Part 13 (1/2)

Scotty adjusted the tripod, while Rick took the telescope out of its case with reverent hands It was a beautiful and delicate piece of equipment, Steve's personal property, and he appreciated the trust the agent had placed in the its use He fitted the instruh the six-inchWhen he squinted through the eyepiece, he saw onlybranches, but, by keeping his eye in place and cranking the geared tripod head, he quickly aligned the telescope with the trio under the

[Illustration: _Scotty fitted the camera to the telescope_]

The telescope had a fixed focus, and was designed for looking at stars

Consequently, the field of vision was extremely narrow at the short distance across the water, and Rick could onlycompanion into the frame What'stelescopes The boy knew there was an erecting prisht, but it couldn't be used with the camera Anyway, it wouldn't matter, since the print could be turned over

He studied the faces in the upside-down position The telescope gave hiroped for the identity of the white-haired man, but it eluded him

Scotty tapped him on the shoulder and motioned that the camera was ready Rick moved aside and his pal quickly fitted the cas Rick nodded to indicate that the telescope was on target, and Scotty tripped the cae of the Polaroid camera is that the picture can be seen within seconds Scotty quickly went through the simple routine, and within a quarter of aat the photo It was an excellent close-up, but a trifle dark Scotty opened the iris on the canment Scotty snapped the picture and processed it This ti heat waves across the hundred yards of distance

Rick readjusted the telescope for a full view of the third man His picture was added to the others Scotty wiped both with fixative and put them on the floor to dry

The antenna was next Rick focused on it without difficulty, but the field of vieas so narrow that he couldn't see all of it They would have to photograph it in two sections, then fit the prints together

Five minutes after their arrival at the duck blind, they were back in the swamp, the pictures protected in a plastic bread wrapper Rick had brought They cut directly across the swaed, hot, sticky, and dirty, only a few yards from the boat They stowed the equipment wordlessly, then poled backwards into the wider channel It was too narrow to turn, so Rick started the reat caution

Once in the clear, they headed at top speed for Steve's, tied up at the pier, and plunged into the water without even bothering to remove their clothes Their only precaution was to empty their pockets

Rick luxuriated in the coolness of clean water, then stripped to his undershorts and threw his sodden clothes onto the pier Only when he was sure he had washed off the last of the clinging mud did he pull hi

They toweled and put on clean clothes, then carried the equipment back to the farerator had theain Over the last one, they studied the photos

”I don't think we've ever known Merlin,” Rick said thoughtfully ”We've seen him, but we don't know hiht be soure?”

Rick looked up sharply ”I think you hit it! If that's true, we should be able to get hih JANIG,” Scotty suggested

”It would take too long He won't be hoht, and the picture wouldn't reach JANIG until tomorrow Then it would take a day to check it out”

”Are we in a hurry?” Scotty asked

Rick chuckled ”I am But don't ask oing through the newspaper ue” Their newspaper friends were owner-editor and reporter for the Whiteside paper back home

”They're on vacation,” Scotty reminded him Once each year, the paper was turned over to a friend of Duke's, a former newspaperive some of his students practical experience

That was true, Rick remembered Neither Duke nor Jerry would be available Who else did they knoho could help? Suddenly he snapped his fingers ”I've got it! Ken Holt would help, if we could get the picture to hi news for Rick and Scotty, had once asked Spindrift for help, and Rick had given him a set of pocket-size radio transceivers of the kind known as ”The Megabuck Network”

”Sandy Allen is a photographer,” Scotty pointed out ”He ht know these people”

Rick took a chair next to the telephone and dialed the operator ”A person-to-person call,” he stated, ”to Mr Ken Holt, at the _Brentwood Advance_, Brentwood, New Jersey” He put his hand over the mouthpiece