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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.
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.
The frogmen's jaws remained tightly clamped. Both looked flushed and sullen as they faced their captors. "Got their lips zipped, I guess," Mel said disgustedly. Bud decided to try another tack. "Doesn't matter," he said carelessly. "We know they're pals of the Mirovs." Both men started as if they had been stung. Bud followed up quickly, hoping to prod them into some unguarded remark.
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.
Then he performed the same service for Scotty. The tanks were heavy. Tony and Zircon, similarly equipped, came out of the amidships cabin with Steve Ames. Jimmy had loaned equipment from the frogmen's supplies, to enable the group to work around the wreck longer. The search party assembled on the landing stage. Jimmy had split his teams into two groups. They would dive in relays.
There was even a possibility that he had arrived ahead of the Spindrift group and that the frogmen's boat had been out when Rick and Scotty had first spotted the diving equipment in the house. Anyway, there had been no sign of any tail but the Virgin Islander while they were around the pier and on the Water Witch.
The four marched up to the front door of the frogmen's house and stopped. The boys were prone under a palm less than twenty feet away. One of the frogmen said, "Let me get a jacket. I'm getting chilled. Then we'll walk you home." There was something very odd here! Rick nudged Scotty and they backed slowly away.
"They're taking him to their house," Scotty gasped. The boys swam frantically for shore, recklessly crossing the reef without regard to the danger of cutting themselves on the sharp coral. They reached the beach and shed tanks and equipment under the palms, then raced for the frogmen's house.
The storm blew itself out by noon of the following day, leaving an overcast sky and heavy swells. An inspection with the binoculars showed that all was quiet at the frogmen's house. Their boat was tied to the pier. "They probably recovered the brass ball during the night," Rick observed, "or perhaps early this morning."
We probably could steal their brass ball, all right, but they'd know at once who had done it because we're the only other people on the island." "Have you looked recently to see what they're doing?" Tony asked. Neither boy had. Both went to the front porch, but the frogmen's cottage was invisible through the driving rain. "We'll have to go see," Rick said. "After dark," Scotty added.
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