or of the runabout and Rick heard the
broken rhythm as the motor skipped. He knew that Steve probably had
turned the carburetor mixture to too lean or too rich. Either would
cause the motor to run rough. He kept moving, his fins keeping a steady
stroke. The motor sound grew distant, and finally faded entirely.

Rick usually depended on pressure to tell him location, but the creek
was too shallow for any strong indication on his ears. He kept going
until the visibility and brightness told him he was in the shallows,
then steered out into the middle of the stream again.

He thought they must be halfway to the mansion, but wasn't sure. He gave
a pair of swift kicks to alert Scotty, then turned sharp left, rolling
over on his back. He could see the water surface clearly. Rising a
little, he lifted his face above the water for a brief second, then went
back under.

Now was the time to get behind the duck blind. Rick swam back to where
Scotty waited, and plucked at his shoulder. This time he started off
close to the north shore, heading directly for the duck blind. His
course was straight. In a few moments he found himself among the pilings
and turned to put the blind between himself and the mansion on the
opposite shore. Scotty followed.

Rick lifted his head cautiously. He saw only the marsh grass and the
back of the blind. He tapped Scotty, who rose until his head was level
with Rick's, his face only a few inches away. They pulled off their
masks.

"We can swim under the blind and look out the front," Rick whispered.
"There's enough brush to give us cover. We'll each pick our own spot and
go to it. Sound all right?"

"Okay. Better fix our guns right here, though."

It was good advice. Rick removed the safety cap from his spear, making
sure the barbed shaft was properly seated. Now he needed only to flick
off the safety catch and fire. Scotty did the same.

"You go right and I'll go left," Scotty suggested softly. "Be better if
there's a little spread between us. We'll also want to find places where
we can look out. There's some weed along the shore, and I think I
remember a brush pile around a stake near the right-hand edge of the
lawn. One piling is there. There's a bunch of old pilings off to the
left where the original pier was. I can see if there's cover there. If
not, I'll find something."

Scotty had worn his waterproof watch. It was just four minutes to eight.
Time to get going.

The boys shook hands, g