on this
island, close to the southern tip. It's likely that they simply dumped
their rubbish into the water. Well, the earthquake Hobart spoke of
shifted the old coral formations at the southern tip slightly and lifted
a few square yards out of the water."

He went to the front porch and brought back a curved piece of material,
encrusted with coral. "This used to be a pottery bowl, probably Taino in
origin. I'll probably find many like it."

It didn't look like much of a find to Rick, but he knew that Tony's
trained eyes could see many things that he couldn't. "You'll dive with
us, though, won't you?" he asked.

"Of course. But you and Scotty are the real enthusiasts, and the diving
I do will use up air that you properly should be using. I'll go down
with you in the morning, because I want a look at the wreck. But after
that I think Hobart and I can amuse ourselves on the midden while you
and Scotty hunt treasure. Of course we'll be ready to help if you need
us."

A few minutes before six, Rick turned on his portable all-wave radio to
the channel Steve had given him, but the air was silent. He waited for
ten minutes, then snapped it off again. Apparently Steve had no message
for them.

Dinner consisted of fresh snapper and barracuda steaks served with
coconut sauce for which Zircon had learned the recipe during his tours
of the Pacific. It was delicious, and Rick wondered about the fussiness
of people who refuse to eat barracuda simply because the fish is a noted
predator. However, he knew that people are served barracuda every day
under less offensive names.

After dinner they sat over coffee on the porch and watched the sun sink
beyond the reef. It was like a Pacific sunset--colorful and somehow
soothing.

The boys walked to the pier, checked their tanks, and found them fully
charged. Then, at Scotty's suggestion, they locked tanks and compressor
in the cabin of the _Water Witch_. Fresh-water rinses for the remainder
of their equipment followed, and they carried the equipment into the
house.

Zircon was already engrossed in a book, while Tony was engaged in
scraping the pottery shard he had found. The boys watched him for a few
minutes, then Scotty suggested, "How about a walk?"

"Okay." There was an idea stirring in the back of Rick's head. As they
walked down to the beach he said, "We ought to take a look at the folks
who own that boat."

And Scotty said in the same breath, "Let's visit the fancy frogm