rever it is--why would they
be so concerned about what we're doing?"

"It makes a lot of sense," Scotty agreed soberly. He looked at Rick with
a sudden twinkle. "It might be a good idea to take a look around down
below--just so we'll know what to stay away from, of course."

Rick grinned.

By the time they dropped anchor, Scotty had the diving gear rigged and
it was only the work of minutes to get into the water. Each carried a
spear gun in one hand and a wrecking bar in the other. Ordinarily they
would not have bothered with the guns, but being armed seemed just
common sense.

On the bottom, Rick scouted around the wreck, looking for signs of its
former structure while Scotty attacked the stern with a crowbar. Under
Scotty's prying, a timber suddenly gave with an audible crack, and a
huge grouper that must have weighed nearly three hundred pounds rushed
past Rick, startling him half to death until he saw what it was.

Scotty hooted in derision as Rick back-pedaled, then he put his bar down
and swam to Rick's side. He scrawled on his belt slate, "Whre he cm
frm?"

Rick shrugged. It was a good question. They swam slowly around, looking
for the grouper's hiding place and failed to locate it. Rick knew the
big fish liked caves, rocky clefts, and the interiors of wrecks. This
one must have a hole somewhere.

He tried again, going right down to the bottom and crawling along with
stomach touching the sand. Even so, he might have missed the hole if
stirred-up dust from the fish's sudden departure hadn't indicated where
it was. The hole, big enough for him to crawl through, was _under_ the
wreck, hidden by rotted planks covered with marine growth. He hooted for
Scotty's attention and showed it to him.

He took his belt slate and wrote, "Way into shp?"

Scotty nodded and wrote in his turn, "Too drk. Need lites."

Rick nodded. For a moment he was tempted to try ripping off the planks
with his bar, but he decided against it. Any disturbance might very well
collapse the entire structure. He wondered whether the hole was just a
shallow opening, or whether it actually led into the ship. No matter.
They had watertight flashlights with their spare gear in the boat. They
could find out on the next dive.

For their remaining time underwater he joined Scotty in his assault on
the stern of the ship. They were rewarded by finding what was evidently
the interior of a cabin. Rick ripped off another plank, then jumped as
Scotty h