rass ball and put it back in the cave near the wreck."

Rick rubbed his hand over his short hair in a gesture of bewilderment.
"But what's their game? What do they get from the brass ball?"

"I rather imagine Steve Ames would like to know the same thing. If you
boys have no objection, I think I'll spend the afternoon at my midden.
What are you planning?"

Rick looked at Scotty. "Dive at the wreck?"

"Sure. Frogmen or no frogmen, there's still a golden statue of St.
Francis somewhere down there."

After lunch the boys checked their equipment, being particularly careful
because they had not rinsed out the regulators with fresh water after
every dive. Their small supply of water, coupled with the odd hours at
which the equipment had been used, was the reason. They took a little
water from their supply and used it to clean the regulators. The rest of
the equipment would just have to wait.

Tony departed for his Indian midden, tools slung over his shoulder. The
boys started the compressor to fill the tanks used the previous night,
then untied the _Water Witch_ and headed for the diving area. Scotty
scanned the frogmen's house through the glasses, but saw nothing of
interest.

They anchored just outside the reef and looked for their buoy. It was
gone, probably torn away by the storm.

"We can find the wreck again," Rick said. "No trouble. I could find my
way around here in the dark." He grinned. "I have!"

"Shall we take a look in the octopus cave too?"

"A quick one. I doubt that we'd see more than we saw last night. Our job
now is finding out what kind of information the frogmen get. And I don't
know how we'll do that."

"Wait for a break," Scotty replied. "Come on. Let's get into the water."

It was cold. The storm had blown in colder water from the open sea. Rick
felt goose flesh and wished they had brought along midseason suits.

The water was murky, too, because of the sand and silt stirred up by the
storm. The murkiness started about twenty feet below the surface. Not
until they were over fifty feet down did the water clear again. The
light was reduced somewhat by the murk, but visibility was good. Rick
had brought his camera to take motion pictures around the wreck. There
would be enough light.

Scotty carried the big jet spear gun. It was powerful enough to spear
sharks or big barracuda, just in case the frogmen decided to be
"mischievous" again.

Rick led the way to the octopus cave, glancing up no