e groaned in unison.

It was the decision they had reached the night before, and Rick had
given some thought to it before going to sleep. "There are a couple of
ways we might do that," he said. "First of all, we know they have to
get rid of the stuff somehow. We could keep watch on Creek House until
it's moved. The only trouble is, they may be letting it pile up in the
hotel. That would mean sticking on the job all day and all night."

"Not practical," Scotty objected. "Mom would object to our staying out
all night for maybe a week. Besides, we want to find the answer before
the hearing Saturday morning."

"Then how about this," Rick continued. "We move in on them when the
_Albatross_ pulls up at Creek House to unload."

Scotty stretched out on Cap'n Mike's bed. "That's fine. But how do we
know when the _Albatross_ is going to visit the Kelsos?"

"Cap'n Mike tells us. Cap'n, according to what you said when we were
here before, the _Albatross_ sometimes stays at Creek House until
almost midnight. That means that it takes them awhile to unload
whatever they're smuggling."

Scotty had an objection. "If they were doing any unloading, wouldn't
you have seen them, Cap'n Mike?"

The old seaman shook his head. "Nope. I didn't dare get close enough
to see what was going on. Besides, my eyes ain't what they were at
night. I just sat off the end of Salt Creek, letting the reeds hide
me, and saw what I could, which wasn't much. If I'd gone up the creek
any distance, they'd have spotted me against the sea."

Rick finished, "So you see, if Cap'n Mike could keep an eye on the
creek, he'd know when the _Albatross_ arrived. If he phoned us right
away, we could be here within an hour, or even a half-hour, if we took
the fast boat."

"Sounds sensible," Scotty admitted. "Any other plans?"

"Just one, which isn't very practical. We could get someone to fly out
over the fleet during the most likely hours and wait for the
_Albatross_ to make contact with the supply ship. I wish we could fly
at night, but we can't. The contact has to be during the darkness, and
I think before dawn is the best time. If Brad Marbek made contact
after he got through fishing, some of the other trawlers might see
the ship coming. Then they might get curious and hang around to see
why Brad was hanging back. Maybe that's what Tom Tyler did."

"But if he left and made contact before dawn, the others might think
nothing of it. I don't suppose they all leav