bout the men? Where are they?" Scotty asked.

"Down below. Locked up, with an armed guard at the door."

Steve Ames finished his coffee and sat back with a sigh of satisfaction.
"I'm happy," he announced.

The boys grinned. He looked it.

"Glad you wound this up so fast," Zircon boomed. "When will you return
to Charlotte Amalie?"

Steve looked at Jimmy Kelly. "You in a hurry?"

"Not particularly. Now that this case is over we go back to some pretty
dull routine. Why?"

"Oh, I thought your boys might like a little recreation."

Jimmy looked suspicious. "Any sailor likes recreation. The more the
better. The UDTs enjoy it more than most. What's on your mind?"

Steve's wave took in the four Spindrifters. "It wasn't their fault one
of the gang talked his head off last night. If he hadn't, their work
here would have given us a lead we couldn't have gotten in any other
way. Suppose we repay 'em."

Jimmy sighed. "Get to the point."

"Keep the ship here tomorrow. Turn your boys loose to help find the
treasure they're after. You've got equipment they need. Besides, I'm
sure your gang can find some nice souvenirs if they put their minds to
it. Old cutlasses, cannon, cannon balls--things like that."

"It's a deal." The UDT lieutenant chuckled. "I'll try a little souvenir
hunting myself. Of course, since it's unofficial, I'll have to ask for
volunteers."

"Think you'll get many?" Rick asked anxiously.

Steve and Jimmy laughed. The lieutenant said with a chuckle, "If one of
them doesn't volunteer I'll turn him over to the doctor, because I'll
know he's sick. The UDT's volunteer because they like to swim. It isn't
often they get a chance like this, to dive just for fun."

"If we don't find the treasure," Scotty said with satisfaction, "it'll
be because it isn't there!"

CHAPTER XX

The Buried Secret

At first, the captured frogmen were defiant. They insisted that the Navy
had nothing on them. The brass ball wasn't theirs. They were only sport
divers having some fun.

Then, faced with the unassailable fact that Rick had taken motion
pictures of their activities, they lapsed into sullen silence and
refused to talk.

Rick and Scotty watched Jimmy Kelly check the diving equipment of the
frogman teams lined up on the destroyer escort's deck. Beyond the teams
they could see the three enemy frogmen, taking the air under the
watchful eye of a shotgun-armed sailor.

"I wonder if we'll ever get the full story