ain ran for the island with the hope of
beaching the ship on the reef, but he never made it. The bark went down,
and Anne Bonney's pirates picked up the survivors."

"We know of Anne Bonney here," Dr. Ernst told them. "You realize that
the Virgin Islands were once a hangout for pirates? Oh, we have a dark
and bloody history, what with piracy, slave rebellions, even Indian
massacres."

"You'd never know it," Rick said. "This is the most peaceful place I've
seen in years."

He didn't add that the peace was only apparent. Steve Ames wasn't needed
in really peaceful places. Something was stirring under the tropical
calm of St. Thomas.

"Tonight you must have a taste of St. Thomas home life," Dr. Ernst said.
"You shall be my guests at dinner. Dr. Briotti will be interested in my
collection of Indian pottery. And you young men will be interested in my
wife's hobby, which is fish. She has an amazing collection."

"Alive?" Scotty asked.

"Yes, indeed. In salt-water aquariums. Our misfortune makes it easy. You
see, we have no natural fresh-water supplies on St. Thomas. We depend on
catching rain for our drinking water. So our plumbing is operated by sea
water, of which we have plenty. As a result, Mrs. Ernst is able to have
a constant supply of salt water flowing through her aquariums. I know
you'll be interested."

The boys agreed. Mrs. Ernst's hobby sounded like fun.

After lunch Dr. Ernst departed for his office, leaving the Spindrift
group to their own devices. Not much remained to be done, except for
checking in at their hotel. For now, they were content to walk around
town.

As they passed the post office where Alexander Hamilton had once been a
clerk, Scotty smiled meaningfully at Rick.

"Steve lost a tail this morning. Remember?"

Rick looked at him doubtfully. "Of course. Why?"

"Somebody loses, somebody gains," Scotty replied cheerfully. "Don't look
behind you, but we've found one!"

CHAPTER III

The Shadow

The two scientists had been walking ahead of Rick and Scotty, but
Zircon's keen ears had overheard the boys' remarks. However, he was too
wise to make his interest obvious. He waited until the group passed a
store with a large display, then stopped, as though to examine it.

Rick found himself surveying a collection of tools for the
do-it-yourself addict.

"What's this about Steve and a tail?" Zircon asked. He pointed at a
power-drill set, as though discussing it. His normally loud vo