Nancy nodded. "Also, we'll have to find out if the Pirate has been repaired."
Bess laughed. "I see there's no holding you back. And you know perfectly well I don't want to be thought of as a chicken. We'll all go."
"Thank goodness!" George said. "I was just beginning to think I'd have to put you in a coop."
Bess made a face at her cousin, then she changed the subject. "Here comes Danny. Let's ask him about his boat."
The young man said he was happy to tell them that the Pirate was in good running order once more. "I'll look up the tide table," he said. When he returned, Danny announced that morning would be the best time to go. "Are yon game to get tip real early?"
"Sure," the girls chorused.
By six-thirty they were seated in the skiff. Danny put on full speed and the Pirate bounced across the water-covered sand dunes. When they reached the green channel alongside Crocodile Island, Nancy picked up the binoculars and stared ahead.
Suddenly a broad grin appeared on her face. "I see it!" she exclaimed.
In the distance she had discovered the periscope. It seemed to be motionless. The sub evidently was lying in the channel
Nancy asked Danny to race toward it as fast as he could. They had barely started, however, when the periscope disappeared.
"The sub is taking off!" George exclaimed. "Oh, I hope we can catch it!"
Danny followed the green waterway into the ocean. The elusive periscope had not appeared again, and the young people assumed that the sub was now in deeper water.
"Oh, hypers!" George cried out, using one of her favorite expressions. "Now we've lost it! Where did it go?"
They all knew it was futile to search in the wide expanse of ocean, The only possible way to spot the sub would be from a plane or a helicopter.
"We'd better turn back," Danny suggested. "It's a long way home, and I'm afraid we'll have to run for it to make Biscayne Bay before low tide."
He entered the channel again, putting on full speed. But when he turned into the shallow water beyond Crocodile Island he looked worried.
"Do you think we'll make it?" George asked him.
"I'll do my best," he said grimly.
There was no more conversation as the skiff fairly flew on top of the water. Everything went well until they were about halfway home. Danny, who had been turning left and right to avoid the higher dunes, suddenly swerved very hard. He straightened the boat again, but within seconds it rammed into a long sandbank. The motor churned desperately for a moment, then stopped.
The impact had knocked all three girls from their chairs. They flew through the air and landed with a resounding splash in the water!
CHAPTER XVJungle Attack
Drenched with seawater and covered with sand, Nancy, Bess, and George stood up alongside the Pirate. To Danny's amazement they were not angry. Instead, they started to laugh. George said, "Thanks for the unexpected bath!"
Bess, looking at the skiff, remarked, "I guess we'll have to walk home."
"Or wait for high tide," Danny told her. "Instead of waiting, however, you could walk to that key over there and investigate the wildlife. It isn't far from here."
"Does anyone live on it?" Nancy asked.
"No, it's uninhabited."
Bess chose to stay with Danny and dry out in the hot sun, but Nancy and George were interested in seeing the key, so they sloshed through the shallow water to the mangrove-lined island.
When the girls reached it, they scrambled over roots and coral rocks. There was nothing to see but bushes and trees.
"It's a real jungle!" George said.
"I'll say it is," Nancy agreed. "Look over at that mangrove." She pointed.
George stared in amazement. A fish was climbing up the bark!
The two girls watched to see how high it would go. To their astonishment it disappeared in the leafy foliage above.
"This place is absolutely spooky!" George muttered.
She had barely finished the sentence when they heard a dog barking.
"There must be somebody on this key besides us," Nancy said. "But let's go on. Maybe we'll see something else unique."
The dog's barks were coming closer, and the girls wondered if he were friendly. If not, both of them would have to scramble up the next tree!
They waited for the animal to come closer. When it did, Nancy gasped. He was an Irish terrier, and on his right forepaw were six toes!
"E-fee!" Nancy cried out, recognizing the animal from Crocodile Island. "How did you get here?"
The dog came up to the girls at once, wagged his tail in delight, and barked in short yaps.
"Is your master around?" Nancy asked apprehensively.
The girls stood still, waiting for someone to appear. But no one did. The dog stayed close by, and acted so glad to see them that they were convinced there were no other human beings on the small key besides themselves.
George asked, "Do you suppose someone from Crocodile Island left E-fee here on purpose?"
Nancy shrugged. "If so, it's a pretty poor way to treat the dog. He couldn't swim back to Crocodile Island. It's too far from here."
Puzzled, Nancy and George walked on. E-fee bounded ahead of them. Presently he ran to a little clearing and began to bark frantically. The girls hurried to the spot where he was standing.
E-fee looked up at them, gave a few quick barks, then dug furiously into the sandy soil.
"Nancy, he's looking for something," George said. "Maybe his master is buried here!"
"Horror stories again, eh?" Nancy quipped. But she felt apprehensive herself.
E-fee did not stop digging until he had made a good-sized hole. Then he looked at the girls as if to say, "Go ahead. Take a look!"
Nancy and George stepped forward and gazed into the hole. To their amazement a pistol lay inside!
"Where did that come from?" George asked. "Do you suppose E-fee's master put it there, and then went away, leaving the dog to guard it?"
Nancy thought a moment, then said, "It's a good guess, George. Perhaps the men on Crocodile Island didn't want E-fee there anymore because his barks attracted too much attention. Now that the island is closed to the public, I'd say they don't want a dog calling attention to the place if something illegal is going on there."
George got down on her knees and carefully lifted the pistol out of the hole. She examined it and found that the firearm was not loaded, and the serial number on it had been almost obliterated.
"Let's take it along," she suggested. "If nobody owns this island and a person comes here and buries a weapon, then it becomes the property of the finder."
Nancy smiled. "I love your logic. We'll take the pistol with us, but we'll turn it over to the police."
The girls filled up the hole, shoving the sandy soil in place with their shoes. Then they went on exploring. Nancy and George watched for anyone who might be on the island. E-fee followed. Since he did not bark, they felt reasonably sure they were alone.
Presently Nancy noticed that there were many twelve inch lizards running around. Some hid in the undergrowth, but a large number of them were at a fresh-water pond containing hundreds of mosquito larvae. The lizards were eating them greedily.
The girls were so busy watching the fascinating sight that they failed to notice a swarm of mosquitoes coming their way. Suddenly the mosquitoes enveloped Nancy and George, biting furiously! As the girls tried to duck, the insects sang, divebombed, and stung them.
"Oh, dear!" George cried out. "We'd better get away from here fast!"
With E-fee at their heels, the girls ran as quickly as they could. To their dismay the mosquitoes followed!
"This is awful!" George panted. "A real jungle attack. What'll we do?"
"I've heard," Nancy called out, "that the only way to get rid of these pests is to dive into the water."
The two friends hurried toward the spot where they had entered the key. The going was rough. Despite the protection of their shoes they nicked their ankles on coral rocks and tripped on tree roots, which made them wince in pain. The mosquitoes kept buzzing around their heads, necks, arms, and legs, which were fast covered with bites.