Jan smiled at him. "Going to try again?"

"You bet I am. Got to catch up with you somehow."

Jan had bagged a ten-pound rockfish underwater on the day before, and they had baked it in a driftwood fire on a beach at Poplar Island. Rick was as proud as though the catch had been his own. He had been Jan's diving instructor and had taught her how to stalk a fish.

"You can catch up day after tomorrow when the folks will let you dive,"

Jan a.s.sured him.

"Can't wait that long," Rick replied. "I'm going to find a fifty-pound ray right now."

"Go get your bow," Jan said. "I'll join the others and we'll all spot for you."

Rick got to his feet and gave Jan a hand up. He went down the catwalk to the cabin while she went up the ladder to the top deck.

The bow was in the closet. Rick checked the string, then strung the bow and selected two arrows. He went out on deck and stopped at Scotty's side. "Looks like a good place. Cruise slow and easy and be ready to maneuver. If there's a ray there, I want it."

"Okay. Go for broke, Robin Hood. What I can't understand is why you don't shoot for something edible."

"Can't," Rick said cheerfully. "Edible-type fish don't hang around waiting for boats to bring bowmen close."

He climbed the rear ladder to the upper deck and joined his family.

Hartson Brant smiled at his son. "Next time we let you go off by yourself don't get involved in mysteries. Then you won't have to bowhunt inedible sea animals."

"It's fun," Rick returned. "I'd want to do it even if I could spear fish. Want to take a shot?"

"I'll take a shot after you've boated your first ray."

"Fair enough," Rick agreed.

Mrs. Brant asked, "Where are we going, Rick?"

He pointed to the peninsula. "Around that land. There's a creek on the other side called Tilghman Creek. The cruising guide says there's a good anchorage just inside. If it looks all right, well spend the night there. If not, we'll go across to the Wye River. Tomorrow we'll go down the Miles River to the town of St. Michaels and put in supplies."

The scientist smiled at his wife. "It's nice to relax and have our children do the work and the thinking, isn't it?"

"It's too good to last," Mrs. Brant returned.

Barby and Jan were standing far forward, close to where the cabin top curved downward to the forward deck. Rick joined them.

"This is fun!" Barby exclaimed. "Rick this houseboat was the best idea you ever had!"

"We all should have traveled down together," Jan said. "Then the whole family could have been in on the case of the flying stingaree."

"That will be the day," Barby replied. "When Rick Brant lets us in on any real adventures, I'll know the world is coming to an end." Her tone changed suddenly. "Look, we're getting into shallow water. Keep a sharp lookout!"

Rick went down the ladder to the foredeck and tied his arrowhead to the fish line wound in the reel on his bow. He nocked the arrow and got ready to shoot. He looked up at the two pretty girls standing above him.

"Let out a yell if you see a dark blot."

Barby gave him a scornful look. "Of course we'll yell. Did you think we were standing here waiting for flying saucers to land?"

The houseboat plowed through a patch of sea gra.s.s and emerged over sandy bottom. Rick kept careful watch, but he knew the girls would see the first sign of a ray before he did, because of their higher vantage point.

Steve would enjoy this, he thought. The JANIG agent was back in Washington, his vacation interrupted again because of the work that remained on the case of Lefty Camillion. Lefty was in jail, too, along with his friends.

Rick shook his head. He was still amazed at the mobster's stupidity in creating such an elaborate setup to get data that was his for the asking. Apparently it just hadn't occurred to Lefty that a rocket range could be without secrets.

If there _had_ been secrets, though, the system was a good one. By using the combination of a balloon and a rocket, Lefty got his equipment high enough to intercept Wallops Island telemetry, and he did it without anyone suspecting he was launching rockets. The rockets and balloons dropped into the ocean, unseen--or, if seen, the first thought would be that they had come from Wallops. The shape of the balloons also kept anyone from suspecting that the theft of data was the real purpose. It was a fine scheme, even though it had all been unnecessary.

The girls let out a yell that startled Rick from his reverie. Scotty immediately throttled back, and the boat's momentum carried it forward.

Rick watched the water, and finally saw a dark blur on the sandy bottom ahead and to the left. He drew, then waited until he saw the dark patch move. This time he allowed for the water's refraction. He loosed the arrow.

The stingaree felt the impact and reacted violently. Its tail lashed up to strike with sharp barbs at the intruder. The tail lashed the arrow shaft without effect. The ray's wings moved in a rippling motion like that of some weird flying carpet. It flashed upward, and into the air, then crashed back on the surface of the water again. It dived, heading for the bottom.

Rick kept the drag on his reel, letting the ray fight against the braking action. The fish didn't give up easily. It had the primitive nervous system and great vitality of its relatives, the sharks, and it fought long after an edible fish, like a rockfish, would have given up.

When the ray moved toward the now stationary boat, Rick reeled in line.

When the ray showed a new burst of energy and started away, Rick let it fight against the drag, pulling out line.

The girls were down on the foredeck with him now, and Scotty had joined the Brants on the upper deck in order to get a better view of the fight.

Finally, the ray tired. Rick drew it in close to the hull and waited while the vicious tail lashed futilely. Jan took the gaff that Scotty handed down to her and gave it to Rick. He hooked the sea beast and lifted it from the water.

"Stand clear!" he warned. "I don't want either of you getting hit with that tail!"

The girls hurried up the ladder to safety, and Rick lifted the stingaree to the deck.

It was a small one, weighing about fifteen pounds. The wet, leathery body glistened, and the kite-shaped wings flapped like those of some fantastic bird.

Scotty looked down at the ray. "You caught a cripple," he said. "There's something wrong with it."

Rick looked up. He knew the answer, but he asked the question anyway, grinning. "Yes? What's wrong with it?"

"It can't fly," Scotty said.

RICK BRANT SCIENCE STORIES

[Ill.u.s.tration: RICK BRANT]

THE ROCKET'S SHADOW THE LOST CITY SEA GOLD 100 FATHOMS UNDER THE WHISPERING BOX MYSTERY THE PHANTOM SHARK SMUGGLERS' REEF THE CAVES OF FEAR STAIRWAY TO DANGER THE GOLDEN SKULL THE WAILING OCTOPUS THE ELECTRONIC MIND READER THE SCARLET LAKE MYSTERY THE PIRATES OF SHAN THE BLUE GHOST MYSTERY THE EGYPTIAN CAT MYSTERY THE FLAMING MOUNTAIN THE FLYING STINGAREE THE RUBY RAY MYSTERY THE VEILED RAIDERS RICK BRANT'S SCIENCE PROJECTS