The three strained their ears. They heard the sound again. Then they saw what was causing it. A man was swimming toward the Easy Action. They could make out his head moving slowly, but steadily along, coming toward the yawl.
When the swimmer was some twenty feet from the Easy Action, the pale light of the moon was reflected by an object the swimmer was holding in his mouth. In the brief instant of the gleam, the object became clear to them all. It was a long knife.
CHAPTER XXI
A Human Fish
“What do you think he is up to, Biff?” Li asked in a whisper.
The swimmer was nearing the yawl.
“With that knife in his mouth, I don’t think there’s much doubt about it. Do you, Dad?”
“Depends on what you’re thinking, son.”
“Well, I think this is Perez Soto’s last, desperate effort to establish his salvage rights to the Sea Islander. I’m sure that’s his boat over there, just off our starboard bow. See it?”
The power cruiser, the Black Falcon, was sharply silhouetted now in the lightening dawn.
“Perez Soto’s sent that swimmer over to cut our anchor rope,” Biff continued. “Wouldn’t you agree, Dad?”