.

"He won't catch Steve," Rick said.

"Not a chance. Well, my clumsy friend, shall we put your shoe back on
and go meet the others for lunch?"

"We shall," Rick returned. "Indeed we shall." He slipped his shoe on and
tied it quickly. "Wasn't it interesting, where Steve said we could reach
him?"

Steve had said at the UDT base. That meant simply at the home of the
Navy frogmen--the Underwater Demolition Teams. No wonder Steve had said
he would be an expert on skin diving by nightfall. He was going to be
with the most expert experts of all.

Rick sighed. "Just our luck he doesn't want us in the case. Wouldn't it
be great to work with the Navy frogmen? We could learn plenty."

"Forgetting St. Francis?" Scotty inquired. "There he lies, twenty
fathoms down, probably covered with barnacles and waiting to be rescued.
And you want to go fogging off with the frogmen."

"All right, all right! Don't rub it in. We'll go back to being
interested in the bark _Maiden Hand_. And St. Francis. And pirates.
Let's cast off, my hearty."

The Danish Pastry was only a few blocks away, and Dr. Ernst and the
Spindrifters were already seated. The boys joined them, with apologies
for being late, but without mentioning their meeting with Steve Ames.
There was nothing to be gained by bringing the matter up in front of Dr.
Ernst. They could tell Zircon and Tony later. Zircon knew Steve, but
Tony didn't.

Over dessert, Dr. Ernst reached into his bag and brought forth a chart.
"I thought you might need this," he said.

It was a detailed chart of Clipper Cay and the surrounding waters. It
showed clearly the position of the reefs, and it gave soundings that
showed the depths.

Zircon shook his massive head. "Paul, your thoroughness has never failed
to amaze me. What would we have done without you?"

Ernst smiled his pleasure. "Thank you, Hobart. I try to be thorough.
Besides, I want you all to have a pleasant recollection of the Virgin
Islands. We who live here love them very much."

The boys and Tony echoed Zircon's thanks, then fell to a study of the
chart.

It was apparent that the water deepened rapidly beyond the western reef.
In a few places, the twenty-fathom line was only a short distance out.

"Have you any idea where this ship went down?" Dr. Ernst asked.

"A bare idea," Tony replied. "It was off the western shore of the
island, probably close to the reef, in twenty fathoms. The bark had been
hit and was sinking. The capt