Part 18 (1/2)

Rick went under again and tapped Scotty He headed for the pole, hands outstretched to intercept it His left hand hit it and held Scotty caripped the pole, put fins flat against the muddy bottom, and heaved The pole came up without difficulty While Scotty held it, Rick wrapped rope around it until the line was fully wound again Orvil's motor was nearer now Rick took one end of the pole while Scotty took the other They operated entirely by touch; nothing was visible except the luminous dials of their co exhaust of their bubbles

It was almost possible to stand on flipper tips with head above water

The boys thrust their heads out with care, and saw Orvil bearing down on the forward anxiously He waved when he saw the two helleaside, the boys held the pole overhead, water churning under their flippers Orvil bent and took it, lifted it on board, and continued on his path

The boys went under again, operating on a prearranged plan This ti for the fish line Since Rick knew the approxi stu to intercept it

The water shoaled rapidly as the boys approached the shore Scotty's hand suddenly gripped Rick's, and Rick felt the line

At the same instant, Rick are of bubbles in the water, a trail of faint phosphorescence shooting doard past his lanced fro like a brazen bell in his ears The impact rolled him partly over, and as he turned, another line of phosphorescence streaked past his eyes

The skin on his back crawled in the blazingshot at!

CHAPTER XIII

The Night Watchers

Scotty, who had realized they were being shot at, was pulling at Rick's ar to lead hi His fins thrashed in the shallows as he drove desperately for the safety of the deepest part of the cove, his hands keeping contact with the bottom

The increased pressure on his eardrums told him they had reached the sanctuary of deeper water where the velocity of bullets would be absorbed before they could strike He was bewildered What had happened?

Who was shooting? For athe shooting, but he dismissed it He had no proof that the crabber hadn't suddenly turned on them; he just didn't believe it

Yesterday Scotty had seen watchers on the shore, presumably from Calvert's Favor Apparently the watchers were there now The boys had gone into shalloater, and their tanks had shown above the surface, drawing fire It was the only reasonable explanation Probably the night watchers had seen the pole handed up to Orvil, or had seen the faint light reflecting from theirwas certain They couldn't stay on the bottom indefinitely

Rick consulted his wrist coers on Scotty's shoulder He led the way toward the ht, the night gun the line of bubbles The boys' only hope of escaping detection had been to avoid drawing attention to themselves Rick knew that was impossible atchers on the shore Watchers at four in thehe hadn't expected What had drawn them?

Suddenly he knew While he, Steve, and Scotty had exalasses frouard, had been watching them They had drawn attention not only to Orvil, but to the tiuards would need to be especially alert

Bubbles would attract the guards' attention, not only because they foalow of phosphorescence How far would bubbles and glow be visible? He had athe shoreline They couldn't cross the creek or its mouth to where Steve's runabout was stowed, but they could shoot that far, if they could see the bubbles

The only way for Scotty and him to escape was to eli Not breathing was possible for a short tirass and use it for cover

Rick's thoughts raced He tried to recall the shoreline There rass, behind which they could hide Perhaps the best as simply to swim directly out from the creek mouth until distance hid the bubbles and darkness shrouded two black-covered heads

There was a probleh Scotty's air tank hadn't been used until now Rick's had, during the initial search yesterday He estimated quickly Less air is used at shallow depths than at deeper depths The water depth for h so that tank ti on the surface He had had at least forty-five ht be stretched to fifty minutes He probably had used noten minutes would not take them out into really deep water in the river itself, and then back to shore There was not enough air to take them to Steve's place

He had tosohts usually followed the same track in such situations Rick touched Scotty's side and forged ahead, heading straight out He counted his kicks, esti distance covered

When he reached a count of three hundred he angled right, toward the north shore of the Little Choptank They ell out of the creek now

When the water shoaled, he found Scotty again and pressed hierly, he put his head above water, half expecting to feel the shock of a bullet