The Wailing Octopus: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story

by Harold L. Goodwin

  CHAPTER IX

  Wreck of the "Maiden Hand"

  Tony Briotti examined the metallic object they had brought from thebottom, then took his knife and scraped at it. Under the covering ofmarine growth, red rust appeared. He looked at Hobart Zircon. "Recognizethis, Hobart?"

  "There's only one thing I can think of that fits the shape, Tony. Barshot."

  "My conclusion exactly." Tony weighed the thing in his hand. He grinnedat the boys. "Adventure-prone, and lucky. Describe the place where youfound it."

  Rick did so, concluding, "The patch didn't look anything like a ship,though. If that's what you're thinking."

  "After two centuries, the ship would no longer look like a ship. Butthis is unquestionably a bar shot for an ancient cannon. It was used tocut ship's rigging, and to knock down masts, and create other damage ofthat sort. It's likely that the pirates, or the _Maiden Hand_, wouldhave carried bar shot."

  "I think you have found the ship," Zircon told them, "and the questionabout earthquakes was a good one. There was a heavy quake in this regionabout a year ago. I had occasion to recall it a half hour ago when wefound a slight fault at the southern tip of the island that haduncovered an Indian midden."

  "And a fine one," Tony added. "You boys can dive for treasure if youwant to. I've some work of my own to do."

  "Incidentally," Scotty reminded Rick, "in the confusion below we forgotto send up a buoy. Hope we can find the place again."

  "We can."

  "What confusion?" Zircon asked.

  Rick told him. "A freshly killed chicken was dropped near us. And itmust have been bleeding when it hit the water, because we suddenly had ashark convention around us." He pointed to the boat tied at the pier,now far behind them because the _Water Witch_ had been moving. "And wethink that was the boat that dropped it."

  "It was weighted," Scotty added.

  The scientists looked at each other. Tony grunted. "It makes no sense,Hobart. Why would anyone weight a freshly killed chicken and throw itover the side?"

  "No reason at all," the big scientist said, "unless he wanted to createmischief below."

  "But just the act of dropping a chicken wouldn't ensure harm to diversbelow," Tony objected.

  "That's why I said mischief. Inexperienced divers might panic under suchcircumstances and attract the sharks to themselves."

  Rick hazarded a guess. "What if they just wanted to keep people fromdiving in the area?"

  "That might be one way of doing it." Zircon said thoughtfully. "Are yousuggesting that there are others after the _Maiden Hand_ treasure?"

  Scotty spoke up. "How could anyone else find out about the treasure?"

  "It's possible that there are other references besides the logbook wefound," Tony replied. "But it would be too farfetched to speculate thatother treasure hunters had found the location and were diving right atthis time."

  "This might be related to what happened on St. Thomas," Rick ventured.

  Zircon shook his massive head. "Extremely unlikely. Consider." He tickedoff the points on his fingers. "Who knew we were coming to Clipper Cay?Ernst, Steve, and his Navy friend. We did not mention it to the peoplefrom whom we bought supplies, nor did we discuss it in the presence ofothers. We were not followed here. No, Rick, I think that we cannotblame this incident on the ones in St. Thomas."

  "Then it was a dangerous practical joke," Tony concluded. "Unless therewas some legitimate reason for throwing the chicken over that we don'tknow about."

  Zircon steered the _Water Witch_ through the reef entrance, and theSpindrifters tied up at the dock. Rick and Scotty inspected thecompressor and then measured the amount of air in the tanks. They hookedthe tanks up, refilled the gas tank of the compressor engine, and leftthe tanks to fill while they went to the cottage.

  Rick and Zircon prepared dinner while Tony and Scotty refilled thegasoline lanterns that provided light, and generally straightened up thecottage.

  Rick called, "Tony, tell us more about this Indian stuff you found."

  Scotty added, "And what's a midden, anyway?"

  Tony leaned on his broom. "A midden is a polite name for a refuse heap.Before the days of rubbish collection, people used to dump their trashin the yard. The Indians did, and thereby provided archaeologists withan important source of information. Apparently a tribe lived on thisisland, close to the southern tip. It's likely that they simply dumpedtheir rubbish into the water. Well, the earthquake Hobart spoke ofshifted the old coral formations at the southern tip slightly and lifteda few square yards out of the water."

  He went to the front porch and brought back a curved piece of material,encrusted with coral. "This used to be a pottery bowl, probably Taino inorigin. I'll probably find many like it."

  It didn't look like much of a find to Rick, but he knew that Tony'strained eyes could see many things that he couldn't. "You'll dive withus, though, won't you?" he asked.

  "Of course. But you and Scotty are the real enthusiasts, and the divingI do will use up air that you properly should be using. I'll go downwith you in the morning, because I want a look at the wreck. But afterthat I think Hobart and I can amuse ourselves on the midden while youand Scotty hunt treasure. Of course we'll be ready to help if you needus."

  A few minutes before six, Rick turned on his portable all-wave radio tothe channel Steve had given him, but the air was silent. He waited forten minutes, then snapped it off again. Apparently Steve had no messagefor them.

  Dinner consisted of fresh snapper and barracuda steaks served withcoconut sauce for which Zircon had learned the recipe during his toursof the Pacific. It was delicious, and Rick wondered about the fussinessof people who refuse to eat barracuda simply because the fish is a notedpredator. However, he knew that people are served barracuda every dayunder less offensive names.

  After dinner they sat over coffee on the porch and watched the sun sinkbeyond the reef. It was like a Pacific sunset--colorful and somehowsoothing.

  The boys walked to the pier, checked their tanks, and found them fullycharged. Then, at Scotty's suggestion, they locked tanks and compressorin the cabin of the _Water Witch_. Fresh-water rinses for the remainderof their equipment followed, and they carried the equipment into thehouse.

  Zircon was already engrossed in a book, while Tony was engaged inscraping the pottery shard he had found. The boys watched him for a fewminutes, then Scotty suggested, "How about a walk?"

  "Okay." There was an idea stirring in the back of Rick's head. As theywalked down to the beach he said, "We ought to take a look at the folkswho own that boat."

  And Scotty said in the same breath, "Let's visit the fancy frogmen."

  They grinned at each other, amused at how much alike their thoughtprocesses were.

  "We'd better approach from the back," Scotty suggested.

  Rick agreed. "Suppose we cross to the eastern shore, then walk up untilwe're in sight of the house. It's close to the northern tip, anyway."

  It was almost fully dark now, and no lights appeared in the houses southof them. As they watched, lights showed far up the beach where the fancyfrogmen lived. But there were no other lights anywhere on the island.

  "Just two houses occupied," Rick said.

  "We'll probably have more neighbors during the week end," Scottyanswered. "The people in the house south of us must have left, but theymay be back. Come on."

  They made their way through the palm grove, watching fruit bats whirlagainst the darkening sky. There was a slight breeze, just enough tomake the palms whisper. It reminded Rick of Hawaii.

  The eastern shore was rough. The reef was much closer here, and longswells that had come all the way across the Atlantic sounded likesubdued thunder as they broke. It was dark now, and only the white ofthe breaking water could be seen.

  They walked up the eastern shore until the lights of the frogmen's housewere directly opposite, then turned toward it, moving with caution.

  "Take it easy," Rick whispered. "They may be outside."

  As they drew c
loser they could see that the lights were in the frontrooms of the house. The back was dark, except for light that camethrough open inner doors.

  "Wait." Scotty whispered. "I'll see if they're out front."

  Rick sat down to wait as Scotty vanished. Few could equal his pal whenit came to moving silently and invisibly.

  In a surprisingly short time Scotty reappeared. "No one out front," hereported. "They're all in the living room."

  Rick rose, and together they walked swiftly and silently to the rear ofthe house. The door of the room in which the diving gear was stowedopened into the living room. Perhaps they could see in there.

  A card game was in progress by the light of a kerosene lamp. Rickstudied the face of a heavy-set, dark-haired man who sat facing him. Theman wore a T shirt that displayed the heavy muscles of arms and chest.His face was square-jawed and powerful, the eyes set deep under bushyeyebrows. His hair was short and curly, sprinkled with gray. He lookedlike one used to command. Rick's quick imagination pictured him on thequarterdeck of a slaver, ruling his cutthroat crew with iron fists.

  The others were not visible through the door. The boys moved silently tothe side of the house and drew back so they could look through theliving-room window. The second man was visible now. He was young,perhaps in his twenties, and he had an unruly shock of blond hair. Oncehe might have been good-looking, but a scar crossed a nose that had beenbadly broken.

  The third man sat with his back to them. Rick touched Scotty's sleeveand they went around the house via the back. The view was blocked by anopen door.

  Scotty put his lips close to Rick's ear. "The front."

  Rick led the way, moving carefully because light spilled out of thefront windows and the open front door. They reached a vantage point andlooked in. The third man was clearly visible. The boys reached for eachother at the same moment.

  The third man was Steve's shadow!

  * * * * *

  Morning found the _Water Witch_ anchored on the reef close to the placewhere the boys had found the bar shot. There was no sign of activity atthe fancy frogmen's house, and the boat was tied up as it had been theprevious evening. Apparently they were late sleepers.

  The Spindrifters tossed coins to see who would make the first dive, andthe lot fell to Rick and Tony. They donned their equipment, then Rickpicked up a spear gun while Tony selected a wrecking bar from hisequipment.

  It took ten minutes of their precious fifteen to find the wreck again.This time, Rick took the precaution of tying a float to a projection andunwinding line while the float rose to the surface.

  Tony started at one end of the mass of marine growth and inserted hiswrecking bar. Rick joined him in heaving, and a cloud of dust and fisheggs rose to envelop them. It took a moment or two for the water toclear enough so they could see, then Tony hooted his triumph. The pullhad exposed rotted timbers. This had to be a ship! But was it the_Maiden Hand_?

  Rick wondered if they would ever be sure. Yet, he felt that it was, eventhough he realized that the feeling grew as much out of optimism andhope as anything else. Still, it was unlikely that another ship would bewrecked at this same depth.

  Tony wrote on his slate, "Mor undr sand thn can see, likely."

  Rick nodded. The shifting sands had undoubtedly covered, exposed, andrecovered the wreck dozens of times in the years it had lain here. Helooked at his watch, then reluctantly gave Tony the signal to surface.Their time was up.

  On the _Water Witch_, Tony said, "It's a ship all right. And since itson the western reef at twenty fathoms, I'd say that it's very likely theone we want."

  "Wonder how Captain Campion pegged the depth so accurately?" Scottyinquired.

  Zircon had a possible answer. "Let's assume the pirates knew he wascarrying the golden statue. It would have been logical for them tosound, just to see if there was any possibility of recovering thetreasure from the wreck. Since they kept Campion for ransom, he wouldhave heard the depth mentioned."

  It seemed reasonable, and it was as good an answer as any, since therewas no hope of knowing whether it was right or wrong.

  "How do we find the statue?" Rick asked.

  Tony handed him the wrecking bar with a grin. "Take the wreck apart apiece at a time. And if you still haven't found it, start digging."

  The boys sighed. Rick recalled reading somewhere that treasure huntingwas synonymous with ditch digging. Now he knew what the author meant.

  Scotty and Zircon prepared to dive, shifting the regulators to freshtanks. While they checked equipment, Rick rummaged through the boat'slocker and found a length of heavy line. An empty water jug with a screwcap was attached to it, and he handed the end of the line to Scotty totake down with him.

  "The fishing float and line isn't heavy enough. Let's add this, just incase."

  Scotty took it and went over the side. He carried his spear gun whileZircon took the wrecking bar. Rick watched as they vanished from sight,leaving only the continuing track of bubbles.

  Ashore, a man came out of the fancy frogmen's house and walked down tothe beach. He shaded his eyes and stared at the _Water Witch_. Rickpointed him out to Tony.

  "This business stumps me," the archaeologist admitted. "Are you certainabout the identity of the man who was trailing Ames?"

  "We're dead sure."

  "Then is there any possible way he could have known about our presenceon the island?"

  "Not unless he recognized the _Water Witch_."

  "That must be it. The question is, what do we do about it?"

  "Nothing, I guess. Except to be on our guard."

  Twin sets of bubbles rose, some distance from the boat, showing thatboth lungs were working well twenty fathoms down. Since the bubbles didnot ascend vertically, they did not show the location of the two on thebottom. Rick studied them, working on an idea.

  The chicken had dropped pretty close to them. But since their floatswere tied to the reef, and their bubbles were carried off a verticalpath by the light currents, neither could have been used to pinpointtheir whereabouts--_unless whoever dropped the chicken had an excellentknowledge of the currents in this particular place_!

  He carried the thought further. The shadow had gotten upset because heand Scotty had gone swimming in an area where something was hidden. Atleast, that was a reasonable assumption, based on the events at St.Thomas. The fancy diving gear in the house, the attempt to warn themoff, and the presence of Steve's erstwhile shadow on Clipper Cay couldthen be added up.

  Right here, in this particular area, another mysterious something washidden! Something that the fancy frogmen dived often to see, use,collect, or whatever they did with it. That would account for theirfamiliarity with the currents!

  He started to tell Tony, then reconsidered. It was a pretty goodhypothesis, he thought, but not supported by ironclad evidence. If hetold the scientists, they might forbid any more diving in the area. Andhe was determined to get that treasure--more for his sister Barby thanfor himself. If he failed to get it there would be no living with Barby,since she would always maintain _she_ could have found it if they hadonly allowed her to go on their old expedition.

  Zircon and Scotty broke water and Rick helped them aboard.

  "It's a ship, and a sailing ship at that," Zircon boomed. "We identifiedwhat was almost certainly a compass binnacle, probably brass, but therewasn't time to get it free and bring it up. Scotty found what isprobably the muzzle of a cannon, buried in the sand."

  "There's so much growth over everything that it's hard to tell what'swhat," Scotty added. "But it certainly looked like a cannon muzzle."

  "From what we saw, I suspect that the portion above the sand is thestern, probably the stern super-structure. If the timbers haven'tcompletely rotted away, ripping off the top should expose the sterncabins."

  "That seems reasonable," Tony agreed. "At any rate, it's a good basisfor operation. Rick, if you'll look in my kit, you will find a largerbar you can borrow. You'll both need tools if you're going to tak
e theship apart."

  "Anyway, that's enough diving for the morning," Zircon said. "Let's upanchor and go."

  While the others got the boat underway, Rick started the compressor inthe cockpit and connected up the tanks they had used. He almost wishedhe and Scotty had been extravagant and had ordered triple tank blocks togive them maximum time under water. Still, the singles were convenient,and diving was a sport it wasn't wise to overdo. By the time they werethrough with lunch and had rested awhile, the tanks would be fullycharged again.

  As they tied up, Zircon said, "Tony and I will work at his midden thisafternoon. You two take the boat. We won't need it. I'll walk over andtake a look every once in a while, and if we see our friends from thecottage near you, we'll come running."

  The boys helped Tony prepare a simple lunch of soup and sandwiches, thenall hands retired to the front porch to eat.

  Up the beach, there were signs of activity around the frogmen's boat. Asthey ate and watched, the boat moved away from the pier and approachedthe reef, where it anchored. Rick went to get the binoculars and focusedthem on the scene.

  Two frogmen, complete with suits, went over the side right where theirbuoys floated!

  "They're diving at the wreck!" he exclaimed.

  Zircon took the glasses and watched, then handed them to Tony.

  The archaeologist muttered, "Surely they can't be interested in thetreasure. It would be simply too much coincidence for them even to knowabout it."

  "Maybe they're just looking to see what interested us," Scotty offered,and his explanation seemed the most plausible.

  The group watched until the frogmen surfaced and the boat went back toits pier.

  "Scotty has it," Zircon agreed. "From what we've seen, I'd say theysimply followed our buoy lines down to see what we had been doing."

  "If that's the extent of their interest, I don't see how we couldobject," Tony said. "Or even if they tried for the treasure we'd have nogrounds for objecting. The ship is anyone's property after all theseyears."

  Rick said flatly, "We won't do any objecting, but we'll do plenty ofwatching. We're going to get that treasure if it's there, whether thefancy frogmen like it or not!"