ickly went through the simple routine, and
within a quarter of a minute the boys were looking at the photo. It was
an excellent close-up, but a trifle dark. Scotty opened the iris on the
camera another stop and Rick rechecked the alignment. Scotty snapped the
picture and processed it. This time it was perfect, only slightly hazy
because of the rising heat waves across the hundred yards of distance.

Rick readjusted the telescope for a full view of the third man. His
picture was added to the others. Scotty wiped both with fixative and put
them on the floor to dry.

The antenna was next. Rick focused on it without difficulty, but the
field of view was so narrow that he couldn't see all of it. They would
have to photograph it in two sections, then fit the prints together.

Five minutes after their arrival at the duck blind, they were back in
the swamp, the pictures protected in a plastic bread wrapper Rick had
brought. They cut directly across the swamp and emerged, hot, sticky,
and dirty, only a few yards from the boat. They stowed the equipment
wordlessly, then poled backwards into the wider channel. It was too
narrow to turn, so Rick started the motor and backed out with great
caution.

Once in the clear, they headed at top speed for Steve's, tied up at the
pier, and plunged into the water without even bothering to remove their
clothes. Their only precaution was to empty their pockets.

Rick luxuriated in the coolness of clean water, then stripped to his
undershorts and threw his sodden clothes onto the pier. Only when he was
sure he had washed off the last of the clinging mud did he pull himself
up to the houseboat cockpit, Scotty following.

They toweled and put on clean clothes, then carried the equipment back
to the farmhouse. Two bottles of Coke apiece from the refrigerator had
them feeling normal again. Over the last one, they studied the photos.

"I don't think we've ever known Merlin," Rick said thoughtfully. "We've
seen him, but we don't know him."

Scotty scratched a mosquito bite. "Think he might be some kind of public
figure?"

Rick looked up sharply. "I think you hit it! If that's true, we should
be able to get him identified easily."

"Steve could do it through JANIG," Scotty suggested.

"It would take too long. He won't be home until tonight, and the picture
wouldn't reach JANIG until tomorrow. Then it would take a day to check
it out."

"Are we in a hurry?" Scotty asked.

Rick chuckled. "