the advice," Rick grunted. "I've got a knot in the lace."
The man came abreast of them, between Rick and the building, and in that moment, clawing wildly for balance, Rick lost his hold on Scotty's shoulder. He fell squarely against the man in the gray suit and crushed him into the building.
"Hey!" the man yelled. "What's the idea?"
Scotty rushed to the rescue, took the fallen shadow by the shoulders, and tried to pull him to his feet. This only made matters worse, since Rick was stretched across his legs.
"I'm so sorry," Scotty said. "Gosh, I'm sorry. He slipped. Here. Let me help you up."
"Get off me," the man yelled.
Rick tried, lost his balance again, and fell against the man's chest, pinning him to the sidewalk.
Scotty groaned. "Rick! You clumsy ox. Get off the man!"
"I'm trying to," Rick said plaintively. "My shoe came off. Here. Help me up."
"Help yourself!" Scotty returned sharply. "I'm trying to help this gentleman."
Rick rolled clear and Scotty got the man to his feet. He was something less than spotlessly clean, thanks to the dust of the road, and there was a rip in the arm of his coat.
"Look at that!" Scotty exclaimed. He made ineffectual efforts to dust the man off. "Rick, you ripped his coat."
Rick looked embarrassed. "I'm terribly sorry. Here, sir. Let me take you to this tailor shop. We can have it repaired in a jiffy."
"Forget it!" the man snapped. "And get out of my way. I'm in a hurry."
"It was all my fault, and I refuse to take no for an answer," Rick said firmly. He took the man by the arm. "Come on. It will only take a moment. You can't walk around town like that. I insist on having your suit repaired. I'm sure that the tailor can mend it so no one would ever notice."
"No," the man grated. "Please stand aside." Both boys had managed to block the sidewalk.
"Please," Rick pleaded. "This is terribly upsetting. We really should have the damage to your suit repaired."
The man's dark complexion was turning a grayish pink with rage. Rick estimated quickly. If he knew Steve Ames, the JANIG agent was long gone, and the tail would not catch up with him again. They had delayed the shadow for perhaps two minutes, but for Steve that would be enough.
Rick stepped aside. "Very well. If you insist – "
"I do." The man brushed by and hurried off.
The boys looked at each other and grinned.
"He won't catch Steve," Rick said.
"Not a chance. Well, my clumsy friend, shall we put your shoe back on and go meet the others for lunch?"
"We shall," Rick returned. "Indeed we shall." He slipped his shoe on and tied it quickly. "Wasn't it interesting, where Steve said we could reach him?"
Steve had said at the UDT base. That meant simply at the home of the Navy frogmen – the Underwater Demolition Teams. No wonder Steve had said he would be an expert on skin diving by nightfall. He was going to be with the most expert experts of all.
Rick sighed. "Just our luck he doesn't want us in the case. Wouldn't it be great to work with the Navy frogmen? We could learn plenty."
"Forgetting St. Francis?" Scotty inquired. "There he lies, twenty fathoms down, probably covered with barnacles and waiting to be rescued. And you want to go fogging off with the frogmen."
"All right, all right! Don't rub it in. We'll go back to being interested in the bark Maiden Hand. And St. Francis. And pirates. Let's cast off, my hearty."
The Danish Pastry was only a few blocks away, and Dr. Ernst and the Spindrifters were already seated. The boys joined them, with apologies for being late, but without mentioning their meeting with Steve Ames. There was nothing to be gained by bringing the matter up in front of Dr. Ernst. They could tell Zircon and Tony later. Zircon knew Steve, but Tony didn't.
Over dessert, Dr. Ernst reached into his bag and brought forth a chart. "I thought you might need this," he said.
It was a detailed chart of Clipper Cay and the surrounding waters. It showed clearly the position of the reefs, and it gave soundings that showed the depths.
Zircon shook his massive head. "Paul, your thoroughness has never failed to amaze me. What would we have done without you?"
Ernst smiled his pleasure. "Thank you, Hobart. I try to be thorough. Besides, I want you all to have a pleasant recollection of the Virgin Islands. We who live here love them very much."
The boys and Tony echoed Zircon's thanks, then fell to a study of the chart.
It was apparent that the water deepened rapidly beyond the western reef. In a few places, the twenty-fathom line was only a short distance out.
"Have you any idea where this ship went down?" Dr. Ernst asked.
"A bare idea," Tony replied. "It was off the western shore of the island, probably close to the reef, in twenty fathoms. The bark had been hit and was sinking. The captain ran for the island with the hope of beaching the ship on the reef, but he never made it. The bark went down, and Anne Bonney's pirates picked up the survivors."
"We know of Anne Bonney here," Dr. Ernst told them. "You realize that the Virgin Islands were once a hangout for pirates? Oh, we have a dark and bloody history, what with piracy, slave rebellions, even Indian massacres."
"You'd never know it," Rick said. "This is the most peaceful place I've seen in years."
He didn't add that the peace was only apparent. Steve Ames wasn't needed in really peaceful places. Something was stirring under the tropical calm of St. Thomas.
"Tonight you must have a taste of St. Thomas home life," Dr. Ernst said. "You shall be my guests at dinner. Dr. Briotti will be interested in my collection of Indian pottery. And you young men will be interested in my wife's hobby, which is fish. She has an amazing collection."
"Alive?" Scotty asked.
"Yes, indeed. In salt-water aquariums. Our misfortune makes it easy. You see, we have no natural fresh-water supplies on St. Thomas. We depend on catching rain for our drinking water. So our plumbing is operated by sea water, of which we have plenty. As a result, Mrs. Ernst is able to have a constant supply of salt water flowing through her aquariums. I know you'll be interested."
The boys agreed. Mrs. Ernst's hobby sounded like fun.
After lunch Dr. Ernst departed for his office, leaving the Spindrift group to their own devices. Not much remained to be done, except for checking in at their hotel. For now, they were content to walk around town.
As they passed the post office where Alexander Hamilton had once been a clerk, Scotty smiled meaningfully at Rick.
"Steve lost a tail this morning. Remember?"
Rick looked at him doubtfully. "Of course. Why?"
"Somebody loses, somebody gains," Scotty replied cheerfully. "Don't look behind you, but we've found one!"
CHAPTER III
