nly
two days ago, I heard ..."

Scotty nudged Rick with a sharp elbow. He was looking at the pier.
Rick turned and followed his pal's glance, then as he saw what Scotty
was looking at, he inhaled sharply. Carrots Kelso was leaning against
a pillar, watching them.

"Wonder what's on his mind?" Rick asked.

Brad Marbek saw the direction of their glance. "You kids know Jimmy?
He's my nephew."

The pause before Cap'n Mike spoke was proof of his surprise. "You
don't say!" He changed the subject abruptly. "Say, Brad, I've been
meaning to ask you. Did you notice any peculiar current offshore last
night?"

"Current? Can't say I did. Why?"

"Bill Lake claims a strong current set him off course just as he
picked up Smugglers' Light, about the time Tom Tyler ran aground."

Rick thought that Brad Marbek hesitated slightly and searched for the
right answer.

"Now that you mention it, I did notice a little shift." A scoop
whirred out of the hold, crossed the pier, dumped its load and started
the return. "Let me know if you find out any more about it," Marbek
said. "Right now I guess I better attend to my unloadin'."

"Sure, Brad," Cap'n Mike said. "We'll be getting on. By the way,
happen to know where Jim Killian is tied up?"

"I think he's on the other side of the pier. Cross over and duck under
the belts. He should be right abeam of us."

"Thanks. Let's go, boys."

Cap'n Mike led the way down the gangplank with Rick and Scotty
following. Rick felt Brad Marbek's eyes on them. He had sensed
tension under the fisherman's surface cordiality, and he was
interested in the quick way Marbek had remembered the strange current
when Cap'n Mike quoted Bill Lake.

At the foot of the gangplank, Cap'n Mike paused. "Let's find Jim. I'm
getting real curious about that current Bill mentioned. What say?"

"We're right with you," Scotty replied.

Rick watched the big scoop vanish into the _Albatross'_ hold, then
looked for Carrots Kelso. He was no longer in sight. "Wonder where
Carrots went to?" he said to Scotty.

"Probably running to tell his father we're prowling around the pier."

Cap'n Mike led the way into the pier shed. He turned to look over his
shoulder at the boys. "What'd you think of Marbek claiming young Kelso
as a nephew?"

"Don't you think he really is?" Rick asked. He had to raise his voice
above the noise of the scoop as it lifted from the trawler's hold.

"Surprise to me. I've known Marbek fifteen years and