ng important to do with national security."

He smiled grimly. "I know none of you will disagree with this, because
it's the only thing we can do. Professor Zircon knew it tonight when he
tried to excuse our looking in on the frogmen as curiosity."

Zircon nodded silently.

"From now on," Rick concluded, "we have to operate as unofficial JANIG
agents, until we can get word to Steve Ames so he and his men can take
over."

CHAPTER XIII

Message in the Storm

The wind blew. It piled the surf high on the reef and blew the tops from
waves between the reef and the shore. Hour by hour the wind stiffened,
until the breakers on the shore were higher than those through which the
Spindrifters had swum on the reef.

The first hours of the morning were spent getting ready for a blow. The
_Water Witch_ was secured by springlines, and extra fenders were put
over her side. The four hauled the Sky Wagon high onto the beach by
sheer muscle power, then turned the plane into the wind. Rick and Scotty
salvaged the concrete-block foundation from the wreck of the cottage
where they had found the planks, and used the blocks for land anchors on
the plane.

The shutters were checked, and closed on the front of the cottage. The
shed where the tank had broken through was repaired as well as
improvised tools and materials allowed, and all loose gear was stowed
inside.

The rain came. It drove with the wind into the front of the cottage in a
continuous thunder. Its force carried it under the door, through cracks
beside the window frames. The Spindrifters were forced to shred rags to
stuff into cracks. In the kitchen the roof began to leak, and soon every
available pot and pan was being used to catch drippings.

Rick worked almost in silence, not joining in the bantering of his
friends. As was his way, he worried the problem of the frogmen and their
mysterious behavior the way his dog, Dismal, would worry a bone.

He discarded a dozen possible reasons for their actions, including
underwater communications, bombs, and an unusual way of fishing. He
pondered on the relations of the Spindrift group--or lack of them--with
the frogmen and re-examined their various theories.

First premise: The frogmen, specifically Steve's former shadow, hadn't
recognized them or the _Water Witch_.

Second premise: The frogmen considered them harmless tourists,
interested only in diving to the wreck, and therefore to be watched but
not considered d