Tony said, "Here's the doctor for a look at you."
A young Navy officer joined them and motioned Rick to a canvas stool. He applied a stethoscope and listened, then grunted his satisfaction. "He seems all right. Pulse a little fast, but that's to be expected. You had a slight dose of oxygen starvation. Feel better now?"
Rick nodded. He was beginning to feel wonderful. They were out of it, and with whole skins.
Scotty grinned sheepishly. "I abandoned you. I had to, because I ran completely out of air. I shoved my man away and headed for the surface. I felt pretty guilty about leaving you with two of them."
Rick returned the grin. "I felt the same way. I thought I'd abandoned you. But I see you got to the surface first."
Steve accepted a cup of coffee and squatted on the deck, facing them. "Suppose we start from the beginning. What happened?"
Rick told him, starting from the moment when they had heard the brass ball wail. He finished, "There were three of them. Did you get them all?"
"Yes. Including one with a spear through his leg. The last one is just being hauled aboard now. He tried to get to the island."
Jimmy Kelly and a group of frogmen joined them. Jimmy asked, "How about the sounding gear, Steve?"
"We'll ask now. How about that octopus cave? Where is it?"