."

There was a long pier in front of the house, and, unlike the others on the island, this house had a second story. There was no sign of life. They walked around it and found a barbecue pit. Scotty examined it. "This has been used recently, probably in the past few days."

Rick bent down and peered at a scrap of meat. "You're right. They had steak. And this piece hasn't dried out yet."

"Maybe they're still here." Scotty walked to the back of the house. "They might be out fishing or something." He looked in a window and called urgently, "Rick! Look!"

Rick hurried to his side and peered in. The room was evidently used for storing diving equipment. Hung along one wall were three full diving suits of expensive make. Next to them, neatly racked, was an assortment of spear guns, all of the spring type, and all of Italian make.

On another wall were three Scuba regulators, not aqualung types such as the boys used, but the variety that carries a full face mask through which the diver breathes. In a rack on the floor were nine spare tanks and a compressor much larger and more expensive than theirs.

Swim fins, also of Italian make, were lying on a table. They were the shoe type, put on like a pair of slippers. Rick identified an underwater camera, complete with steering fins and outside controls, and a number of face masks with built-in snorkels. Boxes stacked on the floor carried labels that identified them as midseason suits of French make.

"We've found some real fancy frogmen," Scotty observed. "This place looks like a high-priced show-room for diving gear."

"Pretty plush," Rick agreed.

They wandered back down to the beach and found that this area of the island was apparently more open to the sea. There were bits of flotsam, including coconuts that had washed in. The sea shells were larger, and they found a few worth picking up.

Scotty beckoned and pointed to a piece of wood, nearly buried in the sand. "What do you make of this?"

Rick examined it. It was curved, and a shred of green metal still clung to the rusty remains of an ancient hand-fashioned nail. He looked up with sudden excitement. "It's a section of a ship rib. And a pretty old one, too." His finger indicated the shred of metal. "Copper. Or used to be." He broke it off. "Completely oxidized. It's been in the water a long time, perhaps even centuries."

The boys stared out at the reef, both half afraid to put their thoughts into words. Finally Scotty asked, "Do you remember reading about any earthquakes or big tidal waves down here recently?"

Rick tried to recall. "No. Why?"

"Well, the Maiden Hand has been under the water out here for a couple of centuries—and in pretty deep water, too. It would take some disturbance that could reach down a hundred and twenty feet to break off a chunk."

Rick grinned. "You're right. But we haven't anything to lose by taking a look, have we?"

They trotted down the beach toward their own house at a half run. Rick looked at his watch. "At least one pair of tanks should be full by now, and there's plenty of time for a dive. Come on!"

They paused at the pier, put the pressure gauge on the first two tanks in series, and found them charged, as Rick had predicted. Then they ran for the house.

Zircon and Tony were gone and there was a note on the living-room table. "We're exploring the southern end. Be back in an hour or two."

"Shall we wait?" Scotty asked.

"No need. We can take our floats. Let's get going."

They changed to trunks. Then, since they would not have anyone on the surface to keep track of time or depth, strapped on wrist watches, compasses, and wrist depth gauges. Floats and weight belts were put on, then the boys added small plastic slates and pencils for writing underwater. Knives, masks, snorkels, their favorite guns, fins, and lungs completed their equipment.

"Shall we walk up the beach, or swim?"

"Swim," Rick said promptly. "This stuff is too heavy to carry comfortably."

They launched floats, placed aqualung mouthpieces on top of their masks, and swam parallel to the beach. By using snorkels they avoided the effort of lifting their faces out of water to breathe and conserved the air in the tanks. With effective but effortless leg strokes they moved along rapidly.

As they approached the ship rib that Scotty had found they turned and swam straight out toward the reef, crossed it, then came to a halt.

"Let's tie our floats to something," Rick suggested, and Scotty nodded.

Aqualung mouthpieces replaced the snorkels, and each boy tested his flow of air, checked to be sure his mask was connected to the lung by a safety line, charged his gun, and set his watch. The watches, designed especially for underwater swimming, had an outer dial that could be set to show elapsed diving time.

Rick hooted and pointed down. Scotty nodded and they submerged. Because of their belt weights, and the weight of air in their tanks, they were just heavy enough to sink slowly. After the dive, when the air in the tanks was nearly exhausted, they would weigh about five pounds less and have a slight positive buoyancy that would help them to rise.

They found coral outcroppings and tied their float lines, being careful not to cut their hands. Rick suddenly wished they had brought canvas gloves. Scotty still wore a single rubber one.

Then, with a few strong kicks to overcome their inertia, they started down the face of the reef. It fell off sharply for about forty feet, then more gradually until sand bottom was reached at about ninety feet.

Rick felt the sensation of thrusting his face into a wedge as the pressure increased. He swallowed a couple of times and felt his ears equalize, but his mask was beginning to hurt. He exhaled through his nose and equalized the pressure inside the mask.

There were plenty of fish around now. A grouper saw them coming and ducked into his hole in the coral. A fairly large moray eel, only his head visible, watched their progress. Tiny demoiselles fluttered around them, and a pair of red squirrelfish watched from the shelter of a purple coral fan.

The coral growth was spectacular, with fantastic shapes and colors. Then, as they went deeper, the colors gradually faded to a uniform green. Rick knew from underwater flash photographs that the appearance was deceptive. The colors remained, but the quality of light changed.

Scotty hooted four times, the signal for danger! Rick looked and saw a barracuda hovering near by. He gulped. The fish was easily five feet long. Both boys lifted their spear guns just in case the 'cuda attacked, but the motion alarmed him and he was gone with one powerful flick of his tail.

Rick consulted his wrist depth gauge, holding it close to his face plate. They were at bottom at ninety feet, and the clean sand dropped away at an angle of about thirty degrees. The boys planed downward, a few feet above the sand until Rick's gauge read 120 feet. This was the limit of their dive. Going deeper would mean stopping for decompression on the way up.

He recalled that the waves came into the beach from a slightly northerly direction and motioned to Scotty that they should turn north. Scotty moved out to the limit of visibility, and they swam on a compass heading of north, watching for any sign of a wreck. Now and then a coral shelf extended out from the reef, but they saw nothing that could have been a wreck. Once they swam over a patch of marine growth perhaps twenty feet long and ten wide, and a huge eagle ray lifted from it and glided off like a weird futuristic airplane.

It was quiet, except for the regular chuckle of their exhausts, and the light was subdued and even. It was a world without shadows. Still, Rick thought, there was plenty of light for photography. Next time he would bring his camera.

The watch showed him that over half their allotted time was gone, and he hooted once to Scotty, then reversed course, heading back toward their floats.

They approached the patch where they had seen the ray and Rick paused suddenly. There was an odd shape on the sand near the patch. He flippered over to it and examined it. Scotty joined him. It looked like an oversized mushroom protruding from the sand at an angle.

Rick unsheathed his knife and poked at it. The sharp tip penetrated for a fraction of an inch, then stopped. It was either rock or metal, and judging from the shape, it was unlikely that it was rock. He put his knife under it and pried, and the thing moved in the sand.

Both boys went to work on it, scooping the sand from around it. In a moment they had it clear. It was something like a dumbbell, covered with marine growth where it had been above the sand, but fairly smooth under it.

Rick took his belt slate and scribbled, "Metal."

Scotty nodded. Then both of them turned to look at the patch of marine life.

A distant throb, as though of a boat, caught their attention. They looked up, but the surface was invisible.

It was Tony and Zircon, Rick decided. They probably had returned to the cottage and found the diving equipment missing. They could spot the location where the boys were diving easily enough, first by the floats, then by the bubbles of their exhausts.

Scotty hooted suddenly, four times. Rick turned quickly in time to see a six-foot shark speed past. The tips of the pectoral fins and the second dorsal were darker than the rest of the fish, and Rick identified it as a black-tipped shark. Obviously, the shark was on business of its own, not particularly interested in them. Still, it was curious. The shark was rushing almost straight up.



Scotty gripped his arm and pointed. More sharks! Another black tip. And a ten-foot leopard shark! All rushing upward.

The boys watched tensely, and then out of the dimness above something sped down at them, followed by the sharks. It landed in the clear sand just beyond the marine growth. Rick saw a black tip go for it, then the black tip was struck from the side by the big leopard. In spite of his sudden apprehension, Rick couldn't help wishing for his camera.

The sharks rushed again, and the falling object was lifted from the sand by the disturbed water. This time, Rick recognized it. A chicken! It was tied to a length of string from which dangled a lead sinker. The bird was dead, but apparently freshly so. He knew that it was the chicken blood that had brought the sharks—and a giant barracuda! The great fish, a full six feet in length, slashed past the sharks and tore a chunk out of the bird.

The leopard shark made a fast pass at the barracuda, then turned and snapped at a black tip. Rick gulped. A hole suddenly appeared in the black's side, as smooth as though scooped out of ice cream. And then the other sharks hit the wounded black tip.

There were many sharks now, worrying the chicken and the wounded black tip like fierce dogs over scraps of meat. Rick thought, "We'd better get out of here!" He hooted twice at Scotty, the signal to ascend. Scotty motioned to him to retreat. Rick picked up the dumbbell-shaped object. It was heavy, but not too heavy to handle, and he started a slow retreat along the sand.

The sharks were paying no attention to the boys, but Rick wasn't at all sure that they wouldn't, once the supply of chicken and wounded shark were exhausted. His mind raced. Where had the chicken come from? Whoever had tossed it into the water would have known that the blood would bring sharks. It wasn't a casual toss, either. Not when the chicken had been weighted with a fishing sinker big enough to carry it to the bottom. Tony and Zircon would never do such a thing. Besides, they had no chickens.

Rick and Scotty backed far enough away so that the sharks could no longer be seen. Then, heading toward the reef, they started for the surface. Scotty was slightly in the lead, and Rick kept glancing back in case one of the big fish decided to follow. But they reached the surface without incident and broke water about two hundred feet from their floats. There was no boat in sight.

Replacing aqualung tubes with snorkels, they swam on the surface, faces down, alert for sharks. When they reached the floats, Scotty kept watch from the surface while Rick dove to untie the lines.

As they climbed on the floats and lifted masks, Scotty and Rick pointed and yelled "Hey!" simultaneously.

But they had seen different things. Rick had seen the Water Witch pass through the reef and head for them. Scotty had seen another boat, a big cabin cruiser, tied up at the pier in front of the house occupied by the fancy frogmen!

Rick turned and looked at the cruiser, then at the house. He was in time to see the front door close. There would have been plenty of time for someone to drop the chicken from the cruiser and then cross the reef and tie up at the dock.

"I'll bet that's where the chicken came from," Rick said harshly.

"That's a bet I won't take," Scotty returned. "But you can bet we'll find out!"



CHAPTER IX

Wreck of the "Maiden Hand"

Tony Briotti examined the metallic object they had brought from the bottom, then took his knife and scraped at it. Under the covering of marine growth, red rust appeared. He looked at Hobart Zircon. "Recognize this, Hobart?"

"There's only one thing I can think of that fits the shape, Tony. Bar shot."

"My conclusion exactly." Tony weighed the thing in his hand. He grinned at the boys. "Adventure-prone, and lucky. Describe the place where you found it."

Rick did so, concluding, "The patch didn't look anything like a ship, though. If that's what you're thinking."

"After two centuries, the ship would no longer look like a ship. But this is unquestionably a bar shot for an ancient cannon. It was used to cut ship's rigging, and to knock down masts, and create other damage of that sort. It's likely that the pirates, or the Maiden Hand, would have carried bar shot."

"I think you have found the ship," Zircon told them, "and the question about earthquakes was a good one. There was a heavy quake in this region about a year ago. I had occasion to recall it a half hour ago when we found a slight fault at the southern tip of the island that had uncovered an Indian midden."

"And a fine one," Tony added. "You boys can dive for treasure if you want to. I've some work of my own to do."

"Incidentally," Scotty reminded Rick, "in the confusion below we forgot to send up a buoy. Hope we can find the place again."

"We can."

"What confusion?" Zircon asked.

Rick told him. "A freshly killed chicken was dropped near us. And it must have been bleeding when it hit the water, because we suddenly had a shark convention around us." He pointed to the boat tied at the pier, now far behind them because the Water Witch had been moving. "And we think that was the boat that dropped it."

"It was weighted," Scotty added.

The scientists looked at each other. Tony grunted. "It makes no sense, Hobart. Why would anyone weight a freshly killed chicken and throw it over the side?"

"No reason at all," the big scientist said, "unless he wanted to create mischief below."

"But just the act of dropping a chicken wouldn't ensure harm to divers below," Tony objected.

"That's why I said mischief. Inexperienced divers might panic under such circumstances and attract the sharks to themselves."

Rick hazarded a guess. "What if they just wanted to keep people from diving in the area?"

"That might be one way of doing it." Zircon said thoughtfully. "Are you suggesting that there are others after the Maiden Hand treasure?"

Scotty spoke up. "How could anyone else find out about the treasure?"

"It's possible that there are other references besides the logbook we found," Tony replied. "But it would be too farfetched to speculate that other treasure hunters had found the location and were diving right at this time."

"This might be related to what happened on St. Thomas," Rick ventured.

Zircon shook his massive head. "Extremely unlikely. Consider." He ticked off the points on his fingers. "Who knew we were coming to Clipper Cay? Ernst, Steve, and his Navy friend. We did not mention it to the people from whom we bought supplies, nor did we discuss it in the presence of others. We were not followed here. No, Rick, I think that we cannot blame this incident on the ones in St. Thomas."

"Then it was a dangerous practical joke," Tony concluded. "Unless there was some legitimate reason for throwing the chicken over that we don't know about."

Zircon steered the Water Witch through the reef entrance, and the Spindrifters tied up at the dock. Rick and Scotty inspected the compressor and then measured the amount of air in the tanks. They hooked the tanks up, refilled the gas tank of the compressor engine, and left the tanks to fill while they went to the cottage.

Rick and Zircon prepared dinner while Tony and Scotty refilled the gasoline lanterns that provided light, and generally straightened up the cottage.

Rick called, "Tony, tell us more about this Indian stuff you found."

Scotty added, "And what's a midden, anyway?"

Tony leaned on his broom. "A midden is a polite name for a refuse heap. Before the days of rubbish collection, people used to dump their trash in the yard. The Indians did, and thereby provided archaeologists with an important source of information. Apparently a tribe lived on this island, close to the southern tip. It's likely that they simply dumped their rubbish into the water. Well, the earthquake Hobart spoke of shifted the old coral formations at the southern tip slightly and lifted a few square yards out of the water."

He went to the front porch and brought back a curved piece of material, encrusted with coral. "This used to be a pottery bowl, probably Taino in origin. I'll probably find many like it."

It didn't look like much of a find to Rick, but he knew that Tony's trained eyes could see many things that he couldn't. "You'll dive with us, though, won't you?" he asked.

"Of course. But you and Scotty are the real enthusiasts, and the diving I do will use up air that you properly should be using. I'll go down with you in the morning, because I want a look at the wreck. But after that I think Hobart and I can amuse ourselves on the midden while you and Scotty hunt treasure. Of course we'll be ready to help if you need us."

A few minutes before six, Rick turned on his portable all-wave radio to the channel Steve had given him, but the air was silent. He waited for ten minutes, then snapped it off again. Apparently Steve had no message for them.

Dinner consisted of fresh snapper and barracuda steaks served with coconut sauce for which Zircon had learned the recipe during his tours of the Pacific. It was delicious, and Rick wondered about the fussiness of people who refuse to eat barracuda simply because the fish is a noted predator. However, he knew that people are served barracuda every day under less offensive names.

After dinner they sat over coffee on the porch and watched the sun sink beyond the reef. It was like a Pacific sunset—colorful and somehow soothing.

The boys walked to the pier, checked their tanks, and found them fully charged. Then, at Scotty's suggestion, they locked tanks and compressor in the cabin of the Water Witch. Fresh-water rinses for the remainder of their equipment followed, and they carried the equipment into the house.

Zircon was already engrossed in a book, while Tony was engaged in scraping the pottery shard he had found. The boys watched him for a few minutes, then Scotty suggested, "How about a walk?"

"Okay." There was an idea stirring in the back of Rick's head. As they walked down to the beach he said, "We ought to take a look at the folks who own that boat."

And Scotty said in the same breath, "Let's visit the fancy frogmen."

They grinned at each other, amused at how much alike their thought processes were.

"We'd better approach from the back," Scotty suggested.

Rick agreed. "Suppose we cross to the eastern shore, then walk up until we're in sight of the house. It's close to the northern tip, anyway."

It was almost fully dark now, and no lights appeared in the houses south of them. As they watched, lights showed far up the beach where the fancy frogmen lived. But there were no other lights anywhere on the island.

"Just two houses occupied," Rick said.

"We'll probably have more neighbors during the week end," Scotty answered. "The people in the house south of us must have left, but they may be back. Come on."

They made their way through the palm grove, watching fruit bats whirl against the darkening sky. There was a slight breeze, just enough to make the palms whisper. It reminded Rick of Hawaii.

The eastern shore was rough. The reef was much closer here, and long swells that had come all the way across the Atlantic sounded like subdued thunder as they broke. It was dark now, and only the white of the breaking water could be seen.

They walked up the eastern shore until the lights of the frogmen's house were directly opposite, then turned toward it, moving with caution.

"Take it easy," Rick whispered. "They may be outside."

As they drew closer they could see that the lights were in the front rooms of the house. The back was dark, except for light that came through open inner doors.

"Wait." Scotty whispered. "I'll see if they're out front."

Rick sat down to wait as Scotty vanished. Few could equal his pal when it came to moving silently and invisibly.

In a surprisingly short time Scotty reappeared. "No one out front," he reported. "They're all in the living room."

Rick rose, and together they walked swiftly and silently to the rear of the house. The door of the room in which the diving gear was stowed opened into the living room. Perhaps they could see in there.

A card game was in progress by the light of a kerosene lamp. Rick studied the face of a heavy-set, dark-haired man who sat facing him. The man wore a T shirt that displayed the heavy muscles of arms and chest. His face was square-jawed and powerful, the eyes set deep under bushy eyebrows. His hair was short and curly, sprinkled with gray. He looked like one used to command. Rick's quick imagination pictured him on the quarterdeck of a slaver, ruling his cutthroat crew with iron fists.

The others were not visible through the door. The boys moved silently to the side of the house and drew back so they could look through the living-room window. The second man was visible now. He was young, perhaps in his twenties, and he had an unruly shock of blond hair. Once he might have been good-looking, but a scar crossed a nose that had been badly broken.

The third man sat with his back to them. Rick touched Scotty's sleeve and they went around the house via the back. The view was blocked by an open door.

Scotty put his lips close to Rick's ear. "The front."

Rick led the way, moving carefully because light spilled out of the front windows and the open front door. They reached a vantage point and looked in. The third man was clearly visible. The boys reached for each other at the same moment.

The third man was Steve's shadow!

* * * * *

Morning found the Water Witch anchored on the reef close to the place where the boys had found the bar shot. There was no sign of activity at the fancy frogmen's house, and the boat was tied up as it had been the previous evening. Apparently they were late sleepers.

The Spindrifters tossed coins to see who would make the first dive, and the lot fell to Rick and Tony. They donned their equipment, then Rick picked up a spear gun while Tony selected a wrecking bar from his equipment.

It took ten minutes of their precious fifteen to find the wreck again. This time, Rick took the precaution of tying a float to a projection and unwinding line while the float rose to the surface.

Tony started at one end of the mass of marine growth and inserted his wrecking bar. Rick joined him in heaving, and a cloud of dust and fish eggs rose to envelop them. It took a moment or two for the water to clear enough so they could see, then Tony hooted his triumph. The pull had exposed rotted timbers. This had to be a ship! But was it the Maiden Hand?

Rick wondered if they would ever be sure. Yet, he felt that it was, even though he realized that the feeling grew as much out of optimism and hope as anything else. Still, it was unlikely that another ship would be wrecked at this same depth.

Tony wrote on his slate, "Mor undr sand thn can see, likely."

Rick nodded. The shifting sands had undoubtedly covered, exposed, and recovered the wreck dozens of times in the years it had lain here. He looked at his watch, then reluctantly gave Tony the signal to surface. Their time was up.

On the Water Witch, Tony said, "It's a ship all right. And since its on the western reef at twenty fathoms, I'd say that it's very likely the one we want."

"Wonder how Captain Campion pegged the depth so accurately?" Scotty inquired.

Zircon had a possible answer. "Let's assume the pirates knew he was carrying the golden statue. It would have been logical for them to sound, just to see if there was any possibility of recovering the treasure from the wreck. Since they kept Campion for ransom, he would have heard the depth mentioned."

It seemed reasonable, and it was as good an answer as any, since there was no hope of knowing whether it was right or wrong.

"How do we find the statue?" Rick asked.

Tony handed him the wrecking bar with a grin. "Take the wreck apart a piece at a time. And if you still haven't found it, start digging."

The boys sighed. Rick recalled reading somewhere that treasure hunting was synonymous with ditch digging. Now he knew what the author meant.

Scotty and Zircon prepared to dive, shifting the regulators to fresh tanks. While they checked equipment, Rick rummaged through the boat's locker and found a length of heavy line. An empty water jug with a screw cap was attached to it, and he handed the end of the line to Scotty to take down with him.

"The fishing float and line isn't heavy enough. Let's add this, just in case."

Scotty took it and went over the side. He carried his spear gun while Zircon took the wrecking bar. Rick watched as they vanished from sight, leaving only the continuing track of bubbles.

Ashore, a man came out of the fancy frogmen's house and walked down to the beach. He shaded his eyes and stared at the Water Witch. Rick pointed him out to Tony.

"This business stumps me," the archaeologist admitted. "Are you certain about the identity of the man who was trailing Ames?"

"We're dead sure."

"Then is there any possible way he could have known about our presence on the island?"

"Not unless he recognized the Water Witch."

"That must be it. The question is, what do we do about it?"

"Nothing, I guess. Except to be on our guard."

Twin sets of bubbles rose, some distance from the boat, showing that both lungs were working well twenty fathoms down. Since the bubbles did not ascend vertically, they did not show the location of the two on the bottom. Rick studied them, working on an idea.

The chicken had dropped pretty close to them. But since their floats were tied to the reef, and their bubbles were carried off a vertical path by the light currents, neither could have been used to pinpoint their whereabouts—unless whoever dropped the chicken had an excellent knowledge of the currents in this particular place!

He carried the thought further. The shadow had gotten upset because he and Scotty had gone swimming in an area where something was hidden. At least, that was a reasonable assumption, based on the events at St. Thomas. The fancy diving gear in the house, the attempt to warn them off, and the presence of Steve's erstwhile shadow on Clipper Cay could then be added up.

Right here, in this particular area, another mysterious something was hidden! Something that the fancy frogmen dived often to see, use, collect, or whatever they did with it. That would account for their familiarity with the currents!

He started to tell Tony, then reconsidered. It was a pretty good hypothesis, he thought, but not supported by ironclad evidence. If he told the scientists, they might forbid any more diving in the area. And he was determined to get that treasure—more for his sister Barby than for himself. If he failed to get it there would be no living with Barby, since she would always maintain she could have found it if they had only allowed her to go on their old expedition.

Zircon and Scotty broke water and Rick helped them aboard.

"It's a ship, and a sailing ship at that," Zircon boomed. "We identified what was almost certainly a compass binnacle, probably brass, but there wasn't time to get it free and bring it up. Scotty found what is probably the muzzle of a cannon, buried in the sand."

"There's so much growth over everything that it's hard to tell what's what," Scotty added. "But it certainly looked like a cannon muzzle."

"From what we saw, I suspect that the portion above the sand is the stern, probably the stern super-structure. If the timbers haven't completely rotted away, ripping off the top should expose the stern cabins."

"That seems reasonable," Tony agreed. "At any rate, it's a good basis for operation. Rick, if you'll look in my kit, you will find a larger bar you can borrow. You'll both need tools if you're going to take the ship apart."

"Anyway, that's enough diving for the morning," Zircon said. "Let's up anchor and go."

While the others got the boat underway, Rick started the compressor in the cockpit and connected up the tanks they had used. He almost wished he and Scotty had been extravagant and had ordered triple tank blocks to give them maximum time under water. Still, the singles were convenient, and diving was a sport it wasn't wise to overdo. By the time they were through with lunch and had rested awhile, the tanks would be fully charged again.

As they tied up, Zircon said, "Tony and I will work at his midden this afternoon. You two take the boat. We won't need it. I'll walk over and take a look every once in a while, and if we see our friends from the cottage near you, we'll come running."

The boys helped Tony prepare a simple lunch of soup and sandwiches, then all hands retired to the front porch to eat.

Up the beach, there were signs of activity around the frogmen's boat. As they ate and watched, the boat moved away from the pier and approached the reef, where it anchored. Rick went to get the binoculars and focused them on the scene.

Two frogmen, complete with suits, went over the side right where their buoys floated!

"They're diving at the wreck!" he exclaimed.

Zircon took the glasses and watched, then handed them to Tony.

The archaeologist muttered, "Surely they can't be interested in the treasure. It would be simply too much coincidence for them even to know about it."

"Maybe they're just looking to see what interested us," Scotty offered, and his explanation seemed the most plausible.

The group watched until the frogmen surfaced and the boat went back to its pier.

"Scotty has it," Zircon agreed. "From what we've seen, I'd say they simply followed our buoy lines down to see what we had been doing."

"If that's the extent of their interest, I don't see how we could object," Tony said. "Or even if they tried for the treasure we'd have no grounds for objecting. The ship is anyone's property after all these years."

Rick said flatly, "We won't do any objecting, but we'll do plenty of watching. We're going to get that treasure if it's there, whether the fancy frogmen like it or not!"



CHAPTER X

The Wailing Octopus

As Rick steered the Water Witch to its anchorage above the reef, he told Scotty about the theory he had developed that morning.

He concluded, "Their going out to take a look where we were diving is another piece of evidence. Unless they were afraid that we might be interested in their stuff—whatever and wherever it is—why would they be so concerned about what we're doing?"

"It makes a lot of sense," Scotty agreed soberly. He looked at Rick with a sudden twinkle. "It might be a good idea to take a look around down below—just so we'll know what to stay away from, of course."

Rick grinned.

By the time they dropped anchor, Scotty had the diving gear rigged and it was only the work of minutes to get into the water. Each carried a spear gun in one hand and a wrecking bar in the other. Ordinarily they would not have bothered with the guns, but being armed seemed just common sense.

On the bottom, Rick scouted around the wreck, looking for signs of its former structure while Scotty attacked the stern with a crowbar. Under Scotty's prying, a timber suddenly gave with an audible crack, and a huge grouper that must have weighed nearly three hundred pounds rushed past Rick, startling him half to death until he saw what it was.

Scotty hooted in derision as Rick back-pedaled, then he put his bar down and swam to Rick's side. He scrawled on his belt slate, "Whre he cm frm?"

Rick shrugged. It was a good question. They swam slowly around, looking for the grouper's hiding place and failed to locate it. Rick knew the big fish liked caves, rocky clefts, and the interiors of wrecks. This one must have a hole somewhere.

He tried again, going right down to the bottom and crawling along with stomach touching the sand. Even so, he might have missed the hole if stirred-up dust from the fish's sudden departure hadn't indicated where it was. The hole, big enough for him to crawl through, was under the wreck, hidden by rotted planks covered with marine growth. He hooted for Scotty's attention and showed it to him.

He took his belt slate and wrote, "Way into shp?"

Scotty nodded and wrote in his turn, "Too drk. Need lites."

Rick nodded. For a moment he was tempted to try ripping off the planks with his bar, but he decided against it. Any disturbance might very well collapse the entire structure. He wondered whether the hole was just a shallow opening, or whether it actually led into the ship. No matter. They had watertight flashlights with their spare gear in the boat. They could find out on the next dive.

For their remaining time underwater he joined Scotty in his assault on the stern of the ship. They were rewarded by finding what was evidently the interior of a cabin. Rick ripped off another plank, then jumped as Scotty hooted four times for danger. The cabin was the home of a fairly large moray eel! Both boys dropped their bars and grabbed for their spear guns, but Scotty held up his hand in a sign to wait. Rick did so, and saw the big eel emerge and swim rapidly toward the reef.

Scotty had shown wisdom. The moray is hard to kill, and this one would have given them a battle that might have used up more air than they could spare.

The water inside the cabin was murky. Rick looked at his watch. They had only a few minutes left. He wrote on his slate, "Sty dwn til rsrve wrning."

Scotty nodded agreement.

They watched as the water settled and the interior of the cabin grew clearer. Evidently it had been a very small cabin. There was a rotted frame that might once have been a single bunk, and a few broken, almost disintegrated boards that might have been a table. Mattress and bedding had long since vanished. Then Rick spotted a squarish shape under the ruin of the bunk and motioned to Scotty. They went in after it.

The top crumbled under their touch and silt rose into the water around them. But Rick persisted and felt fabric under his hands. He pulled it out and recognized a seaman's jacket, brass buttons corroded and fabric nearly rotted through. Apparently they had found a sea chest, but their exploring hands discovered nothing but rotted fabrics.

Rick felt the warning constriction that told him he had only minutes left. He pulled down the reserve lever of his tank and touched Scotty's arm. He hooted twice for the ascent.

Back in the Water Witch, they connected their tanks to the compressor, put the regulators on charged tanks, then tested their underwater flashlights.

Rick said, "Do you realize I haven't taken a single picture?"

"Why not take some on the next dive?"

"Good idea." Rick went into the cabin and brought out his camera.

The camera was the same one he had adapted for night movies, during their adventure known as Smugglers' Reef. He had built an underwater case for it from stainless steel and Lucite. An intricate gear arrangement allowed him to focus or change aperture underwater, and a light meter in the rear of the case told him what setting to use. There was an ordinary inner-tube valve projecting from one side by which the case could be charged with compressed air to compensate for the pressure of the water. The unit was battery-powered and had a bracket for mounting the infrared light used for night photography.

He unscrewed the front of the case and took the camera from its mount. He hesitated. "Suppose there's enough light down there for color film?"

"There might be," Scotty replied, "but you wouldn't gain much by using color. Everything would photograph in shades of green. Might as well have it in shades of gray."

"You've got a point." Rick loaded the camera with fast black-and-white film and returned it to the case. Then he replaced the cover and disconnected the compressor long enough to pump pressure into the camera case. "Ready to go," he announced.

"Take it easy," Scotty said. "We'd better rest a half hour or so. If we don't knock ourselves out, we can get in three more dives today."

Rick knew the wisdom of that. He adjusted the camera and took a series of "establishing" shots, to establish that the movie had been taken on a boat near an island. Then, when the time came to dive, he photographed Scotty entering the water. At his direction, Scotty got out again, while Rick got in, swam down a few feet, and took a shot of Scotty entering from that angle. Then the camera followed as Scotty flippered smoothly down into the deep water.

Rick followed, camera extended in front of him, sighting through the gun-type sights mounted on top of the case. There was a handgrip on each side, with the controls handy to his fingers. By watching the light meter he could change his exposure as the shifting light required.

He moved ahead of Scotty, panned across the wreck, then reversed the camera to photograph Scotty approaching. On a hunch, he stood well back when Scotty approached the underwater entrance and got a picture that was priceless! The grouper had returned to his home, and frightened by the light that suddenly probed his hide-out, he flashed out and caught Scotty by surprise. Scotty dropped his flashlight and back-pedaled frantically. Grinning, Rick kept his camera grinding. Scotty turned and saw that Rick was shooting, and held both hands to his face in mock dismay. Rick cut and secured the camera to an outcropping with its safety line.

Scotty picked up his light and crawled slowly into the opening. Rick waited, watching anxiously to be sure his friend's hoses and regulator cleared the entrance. Then Scotty vanished inside. In a moment he reappeared, headfirst, and beckoned.

Rick followed him in, his own flashlight extended. It was a little murky from the grouper's hurried departure, but he saw instantly that they were in what had been for those days a large cabin. This must have been the skipper's quarters. His light picked out the remains of furniture, including one massive chair that was still in good condition.

Scotty gestured with his light and Rick saw an oaken door. He swam over to it and inspected it closely. It was still firm, still in place. Where did it lead?

There was only one way to find out. He took hold of the old-fashioned handle and pulled. The door didn't budge. Rick tried again and failed. He swung himself around and put both feet on the wall next to the door, then applied leverage.

The handle came completely off. Rick sailed backward across the cabin and his tank rang like a bell as it struck something metallic. Scotty hurried to his side, and Rick gestured that he was all right. They turned to inspect the object against which Rick had hurtled and found that it was the still-sound strap for a beam, probably made of wrought iron.

Rick took his belt slate and wrote, "Whre wld he hide it?"

Scotty read it with his light, then shrugged. They began a methodical inspection of the cabin, surprised that it was so clear of marine life. Rick surmised that the opening had developed only recently, perhaps from the shifting of the ship. They found a closet and a heap of what had once been clothes on its floor. Then Scotty made the big discovery of the day. He reached into a shelf space above the bunk, hand exploring, and touched something hard. He drew it out. It looked like a green-covered bundle about a foot long and two inches thick. But before he had a chance to inspect it further, his air gave out and both boys hurried to the surface on their reserves.

Aboard the Water Witch they shed their equipment and sat down to inspect Scotty's find. The covering proved to be layer after layer of oilcloth, wrapped around the object. The outer layers had deteriorated somewhat, but the inner ones were intact.

Scotty finished unwrapping and found a second wrapping of still-dry linen. He pulled the linen off, and both boys gasped. It was a jeweled dagger, with a good-sized ruby winking in its hilt!

"Take it out of the sheath," Rick suggested.

Scotty did so, and disclosed a blade covered with some hard brown substance. "That's not rust. Got a jackknife?"

Rick found one and handed it to him. Scotty scraped and was rewarded by the gleam of bright metal.

"It must have been coated with heavy grease," Rick remarked. "During the years, the grease hardened into a permanent rustproof coating. Wait until the scientists see this!"

Scotty grinned his pleasure. "This is one treasure the log didn't mention. Poor Captain Campion must have thought a lot of it to protect it so thoroughly."

"He might have been taking it to the New World as a gift for some influential friend," Rick ventured. "It looks like Spanish work."

Scotty looked at Rick speculatively. "Are you making a claim on this?"

Rick knitted his brows. What was Scotty driving at? "You found it," he said. "Technically, we're supposed to share and share alike, the four of us and Barby. But how do you split a dagger? And we wouldn't sell it, anyway. It's too nice a souvenir."

"I'll ask Tony and Zircon," Scotty said, "but if none of you have any objection, I would like to claim it, because I want to give it to Dad for a birthday present next month."

Rick punched him on the arm. "You'll get no objection from me. Or from Tony and Zircon either."

"I can buy presents for the family," Scotty said slowly. "I do, on birthdays and Christmas. But I've always wanted to give Dad something really special, something to tell him how I feel about being taken into the family."

Rick nodded. He knew how Scotty felt, and he liked him all the better for it. "Let's get ready for the next dive," he said abruptly.

They went through the necessary checks on their equipment, transferring the regulators to the third set of tanks. Rick decided to leave the camera on the boat this time. He was anxious to inspect the ship thoroughly, and photography took time.

After a half hour of rest the boys went back into the water again, carrying their wrecking bars and spear guns, flashlights on their belts.

An inch-by-inch inspection of the cabin disclosed no more treasures, but Rick found a plate, still intact. He wondered if it were the plate from which the captain had last dined before the pirate attack, and put it outside the entrance to be carried to the surface.

Once satisfied that the cabin held no secrets, the boys attacked the door. It was hard work, and they raised so much dust that their light beams were almost useless. However, they struggled on until the door finally gave, only to admit quantities of sand.

Rick guessed that the door had opened onto a deck that was now buried far under the sand. They went outside to allow the murkiness to settle in the cabin, and Rick consulted his watch. Their time was nearly up. He hooted to Scotty and they surfaced.

The first tanks they had used were ready now. They shifted the regulators and hooked up another pair to the compressor.

"I'm afraid Tony was right," Rick said. "We'll have to take the ship apart piece by piece."

Scotty examined his foot where the fin was rubbing a little. "What would be a logical hiding place? If I were the captain, I'd probably hide the statue under false flooring or something. Anyway, I'd hide it aft, in officer's country, and not near the forecastle where the crew lived."

"That's probably right. Anyway, we won't have time to do much wrecking today. What say we hunt for loose boards in the cabin?"

Scotty grinned. "The treasure fever has got our boy Rick. Have you forgotten we were going to see what those fancy frogmen were curious about?"

Rick grinned back, a little sheepishly. "You're right. I had forgotten. Well, we can spend half the time looking for the treasure and the other half looking for the frogmen's cache."

The search for the treasure disclosed no loose boards, or anything resembling a secret hiding place. At the end of ten minutes they turned from the wreck and swam along the bottom toward the reef.

Since they had no idea what they were looking for, the search couldn't be a very carefully planned one. Rick led the way, following the reef, taking time to examine the coral formations. There were countless sea urchins, and enough small fish to feed the entire population. Bigger fish, however, were not plentiful. Once Rick saw a snook that would have been worth taking, but the fish sped off into the watery gloom. Again, Scotty called his attention to a deadly scorpion fish. This small, rather weird-looking little creature had a dangerous defense mechanism in the spines of his back. His poison bore a strong resemblance to cobra venom. The boys gave him a wide berth.

Now and then a moray glared at them with unwinking eyes from a crevice, but the boys paid no attention. The morays wouldn't attack unless disturbed, and there was no reason for disturbing them. Rick wondered if the big one they had ousted from the wreck had found a new home.

They passed a colony of sea worms, colorful even in the green light. The worms were pretty, but their long hairs could give a painful sting.

Their time was growing short. Rick consulted his watch, then his depth gauge. They were at eighty-five feet. Because of the shallower water they would have a little more time, perhaps another five minutes before constricted breathing told them only a few minutes of air remained.

Scotty found a puffer and waved at him, but the fish paid no attention. Scotty motioned to Rick, then reached out and scratched the creature's stomach. It began to gulp water until it resembled a balloon. They left it to return to normal in its own time. On the surface, the puffer would have gulped air in the same way. They had caught them on lines many times.

They were past the Water Witch now, Rick estimated. He hooted at Scotty, then led the way up to a depth of about forty feet. There he started back along the cliff.

Suddenly he wished he had brought a game bag attached to his belt. The reef here was alive with shellfish. He identified cowries, whelks, and some excellent specimens of Triton's horn. They would have to come back again, to collect some to take home. The biggest problem was getting the animals out of their shells, unless there were some anthills on the island. Ants would do the job neatly in a few days.

Scotty hooted, and pointed. Directly ahead was a small shelf. Rick moved to Scotty's side and saw the dark opening of a cave. Next to the opening was a small octopus. As they approached he changed color, trying to imitate the multicolored coral against which he rested.

Rick reached out a hand and the animal retreated, sliding into the mouth of the cave. Apparently this was his home, because the ledge was littered with shells from a number of meals.

Now Rick wished for his camera, then smiled inwardly. To satisfy all his unexpected wishes he would need a sort of underwater trailer to tow his gear.

Scotty moved close to the octopus and it retreated still further. Both boys knew the creatures were harmless to divers, and some divers even handled them. But there were reports of divers being bitten while playing with octopuses, and they had learned long ago that unnecessary risks were foolish.

Rick suddenly rocked back as his ears were smitten by sound. A wail echoed in his head, so intense that it almost hurt. Scotty started, too, and reached for the ledge in his astonishment.

The octopus peered out of the cave, and the wail came again, buzzing uncomfortably in their heads. And in that moment, Rick's air gave out. He pulled the reserve lever and planed to the surface, Scotty close on his heels.

On the Water Witch they stared at each other.

"Did you hear that?" Scotty demanded.

"I'll say I did!"

"That octopus wailed," Scotty insisted. "Twice!" He hesitated, then put Rick's thoughts into words. "Only—octopuses don't wail. They don't make noise of any kind."

"This one did," Rick said. "A wailing octopus! This is either a new scientific find, or ..."

"Or we've found what the fancy frogmen didn't want us to find," Scotty concluded.



CHAPTER XI

Lights on Clipper Reef

"This," Hobart Zircon boomed, "is a phenomenon that will rock the science of zoology to its very depths! We will examine this creature and determine his genus and species, and we will name him after you two. Octopus waili branti-scotti. Or perhaps Octopus screami would be better."

"Of course we're not certain that it was a wail," Rick said soberly. "He might have been singing. He might even have been telling us to go catch him a fish."

Tony Briotti observed, "This may not be an isolated phenomenon. Who knows? A search may disclose screaming squid, or simpering sharks, or burbling barracuda."

"Seriously," Zircon asked, "have either of you a theory to account for this? Or do you really believe that the octopus wailed?"

"We'd be in a better position to answer that if we'd had a chance to explore the cave," Scotty replied. "How can we tell? Maybe the octopus really did wail, and we were the lucky ones who heard the sound for the first time." He grinned. "We should have wailed back and tried to strike up a conversation."

Rick agreed. "I'm with Scotty. We just don't know. I agree that a wailing octopus is a new kind of beast, but that's not entirely impossible, is it?"

"Perhaps not." Tony stared at the sunset. "I'm trying to recall the physiology of Octopus vulgaris, as the garden variety of octopus is called, but my memory isn't working. It isn't beyond reason. After all, some fish make sounds. I've caught croakers myself that were pretty noisy. But I've never heard of octopus sounds until now."

Scotty chuckled. "Haven't I read that octopuses have some intelligence? We might teach him to sing. He'd be a natural for television."

"You say that the sound was loud?" Tony asked.

"Very loud. My head hurt. Did yours, Scotty?"

"I'll say! For a minute I thought my brain cells were rubbing together."

Zircon sighed. "I am stumped. And not only by your Wailing Willie, either. This whole affair baffles me, including the presence of Steve's former tail on this island. Hasn't it occurred to you that those fancy frogmen, as you call them, would have made some overt move by now if they were really interested in us?"

"Dropping the chicken was an overt move," Rick pointed out.

"Yes and no. I'd prefer to call it a not-too-subtle warning. Yet they haven't tried to interfere with your diving around the wreck."

"I've wondered about that," Scotty offered, "and it seems to me they've satisfied themselves that our interest is just in the wreck, and not in whatever they have hidden underwater. If they have anything hidden, I mean. As long as we stick with the wreck, they have no reason for causing trouble."

Tony agreed. "That makes sense to me. Perhaps you can answer this: Why do they wear cold-water suits? It's appreciably cooler at twenty fathoms, but it's certainly not cold enough for a suit."

"We only stay down fifteen minutes," Scotty said. "If we stayed down longer we might get chilled. The water isn't warm by any means down by the wreck."

Rick had a thought. "We're used to cold water, remember? Diving off Spindrift would chill a polar bear, even in summer. Suppose these people had done all their diving in tropic waters? This water would seem cold to them, particularly down deep."

It was nearly dark now, only a glimmer of light in the west. The four sat on the front porch of the cottage.

Zircon asked, "Did you monitor the radio tonight, Rick?"

"Yes, but there was no word from Steve."

"Don't you think he might like to know about the presence of his shadow on Clipper Cay?" Tony inquired.

Rick pointed to the Sky Wagon resting on the beach. "Trouble is, that's our only communication. I could contact the St. Thomas airport and request that they pass a message, but that would be like broadcasting it to the world. Steve might not like it."

Zircon's deep voice cut into his comment. "Look! Our friends are apparently going to do some night work."

There were lights on the frogmen's boat, and it was putting out. As the Spindrifters watched, it slowly approached the reef, then stopped. Scotty got the glasses and examined the scene. "Something's up!" he exclaimed. "I saw a diver go over the side!"

Hobart Zircon coughed self-consciously. "Do you know, I have taken a certain amount of pride in the fact that I am by nature a conservative individual with a highly developed capacity for minding my own business."

Rick wondered what on earth the big scientist was getting at.

"The pursuit of truth has led me along many devious routes," Zircon continued. "I have tried, with some success and many failures, to plumb the mysteries of Nature. But while I have tried to make the business of our natural universe my own, I have never thrust my not-inconsiderable nose into the business of neighbors. However, this admirable reticence has limits, since, as a scientist, I am also possessed of that inherent trait of curiosity without which no person can succeed in science."

Rick exploded into laughter. "And what you're leading up to is, you want to go see what those people are doing!"

"Precisely," Zircon admitted.

Tony and the boys roared with laughter.

"Hobart," Tony said with a chuckle, "you never fail to astonish me. And how do you propose to stick your not-inconsiderable nose into the business now going on over there?"

Zircon waved his hand. "The method was developed by our young Mr. Brant, who sometimes shows slight sparks of intelligence. He has a device which projects infrared light, and glasses that allow the wearer to see whatever that light illuminates."

Rick stared. Zircon was proposing that they take his underwater camera and use it for illumination. That must mean ... "You want to swim over with the lungs?" he asked incredulously.

"And why not?"

"But we've never done any night diving!"

"You tested the camera at night, did you not?"

"Yes," Rick admitted, "but that was in water that we knew, off Pirate's Field at home. And we only stayed in long enough to expose a few feet of film."

"We know enough about these waters to know that there are no dangerous obstructions beyond the reef, at least between here and the Maiden Hand."

Scotty laughed. "This is a day I never thought would come. It's usually the other way around, with Rick trying to sell some idea that everyone else opposes. Why not swim at night, Rick?"

"No reason," Rick admitted. "It was just that it hadn't occurred to me. There's one difficulty, though. I have only two pairs of glasses with infrared-sensitive lenses. So only two of us could go."

"Only two could dive with the camera," Tony corrected. "But all of us could go. Two would remain on the surface, with the floats, in case of trouble."

"Who would dive and who would stay on the surface?" Scotty demanded.

Rick produced a quarter. "Let coins decide. Except for the professor. He thought of it, so he dives."

"Fair enough," Scotty agreed. "All right with you, Tony?"

"Of course. The three of us, then. Odd man goes with Hobart."

Tony and Scotty produced coins. With Rick, they walked into the living room and lighted a kerosene lamp.

"Now," Rick said, and tossed his coin, catching it in the palm of his hand and slapping it onto his other wrist. Tony and Scotty followed suit. Rick uncovered first. He had heads. Tony uncovered and displayed a tail.

Scotty groaned. "Shucks! I lose. It's one of you."

Rick held his breath as Scotty uncovered—another tail! He turned to Zircon. "We dive, while Scotty and Tony stay topside."

"Good. Well, what are we waiting for?"

They changed quickly into trunks, then assembled their diving gear. Rick took the front plate from his camera and put the infrared searchlight on its mounting bracket. He changed to a fresh battery, then replaced the film in the camera with the special infrared-sensitive film.

Whatever the infrared illuminated could be seen through special glass. Rick had ordered lenses ground from the glass and had placed them in frames made to fit into a face mask. These frames could be purchased at any diving-equipment supply house. They had been designed for divers who had to wear their own corrective glasses, and they suited Rick's purpose to perfection. He handed a pair to Hobart Zircon, then inserted the other pair in his own mask.

Zircon, Tony, and Scotty decided to take spear guns. Zircon chose Rick's rubber-powered gun, while Tony selected the light spring gun. Scotty chose the highest-powered gun they had, a new jet-type powered with carbon dioxide.

Rick and Zircon connected their regulators to two freshly filled tanks, then tested the equipment. Zircon tied a rope to his belt.

The big scientist drew them together for a brief conference.

"We'll swim out and cross the reef," he directed. "Then we'll swim along the reef, staying as close as possible to the breakers. They will help conceal us. When we approach the boat, Tony and Scotty will stop and hold position. Scotty, are the binoculars waterproof?"

"Yes, they are."

"Then take them. Rick and I will go directly to the bottom at the base of the reef. We will then proceed along the reef until we spot our friends yonder."

Rick had an unhappy thought. "Suppose they see us?"

"We will try to prevent them from seeing us. However, if they do, I suggest a retreat in as good order as we can manage. If they should catch up with us, we will bluster and bluff our way on the basis that we were only diving to see if they were trying to search our wreck."

Scotty laughed. "Turn their own table on them. That's very good, Professor."

"I'm glad I'm not a physicist," Tony said piously. "We archaeologists aren't half so devious."

"I am acting in my capacity as a former consultant to JANIG, and not as a physicist," Zircon retorted with dignity. "You will refrain from casting aspersions on my profession, Doctor Briotti."

"My apologies," Tony said, grinning. "In other words, the man is devious, but the scientist is not."

"Exactly. Well, shall we go?"

Rick was glad to get into the water. The camera in its underwater case was heavy in air, but weighed only a few ounces in water. He swam with face mask under, breathing through his snorkel and letting the camera hang.

They crossed the reef without difficulty, then turned to swim along it. The trough just seaward of the breaking point of the waves was the most comfortable swimming position and they went in single file, Zircon leading.

Every now and then Rick looked up. They were getting near the boat, he thought. Perilously near. The boat was anchored just inside the reef, and he could see activity on its deck. Apparently the frogmen had returned from their first dive and were changing tanks.

Zircon stopped swimming and lay motionless in the water. Rick drew abreast of the big scientist, and Tony and Scotty stopped behind them. As they watched, suited figures with belt lights and back tanks climbed down a ladder into the water. A third man, on deck, lowered something to them. It was hard to see, but Rick thought it had a golden glisten and that it was round, about the size of a basketball. The frogmen took it and went under.



Zircon's big hand took Rick by the shoulder, then he turned and motioned to the others that they were going under. Rick shifted from snorkel to aqualung mouthpiece. He took the end of rope that Zircon held out and snapped it to his weight belt. He and Zircon were now connected by a ten-foot length of rope, necessary to keep them from becoming separated in the darkness.

He submerged and dove straight down into the blackness. His thumb compressed the button on the side of the case and the camera started, the infrared light turning on. A narrow cone of water extending out about twenty feet was illuminated, but the illumination was visible only through the special glasses he and Zircon wore.

Rick held the button until they reached bottom, then suddenly realized he would use all his film before they had even found the frogmen. He groaned silently. Why hadn't he used his head? The light as well as the camera motor were operated by the same button. If he had only thought, it would have been a few seconds' work to change the circuit so the light would be on continuously. Or he might even be able to rig a waterproof switch that would operate just the light.

Well, it was too late now. He jerked on the rope for Zircon to stop, then took his belt slate and wrote, "Cam on whn lite is. Wll use nw & thn." He held it in the beam of infrared light for Zircon to read. The scientist scribbled "OK" under the message, then gave him a gentle push as a signal to go ahead.

Rick held his wrist in the beam and read ninety-two feet on his depth gauge. He calculated quickly. They would have enough air for about twenty-five minutes at this depth.

He held the camera switch long enough to see that there was only smooth bottom ahead, then released it. Almost total blackness flooded in. For all practical purposes it was completely dark, no glimmer of light to mark their way.

For an instant Rick felt panic, but reason reasserted itself. It was instinctive to feel fear under such circumstances, he thought. Not only was he out of his own medium, air, but in a high-pressure realm inhabited by potentially dangerous creatures. He grinned inwardly at the thought. The most dangerous creatures in this vicinity were human.

A twinkle of light stopped him, but Zircon continued on and the connecting line tightened. Rick identified the twinkle as phosphorescence from some marine creature on the reef. There were many such in the ocean. He flashed the infrared light, saw that they were still heading properly, and cut it off again.

The rope at his belt tugged four times for danger! He stopped instantly, letting go of the camera with one hand while he reached for his belt knife. Then he saw what Zircon had seen, a glow in the water ahead and above them. Rick estimated quickly the distance they had traveled. There was no doubt of it. The frogmen were at the octopus cave!

He followed Zircon's lead, cutting the light off and on as necessary, as the big scientist moved ahead. The glow grew in intensity, but they were still too far away to see its exact position, or whether there were men around it.

Rick's heart beat faster, and his breathing speeded up appreciably. In spite of Zircon's plan to claim they were only checking on the frogmen's interest in the wreck, Rick knew that being discovered would mean serious trouble. He recalled Steve's warning that they were up against a ruthless enemy.

The question was, how close could they get without being seen? He could take pictures at ten feet, but at any greater distance the camera would be useless.

Zircon moved ahead, going slowly now. Rick followed, not bothering with the dark-light unit because the glow in the water was enough for a beacon. Then the glow faded for a moment as a figure crossed in front of it. Still Zircon moved ahead until Rick could see two additional, smaller glows that he identified as the belt lights the frogmen had been wearing.

Zircon continued on, still hugging the bottom, and Rick divined his intention. The big scientist was going to take them directly under the frogmen! It was logical, since the frogmen would not expect danger below.

Rick followed, staying just behind Zircon's flippers, feeling the wash of water from his wake. The light was nearly overhead now, and Rick saw dark figures moving. It was unreal, like a Hollywood motion picture, except that the tense music of a movie production was replaced only by the soft sighing of their regulators.

And with the thought, Rick almost lost his mouthpiece. Their bubbles! Their bubbles would rise right past the frogmen, a dead giveaway! It might already be too late, because Zircon was almost directly under the cave!



CHAPTER XII

Clouds Over Clipper Cay

Rick jerked frantically on the tie rope, four times for danger, then he turned and swam rapidly back the way they had come. At first he felt resistance on the line, then Zircon hurried to catch up. Not until they were barely within seeing distance of the light did Rick stop, then he took his belt slate, started the camera for light, and wrote "Bubbles go by thm if we undr. They see."

Zircon held a hand to his head in a sign of chagrin that he had forgotten, then he wrote, "Hw we gt clos?"

Rick pondered the problem. The bubbles had alarmed him in another way, too. It was possible that the man on the boat could see four sets of bubbles rising where only two were supposed to be. Yet, he couldn't escape the feeling that it was important to get a look at what the frogmen were doing. There was no way out of it. He just had to take a chance.

He wrote, "I mak pass hldng brth so no bbls, tak pix. U sty out of rnge & cvr me wth gn."

Rick had just one hope of getting away with it. He had to assume that the frogmen would be busy with whatever they were doing in the cave. If so, their backs would be to the open sea. At least the chance was worth taking.

Zircon wrote, "OK bt be crfl."

Rick didn't need the warning. Together, they swam back until they were close to the glow of the lights. He hoped that the darkness and breaking surf above were concealing their bubbles. Finally Zircon halted. Rick unsnapped the line that held him to the scientist, squeezed Zircon's shoulder, and swam away from the reef toward the open water. He kept his head turned so he could keep the light in his field of vision.

When he was out far enough he swam upward until he was on a level with the light, and directly out to sea from it. He inhaled, filling his lungs, then with camera outthrust, he drove directly toward the light. It wasn't hard to hold his breath—not with his heart acting as a stopper in his throat.

The light grew clearer. He started the camera and kept moving with powerful strokes. Then he held his legs still and let inertia carry him in a silent glide. He had to get close—close!

The light grew in intensity, and details grew clearer. He saw the frogmen, and their backs were to him! Between them, he caught a glimpse of something brassy and round, and he saw the octopus, clinging to the reef to one side of the cave.

He held the camera button as long as he dared. Then when it seemed that he would glide right into the frogmen, he twisted sideways and bent backward like a circus acrobat, flippers moving in powerful thrusts. It was an excellent underwater imitation of a wingover, the plane maneuver that reversed direction by diving and turning. He planed downward until he touched bottom, then thrust himself with frantic kicks away from the vicinity of the cave.

His lungs were about to burst, he felt, when finally he drew a deep breath. The gurgling sigh of his bubbles was sheer relief. He kept moving until he bumped headlong into Hobart Zircon. The scientist reached out and snapped his rope onto Rick's belt, then tugged twice.

Zircon led the way along the reef bottom until they reached the spot where, they estimated, Tony and Scotty would be waiting. As they started for the surface, Rick switched on the camera and looked at his watch.

They had been under only ten minutes! And he had been waiting for the warning constriction of air running out!

Zircon broke water and instantly submerged again. He led the way a few feet under the surface to where he had seen Tony and Scotty, then led Rick to the top once more.

Tony and Scotty saw them emerge and without a word turned and started back toward the cottage, pushing their floats. Instead of bothering with the snorkel, Rick kept the aqualung mouthpiece in place and swam a few feet under the surface, guiding himself by the wake of the others. He was tired—and relieved.

The group crossed over the reef and swam to the beach in front of the cottage. There they gathered at the water's edge and stripped off their gear. For long moments no one spoke, then Zircon asked, "See anything, Rick?"

"A little. Enough to get an answer, I think. We haven't discovered a new breed of octopus, because they were installing something in the cave. Something that makes a noise."

"Do you know that, or do you infer it?" Tony asked.

"I didn't hear the noise, if that's what you mean. But what else could it be?"

"Too bad," Scotty said. "Now we won't have a new species named after us. Come on, give us the word. How was it?"

Rick said, with complete truth, "I was scared to death."

"And so was I," Zircon admitted. "At first the sensation of complete blackness caused an emotional reaction. Then I began to see that we had done a rather foolish thing. And I almost got us into trouble by forgetting that we send up a constant stream of bubbles." He told them of his plan to get under the cave, and of Rick's warning.

"We thought of your bubbles," Scotty told them. "I talked it over with Tony, and came within an ace of diving after you, although I doubt that I could have reached bottom and found you. But we watched, and we couldn't see any bubbles at all. It was too dark, and we were right where the water was breaking."

"My question is, did you get a picture?" Zircon wanted to know.

"I'm sure I did. The camera was going, and it probably saw much more than I did—since cameras don't get scared. But it won't do us much good right now. We can't develop the film."

The boys picked up the equipment and carried it to the Water Witch. Rick turned off the compressor. He was too tired to wait until all tanks were full. Time enough for that in the morning.

When he and Scotty returned to the cottage, Tony greeted them with cups of hot chocolate and they sat on the porch and enjoyed them.

"Let's sum up what we know," Zircon invited. "If anyone agrees that we know anything worth summing."

"I think we do," Rick said, "and I think we ought to get it to Steve Ames. We don't know what he's after, or what kind of gang he's fighting, but we know one of them is here."

"Yes, and we also know that Steve's agency is primarily concerned with protecting military secrets," Zircon added. "I agree with Rick. We must get word of these mysterious frogmen to him."

"We discussed that earlier," Tony recalled. "In view of our discussion, it would seem that either Rick or Scotty or both must fly to Charlotte Amalie and tell him personally."

Scotty pointed at the sky. "Have any of you looked up there?"

All of them did. The moon was just rising, and there was enough light to see heavy cirrus moving high overhead.

"There's a front of some kind moving down on us," Scotty said. "And did you notice the swells tonight? Long ones. I'm no first-class weather forecaster, but all the signs are there. We're in for a storm. The question is, how soon will it arrive?"

"He's right," Zircon agreed. "I'm glad you're observant, Scotty. Frankly, I hadn't even bothered looking at the weather. I suppose I thought it would just continue to be perfect."

Rick stared at the gathering clouds for long moments, then put into words the thing that had been bothering him.

"You know, there has been a cloud over this vacation almost from the moment we landed at Charlotte Amalie. We didn't want to get involved in anything but diving and exploring, but we got pulled by the ears into a hot case. Steve warned us off that first day. The warning didn't help, because we got dragged back into things when we went swimming, and again at the hotel."

Three faces were turned toward him, listening. He was expressing what all of them had been thinking, too.

"We thought we'd leave trouble behind when we came here," Rick continued, "but it was waiting for us. We didn't look for it, until tonight."

He drew a deep breath. "Well, from now on we have to become the hunters. Steve Ames doesn't know there's anything strange going on here. We do, and it's up to us to find out what. The goings-on in the octopus cave have something to do with the case Steve is working on—and what Steve is working on has something important to do with national security."

He smiled grimly. "I know none of you will disagree with this, because it's the only thing we can do. Professor Zircon knew it tonight when he tried to excuse our looking in on the frogmen as curiosity."

Zircon nodded silently.

"From now on," Rick concluded, "we have to operate as unofficial JANIG agents, until we can get word to Steve Ames so he and his men can take over."



CHAPTER XIII

Message in the Storm

The wind blew. It piled the surf high on the reef and blew the tops from waves between the reef and the shore. Hour by hour the wind stiffened, until the breakers on the shore were higher than those through which the Spindrifters had swum on the reef.