It was better than two hours later and fifty miles beyond their rendezvous when Tim finally sighted the submarine, sliding through the water at a strong twelve knots an hour.
He brought the Sea King down to an easy landing and then taxied alongside the S-18, which was now lying motionless. Willing hands helped fasten the crane and its rigging to the seaplane and the craft was soon lodged safely on the deck of the submarine. Then they were under way again, the thin nose of the S-18 cleaving its way toward the sunken treasure in the hold of the Southern Queen.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Isle of the Singing Trees
While Pat was on duty in the conning tower, Tim recounted in detail to Commander Ford just what had taken place in Key West. When he was through the Commander looked extremely grave.
“Now that Sladek knows we are bound for an island off the coast of Yucatan, our only hope is for speed. It may take him several days to locate us after we are there, but with his seaplane he is certain to do that. We’ll continue ahead as fast as possible and once over the wreck of the Southern Queen we’ll lose no time in going down and getting what we can.”
Only Commander Ford knew the exact location of the island they sought off the coast of Yucatan. As the hours rolled into days, the tension aboard the S-18 grew. There had been no further sign of the Iron Mate and they wondered whether Sladek was ahead or behind.
Tim wrote a story each day and Ike Green flashed it over his powerful set to the station of the New York Journal, where it was relayed to Tim’s own paper at Atkinson.
The third night after Tim joined the S-18 out of Key West he felt the pulse of the diesels slowing down. He tossed on his clothes and made his way to the control room and climbed the ladder to the conning tower. Commander Ford and Pat were intently scanning the horizon.
Pat turned toward Tim.
“We’ll reach the island about dawn,” he said.