The Wailing Octopus: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story

"It was remarkable the way Lieutenant Kelly and his men got ready to dive," Zircon said. "I've never seen people move so fast. Steve, too. Then, just as they were about to go over the side, we saw two more bubble trails and knew at least that you were still alive. But in a moment the entire pack of bubbles merged."

"We hit the water," Jimmy Kelly said, "and were about to dive when one of the enemy skyrocketed up. He was blue in the face and scared witless. We hauled him out and then started to dive again. And along came Scotty, half dead and babbling about you. I started straight down to get you, but you met me halfway." He grinned. "You weren't in very good shape, either, for a few minutes."

"How about 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," Rick mused.

"We've got all we need," Scotty answered. "What pieces are missing?"

"Well, I'm curious about the chicken. I think we hit it when we decided they wanted to scare us out of the octopus-cave area, but it would be nice to know for sure. And why did they take the sonar equipment to the eastern reef during the storm?"

"Probably to make a recording as a routine check. They couldn't assume all sub activity was taking place to the west."

"But how can we be sure?"

"We can't. We can only try to figure out what happened, based on what information we have. For instance, there must have been a sonar unit near where we swam at St. Thomas. It's the only thing that could have got the shadow so excited. But what difference does it really make? We know most of the story, and we can guess the rest."

"Steve may be able to fill in some pieces later," Rick observed. He liked to have a thing wrapped up neatly, with no loose ends hanging. Still, that was almost impossible in a case like this.

Jimmy Kelly called, "You boys ready to go?"

"Whenever you are," Rick called back. He picked up his heavy three-tank block from where it rested against the rail and handed it to Scotty. While his friend held the rig, Rick got into it. Then he performed the same service for Scotty. The tanks were heavy.

Tony and Zircon, similarly equipped, came out of the amidships cabin with Steve Ames. Jimmy had loaned equipment from the frogmen's supplies, to enable the group to work around the wreck longer.

The search party assembled on the landing stage. Jimmy had split his teams into two groups. They would dive in relays.

"We'll look the situation over, then get to work," Jimmy instructed. "How many have wrecking bars?"

Four of the UDT gang held them up.

"All right. Turn and turn about. Work for ten minutes then pass them to your mates. Watch your hoses, especially when working inside. Okay. Let's go."

They slipped into the water four at a time, Rick and Scotty in the first four. Once in the water, the weight of the heavy tanks vanished. The boys had removed weights from their belts to allow for the extra tanks and for more than ten additional pounds of air on the descent.

A pair of frogmen payed out a heavy rope, taking the reel down with them in order to provide a direct link from wreck to ship. On the way up the divers would pause at knots in the rope to decompress, allowing time for compressed nitrogen to get out of their blood streams.

With the boys and the scientists, Jimmy went over all visible portions of the wreck. He summed up his attitude with an elaborate shrug and spreading of his hands that said he didn't know where to begin. For his frogmen, he made a sweeping gesture that told them to tackle the wreck anywhere. The frogmen moved in, operating in pairs. The water clouded rapidly with silt, particles of marine growth, and fish eggs.

The top of the captain's cabin came off. Rick swam in through the murk and picked up the chair that had seemed to be in good condition. He carried it to clear water and placed it on the sand. Now that it was out in the open, it could be seen that teredos – shipworms – had feasted on it and burrowed into it until it was nothing but a chair-shaped shell.

The same was true of the cabin interior. It collapsed soundlessly under the prying bars of the frogmen. Under their enthusiastic attack the water was soon so roiled that visibility at the wreck was reduced to almost zero. Jimmy sounded the signal for ascent and the group surfaced without decompressing. They had just about exhausted a single tank.

On the landing stage, the lieutenant said, "No use continuing until the water settles. Any ideas, Chief?"

Sanders, the group's chief petty officer, replied, "I think we're going to need a sand hose, Sir. Most of the wreck is buried."

Jonesy, a short, husky frogman with a bright-red crew cut, added, "Sir, I think the cannon and stuff would be on the deck ahead of the cabin we opened up, but the deck is under the sand. Could we rig a hose, Sir?"

"Good idea. Put a detail to work, Chief."

Sanders called out four names and issued instructions. Jimmy called a ten-minute break for the rest.

During the break, Rick sought out Steve Ames. He commented, "You know, this wasn't a very well-organized gang. I keep thinking about the two who tried to get us at St. Thomas."

Steve disagreed. "You're wrong. It was a very well-organized gang. Their trouble was not enough trained agents. They had to hire extras, and the extras were just ordinary mugs, and not very bright ones. It was the mugs who made the mistakes, not the real agents."

Jimmy Kelly spoke up. "Did we tell you? We got reports from the other UDT teams this morning. Our people have all the stations except one in British territory. Maybe our British cousins can get the station team for us. We've tipped them off."

The lieutenant finished a glass of orange juice and rose. "Time's up. Let's get back to the wreck."

Hobart Zircon asked, "Don't you want to take your camera, Rick?"

"Good idea." He hurried to get it. One of the frogmen had picked it up, along with the rest of the equipment they had left behind.

The water had settled enough for thorough inspection of the entire aft portion of the wreck. Rick and Scotty helped the frogmen poke into every possible place without finding more than a pair of rusted cutlasses.

Rick surveyed the scene with discouragement. The statue was somewhere under the sand, which probably meant they would never find it. He had another sudden realization, too. They had no proof that this ship was the Maiden Hand, no proof that the whole business wasn't just a wild-goose chase.

By the time the dive was over, the sand hose had been rigged. The first group surfaced and Jimmy ordered the fresh group of frogmen to hose out the aft cabins to find anything that might be left. Then the group was to start work on the probable location of the foredeck.

During the rest period, Rick told Jimmy about the other wreck they had found, the modern ship that he guessed was a war casualty.

"We'll take a look at it first thing in the morning before we shove off for St. Thomas," Jimmy promised. "You never know what you'll find in a wreck. We've found a lot of things worth salvaging."

The boys were operating under Navy rules now. They put on fresh tanks and got their instructions from Chief Sanders. "Longer decompression this time. Stick with me on the way up and move when I move. We don't want you to get the bends."

The boys nodded their understanding, then took to the water.

The frogmen below were still hosing sand. Water forced at high pressure through the hose that ran down from the ship sent the stuff swirling in great clouds. The boys watched. They couldn't do much looking around until the water settled.

Then they saw that the frogmen weren't waiting. They swam into the murk, feeling around with their hands. Rick saw one emerge triumphantly holding a round object that could only have been a cannon ball.

He and Scotty plunged in, too. Working with the frogmen they rapidly assembled a treasure trove of cannon, more cannon balls, cutlasses still in good condition, and useless ship's gear.

Fifteen minutes later a frantic hooting brought them in a rush to where Jonesy was holding something. Zircon and Tony got there at the same time, and soon all work had ceased while Jonesy's find was examined.

Tony took his belt knife and scraped. Then he looked around at the watching group and nodded. He clasped his hands together and shook them like a fighter mitting the crowd.

Rick and Scotty hooted their triumph. Jonesy had found the statue of St. Francis!

The boys, the scientists, Steve, and Jimmy carried the treasure to the surface. The rest of the frogmen continued hunting for souvenirs.

On the landing stage they put the statue down with loving care. Even under the marine growth they could make out the cowled figure of the sainted monk, head bent over the fawn he held in his arms.

Tony went to work. Soon there was a gleam of gold that brought a yell of triumph from the boys. Then – amazingly – the gleam of dull silver.

"Hobart, look at this!" Tony exclaimed.

The big scientist knelt and examined the silvery streak. He borrowed Tony's knife and probed, then his laugh boomed across the water.

"We are the victims of our own research!" he roared. "All this trouble – over a statue of lead!"

"Lead!" Rick stared incredulously. This couldn't be true! "There's gold, too," he pointed out.

"Apparently gold leaf over a lead base," Tony said with a sigh. "No, Rick. Hobart is right. This is lead."

A call from the water made them look up. Chief Sanders and his diving buddy had surfaced, and they were carrying a statue of St. Francis!

Behind them, another pair of frogmen, with still another statue!

Within a half hour there were no less than eight identical statues lined up on deck. St. Francis, in lead, repeated eight times.

Scotty scratched his head. "Well," he said finally, "we certainly found St. Francis! In fact, we overdid it a little."

Not until long afterward did they learn the answer. Tony Briotti, a scientist of great persistence, did some research in England during a European trip to attend a conference of archaeologists. He found that the Maiden Hand had carried several dozen St. Francis statues, for sale to churches and individuals in the New World. Captain Campion had considered only one special enough to mention, because it had been blessed by the Cardinal of France and entrusted to his care for delivery to the Governor of Barbados.

The Spindrifters took one statue as a gift for Barby. A cutlass was Rick's share of the loot, while Tony took the bar shot they had found near the wreck and Zircon selected a cannon ball. It was understood that the knife Scotty had found was to be his, so that he could present it to Hartson Brant.

A few quick dives the following morning disclosed nothing of interest around the first wreck they had found, but Jimmy identified it as a common type of small cargo vessel. Then the destroyer escort sailed for St. Thomas.

Before it left, there was time for a few words with Steve Ames.

"I'm leaving St. Thomas by air tonight for Washington," he reported. "Something new has come up and I'm needed. I may need you, too, before this case is over. The report wasn't detailed, but it carried a few implications that have me worried."

"We'll be ready if you need us," Rick assured him.

Steve's warm smile flashed. "I know," he said. "I'll see you soon."