Smugglers' Reef: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure StoryGoodwin, Harold L. (Harold Leland)
Science
Smugglers' Reef: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story
Goodwin, Harold L. (Harold Leland)
Detective and mystery stories; Smugglers -- Juvenile fiction
It was. Scotty picked up the coin and turned it over, as though making
sure it wasn't tails on both sides, then handed it to Rick with a
grin. "Can you always call your shots like that?"
"Only on Wednesdays." He gestured toward the high board fence that cut
them off from Creek House. "Look, just to be on the safe side, you
keep an eye open for the Kelsos. If you see them coming, give me a
yell. I don't think they'd dare try anything in broad daylight, but
you can never tell."
"All right. I'll stick near the boat."
As Scotty walked back to the launch, Rick went to the base of the
tower and looked up. The frame seemed secure enough in spite of the
rust. He jumped for the first rung of the ladder and hauled himself
up. In a moment he was on the horizontal girder. The scratches Scotty
had seen from the air were clearly visible. To reach them, he had to
work around the girders to the opposite side. He stood up and found
his balance, then walked easily to the corner girder, rounded it and
crossed to the other side. The marks were only a few feet away.
The upper stories of Creek House were on and above his level now. He
could look right into the windows of the second floor--except that the
windows were so dirty that he couldn't see much. Suddenly he froze.
One of the second-floor windows was being raised. He saw a vague
figure behind it, but it was dark in the room and he couldn't see
clearly. There was no reason to be disturbed about it, yet he felt a
quick wave of apprehension. He had better look over the scratches and
get out.
Holding on to the corner girder, he crouched and leaned outward toward
the marks. There were two bright scratches about a foot apart. Between
them the entire rust surface had been disturbed. Something had rested
there, or, more likely, it had been clamped. He swung back a little to
look at the inner side of the girder and saw continuations of the
scratches that terminated in round spots. When he leaned forward to
look at the outer side, the marks were there, but so slight that they
wouldn't be noticeable unless one were looking for them.
His brows creased. He couldn't think of anything that would make marks
just like those. He wished he had brought a camera. A photo would have
given them something to study later.
Then, as he turned and started back, something whistled over his head
and slapped sharply into the upright girder. His first thought was
that Scotty had thrown a pebble or something to attract his attention,
but when he looked, Scotty was facing the other way.
The whistle and slap came again. This time he looked up, and the
strength drained from his knees. A few inches over his head were
silvery splashes against the rusty surface, and they were the silvery
marks of splattered lead!
He was being shot at!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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