CHAPTER XV
How Sings the Gay Sardine?
Rick and Scotty held a hurried consultation, mouth to ear.
"We'll have to get him," Scotty whispered urgently. He held up his speargun. "I've only got one shot in this."
Rick's instinctive reaction was the same. They had to rescue Tony! Butthey also had a job to do.
"Wait," he cautioned. "They probably don't know we're here. Tonywouldn't give us away. If they find out, we'll lose the pictures, and wemay make it worse for Tony. Let's stay right here and watch."
Scotty subsided. They floated motionless, eyes on the boat, peering topenetrate the mist. The rain had let up somewhat, but the air was farfrom clear.
Rick would have given the treasure they sought to be able to hear whatwas being said on the boat. The three frogmen were all facing Tony, andthe conversation seemed to be pretty animated. Then, as he watched, theboat pulled up anchor. It moved north.
"They're taking him to their house," Scotty gasped.
The boys swam frantically for shore, recklessly crossing the reefwithout 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.
They could see the lights of the boat as it rounded the northern tip ofthe island, and, lying among the palms, they watched it tie up at thepier. Tony and the three frogmen got off and walked down the pier. Rickstrained to see, and could not find any sign that Tony was covered by agun. But that wouldn't be necessary, anyway, since he was outnumberedthree to one.
The four marched up to the front door of the frogmen's house andstopped. 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. Thenwe'll walk you home."
There was something very odd here! Rick nudged Scotty and they backedslowly away. When they were sure they could not be seen, they stood upand ran on silent bare feet through the palm grove, circling to approachtheir own cottage from the rear.
_Rick nudged Scotty to back away_]
At the back door they paused. "Now what?" Rick said helplessly. "They'rebringing him home. Why?"
"I wondered about that while we were running. I think they're bringinghim home to check up on us. He must have sold them some kind of yarn."
"Steve's tail will recognize us!"
"Not if we're in bed," Scotty answered quickly. "We'll pretend to beasleep. Come on."
"Just a minute." Rick hurried to the shed and got two short hand spears.He handed one to Scotty. "Here. Have a bedfellow."
A few minutes later they heard footsteps and voices on the front porch.The door opened. A strange voice said, "Your friends don't seem to behere." The voice hardened. "I thought you said they were?"
"They're probably in bed," Tony replied mildly. "We go to bed rightafter dark because there's nothing to do."
"Except stick your nose in other people's business," a harsh voicesnapped.
Tony replied tartly, "I've already apologized for letting my curiosityget the better of me."
"I'd like to see the bedrooms," a third voice said. Rick thought itbelonged to the man they had taken off Steve's tail.
He lay motionless as a form blocked out the lamp-light from the livingroom. In a moment the voice said, "They're asleep, all right. They mustsleep soundly."
"Young men do." Tony sounded relieved.
Rick grinned to himself. The archaeologist couldn't have known they werein bed, but his stall had worked.
"All right. We'll be going. But keep in mind that the most stupid thinganyone can do is to dive alone, even by day. At night it's worse thanstupid. It's sheer insanity. Also, we'll thank you and your party tokeep away from us and not gum up our recordings with your flipper noisesand bubble sounds."
"We will," Tony said. "Good night."
The front door closed. Scotty rose, slid open the window, and went out.Tony scraped a chair in the living room. Rick stayed where he was, incase the frogmen had lingered outside. In a few moments he heard theback door open and close, and he tensed, but it was Scotty's voice thatspoke.
"They're gone. I just wanted to make sure."
The three gathered in the living room, and Tony chuckled. "If Iassociate with you two for much longer, I'll get to be the world'schampion dissembler."
"What happened?" Rick demanded.
"Simple and unlucky. The two frogmen surfaced practically under me. Myown fault, because I had moved much closer to the boat. I think one ofthem almost fired a spear at me, but the other stopped him. They invitedme to go aboard, and I didn't think it wise to refuse the invitation."
"I imagine not," Rick commented grimly. "Then what?"
"Naturally, they demanded to know what I was doing. I admitted tooverpowering curiosity that got the better of my manners. They wanted toknow who I was and why I was on the island. I told them the truth, ofcourse, at least partly. I identified all of us. Then I'm afraid I tolda slight untruth. I said we had found reference to the _Maiden Hand_ inan old manuscript, and were diving in hopes of finding cannon and otherold things which we planned to sell for museum pieces to pay for ourvacation. I believe they accepted my story."
"It's a good story," Scotty approved. "Just enough truth to make it ringtrue."
"They've been watching us," Tony went on. "They asked why the plane hadgone, and why it had come back with only the pilot. I told themProfessor Zircon had cut himself and gotten a coral infection, and thatthe doctor at Charlotte Amalie felt that he should stay there fortreatment."
"I guess they haven't recognized Scotty and me as the two who stoppedSteve's tail."
"Seems not," Tony agreed. "Well, I admitted that I was still curiousabout their activities, since night diving is not common. So they toldme a story."
The boys waited breathlessly.
"These gentlemen thirst for scientific knowledge," Tony said with agrin. "They claim an interest in ichthyology, but they know less aboutfish than any cat does. Their story is that they have developed anunderwater recording device with which to make recordings of fishnoises. Since they have some evidence that certain fish make theirnoises only at night, it is obviously necessary to make recordings atnight. So they dive, leave their equipment, and pick it up the nextmorning. Our diving too close to their gadget creates false sounds,especially our bubbles. Therefore we are requested politely but firmlyto stay away."
Scotty whistled.
Rick laughed. "Quite a story," he said.
"I pointed out the obvious," Tony went on, "that it was strange theyshould choose a stormy night. Their answer was that storms upset fish,and they thought it possible that some sounds might be obtained onlyunder storm conditions."
"Very interesting," Rick remarked. "It's a good story, and if we didn'tknow Steve was after at least one of those men, we'd probably believeit!"
"Fish noises!" Scotty exclaimed. "If they knew we'd been snooping aroundbefore, they'd probably claim that the octopus really did wail, and thatthey were only recording him. Your gag about screaming squid andburbling barracuda would appeal to them, Tony."
The archaeologist chuckled. "Anyway, we got out of that one pretty well.I had a little trouble banging my tank. Didn't want to do it overtly, ofcourse. Finally I managed to get in position while we were swimming tothe boat, and I banged my tank against one of theirs. But how did youknow what to do?"
Rick explained briefly, then he broke into a smile again. "These guysare smart," he declared. "I like that fish-recording story."
"It's appealing," Tony admitted. "I'm almost tempted to pay them anothercall tomorrow to ask if they have captured for posterity the hunting cryof the wild sea trout, or the love song of the gay sardine."
"But you won't," Scotty said practically. "You certainly came out ofthat mess with a whole skin, Tony."
Rick laughed. "He's adventure-prone. And lucky. How do you beat acombination like that?"