old tire. There were cans, some of
them food tins that had been opened, and some beverage cans,
recognizable because of their triangular openings. Once he found a
section of fishing pole.

It was a long, tedious job. The world closed in on Rick and there was
only the murk outside his mask and the rhythmic sound of his own
breathing. Only his hands, constantly probing the mud, were in touch
with reality. He lost all sense of time. Once, to see how much ground he
had covered, he pulled himself to the pole by the line, estimating his
distance. He was about fifteen feet from his starting point. He returned
to the full extent of the line and started the round again, after
looking at his watch. He had to hold it close to see the dial through
the murk. He had been down only twenty minutes, although the time seemed
much longer.

Ten minutes later his hand swept over something smooth. Instantly he
turned in toward the pole, and swam back around the circle for perhaps
ten feet. Then, covering the ground again by crawling along the bottom,
he felt for the object. His fingers touched it. His first impression was
of something cylindrical, but he made no attempt to pick it up. He
needed to explore it thoroughly, first. His breathing was faster, and he
knew his pulse had accelerated at the moment of discovery. If this
continued, he would use air too fast. He willed himself to slow his
breathing, and for a few seconds he stopped altogether.

In that instant, Rick heard a slap on the water, then another. He
waited, holding his breath. There was a pause, then more gentle slaps.
He counted them.

One, two, three, four--the signal for danger!

He and Scotty had long ago agreed that four sounds underwater would be
the danger signal. He reacted instantly. The fishing line was in a
pocket on his equipment belt. He took it out and pulled line from the
spool. Then, probing deeply with one hand, he pushed the line under the
smooth object, reached across and down with the other hand. When his
hands met, he passed the line from one to the other and pulled the line
through. Now it was around the object. He tied the line quickly, then
rolled over on his back and looked upward at the surface. He could gauge
the position of the sun, even though he could see no details. Using the
rays filtering through the murk as a guide, he oriented himself.

"Which bank?" He thought quickly. Danger could only come from the
mansion, and that was on the south b