CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE 1 [Off to the Mesabi] 11 2 [The Long Boats] 22 3 [Bull’s-Eye] 34 4 [A Plot Discovered] 45 5 [A New Friend] 58 6 [Man Overboard!] 73 7 [In the Locks] 81 8 [Fire!] 93 9 [Charged with Arson] 105 10 [The Unsalted Seas] 116 11 [The Big Blow] 130 12 [A Web of Lies] 142 13 [Cookie to the Rescue] 156 14 [Checkmated] 167 15 [Safe in Port] 178 16 [Summer’s End] 184
CHAPTER ONE
Off to the Mesabi
Jerry James’s foot came down gently on the brake pedal of Old Faithful, his cut-down, open-air jalopy, and as the car slowed, Sandy Steele vaulted lightly over the side onto the pavement. With a wave of his hand and the shout, “See you tonight, Jerry,” Sandy whirled and sprinted up the front walk.
His long, gangling legs gobbled up the distance with astonishing ease and catapulted Sandy up the porch steps three at a time. But then, after the screen door had slammed shut behind him, Sandy Steele came to a sudden halt as though tackled by an entire enemy football team.
“Dad!” he cried. “But I thought you’d be in Alaska by now!”
“Signals off, Sandy,” John Steele said, rising from the porch hammock and laying aside his evening newspaper. He gazed soberly at his tall, blond son. “You know, Sandy,” he went on, “I believe you’ve grown another two inches in the few days I’ve been away.”
“It’s Mom’s cooking,” Sandy said, smiling. He brushed aside the cowlick that had flopped over his eyes as he ran up the walk. His face resumed its normal expression of quiet thoughtfulness, and he said, “What happened, Dad?”
“Change of plans, Sandy. Instead of testing for uranium in Alaska, the government has decided that I’d better spend the summer on the Mesabi Range.”