The big scientist knelt and examined the silvery streak. He borrowed Tony's knife and probed, then his laugh boomed across the water.
"We are the victims of our own research!" he roared. "All this trouble—over a statue of lead!"
"Lead!" Rick stared incredulously. This couldn't be true! "There's gold, too," he pointed out.
"Apparently gold leaf over a lead base," Tony said with a sigh. "No, Rick. Hobart is right. This is lead."
A call from the water made them look up. Chief Sanders and his diving buddy had surfaced, and they were carrying a statue of St. Francis!
Behind them, another pair of frogmen, with still another statue!
Within a half hour there were no less than eight identical statues lined up on deck. St. Francis, in lead, repeated eight times.
Scotty scratched his head. "Well," he said finally, "we certainly found St. Francis! In fact, we overdid it a little."
Not until long afterward did they learn the answer. Tony Briotti, a scientist of great persistence, did some research in England during a European trip to attend a conference of archaeologists. He found that the Maiden Hand had carried several dozen St. Francis statues, for sale to churches and individuals in the New World. Captain Campion had considered only one special enough to mention, because it had been blessed by the Cardinal of France and entrusted to his care for delivery to the Governor of Barbados.
The Spindrifters took one statue as a gift for Barby. A cutlass was Rick's share of the loot, while Tony took the bar shot they had found near the wreck and Zircon selected a cannon ball. It was understood that the knife Scotty had found was to be his, so that he could present it to Hartson Brant.