, 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 its
on the western reef at twenty fathoms, I'd say that it's very likely the
one we want."

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

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

It seemed reasonable, and it was as good an answer as any, since there
was 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 a
piece at a time. And if you still haven't found it, start digging."

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

Scotty and Zircon prepared to dive, shifting the regulators to fresh
tanks. While they checked equipment, Rick rummaged through the boat's
locker and found a length of heavy line. An empty water jug with a screw
cap was attached to it, and he handed the end of the line to Scotty to
take down with him.

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

Scotty took it and went over the side. He carried his spear gun while
Zircon 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 to
the beach. He shaded his eyes and stared at the _Water Witch_. Rick
pointed him out to Tony.

"This business stumps me," the archaeologist admitted. "Are you certain
about 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 presence
on 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 that
both lungs were working well twenty fathoms down. Since the bubbles did
not ascend vertically, they did not show the location of the two on the
bottom. Rick studied them, workin