“It’s one a.m.,” he said. “What’s on the schedule now?”
“We might as well try and get a little more sleep. I think the fireworks are over for tonight.”
Pat rolled back into his blankets and a minute later Tim followed his companion’s action but where Pat was soon in a deep sleep, Tim remained awake, thinking over the attack and the dangers of their long voyage into the Caribbean. He was glad Commander Ford had decided to take a seaplane on the trip. It made him feel more comfortable for if anything happened to the S-18 on the treasure hunt, they might be able to get word of their plight to the world by using the seaplane.
Tim finally slept and when he awoke, sunlight was streaming down through the hatch and Commander Ford was climbing aboard.
“Fine pair of watchmen I left,” he smiled.
“You left one mighty alert one,” put in Pat, and he recounted their experiences of the night.
“Sladek is certainly losing no time in trying to hamper my plans,” said Ford. “I imagine he’ll attempt to trail us all of the way to the island but we may fool him if we decide to travel underwater for a few miles.”
“But you couldn’t do that with the plane on deck,” protested Tim.
“We might release the plane and have you fly on ahead, meeting us at the rendezvous on the island,” suggested Ford.
If Tim thought his days on the News had been busy, they were nothing compared with the bustle of activity which settled down on the S-18. For his own part, he was busy testing the seaplanes at the Sea King factory and he finally selected the craft which the sales manager had recommended. It was a three passenger job, light but sturdy and exceptionally easy to handle.