"I suppose so," Bob said. "But why on earth would anybody want to wreck your boat, Chris?"

"Keep me from hunting treasure," Chris said. "Lots of fishermen don't like me.

Don't like any strangers. Think the bay, the whole place belongs to them."

They stood there a moment longer, unable to decide what to do. They were hungry, there were no other boats in sight, and no way to signal. How long would they have to stay there?

"Well, anyway," Bob said at last, "we didn't lose the Scuba equipment. It's pretty valuable and I'd hate to have to pay for it."

"Gosh, yes!" Pete said. "This kind of equipment costs hundreds of dollars and wait a minute!"

He and Bob looked at each other, the same idea coming to them in the same instant.

"Why, we can dive down for our clothes!" they exclaimed together.

Chris grinned, shaking off his gloom.

"We all can dive!" he said. "I am the son of Greek sponge fisherman. I bet I can dive better than you, even if I don't stay down so long."

Now excitement spurred them on. Bob and Pete got swiftly into their Scuba diving gear, and they all waded out into the bay. They swam to the reef and walked over it, then lowered themselves into the deep water beyond.

The sunken sailing-boat was a glimmer of white on the bottom, seeming to sway gently as small waves washed the surface. Bob and Pete began to propel themselves downwards with their flippered feet.

Chris had picked up a rock from the sh.o.r.e and, clutching it in his arms, he sank rapidly past them. He reached the sand beside the wrecked sailing-boat before they were halfway down. He rummaged inside the boat, which lay on its side, for the clothes they had stowed neatly under the seat. With his arms full, he shot upwards. They could see him grin as he went past.

In the peacefulness of the ocean depths, Bob and Pete for a moment forgot their plight. They were Scuba divers doing a real salvage job, even if only on a tiny sailing-boat.

Close together, they kicked down to the boat and grasped the side. The sail rippled in the water and they had to take care to avoid being caught in it. They examined the interior of the boat. Chris had missed a pair of pants Bob's pants and Bob swam a few feet to rescue them.

Pete had to dive for one of Chris's shoes that slipped away from him and began to move away along the bottom. In fact, a fairly strong current seemed to be moving the whole boat, and when they let go of the side, they had to swim to get back to it.

After five minutes, they figured they had everything that could be rescued, and Bob nodded to Pete. They kicked upwards. They broke water to see Chris standing on the reef waiting for them. He grinned as they climbed up on the rock with their salvage.

"We do not do so bad, yes?" he said. "I guess we got everything."

He took his clothing from Pete and examined the soggy bundle. Then his face fell.

"My compa.s.s is not here," he said. "Nice one. I go back down and look."

He dived into the water.

"I guess we might as well take our stuff ash.o.r.e and spread it out to dry," Pete said.

"I sure wish we had some way of signalling," Bob said. "Your dad will think we were mighty careless, getting stuck on this island again."

"It wasn't our fault, or Chris's fault either," Pete said. He picked up the two heavy-duty underwater flashlights they had rescued from the sunken boat. "I'm sure glad we got these back. They're expensive. And if we have to stay until dark we can signal with them."

"Golly! " Bob looked at the sun. "It's quite a while to dark. I hope we don't have to stay here until then. I'm starved!"

"Let's get our clothes dry, then see what we can think of," Pete suggested.

They slid their face masks into place, then eased into the water and swam to The Hand. Wringing out their clothes, they spread them fiat on the warm rocks, which promised to dry them in no time. They had removed their face masks and were starting to get out of their Scuba equipment when they suddenly realized that Chris had not reappeared. They had been busy for at least ten or fifteen minutes, and Chris was still underwater.

That could only mean trouble.

"Golly!" Bob blurted out. "Something must have happened to Chris!"

"Maybe he got caught down there." Pete went pale at the thought. "We have to try to rescue him!"

Without another word they got back into their diving gear, and started paddling for the reef.

They stood on the rocky ledge a moment, staring down into the sunlit green water.

No moving form that could be Chris caught their eye, nor could they see the sunken sailing-boat now. Together they shoved off into the deeper water and started propelling themselves downwards, their hearts beating fast with anxiety.

There were cavities in the base of the reef hollows formed by the currents. Maybe Chris had been pulled into one of them and got stuck. Or could he be tangled in the sail or trapped beneath the boat?

Soon they located the boat. Underwater currents had sent it b.u.mping along the bottom of the reef for about twenty feet. They headed for it, but Chris wasn't in the boat.

Bob swam down until he could touch the sandy bottom. He peered under the boat fearfully. But Chris wasn't there, either. Whatever had happened to him he had not got caught in the rigging. Bob knew there were no sharks in these waters, or other deadly fish. What other danger could Chris have encountered?

Pete touched his arm. He held up two fingers side by side, then pointed towards a rock formation. Bob understood. He meant they should investigate the rocks together.

Underwater you always stayed close to your buddy in case of trouble. Bob nodded and they set out, kicking themselves along vigorously.

The bottom of the reef was irregular. In places, small dark hollows had been cut by the swift current. They peered into each hollow place, wishing they had brought the underwater flashlights. But all they saw were swarms of little fish that swam hastily away at their intrusion. Seaweed made waving curtains in spots, and they had to push it aside to peer into the water beyond. At least five minutes pa.s.sed. They had covered a good hundred feet without a sign of Chris.

They paused and put their face masks close together. Bob could see Pete's eyes, wide and anxious. Bob pointed back in the other direction. Pete nodded. Side by side they kicked rapidly back towards the sunken boat. They had almost reached the sailing-boat when a swiftly swimming figure shot past them.

It was Chris, and he was in a hurry to get to the surface!

How could Chris have stayed under water for twenty minutes without any diving gear?

They headed for the surface. Chris was sitting on the edge of the reef in waist-deep water, gulping great breaths of air into his lungs. He certainly didn't look hurt, and he was grinning broadly.

They came up beside him and shoved up their face masks.

"Good grief, Chris, you gave us a scare!" Pete exclaimed.

"Where were you?" Bob asked, grinning with relief. "What happened?"

Chris threw back his head and laughed merrily.

"I find something," he said, and held up his right fist, tightly closed. "Guess what?"

"Your compa.s.s?" Bob asked.

The Greek boy shook his head. "Guess again."

"A gold piece!" Pete cried.

Still grinning, Chris opened his hand. An irregularly shaped, shiny gold blob lay in his palm. It was rather battered, but it was certainly a gold piece.

"You never guess what I find," he said.

"A treasure chest?" Bob said hopefully. "Buried in the sand?"

"No, not that. I find a round opening in the bottom of the reef. Fish swimming in and out. I think, if fish can swim, Chris can swim. I swim in.

He paused dramatically.

"I find an underwater cave under the island! I find this doubloon in it! I bet I bet there is a lot more treasure down there!"

The Secret Cave

SIDE BY SIDE, Bob and Pete floated in the water about five feet from the bottom.

Bubbles went up from their breathing tubes in little cl.u.s.ters. A school of sea ba.s.s wriggled past them and disappeared into the black opening the boys were staring at.

It was not a big opening, perhaps only twelve feet wide by four or five feet high. It was shaped roughly like an eye a dark, staring eye without any eyeball. The sides were smooth from the water currents that went in and out with the tides, and though there was seaweed nearby, none grew in the opening of the underwater cave.

Twenty feet to one side, Chris's sunken sailing-boat bobbed a little, but Bob and Pete weren't interested in the sailing-boat at the moment. They were engrossed in this underwater cave Chris had found. Each of the boys now had one of the waterproof flashlights in his hand, and in a minute, as soon as they got up their nerve a little more, they were going to swim into the cave and explore it.

According to Chris's story there was no danger.

He had been unable to find his compa.s.s on the sandy bottom of the bay. However, just as he was about to surface, he had seen the mouth of the underwater cave. Thinking of possible treasure inside, he impulsively swam in.

The cave seemed to get bigger as he went. It was dark, but he could look back and see the light spot which was the opening, and he kept that behind him. He had just decided to turn back when he realized that in his excitement he had gone farther than he should. He didn't have breath enough to get outside and up to the surface.

"I sure am one scared fish then." Chris had grinned when he came to this point in his story. "I know my only chance is to go ahead, maybe cave will get big and I can come up for air. I swim like crazy. Then I see little bit of light ahead of me. I swim that way, then I come up and I have air to breathe! I breathe hard, then I look round. I am in a cave under the island! A hole going up through rocks lets in enough light to show me rocky ledge, covered with seaweed. I climb out to rest. My hand touches gold piece under seaweed. I get very excited. I look under all the seaweed for more gold, but cannot find any. Then I swim out to get you."

An underwater cavern with pirate treasure in it! If Chris could swim into it without any Scuba equipment, Pete and Bob could certainly do it with the modern aqualungs they had borrowed from Jeff Morton. It didn't sound dangerous. They could certainly take a quick look anyway.

As the boys hesitated at the entrance to the cave, a white body swam between them.

It was Chris. Waving to them, he shot like an arrow into the dark mouth of the cave.

With one accord they followed.

The twin beams of their flashlights gave excellent illumination in the clear water. On either side rose the rocky walls of the cave, heavily fringed with seaweed. Startled fish scurried past. A green moray eel poked its heavily fanged head out of a crevice in the rock, and the boys gave it a wide berth.

Chris was out of sight, swimming much faster than they. They had to be careful not to rub against the side of the pa.s.sage lest it damage or pull off some of their Scuba equipment.

Pete shone his light upwards. Suddenly the top of the tunnel vanished. The boys swam quickly up twenty feet, thirty feet. Abruptly their masked faces popped out of the water. They were in a sizeable cavern with a rough ceiling four or five feet above their heads. Chris was sitting on a rocky ledge, dangling his feet in the water. The two boys paddled over and climbed cautiously up beside him on the slippery seaweed. They pushed up their face masks.

"We are inside The Hand now," Chris said to them. "How do you like my cave?"

"Golly!" Bob said fervently. "I'll bet n.o.body but us has ever been in here!"

He flashed his light around. The cavern was irregularly shaped, the roof varying from four to six feet above the water. Down towards the far end the cave narrowed sharply.

However, there was a splash of daylight there, which puzzled them for a moment.

They shut off their flashlights to study it and in the gloomy half-light the cave began to seem much bigger, eerie and mysterious. The eddying water made little gurgling noises against the rock, and strands of seaweed rose and fell like the floating hair of some mysterious underwater creature.

"There must be a hole in the rocks, going up to the surface," Bob said, puzzled.

"The spout!" Chris exclaimed. "It's that hole, the blowhole. In storm, water comes in here, rushes against rocks, and shoots up spout. Only n.o.body knows there is a cave down here. Think it is just a narrow crack some place down deep!"

"Sure, that's it!" Bob cried. He remembered how they had seen the water spouting up from the middle of the island during the storm two nights before. And of course, his notes mentioned the spout as something the very first explorers had discovered. Now they had found what caused it, something no one else had ever done.

"Oh," Bob's face fell, and the others looked at him inquiringly. "I just thought of something," he said. "If we're the first people ever to find this cave, there can't be any pirate treasure hidden in it."

"I didn't think of that!" Pete groaned.

"How do we know?" Chris demanded. "I find one gold piece, don't I? Let me have the flashlight and I dive down and see!"

Bob gave him a flashlight and Chris slipped into the water. In the darkness they could see a dim glow of light as Chris swam down to the sandy bottom.

"It sure would have been nice if this had been a secret pirate hiding place no one had found before," Pete said. "But you're probably right, Bob."

They watched the glimmer of light below them move back and forth. Chris could certainly stay down a long time! It must have been two and a half minutes before the light went out.

An instant later Chris's head popped out of the water. Pete turned on his light, and Chris climbed up next to them.

"You are right," he said in a gloomy voice. "No treasure down there. Just crabs, fish, sh.e.l.ls. Like this."

He opened his clenched fist. In it lay two gold doubloons!

"Wow!" Pete and Bob whooped together. "Chris! Where were they?"

"In sand," Chris said.

They pa.s.sed the gold pieces eagerly from hand to hand. They felt wonderfully heavy and valuable.

"Now we got three!" Chris said, eyes shining. "One each."

"No, you found them," Bob said. "They're yours."