CHAPTER XXII
Check-Out
“Don’t look so worried,” Sammy Mamola said. The skin diver looked up at the disappointed faces. “I didn’t expect to bring up that box on my first dive. Give me a little more time. I do think I may have located it, though.”
Expressions of hope replaced the sad faces aboard the _Easy Action_.
“I need another tool,” Sammy said. “A short bar, two or three feet long. If what I think is the box, it’s jammed, and I can’t free it without prizing it. What have you got?”
Sammy was treading water, one hand resting lightly on the yawl’s gunnel.
“I’ll look in the tool box,” Biff said.
While he was gone, Sammy told them what he had found below.
“That boat sure took a beating. Everything in the cabin is smashed up. She’s filled with sand, and other sea trash. I had to chase some fish out, too. Especially a small octopus—didn’t want it squirting its ink around, clouding my vision. I found what I think may be your box under a mound of sand and broken sea shells. Couldn’t pull it out, though.”
“Any sign of—”
“No, Mr. Mahenili, no sign of the poor fellow who went down with her.”
Biff had returned.
“Will this do?” He held up a metal bar, about three-quarters of an inch thick and thirty inches long. It was used to turn the engine over if its electric starter didn’t work.
“Just the thing.” Sammy reached up for it. “Well, here I go again. Maybe I’ll have better luck this time.” The diver submerged again.
All had been so interested in the diver’s activities and report that they hadn’t noticed the _Black Falcon_. It was Li who spotted Perez Soto’s boat.
“Look, Dad,” he called out.
The _Black Falcon_ had left its anchorage and moved over until it was only two hundred feet from the _Easy Action_. Perez Soto was watching every action aboard the yawl.
“Say one thing for that man,” Tom Brewster said. “He doesn’t give up until the final chance is gone. If he sees us bring up that metal box, he’ll still try to get it away from us somehow.”
“I don’t think he will,” Hank Mahenili said.
“What do you mean?” Biff asked.
“You’ll see.” Hank Mahenili smiled mysteriously.
Another fifteen minutes went by. A steady stream of bubbles broke the surface. The diver was working. Thomas Brewster kept looking at his watch. Biff and Li, lying on their stomachs, watched the area dotted with bubbles. Biff, looking up, noticed Madeira frantically winding up the anchor winch of the _Black Falcon_. Perez Soto was already at the wheel, shouting at his henchman to hurry up.
“Hey, look at that,” Biff exclaimed. “Looks like Perez Soto has changed his mind. He’s in a hurry to get out of here.”
And he was. The anchor of the _Black Falcon_ was barely out of the water when Perez Soto jammed the throttle of the cruiser full speed forward, and the boat leaped away, leaving a high, foaming wake at its stern.
“Now I wonder what made him change his mind?” Tom Brewster asked.
“I think I know the answer to that. Look over there.” Hank Mahenili said.
They looked in the direction he was pointing. A low, gray boat was coming along at a racing clip. Huge numbers on its bow identified it.
“It’s a Coast Guard cutter,” Biff shouted.
“That’s right, Biff. Now watch. We may see some fun.”
The cutter was after the _Black Falcon_. The cruiser was fast, but no match for the Coast Guard cutter. She closed the gap between the boats rapidly.
Perez Soto wasn’t giving up, however. He tried maneuvering, swerving the _Black Falcon_ from one direction to another on a zigzag course.
The people on the _Easy Action_ heard the boom of a small cannon. Looking at the cutter, they saw a puff of smoke from its forward gun. Then they saw a splash as a shell dropped just in front of the _Falcon_’s bow.
“If he doesn’t heave to now, the next projectile will be directed at the ship,” Mr. Mahenili said.
But Perez Soto had had enough. He heaved to. The cutter came alongside, and two Coast Guardsmen, guns in hand, boarded her.
“I imagine our troubles with Perez Soto are at an end,” Mr. Mahenili said.
“This is your doing?” Tom Brewster asked.
Hank nodded his head. “Kidnaping. I reported Perez Soto as having kidnaped Dr. Weber. He’ll be dealt with harshly. One witness against him will be Tokawto. He’s recovering. It was Perez Soto who gave him that stab wound.”
“Well, you really did get around in Hilo, Mr. Mahenili,” Biff said.
“I don’t like to leave any loose strings dangling. Incidentally, did Dr. Weber ever tell you how he happened to be abducted from his hotel room?” Hank asked Tom Brewster.
“Yes, he did. He was talking to me when he felt a sharp point in his back. That was the call I took in Indianapolis, Biff. It was Perez Soto. With a sharp knife at his back and Perez Soto threatening to use the knife, there was nothing the doctor could do but obey instructions. They walked out of the porch entrance and through the garden to a waiting car. Madeira was the driver.”
Dr. Weber smiled at the group. “Perhaps I should have resisted, but—I knew Perez Soto meant what he said. I went along, like a quiet mouse.”
An idea occurred to Biff. He dashed below. He was back in a moment. He held out his hand to Dr. Weber.
“I just remembered this, Doctor.”
It was the doctor’s tobacco pouch and pipe.
“Bless you, my boy. Missing my pipe was the worst torture I endured during my entire captivity.”
A shout came from the side of the yawl.
“You people up there still interested in a metal box?” It was the diver. “Think this could be it?”
The Hawaiian diver held an oblong object above his head. Biff leaned over the side and took it from his hands. It was encrusted with barnacles, bits of shell, and slimy green seaweed.
It was a metal box. Biff handed it to his father.
“Get a screwdriver, Biff. We’ll have to pry the lid open.”
Everyone watched tensely as Thomas Brewster worked the screwdriver under the lid of the box. A small lock held it shut. Finally, the lid sprang open. Inside was a loose, dust-like substance, hardened in spots where sea water had leaked in. There was also a damp piece of paper.
“This is it. It’s got to be. Take a look, Dr. Weber.”
The doctor dipped his hand in the box. He fingered the powdery substance. He nodded his head.
“I can’t tell how this will run yet. I will have to test it. But ... well, I think we’ve really got something here.”
Thomas Brewster and Biff were pouring over the map.
“The field’s well marked. Won’t be any trouble locating it if this sample proves out to be high grade.”
The doctor was looking at the pilot.
“Young man, could you fly me back to Honolulu?”
“Sure. Only take an hour or so.”
“Well, Tom. I’d like to get back to my hotel. All my equipment is there. I can test this sample immediately. I want to. Is it all right with you, Henry, if I steal your plane and pilot?”
“Certainly, doctor. We’ll all go back to Hilo by boat.”
“Well then, when you get there, look for a message from me. I’ll have run my tests long before you can get back by boat. Then I’m off. I’m due at an international scientific convention in Switzerland early next week. I’ll have to leave Honolulu before you get back.”
The doctor shook hands all around. His last words to the group were:
“Thanks for my pipe, young man.”
Biff grinned in reply. It was hard to believe that this was the same old man who had been carried aboard not long ago.
The doctor boarded the plane, and in five minutes it was out of sight, winging its way to Hawaii.
Tom Brewster took the tiller of the _Easy Action_. Li was at the anchor winch, Biff at the mainmast, and Hank Mahenili at the mizzen.
“Hoist away,” Tom Brewster sang out as he felt the anchor pull free.
Sails rattled up their masts. The wind caught them, and the _Easy Action_ was put on a course for Hilo.
It was a pleasant sail. Everyone was relaxed. There was little conversation. All were happy to loll about the deck, resting from their recent near escapes from violence and storm.
It was night by the time Mr. Brewster headed the yawl for a dock in Hilo Bay. The boat was tied up, and in half an hour, the party entered their hotel.
As good as his word, there was a message waiting from Dr. Weber.
“_Sample proves out cesium in purest state discovered thus far in world. Looks like a sky-blue find._”
Tom Brewster handed the message to Biff. Biff read it and smiled at his father. “Why sky-blue, Dad?”
“Dr. Weber’s mild little joke. Cesium means ‘sky-blue’ because that is how it shows up on a spectrum test.”
The boy and his father stood silent for a moment, enjoying this moment of complete peace.
“Dad,” Biff said, “this was supposed to be a vacation for Mom and the twins. Can we still make it one for the _whole_ family? Have them fly over here and explore this beautiful island?”
“Explore, Biff? Haven’t you had enough adventure for now? I’ll have them come over. But for the rest of our stay, it’s going to be nothing but fun and frolic. You agree?”
“Check, Dad. Check.”
_A Biff Brewster Mystery Adventure_
HAWAIIAN SEA HUNT MYSTERY
By ANDY ADAMS
Why is Biff Brewster’s father so eager to leave for Hawaii? Is there more than just a mining engineers’ conference afoot? The elder Brewster is strangely silent, and Biff can only guess at the cause of his father’s sudden anxiety.
In this third exciting mystery adventure of the Biff Brewster series, the entire Brewster family flies to festive, exotic Honolulu where a startling newspaper headline involves Biff and his father in a hair-raising race to locate a kidnaped scientist, a sunken sloop, and a cache of precious Cesium, a rare mineral essential to rocket propulsion and the conquest of the moon.
With the help of his new friend, Likake Mahenili, Biff soon learns that more than sharpened wits are necessary to defeat the mysterious forces working against them. The cunning of a ruthless rival engineer and the violence of the reef-filled waters off the islands combine to challenge the courage and stamina of the boys. Likake, an expert swimmer and diver, teaches Biff the skills he will need to protect himself against the defiant winds and tides which already have claimed the life of one colleague.
A vitally important scientific project and a life are at stake as Biff Brewster and his father crash headlong into the danger and breath-taking suspense of their adventure in Hawaii.
_NEW!_ BIFF BREWSTER Mystery Adventures
By ANDY ADAMS
Biff Brewster, sixteen, is a tall, strongly built blond youth who lives In Indianapolis, Indiana, with his parents and the eleven-year-old twins, Ted and Monica. Because his mother and father believe that travel is as important to education as formal schooling, Biff is encouraged to travel to various countries during the vacation months. His experiences in these lands, and the young people he meets there, form the basis of a new series for adventure-loving readers. In every journey there is a strong element of mystery, usually a direct result of conditions peculiar to the region in which he is traveling. Thus, in addition to adventure, these books impart carefully researched information about foreign countries.
_Start reading one today_—
(1) BRAZILIAN GOLD MINE MYSTERY (2) MYSTERY OF THE CHINESE RING (3) HAWAIIAN SEA HUNT MYSTERY (4) MYSTERY OF THE MEXICAN TREASURE (5) AFRICAN IVORY MYSTERY (6) ALASKA GHOST GLACIER MYSTERY
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Inc. Publisher New York 10, N. Y.
Transcriber’s Notes
--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.
--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.
--Retained one typo from the original: “pouring” for “poring” for its comedic value.
--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)