ked around and oriented himself by
the position of the _Water Witch_, then led the way with Scotty, Steve,
and Jimmy swimming along with him while the Navy frogmen stayed closed
behind.

It was a thrill for Rick to be swimming with the famous UDT frogmen. He
looked to the side and saw that Steve was perfectly at home in the
water, and he marveled at the adaptability of the JANIG agent. Steve
hadn't been joking when he said he would be an expert by nightfall.

At the reef Rick turned northward and led the way toward the level of
the cave. A few moments later he hooted for attention and with pointed
finger showed it to Steve and Jimmy. The octopus was still there.

A frogman swam over and picked the little creature up. The octopus
spurted away, leaving a blob of ink behind. He came to rest above the
cave, poised for further flight.

Rick swam down to the sandy floor of the cave and began to search for
the brass ball. Scotty beckoned, and they swam together toward the spot
where Scotty had last seen it. The frogmen swam to the bottom with them,
then fanned out, searching.

A few moments later someone hooted, and a tanned, muscled frogman swam
over, holding the object triumphantly.

Steve Ames pointed to the surface and Jimmy hooted an order. The group
swam leisurely up through the murky layer, oriented themselves by the
sleek shape of the destroyer escort hull, and emerged at the landing.
The frogman who had found the ball handed it up to Hobart Zircon.

Steve Ames motioned to one of the frogmen. "Run these fellows over to
the beach, please, then wait and bring them back." He turned to the
boys. "Put on dry clothes. Then come on back. We need to talk."

An hour later the boys, the scientists, Steve, and Kelly were seated at
a table in the destroyer escort's tiny wardroom, noses twitching over
the savory steaks that were being served. The boys ate like starved men,
talking a steady stream between bites.

Rick sighed and let out his belt. "Well, that's our story. What's
yours?"

Steve stirred his coffee thoughtfully. "I can make it short. We don't
know the whole story yet, but we will by the time I get back to St.
Thomas. Have you two any idea what these brass-ball gadgets are?"

"We decided that they were probably sonar equipment of some type,"
Scotty said. "But we couldn't figure out what they were for."

"Easy," Steve said. "Although you couldn't know, of course. They were
for spotting submarines."

Rick s