tation in Cap'n Mike's voice that he
resented the Kelsos' evident desire for privacy. Probably he had tried
to satisfy his curiosity about them and had been rebuffed.

Jerry pulled up in front of the hotel and stopped the car. The boys
piled out, anxious for a glimpse of the trawler. Rick crossed the road
and looked out to sea.

Smugglers' Reef was a gradually narrowing arm of land that extended
over a quarter mile out into the sea. In front of the hotel it was
perhaps two hundred yards wide. Then it narrowed gradually until it
was little more than a wall of piled boulders. On its north side, Salt
Creek emptied into the sea. Beyond the creek was the marsh with its
high grasses.

At the far tip of the reef, a light blinked intermittently. That was
the light Tyler had failed to keep on his starboard beam. A few
hundred feet this side of it was a moving cluster of flashlights. It
was too dark to make out details, but Rick guessed the lights were at
the wrecked trawler.

"Got your camera?" Jerry asked.

Rick held it up.

"Then let's go. Time is getting short and I have to get the story
back."

With Cap'n Mike leading the way, surprisingly light on his feet for
his age, the boys made their way out along the reef. A short distance
before they reached the wreck they passed a rusted steel framework.

"Used to be a light tower," Cap'n Mike explained briefly. "They put up
the new light on the point a few years back and put in an automatic
system. This light had to be tended."

At the wreck they found almost two dozen people. Flashlights picked
out the trawler. It had driven with force right up on the reef,
ripping out the bottom and dumping thousands of dead menhaden into the
water. They lay in clusters around the wreck, floating on the water in
silvery shoals. The air was heavy with the reek of fish and spilled
Diesel fuel.

There was little conversation among those who had come to visit the
wreck. When they did talk, it was in low tones. Rick thought that was
strange, because anything like this was usually a field day for
self-appointed experts who discussed it in loud tones and offered
opinions to all who would listen. Then, as he lifted his camera for a
picture, he saw the men look up, startled at the flash. He saw them
turn their backs quickly so their faces would not be seen if he were
to take another picture.

He sensed tension in the air, and his lively curiosity quickened. This
was no ordinary wreck. Some