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Donated by the
Grand Rapids Public Library
The May G. Quigley
Collection
of Children's Literature
December 2001
The University of Michigan-Dearborn
Mardigian Library


By the same author:
The
Black Panther
of the
Great Lakes


- - - *** -- * ~ ******-* *-*.*.*-*** ***.*.*.*.*.*.
Haunt of
High Island
Bernice C. Wexstaff
Illustrations by Harold E. Kohn
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
... Grand Rapids, Michigan . . .


*JUL 1 1959
f 3 & 4)
(C) 1958 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
ALL RIGHTS IN THIS BOOK ARE RESERVED. NO
PART MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY MANNER WITH.
OUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER,
EXCEPT BRIEF QUOTATIONS USED IN CONNECTION
WITH A REVIEW IN A MAGAZINE OR NEWSPAPER.
Set up and printed, June 1958
M 2 (2.
NA/ 5 A \
* \
:
-
-


l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
-===== ------------------- ********
CONTENTS
BEWARE THE SEA SPIRITs!
TEST RUN
FIRST ADVENTURE UNDER WATER
MAN OVERBOARD !
BOBO TURNS HERO!
BENJY GETs A PROPOSITION
ADRIFT AND LOST
OLD JAKE's WARNING
A SUBMERGED MYSTERY!
MAROONED!
Black Panther SIGNS ON A NEW HAND
SUNKEN TREASURE!
THE JINx Dissolves
LURE OF SILENT-WORLD ADVENTURE!
12
19
27
34
43
49
58
64
72
78
86
93
99




1
BEWARE THE SEA SPIRITS!
Benjy Crandell bounded out the double doorway
of the red-brick schoolhouse. With a grin and a loud
“Wow-eeee!" he tossed his skipper cap high in the
air, catching it on his head at a jaunty angle. School
was over for another year in the town of Indian
Village on the northern tip of Lake Michigan.
Benjy's friend and classmate, Suzanne Bentley,
wasn't far behind him, following him as always with
adoring eyes. Suzanne was pert and pretty in full
pleated skirt and blue sweater. Her thick pony-tail
hairdo was tied with blue-and-gold school colors in a
narrow velvet ribbon. When she caught up with
Benjy at the end of the school's broad cement en-
trance, she pushed him to one side, teasing him with
a bright smile.
“Anybody would think you were the only kid in
the whole building who was glad to get out of school.
I suppose it's that boat of yours as usual!" she said.
“You bet! This is going to be the best summer
vacation I've ever had!" Benjy answered with a
7


8 Haunt of High Island
broad grin that made small wrinkles around his
eyes.
Suzanne pouted, and there was a tinge of jealousy
in her voice as she said, “There's other things in a
summer vacation besides a boat!"
“Not for me, there isn't, but I'll be seeing you
around," he answered in a lofty tone as he turned
and sprinted for home.
It was too early in the resort season for many cus-
tomers, so Benjy's mother had locked the front door
of her gift shop for the noon hour. She and Granny
were eating a leisurely lunch when he burst in the
door of their living quarters at the rear of the shop.
“I passed, Mom. Here's my card. Wow! Next year
I'll be in the ninth grade."
“How can I forget, Benjy — the way you're grow-
ing! Honest, the way you're shooting up frightens
me. You'll be grown up before you know it. Already
I'm beginning to feel as old as Whistler's Mother."
“Oh, Mom, you're not really old. You haven't any
gray hair yet," Benjy said, attacking his bowl of thick
homemade vegetable soup. After two bowls full
plus a generous piece of Granny's spiced apple pie
and a tall glass of milk, downed with the speed of a
sprinter coming into the homestretch, Benjy pushed
his chair back from the table. “Well, I gotta get down
to the lake and get to work," he said, opening the
screen door.
“I suppose you have to get the Black Panther
ready for summer tourists. But don't forget, Benjy,
there are other things in life besides boats," his
mother said a bit wistfully as though she begrudged
all the time he spent with his beloved Black Panther.


10 Haunt of High Island
_
I 1-\-t
when you're young, son. Now I suppose you and
Bobo will have a whale of a time looking for adven-
ture in out-of-the-way coves and rivers," he chuckled.
“Hey, I forgot to tell you." Benjy fumbled deep
in his jacket pocket. “I got a letter from Bobo, yes-
terday. He'll be here next week."
“I hope you two boys will be friends this summer,"
Old Jake spoke seriously. “When I think how you
young-uns were at each other last summer, it's a
wonder to me you both got through it without
cracked skulls!"
Benjy laughed. “That was before we really knew
each other. Here, I'll read you what he says about
bringing up a couple of sets of swimming fins, face
masks and snorkels so we can go skin-diving this sum-
mer."
Old Jake scowled. “You mean you two young-uns
are going to go poking around the bottom of this
lake here? You wouldn't catch me down there for a
million pounds of good old Lake Michigan trout!"
Benjy grinned. “You cou1dn't go down if you
wanted to. You'd have to learn to swim first."
“I don't aim to! Lake water is for washing your
face and hands. You'll never catch me getting wet all
over in no lake, less'n a rain squall soaks me up
before I can get under cover."
“Weren't you scared, Mr. Jake, when you were out
on the lakes in all those storms you've told me about
and you didn't know how to swim?" Benjy asked.
“Sure I was ascairt! I'm more ascairt of falling in
the lake than anything. Nearly got swept overboard
in lots of storms too, but I always managed to grab
_.__


Test Run 13
Seconds later Old Jake stuck his head out through
a broken windowpane. “Be right with ya, Benjy!”
Old Jake followed his promise in less than a min-
ute, wiping his greasy hands on an oil-blackened
chunk of cotton wadding. He stomped to the wharf's
edge and peered intently into the open cabin of the
Black Panther. “I see ya got her set all by your-
self,” he said, motioning with a grimy thumb toward
the new compass.
“I sure did, Mr. Jake.” Benjy stretched a leadline
from steering post down amidships to demonstrate.
“See, a line joining the pivot and lubberline are par-
allel to the keel – just like you said.”
Old Jake squinted down at the job. “That's right,
Benjy. Now we gotta figure the deviation and cor-
rect it.”
“Deviation?” Benjy answered with a puzzled frown.
“Yup! Any magnetic stuff like iron or steel any-
where on the boat can throw your compass readings
off a country mile. Without a true compass reading
it's mighty easy to pile a boat up on the rocks in good
weather and easier in stormy weather.”
Old Jake turned toward his workshop. “Wait here
a minute, Benjy. I'll be right back.”
Benjy whistled impatiently as he waited, wonder.
ing what Old Jake had on his mind. The promised
minute became five, then ten, then fifteen. He could
see his friend rummaging around as though search-
ing for something, and he wasn't surprised when the
old sailor finally emerged with an armful of soiled
dog-eared papers.
Old Jake jumped down into the cabin of the Black
Panther and carefully unfolded outsize dingy square


16 Haunt of High Island
important some little things can be." Old Jake
rubbed his chin reflectively. “Brings to mind a story
about a new doctor in Indian Village. 'Course, that
was many years ago — long afore your time. This
Doctor Heathen, or some such name, got himself a
boat to visit sick folks on the islands. He didn't know
nothin' about checking out a compass and when a
sick-call came in he took off on a stormy afternoon. He
wound up on the rocks at Hog Island, twenty miles
from the sick woman. The woman died afore he ever
got to her and he lost his boat to boot. Almost lost
his life, too! Just shows ya, son, you can't be too care-
ful 'bout little things!" Old Jake pounded his
clenched fist against the steering wheel in emphasis.
“And another thing ya gotta remember, Benjy, is
that the compass needle points to the magnetic pole.
There's a whale of a difference between the magnetic
pole and the geographic pole. Courses and bearings
taken in relation to the geographic pole are called
true. Courses and bearings taken in relation to the
magnetic pole are called magnetic. This here com-
pass always shows magnetic direction."
Benjy smiled wryly. “You sound exactly like
Power Squadron class. Commander Morris explained
to us how meridians and parallels of latitude, like the
ones on our world globe at school, indicate true di-
rections. Variation is the angular difference between
the true and magnetic poles at any given point. He
said it was very important to know all that stuff if
we planned to sail beyond the sight of landmarks
ashore."
“I guess that's okay if ya know what it means, Ben-
jy," Old Jake said with a look of doubt on his face.
I ' '-E


FIRST ADVENTURE UNDER WATER
The summer days passed swiftly. Benjy and Old
Jake made a half-dozen test runs with the Black
Panther and Benjy worked out a deviation chart for
his boat. Days in the sun and wind had already tanned
him to a light bronze shade and given him the ap-
petite of a Northwoods' lumberjack. At night he
slept like a bear during winter.
With such deep slumber, it wasn't surprising that
he didn't hear the shower of small stones that his
summer friend, Bobo Werthmann, tossed against his
window screen early one June morning. Bobo tried
again and again to waken Benjy, hurling pebbles and
whistling softly, until he finally gave up in disgust
and sat down on the porch step to wait.
Bobo hadn't long to wait. In no time he heard
kitchen sounds and the click of a key in the door as
Benjy's Granny walked out in the warm morning
air to look over her garden before breakfast. Granny
was startled when she saw Bobo impatiently pulling
up blades of grass from the lawn beside the step. She

19


22 Haunt of High Island
air-
robe, rushed into the room. “Well!" she explained,
“I thought we were struck by a tornado!" Then she
smiled at Bobo. “We're glad to see you. Did you
have a nice winter?"
“You bet! I learned to skin-dive in my Christmas
vacation while we were in Miami. I'm going to teach
Benjy, Mrs. Crandell," Bobo answered with a grin.
“Here's my swim trunks. What are we waiting for?"
Benjy said as he grabbed his satiny briefs from a
closet hook.
“You're both waiting for breakfast, that's what,"
Benjy's mother said as she turned to go. “Simmer
down and I'll fix toast and eggs."
“Oh, Mom! You're the worst! If we eat breakfast
we can't go into the water for at least an hour or
we'll get cramps and maybe drown!"
“Benjy, everybody needs a good breakfast — most
of all two growing lads. An. hour isn't so long to
wait," Benjy's mother said as she started toward the
kitchen.
Benjy looked at Bobo with a resigned air. “She
means it, Bobo. We might as well give in. Mom's
always lecturing me on this good breakfast deal."
Seated in the breakfast nook a few minutes later,
Bobo explained that the Werthmann family had ar-
rived late the night before, to spend the summer at
their cottage on Bankers Bluff in the village. Excited
about showing Benjy the skin-diving equipment, he
had sneaked out of his own room before dawn, eager
for Benjy to try out the paraphernalia his father had
purchased for them.
“It was most kind of your father to think of Benjy,
but is it safe for you two youngsters to go down un-


First Adventure Under Water 23
**-* * ******* ****** * *****
der water without some older person with you?” Ben-
jy's mother asked, a worried look in her dark eyes.
“Oh, sure, Mrs. Crandell. I had instructions from
a professional skin-diver. I can teach Benjy. It's
easy!” Bobo spoke with confidence. -
Benjy's mother frowned. “I still don't like it. It
sounds dangerous to me. It's risky enough on the
surface without going down to the bottom of the
lakel Can't you wait until some other day later in
summer? The water will be warmer then,” she said,
hopeful of postponing her immediate anxiety.
“The day doesn't matter, Mrs. Crandell. It's only
the surface water that gets warm in the sun. Ten or
twenty feet down below the surface the temperature
stays cool in spite of the hot sun. So you don't need
to worry about us staying down too long,” Bobo ex-
plained. “We can't stay down long until we get some
regulation diving suits and tripleknit G.I. under-
wear to keep us warm in the cold water.”
Benjy's mother looked dubiously at the equipment
Bobo had brought. “I don't see anything that looks
like a diving suit in that pile of stuff.”
“No. My Dad said we could maybe have the suits
later in summer after we learn to use the masks and
fins and snorkels. A good suit costs about eighty
bucks, so he won't spring for that until he feels sure
we're going to be careful in using them.”
“I wish your father would postpone the suit pur-
chase forever. It's enough to give me chills to think
of Benjy down at the bottom of the lake for five min-
utes!” Mrs. Crandell sighed. “But I realize skin-div-
ing is the popular sport now, so I suppose you two
boys won't be satisfied until you try it a few times.”


24 Haunt of High Island
Breakfast over, Benjy and Bobo waited impatiently
on the Crandell lawn for the required hour to pass
following their early meal. Stripped to swimming
trunks, they tried the rubber fins on their feet and
adjusted face masks and snorkels. Bobo showed Ben-
jy how to spit on the glass window of the mask and
smear the saliva around evenly so the mask wouldn't
steam with body heat when they submerged in the
cold water of the big lake. They both tried breath-
ing through their snorkels and grinned with glee.
The long hour ended, and Benjy and Bobo took
off for the beach and the pier that reached out into
Lake Michigan and formed one side of the channel
leading outward from Harbor Lake. Sitting on the
pier, minutes later, they continued to grin with de-
light as they put on fins, masks and breathing appa-
ratus.
“We'll drop off the ladder out by the little kids'
diving board first. The water can't be over five feet
deep there," Bobo said, keeping in mind Mrs. Cran-
dell's last warnings. “Then we'll swim out to the
end of the pier for practice with the snorkels."
Benjy nodded agreement. He knew Bobo had been
under water with diving equipment and he relied on
his friend for instructions. Of course, Benjy had been
swimming and diving for three summers, but this
promised to be quite different from a quick high dive
and quick return to the surface. This kind of diving
was actually swimming around under water. Benjy
knew the lakes were safe enough once he learned to
use the equipment. There were no man-eating sharks
in Lake Michigan. Still, there were lamphrey eels
and sometimes they fastened themselves on the bodies


-------- --------------------------
MAN OVERBOARD !
It was a bright, warm Saturday for the month of
June in the Northland. As Benjy came out of the
house he looked up at the sky and smiled. Lost in
his own plans for the day, he was startled when a
girl's voice broke the spell. “And just what are you
grinning up at the sky for, Benjy? Looking for a
satellite?” asked Suzanne Bentley, only daughter of
widower Reverend Bentley of Indian Village Com-
munity Church.
“Well, no, not exactly. I guess I was looking in the
wrong direction. I was thinking about all the sunken
treasures out there,” Benjy replied, his eyes twin-
kling as he pointed toward Lake Michigan.
“I’ve heard about you and Bobo taking up skin-
diving and it sounds terribly exciting. Wish I could
do it too — you know how I love to swim. But I guess
it's too dangerous to try skin-diving alone.” Suzanne's
tone was both wistful and an invitation to an invita-
tion.
“I planned to go out in the Black Panther this after-

27


*-* -- - --------> -----------> ***
Man Overboard! 31
friends saw him drop below the surface of the lake,
and they anxiously watched the spot where the air
bubbles rose.
Finally Benjy's head broke through the waves once
more. But Benjy seemed to be having trouble. It
seemed hard for him to hang on to the body of the
unconscious man. He was young and strong and he
had done it the first time without too much effort,
but now he was tired and even a strong boy's endur-
ance was challenged. Those on the boat could see the
strain on Benjy's face.
“I’m going in! Maybe I can help!” Suzanne said,
and before anyone could stop her she was over the
side and into the water. Suzanne was a good swimmer
and with a dozen quick strokes she reached Benjy's
side.
Benjy gave her a grateful look as she took a firm
hold on the victim's shoulder. Together they towed
him to the Black Panther. Again Old Jake and Rever-
end Bentley came to the rescue and hoisted and
pulled the inert body on the deck of the boat.
“Why, it's just a young boy,” Benjy's mother said
with tears in her eyes as they propped the body beside
the first victim.
Old Jake took command then. “You, Benjy, start
the enjin! Mr. Bentley and I will do what we can
for the two!”
While Benjy drove the Black Panther at breakneck
speed back toward Indian Village, Old Jake and
Reverend Bentley worked over the survivors, prac-
ticing all they knew about artificial respiration. The
older man was breathing, although he was still un-
conscious from Benjy's knock-out blow. The younger


32 Haunt of High Island
was slow in responding, but before the boat reached
home port they began to detect signs of life.
When the Black Panther had been firmly secured
at her home moorings and the accident victims de-
livered to the hospital, the picnic party waited at
Old Jake's for several hours until news came from
the hospital.
“Thank Heaven, they're alive!" Benjy's mother
said fervently. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked
at her son. “Thanks to you, Benjy."
“Ya did a good job," Old Jake said with approval,
“but nobody should have to risk his life to save such
tom-fools! Folks wouldn't go in a jungle full of
cobras, less'n they had on snake-proof boots, but
landlubbers will go out on the lakes in a lightweight
twelve-foot boat with a heavy thirty-five horsepower
motor. They step on the gas and next thing ya know
the boat flipflops and spills 'em in the water. They
can't swim and they ain't got sense enough to put
on life-jackets afore they start out." Old _]ake shook
his head in disgust. “Serves 'em right if they get in
trouble!"
“Well, Benjy and Suzanne did their best and I am
proud of them," said Reverend Bentley with great
feeling.
“Now I guess we'd better take a cruise out on the
south arm," Old Jake said, “and see if we can salvage
that boat that's floating around upside down out
there! I reckon the enjin fell off and is in Davy
]ones's locker, but we'll get the boat." Then Old Jake
loosened the mooring lines from the dock while
Benjy eased the Black Panther out to sea.
As they pulled away from the dock, Benjy whis-
2'5


* * - - - *-* -- *-
Man Overboard! 33
pered to Suzanne, “Don’t say anything to the others,
but I'm going after the engine on Monday. It will
be easy with Bobo to help.”
Benjy spoke confidently. Little did he know that
salvaging a heavy outboard motor from the bottom
of the lake was a lot more difficult than picking up
a few fishing lures around a Lake Michigan pier. He
was in for trouble – big trouble!


BOBO TURNS HERO!
On Sunday Benjy could hardly keep his mind on
Reverend Bentley's sermon. He was thinking about
how he would tell Bobo about the accident and the
rescue. That evening when Bobo had arrived back
at the village, the two of them sprawled out on the
engine box of the Black Panther which was moored
to Old Jake's wharf. Even though the old sailor was
nowhere in sight the two boys were talking in low
tones, fearful of being overheard.
“That perfectly good motor is still down there on
the bottom of the lake. If we could get it up, we
could use it!” Benjy said in suppressed excitement.
“Do you think you could find it?” Bobo asked with
an enthusiasm that equaled Benjy's.
“I didn't have a buoy or anything to mark the
exact spot, but I did take a kind of quick sight-bear-
ing on a tree close to shore. The motor must have
gone straight down. It's too heavy to drift with the
current,” Benjy said with an air of self-confidence.
“Okay then. Let's take off while Old Jake is work-

34


Bobo Turns Hero! 35
=====< * *******-* *****-*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
ing over at the Blue Horizon Boat Basin tomorrow.
My father told me the Club had hired him to do
some repair work. That should keep him out of our
hair for at least a week. It'll give us plenty of time
to raise the motor. The superstitious old goat will
never know we're looking for it!”
In spite of the fact that Benjy didn't like to have
Bobo speak unkindly about Old Jake, he agreed to
Bobo's proposition. “It's a deal! See you tomorrow,”
Benjy said as they jumped up on the dock and started
off for their homes.
Early the following morning Benjy and Bobo met
at the dockside as soon as they saw Old Jake leave for
work on the opposite side of the lake. Bobo checked
their gear while Benjy warmed up the engine of the
Black Panther in preparation for the day's activi-
ties. As they cast off and headed out toward the
south arm of the inland lake, Bobo snickered aloud.
“Guess we put one over on Old Jake this time. No
matter what he says about sea spirits, we'll get the
motor and he can't yap at us if we already have
it!”
A slight frown creased Benjy's forehead. He didn't
like the way Bobo seemed to be always making fun
of Old Jake. Loyalty was strong in Benjy's heart. If
it hadn't been for Old Jake he wouldn't even own the
Black Panther. He remembered the past summer
when his old friend had advised him and helped him
get his boat in shape. He could never forget that.
A half hour later Benjy brought the Black Pan-
ther to a full stop in what he thought was the same
spot where he had rescued the accident victims the


36
QITU:=
E=
TE:
-*T-
“‘It’s a deal! See you tomorrow, Benjy said,” p. 35.
day before. He shut off the engine while Bobo
dropped anchor to keep the boat from drifting across
the lake in the brisk breeze blowing offshore. In
seconds they were struggling with their diving gear.
“Hey! You haven't got your mouthpiece in right!”


Bobo Turns Hero! 39
*-**-** ******-* --- *-*.*.*.*.*
more for the lost motor. There was plenty of debris
mingled with rocks, weeds and patches of clay and
sand bottom. They found an old water-logged row-
boat and shook it for the fun of watching a pair of
rock bass hiding underneath dart quickly away
from their outstretched hands. They turned over a
few old boards and logs but nowhere could they find
a trace of the motor they were searching for. As
they swam back to the Black Panther and pulled
themselves wearily aboard, they began to realize that
looking for treasure on the bottom of the lakes
wasn't as easy as they had first thought. However,
as Benjy stepped on the starter and headed the
Black Panther homeward he agreed with Bobo to
try it again after they had their air tanks refilled
on the following day.
Benjy and Bobo continued to search for the lost
motor throughout the week. They swam over acres
of lake bottom and had given up hope of finding
it when suddenly Benjy touched Bobo's arm and
pointed ahead. They had swum over the same spot
dozens of times without seeing it close beside a black
rock. It was a perfect although accidental job of
camouflage. Unless seen at exactly the right angle
it wasn't distinguishable from the rock itself.
Now began the most difficult chore of all for
Benjy and Bobo. Together they tried to lift the
heavy motor, but it was stuck tight in clay that
seemed to have no bottom. The motor couldn’t be
budged. With all the strength of their young wills,
they lifted and tugged until they finally raised it a
few inches. Now the natural buoyancy of the water
gave them some assistance, and with determination


Bobo Turns Hero! 41
Bobo grasped the rung of the ladder with confi-
dence and pulled with all his might. As the motor
broke the surface, no longer buoyed by the waters
of the lake, it regained all of its original one hun-
dred and forty-odd pounds of weight. Bobo held
on until his knuckles whitened but it was no use. He
couldn't hold the motor! In the wink of an eye
it slipped from his grip and fell crashing into Benjy
below.
Bobo gasped in fear! Peering into the water he
could see Benjy's clenched hands as he held fast to the
ladder, and then he saw a red stream spurting from
Benjy's arm.
In a split second Bobo was overboard. By frenzied
strength he managed to keep Benjy upright to help
him up the ladder. But the air tanks, which had
shifted in the web harness on their backs, impeded
their progress.
Without a second's hesitation Bobo reached for
the emergency knife in the holder strapped to his
waist, and with bold strokes he slashed the straps
which held their new air tanks to their shoulders.
With a crash that sent the water spewing in all direc-
tions the air tanks followed the motor to Davy Jones's
locker. Seconds later they could see the partially
filled cylinders floating just below the surface as the
current took them farther and farther away from the
Black Panther. But Bobo had no time for regrets
as he hauled and pulled Benjy up the ladder and into
the boat.
Benjy was frightened but conscious as Bobo
grabbed a soiled wet bath towel drying on the deck.
He wound it around Benjy's arm in a tight tourni-


42 Haunt of High Island
quet to stop the flow of blood. “Now, Benjy, it's my
turn to rescue you!" he said as he started the engine
and headed the Black Panther homeward. “We'll
come back and get the air tanks later! We'll get the
motor too! We aren't skunked yet!"
“Yeah," Benjy said weakly, wondering what his
mother would say about his arm. He was afraid
that she would start worrying all over again about
his activities on the lakes. He loved his mother.
He didn't like to see her worrying. But he loved
the lakes too. If only he could hide his arm injury
from her, but he knew he couldn't. She would have
to know.
What Benjy and Bobo didn't know was that it
would be a long time before they would get the lost
motor or the air tanks, and many things would hap-
pen to keep them occupied in the meantime.


46 Haunt of High Island
Jake's wharf. The stranger got briskly out of the long,
low-slung foreign import. He stopped at the work-
shop door and said to Old Jake in a commanding tone
of voice, “I’m looking for a boy who does skin-div-
ing.”
“I suppose ya mean Benjy. He's right over thar.”
Old Jake flipped his thumb in the general direction
of the Black Panther. “’Course, he ain’t doin' no
skin-diving now. Lost his gear in a accident more'n
a week ago. He's just taking fishermen out in his boat
from now on.”
“I’ve a little job I want done. You just point out
the boy; I'll take care of the gear!”
Old Jake grunted. It was plain he had no time
for meddling landlubbers with a yen for underwater
exploration. He turned his back on the stranger and
went about his own work with an air of finality that
discouraged further conversation.
The stranger walked over toward the Black Pan-
ther. Looking down into the open cabin he spoke
affably, “My name is Kent Swope. Are you the boy
who does the skin-diving?”
“I was, a couple of weeks ago. Now, I'm not so
sure,” Benjy answered politely as he pointed to his
bandaged arm.
“I see you have a bad arm. Will you be laid up
long?”
“No, I guess not. The doctor says another week –
maybe two. Then I'll be down fighting fishes again,”
Benjy replied.
Kent Swope jumped down into the cabin of the
Black Panther. “That's fine. Just fine. You seem


Benjy Gets a Proposition 47
to be the kind of a lad I'm looking for. Mind if I
come aboard and talk business?"
For some reason Benjy felt uneasy in Kent Swope's
presence. Swope had a way of flashing his right hand
as though to show off the big diamond-set ring on his
finger. The mannerism irritated Benjy but he re-
mained polite. After all, Kent Swope was a prospec-
tive customer for the Black Panther.
An hour later, Old Jake, looking out his workshop
window, glowered as he saw the stranger still talking
to Benjy. He laid down his tools and walked out the
door and across the wharf to the Black Panther, just
as the stranger glanced down at his watch and vaulted
up on the dock. “It's a deal, Benjy! See you next
week!"
The stranger spoke hurriedly as though he feared
the old sailor's interference. “And a good day to you,
sir," he said pleasantly as he rushed past the unsmil-
ing old man and strode swiftly to his car and drove off.
Old Jake's bushy eyebrows came together in a
scowl. “N ow what kind of a deal are you up to, Ben-
jy? I don't like the looks of that man. I don't like
his looks at all." Old Jake's voice was harsh.
“He didn't look so bad, Mr. Jake," Benjy said in a
pacifying tone. “Besides, he has a good deal for me.
He knows where there is some valuable stuff in a
wreck not more than thirty feet under water. He'll
pay me well, more than I'll ever make fishing. And
the stuff really belongs to him. He says so."
“I don't like it! The man's too — too flashy to be
true and he can't look ya straight in the eye, either."
“But, Mr. Jake," Benjy protested, “if I'm ever


48 Haunt of High Island
going to earn enough money for college I can't afford
to turn down a good offer with extra profits."
“Maybe you can't and then agin maybe you can!
Where is this gold mine anyway?"
“Mr. Swope says it's just off Rock Point at High
Island!" Benjy answered as he pointed out the loca-
tion on a chart Mr. Swope had marked for him.
“Benjy, you can't go to High Island! Hear me?
I'm going to tell your mother you can't go. I don't
care if that big-chested ape gives ya the whole blasted
mine. You can't go!" Old Jake shook Benjy's shoul-
ders in emphasis. “Don't get me riled up! I don't
want to hear no more about High Island!"
.4-
I
I
11"


---------. ---------> -->~~~~~ **--------->
7
ADRIFT AND LOST!
Benjy was helping his mother unpack a new ship-
ment of figurines for the gift shop one afternoon
when he turned to her and asked, “Hey, Mom! How
about another picnic on the boat on the Fourth of
July? We could invite Suzanne and her father, and
Bobo — Mr. Jake, too.”
“Sounds like a swell idea, son. That is, if it's a
good day. If it's real warm Granny might enjoy it
too. Did you plan to go anywhere in particular?”
“Well I kinda thought it would be nice to take a
longer cruise, now that I have my new compass. How
about High Island? That's not too far, is it?” he
asked hopefully.
“The evenings are lovely now that the sun doesn't
set until late. I think it would be fine as long as we
get home before dark. I don't relish being out on
Lake Michigan at night.”
Benjy was pleased that his mother consented. He
wished Old Jake wouldn't be so superstitious about
High Island. If only he could persuade his old friend

49


50 Haunt of High Island
to join their picnic party. He was sure he could
convince him there was nothing to be afraid of on
High Island. But he decided to play safe and not in-
vite him until the fourth. That would keep him from
scolding two days ahead of time.
The morning of the fourth was bright and warm
with clear skies. After the picnic party had met at
the dockside where the Black Panther was moored,
Benjy went up to the workshop to fetch his friend,
but Old Jake wasn't there. Benjy looked around. As
he reached to pet Biffer, who was dozing in a patch of
sunshine that shone through the window pane, he
noticed a scribbled note on the homemade table. He
read the words: Can't go with ya. Got to fix a enjin
for a resorter. Benjy thought it strange that Old Jake
had agreed to work on a holiday, and as he returned
to his friends, he wondered if Old Jake was only try-
ing to find an excuse for not going to High Island.
The picnic party aboard the Black Panther was
gay as Benjy took the boat out through the slow zone
in the channel into the open waters of Lake Mich-
igan. Suzanne had brought her new diving gear be-
cause she knew Benjy kept his outfit on board, safely
locked in the head under the foredeck of the boat.
She offered Bobo the use of her rig when she realized
that he had lost his air tanks in rescuing Benjy the
week before. “I don't guess you two want a girl tag-
ging along under water anyway,” she said with a
smile. “I’ll practice some other time by myself.”
“Thanks a lot, Suzy,” Bobo said, “but we won't be
going down today. There won't be time if we want to
get to High Island and back before dark. My father


52 Haunt of High Island
“I don't know. I just don't know!” he said in be-
wilderment.
He picked up a yardstick close by and stuck the end
down deep into the intake opening of the gasoline
tank. Then he exchanged a sober look with Bobo.
“We had enough gas to get to High Island and back.
But now, I don't know!” He chewed worriedy on his
lower lip. “We’re lost!! There's no land in sight!
There's nothing to get our bearings by!”
Reverend Bentley spoke cheerily in spite of his
concern, in an effort to keep the picnic party from
quick panic. “If you checked your compass and you
know it's okay, then something must have happened
since you last checked. Think hard, Benjy,” he said
gently. “Have you added anything to the boat that
could have changed your compass reading?”
Benjy looked around his boat. “No, I'm sure I
haven't,” he said with sober eyes as he looked anxious-
ly at his mother, knowing her fear of both boats and
lakes. He smiled at her reassuringly as he straight-
ened his shoulders manfully. “We'll have to send up
some flares. Some other boat will see them and report
our position to the Coast Guard,” he said and patted
her arm confidently.
Time passed as slowly as the toll of a funeral bell,
and the worried occupants of the Black Panther felt
as cheerless as a funeral party as they scanned the
horizon for evidence that someone, pleasure cruising
like themselves, had seen their distress signals. Benjy
didn't mention to his mother, who was nervously
biting at her fingernails, that the flares might not be
seen in the light of the mid-afternoon sun. He did
mention that in case the signals weren't seen, that


Adrift and Lost! 53
he had three flares left which he would fire after sun-
down.
Benjy had shut off the ignition switch of the Black
Panther's engine, for he knew he needed to conserve
gasoline. They might still have to try to find land by
themselves if nobody came to their rescue. As the
Black Panther lost the momentum of forward motion
and began to drift back and forth at the whim of wind
and swells, Benjy's mother began to get seasick. Her
misery added to the worry and concern of the once
gay party.
Except for Benjy's mother, whose face was drawn
and gray from the sickening roll of the boat, everyone
began to feel hungry as the afternoon wore on. Rev-
erend Bentley tried a few half-hearted notes on his
harmonica, but no one had any enthusiasm for music
and he soon stowed it back in his pocket as he heaved
an audible sigh.
“We’ve hung around here long enough! I'm sure
the mainland is off there somewhere,” Benjy said,
pointing in an easterly direction. “If we turn away
from the sun, we might see some landmark we can
recognize, soon,” he said flipping the ignition switch.
The engine of the Black Panther purred steadily
as six pairs of eyes scanned the horizon anxiously for
a sight of land. The wind had begun to blow harder
and dark clouds were forming swiftly in the western
sky. “A storm is all we need to make things just jim-
dandy!” Bobo said with set lips.
An hour later the picnic party could see hazy out-
lines of land greenery looming against the gray skies
far ahead. Minutes later, with the Black Panther
at full speed, they could discern what seemed to be


54 Haunt of High Island
“An hour later the picnic party could see hazy outlines
of land greenery looming against the gray skies far
ahead,” p. 53.
miles of gray rocks with a thin ribbon of sandy beach
separating the rocks from the backdrop of green hills,
but nowhere was there any sign of human habitation.
“I don't care if I have to spend the night on the
beach in a thunder storm. I'll feel safer there than
on this little boat!” Benjy's mother said, anguish in
her eyes.
“If you want to go ashore here, you'll have to swim
for it! I can’t beach the boat with all those rocks
piled up every which way!” Benjy said as he searched
out the shoreline with the big old-fashioned binoc-
ulars which his friend, Old Jake, had given him.
“Our best bet now is to drop anchor and stay right
here until the storm blows over!”
As the sun became a fiery circle of flame in the
racing mountains of gray clouds, early twilight be-
gan to settle over the water and Benjy, in grim des-
peration, got his last remaining flares ready. “It's
dark enough now for somebody to see our signals!"


56 Haunt of High Island
the small speck which was the Black Panther wasn't
visible against the vast expanse of undulating swells.
It was with shouts of happy relief that the party
answered the “Ahoy!" from the Coast Guard cutter.
In seconds the cutter was alongside and a seaman
jumped aboard the Black Panther with a towline
which he quickly made fast to its bow. “What hap-
pened? Run out of gas?" he asked the group who
were watching him with smiling faces.
“Our compass is off. We're lost. Didn't know
which way to go to get home," Benjy said in explana-
tron.
“Old _]ake Ward told us to look for you a couple
of hours ago. Said something must have gone wrong
— you were so long overdue," the sailor answered as
he looked the compass over with careful scrutiny.
From the compass his glance followed the beam of
his flashlight about the small cabin. As its rays
touched the seat opposite the pilot's bench, his hands
pounced on a small object lying close beside Rev-
erend Bentley's camera. “Here's your culprit, young
man. Exposure meters have strong magnets. That's
what makes 'em tick. That's the gimmick that threw
you off-course."
Towed homeward by the Coast Guard cutter, the
Black Panther made good time. Soon Benjy hopped
out to make fast the boat to its home moorings at Old
Jake's wharf. Benjy's mother, still weak from her
seasickness, was greatly relieved and spoke with grati-
tude. “Well, we're home! I thought we'd never make
it. Something seems bound to happen to the Cran-
dells on the lakes. Something will happen to Benjy,
too," she said grimly. “I feel it in my bones!"
TH


60 Haunt of High Island
'-
q
“Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Swope said with
his most ingratiating smile. “That treasure you're
speaking of is real! My own grandfather was skip-
pering the Tekakwitha (Te-gah-kweet-ha) when she
ran aground and sunk. He lost his life, but some
very valuable family possessions were lost too. If I
can raise the strongbox that went down with that
schooner, I'll be set for the rest of my life. I can
afford to pay you well, you know."
Old Jake eyed Kent Swope coldly. “I'm an old
man. My days are numbered, but I'm still eating
three squares a day and your strongbox don't hold
enough money to get me out there in the middle
of nowhere, riskin' my old bones so you can live
high on the hog!"
Kent Swope tried a new tack. He spoke with deep
feeling. “Well, if you don't want money for yourself,
how about your young friend here?" Swope asked as
he laid his hand on Benjy's shoulder in a paternal
gesture. “Benjy isn't afraid to tackle the job, and at
his age he can use that kind of money for his educa-
tion and such."
“Maybe you want the box bad, but I notice ya
ain't riskin your own neck," old Jake growled. “If
Benjy wants to risk his'n I won't say nothin' more
agin it. I suppose Benjy has gotta do things on his
own and get his own experience. Kids never listen
to old folks anyhow. But ya understand, I ain't
havin' no part of it for myself and if Benjy's smart
he'll leave it be too!" He turned aside with set lips.
Kent Swope followed Benjy back to the Black
Panther. He flailed his arms wildly as words fairly


Old Jake's Warning 61
leaped from his lips in his frantic efforts to under-
mine the effect of Old Jake's pronouncement.
Benjy was polite, but it was apparent that Old
Jake's fears were beginning to have some effect on
him. “I'd like to do it, Mr. Swope, but I can't do
it alone. Without Mr. Jake's help, I don't see how
I'd manage, unless Bobo would go along. You see,
it wouldn't be safe for you and me. You don't know
how to run a boat, or skin-dive either, and that would
sure give that High Island jinx – the one Mr. Jake
is always talking about — a good chance to foul up
the detail!”
“Well, then, let's get this Bobo. Where do we find
him?”
“Stick around, sir. He'll probably show up soon.
But even if he will help, I can't cancel all my boat
bookings. I'm in business, you know, and when
you're in business you take care of your customers if
you want to stay in business. It will be at least two
weeks before I'll have any free time.”
Kent Swope looked glum as he answered, “Two
weeks! I hadn't counted on a delay.”
“Why don't you see a professional diver, if you're
in such a hurry?”
“I guess I can wait, Benjy. Just don't take any
more bookings, kid. And to tell you the truth, I don't
trust professionals, that's why. That strongbox be-
longs to me and I don't aim to give any professional
diver high pirate rates to get it for me. I don't know
exactly how much the loot is worth but some of those
old coins should be worth double or even triple their
original value. I'll pay you ten percent, kid, and you


62 Haunt of High Island
take your chances, too, but I'd still say your cut would
be more dough than you've ever seen!”
Kent Swope haunted the Black Panther's docking
space for the full two weeks that Benjy was busy with
his boating parties. He grumbled at the delay and
took it upon himself to discourage any and all in-
quiries about future appointments for Benjy's boat.
“The Black Panther is booked solid till Labor Day,”
he told everyone as he perched most of the day on the
narrow ledge of a pair of upright pilings. Impatient
and restless, he begrudged the time Benjy spent with
his fishing parties and was always on hand to greet
Benjy with enthusiastic accounts of the treasures he
knew were at the bottom of the Great Lakes just wait-
ing for an adventurous boy like Benjy.
Swope and Bobo soon became cronies. Plotting like
a couple of rebel conspirators they studied charts of
shoals and current drifts around the rocky island
where the Tekakwitha lay buried in a century of shift-
ing sands. Bobo was far more excited than Benjy at
the prospect of the search. Like Kent Swope, he too
was impatient for the day of the treasure hunt.
“Wait till we find the Tekakwitha! And after that,
Benjy and I will probably find a lot more sunken
ships. Oh, boy!” Bobo said with a gleam in his eye.
But Old Jake was cautious and irritating with his
glum warnings. “Yup!ya may find more trouble than
ya bargained for, too! I think Benjy would be ahead
to stick to his fishin'! You wait and see! Time will
bear me out!” he said with an ominous scowl.
Later, alone in the workshop after Kent Swope and
Bobo had gone their separate ways for the night, Old


9
A SUBMERGED MYSTERY!
At last the day arrived when Benjy made his final
fishing trip, and he was free to take off on a search
for the strongbox aboard the schooner Tekakwitha
which was thought to be lying in deep and treacher-
ous water off High Island in Lake Michigan.
Benjy and Bobo met Kent Swope at the dock where
the Black Panther lay moored. Each boy carried a
sack filled with thick hearty sandwiches and a thermos
of cool milk. This lunch would have to do them for
the entire day. The trip to the island was almost a
four-hour run in itself so there would be only a few
hours in the middle of the day for actual treasure
hunting.
After checking their skin-diving gear and filling
the gasoline tank on the Black Panther, they cruised
down the channel and out into Lake Michigan. Benjy
and Bobo chattered as fast as a cage full of monkeys,
but Kent Swope was silent. His eyes had a scheming
look, as though in his imagination he were already

64


-
*::: .
* -
“Adjusting fins and masks and air cylinders, they slipped
quickly down the rope anchor-line into deep water,” p. 65


69
’IIIII
IIFIII’ 1171'!’ I
'12‘: ‘
I1. III
Ilil /II;
" ‘If its money, I'll pay you more than
a hundred fishing parties',” p. 59.
water giant were holding him fast and slowly but
surely pulling him out to sea!
Benjy thought of his mother. He knew she would
die if anything happened to her son. He wished he
were safely home with her right now. He thought of
Old Jake. Maybe his friend was right after all. Maybe
there was an evil spirit at High Island that dragged
ships and men to their doom!
Benjy looked over at Bobo swimming beside him.
Bobo seemed calm and matter-of-fact. He grinned
at Benjy and winked his eye. Bobo's quite evident
lack of fear partially calmed Benjy's fright, but still


70 Haunt of High Island
nil
it wasn't until their two heads bobbed above the sur-
face of the water that Benjy regained full possession of
stunned mind and nerves.
When the two boys grasped the boarding ladder on
the Black Panther they looked upward where Kent
Swope was waiting with all the intentness of an Alad-
din expecting his Genie to appear and make his
wishes come true. After removing the awkward foot
fins Benjy followed Bobo up the ladder.
“Well boys, did you find anything down there?"
Swope eagerly asked.
Benjy removed his mask so he could breath nor-
mally once more and flung himself across the engine
box in complete exhaustion.
It was Bobo who answered Swope. “We saw a lot
of things but we didn't find the Tekakwitha. Maybe
we'd better move the Black Panther to the other side
of the Point before we tackle it again. We'll rest first.
I'm slightly beat too!
“I don't know whether I'll ever go down again!"
Benjy said, rolling over on his side.
“Aw, you just had a bad case of the screamin'
meamies! In hunting they call it Buck Fever when a
hunter freezes and pumps all his shells out without
firing a shot! In the theater they call it Stage Fright
when an actor freezes and can't say his lines! My skin-
diving teacher warned the class about panic in deep
water. It happens to everybody sooner or later, I
guess. You're one up on me, Benjy! I haven't had
mine yet!"
Benjy grinned sheepishly. “So that's what happened
to me! I thought I was dying or something!"
Kent Swope was disappointed and he showed it.
I“"L


A Submerged Mystery! 71
“I thought you'd find the Tekakwitha right away,"
he said in annoyance. “It must be close by, unless the
currents have pulled it into deeper water. Let's try
the other side of the Point."
Bobo checked the pressure gages on the air cylin-
ders. “Well, we have a good half-hour's air supply
left in our tanks. Want to move the Black Panther
Benj?" Bobo asked Benjy, who was still sprawled
full-length on the engine box.
“I'll move the boat, but I'm not so sure about going
down again. I think I've had it for today!"
But Swope quickly said, “They always send a flyer
up immediately after an airplane accident. I'm not
sure, but I think you should go down again right
away. You may lose your nerve forever if you don't!"
The expression on his face plainly showed that he was
more concerned for his submerged treasure than for
Benjy's welfare.
“Right now I don't much care. But let's move the
boat. I'll see then how I feel about it! Maybe I'll get
nerve enough to look for that awful thing I saw swim-
ming around down below!"
“Aw, you didn't really see anything!" Bobo said,
slapping Benjy on the shoulder.
“That's what you think! You wait! I'll show you!"
Benjy answered, his jaw set in a stubborn line as he
turned the ignition switch and stepped on the starter.


Marooned! 73
dare by adjusting his face mask and fastening the web
straps on his air cylinder harness.
“It's a deall Last man in is a Sputnik!” Bobo loved
to argue and he was delighted whenever he got a good
argument started.
In a split second the two boys were over the tran-
som of the Black Panther, slipping down the anchor
line once more into the icy depths of the Big Lake.
Distance and direction were so confusing twenty feet
under water that Benjy was puzzled about how to find
the spot where he had first glimpsed the unknown
Something. The only direction he was really sure of
was the upgrade which indicated the way to the stony
beach of the island above them. He turned down-
ward in the opposite direction where the rocks were
bigger and blacker, and he motioned to Bobo to
follow.
Both boys treaded water, flutter-kicking their feet
lazily and straining their eyes for a hint of the sea
monster that had given Benjy such a fright. Now that
they were deep beneath the surface swells, Benjy be-
gan to be sorry he had allowed Bobo to needle him
into a search for the hideous monstrosity. He was
sure he wasn't a victim of his own imagination as Bo-
bo thought. He had seen something! He knew he
had!
As Benjy and Bobo swam deeper and deeper into
the vast underwater pit of the Davy Jones's locker
that Old Jake was always talking about, Benjy sud-
denly saw the Thing again! His hair stood up stiff
and straight inside his watertight rubber headgear.
This time he wasn't paralyzed with terror, but he
was scared. He turned backward and motioned to


Marooned! 75
trout or lake bass when they finally gained the cour-
age to make threatening motions with their hands.
Neither did it charge toward them in anger at being
disturbed by two young boys.
Benjy and Bobo only remembered that they stood
for a long, long time, taking shallow drafts of air
from their air supply as they waited, waited for some-
thing to happen. While they stood, tense and strained,
suddenly they both burst into hilarious laughter! Bo-
bo slapped Benjy's shoulder with a delight that nearly
lost them their balance on the slimy rock. At that
moment, a slanting shaft of shifting light from the
sinking sun above them showed them that the fear-
some monster was nothing more than a huge black
steam boiler that had wrenched loose and drifted
from some shipwreck of the past!
Quickly they swam over to the boiler and slapped
its sides with glee as they grinned at each other. Then
together they swam, with sure and powerful strokes,
back toward the boarding ladder on the Black Pan-
ther.
When they neared the place where they had left the
boat anchored, they looked at each other bewildered.
They couldn't see the boarding ladder anywhere!
They swam around in a circle, just below the surface
of the water, wondering what to do next, when Ben-
jy's air valve flipped to emergency air supply. That
meant that not more than five minutes of life-sustain-
ing air was left in his cylinder, so he motioned to
Bobo to follow, and they began swimming toward
the beach.
In a few minutes the boys found themselves in shal-
low water. They stood up and turned seaward where


Marooned! 77
will never come near this island. He said so enough
times!”
“My Dad's in Chicago on business. My mother
won't know I'm missing until dinner time. It will
be too late then to find us before dark.”
Benjy picked up a piece of driftwood and threw
it forlornly at the water. “If we only had some flares!
But our distress signals are with our sandwiches on
the Black Panther. We might as well scout around,
Bobo. We may find some kind of shelter for the
night,” Benjy said as he stood and pointed up the
bank.
“Wait a second, Benj! I see a boat coming around
the Point out there!”
Benjy turned quickly. “Why, it's the Black Pan-
ther!” he shouted. “How about that! Old Swope
is coming back for us after all. Just wait! I'll give
him a piece of my mind! He's got his nerve – run-
ning off with my boat!” Benjy spoke in a breathless
rush of anger, relief, and joy.
“You bet!” Bobo quickly agreed. “Just wait till
we get our hands on that guy! Who does he think
he is, anyway?”
And the two lads splashed into the rough surf as
though to meet the Black Panther half way.


Black Panther Signs On a New Hand 79
was some stuff sticking up out of the water and I'll
bet the Tekakwitha is somewhere in the mess.”
“We'll have to get our air cylinders recharged be-
fore we can go down again,” Bobo said, glancing at
his wrist watch. “Besides, it's getting late. We'll
be lucky to get home before dark. Let's get a move
on before Benjy's mother sends the Coast Guard
plus the Army and Navy to look for us,” he finished
with a grin. Swope's face darkened, but he couldn't
talk the boys out of returning home.
Late that evening at home Benjy told his mother
about the events of the day. “It's a funny thing that
Mr. Swope never told us he knew how to run a boat.
He sure is a goony-acting guy. I think I'll ask Suzy
to come along next time and keep an eye on him
while Bobo and I are diving. We might need her,
too, to give us a hand if we find the strongbox. From
what Mr. Swope says, it's loaded, so it's probably
heavy.”
“Suzanne would love that, Benjy. She has been
green-eyed with envy since she found out you were
searching for that box on the old Tekakwitha. Sue
is pretty levelheaded,” his mother said with a smile.
“I’ll feel easier in my mind, knowing that she's
along.”
But Kent Swope wasn't happy with the new ar-
rangement. “What do you want her along for?”
he growled in a low voice to Benjy as Suzanne ap-
proached the Black Panther's dock the following
morning.
“She's a very good swimmer, that's why. Once
she even helped to save a boy from drowning. Any-


80 Haunt of High Island
‘Q»
way, we need her when we find the strongbox," Ben-
jy answered.
What Benjy didn't say was that he no longer trust-
ed Swope with the Black Panther, and he wanted
Suzanne on board to keep a spare ignition key hid-
den in her pocket in case the man gave them further
trouble.
“Well, all right, if you really need her. But I'm
not giving you kids any more money. The ten per-
cent will have to be split three ways instead of two
— just remember that!"
Benjy said nothing as he stepped on the starter,
revved up the engine, and began to move away from
the dock. Minutes later the Black Panther was mak-
ing her way through the channel, headed toward
High Island and the day's activities.
Kent Swope and Suzanne soon joined the two boys
up forward as Benjy wheeled his boat through the
white-crowned chops in the bay.
“Doesn't look like a very good day for diving with
the wind churning up the lake," Swope said in a tone
of annoyance.
“The wind is in the right direction to rough up
the water here, but there are no storm-warning flags
hung out at the Coast Guard Station. I looked for
'em on the way out. It'll be okay," Bobo answered
as Benjy concentrated on the chore of quartering the
Black Panther through the short tricky swells.
By noon Benjy and Bobo were once more ready
for diving at Rock Point. They fastened a long line
of rope to the ship's bell for use in emergency. Bobo
had thought of doing this, for he had learned from
his skin-diving instructor that it was always a good


Black Panther Signs On a New Hand 83
roded lantern aboard and flopped on the deck beside
Bobo, who was fast removing his diving gear.
“I don’t know where the Tekakwitha is, but I don't
believe she's anywhere near Rock Point,” Benjy said
as soon as he got his breath.
“Not there? It's got to be there! My own father
told me High Island was the place where she went
down in the Big Blow of ’671” Kent Swope said in a
shrill voice.
“Maybe the High Island wrecks aren't all at Rock
Point. Maybe we'd better take a look on the other
side of the island tomorrow!”
Kent Swope looked disturbed, even angry. “You’re
wasting a lot of time. I'm in a hurry!” He pointed
to the lantern. “How about leaving the souvenirs
alone and concentrate on the job you're getting paid
for?”
Benjy and Bobo eyed Kent Swope with distaste.
“You don't know what it's like down there with fifty
feet of water pressing down on your head! Everything
looks and feels different than it does on the surface!
For a bent nickel, I'd forget the whole deal and go
back to fishing! Maybe I'll forget it without the bent
nickel!” Benjy said with tight lips.


12
SUNKEN TREASURE!
Benjy was angry and Swope knew it. In an effort to
smooth ruffled feathers he said, “I’m sorry, kid. I
guess I'm overly anxious.” His apology helped. And
the everlasting lure of buried treasure to those with
young and adventurous spirits soon brightened
Benjy's mood, so the following morning he was on
hand to try once more to find the wreck of the old
Tekakwitha.
This time Benjy anchored the Black Panther on
the opposite side of High Island. Then he and Bobo
prepared to take off for a search in still another unex-
plored expanse. Here the lake bottom was free of un-
derwater debris and as sandy as a beach. But there
was no trace of either modern or ancient ships.
For two days the two boys set up pieces of float-
ing wood blocks and weighed them down to keep
them from drifting. These markers were shifted over
the surface to mark sections of the corresponding lake
bottom already searched. In this manner they covered
wide areas in water depths of ten to fifty feet, but

86


Sunken Treasure! 87
still they found no evidence that the Tekakwitha had
ever come to final rest there.
Kent Swope was doing his utmost to restrain his
growing impatience. “Try Rock Point once more!”
he begged after weeks of daily search. “It's got to be
there! You boys aren't trying!”
“We are trying!” Benjy answered with a snort, his
face wrinkled in a scowl.
The following day, Benjy anchored the Black Pan-
ther near the Rock Point spot he had tried in the
beginning. “We'll examine the rocks once more.
Let's take a reading on the lead line, Bobo. We'll
see how it compares with our depth gage! I want to
be sure of what I'm doing.” Then Benjy threw the
line overboard. -
Bobo nodded his head in agreement, although it
was plain that both boys were losing interest in a
treasure as elusive as the strongbox on the Teka-
kwitha.
“We'll give it just this one more try. If we don't
connect this time, Mr. Swope better get a professional
skin-diver to finish the job for him. For my money,
I don't believe the old tub is anywhere near High
Island,” Bobo said, disgusted that he had wasted his
time.
Kent Swope answered Bobo with forced cheerful-
ness. “Maybe you should take Suzanne down with
you. Six eyes are better than four.”
But the two boys refused to agree to his suggestion.
They felt safer having her topside, although it was
questionable what she could do there.
The two boys had decided this was to be the last day
of their search, and they had brought along extra cyl-


90 Haunt of High Island
searched several compartments that they spied a squat
sea chest in a corner of the cabin.
At a signal from Benjy, Bobo followed him to the
carved wooden chest. Together they lifted the lid,
only to find it filled with water-soaked rags which had
once been clothing for some officer aboard the old
schooner. But beneath the layers of rotted cloth their
fingers struck solid substance – a box! After looking
it over, they knew they had found the treasure at last!
Hurriedly they pulled it up from the old chest and
made their way to the open hatchway and out into
the dismal depths.
Seconds later they allowed themselves to rise slowly
from the granite canyon, and after releasing the end
of their rope lifeline from the old ship's rib, they
began the slow climb back to their familiar world
where the Black Panther lay at anchor.
Kent Swope leaned far over the side of the boat
to grasp the strongbox with greedy fingers. His hand
shook with nervous tremors and his eyes held an un-
“. . . they had reached the prow of some old ship
of the past,” p. 89.


92 Haunt of High Island
kids, clear out of here! Git!” Seizing the rock with
which he had opened the strongbox, he held it aloft
in a threatening gesture. “I’m taking my treasure to a
safe place where nobody, nobody, will ever see it but
me!”
“But, how about our pay?” Benjy tried to speak
firmly, although his knees were shaking in fright
at the man's strange behavior.
At Benjy's question, Swope went berserk. He lashed
out at the three as though to smash them flat with one
swift stroke. In sudden horror, Benjy jumped over-
board and motioned to Bobo and Suzanne to follow.
Alone in the boat, Swope vaulted to the pilot's
wheel, and with a spurt from the throttle the Black
Panther reversed into deep water and swung out in
a wide curve toward the distant horizon, leaving the
three youngsters waist-deep in the surf, looking after
her in frightened, bewildered disbelief.


13
THE JINX DISSOLVES
Benjy never could remember how long he stood
with Bobo and Suzanne in the foaming breakers off
High Island, watching his beloved Black Panther
grow smaller and smaller until it was only a black
speck which was soon swallowed up by the undulating
swells. With heartbreak in his voice he turned to his
companions. “Well, that's the end of that!”
“Getting stranded here is getting to be a habit,”
Bobo answered in dismal tones. “What'll we do now?”
“I suppose we'll have to go ashore and try to find
some kind of shelter. Nobody will ever find us with
the boat gone! They'll all be looking for the Black
Panther and nobody will know we're not on board
until they find her. Come on, let's go!” Benjy said
grimly as he started for the beach.
“I can't figure what happened to Swope. He was
queer, but I never thought he was plain loco,” Su-
zanne said in a puzzled tone as she followed Benjy and
Bobo shoreward.
“If he doesn't drown himself in his crazy hurry,

93


96 Haunt of High Island
“What's up?” Bobo asked quickly in answer to
Benjy's “Hush!”
“Listen!” Benjy said in a whisper.
The trio listened, senses sharpened by fear. From
some distant place the sound reached through the
thick walls once more: “Haaallooow!”
“What is it?” Suzanne gasped.
“I don't know! Let's be quiet! Maybe it will go
away!” Benjy said in low tones.
But the sound seemed to be coming closer and
closer as though the tall trees might be picking up
ethereal sound waves and repeating the tones in mock-
ery. As the three sat with bated breath, they could
see distant lights flashing through the woods, although
there was no rumble of summer thunder. The lights
came closer. They began to flash in a waving arc,
thrusting rays of gold through the wide cracks and
cutting the gloom in the cabin with jagged stabs of
bright yellow!
“Haaallooow! Haaallooow!” The sounds were close
now and the three could hear the snap of twigs and
the rustle of leaves as a heavy footfall told them some-
thing was stalking the midnight forest.
Suddenly Benjy remembered Mr. Jake's High
Island jinx. He covered his ears with open palms to
shut out the uncanny, mysterious sound as he quiv-
ered with inward fear, hoping at the same time that
his companions wouldn't sense his fright. He felt
trapped! It seemed to him that he couldn't bear to
hear the banshee voice one more time.
Then it came again! A long “Haaallooow,” but
this time the howling voice added one word: “Benjy!”
With one accord the frightened trio stood up


14
LURE OF SILENT WORLD ADVENTURE!
Benjy, Bobo and Suzanne slept late the morning
following their experience on High Island. It was
early afternoon before they met again in Old Jake's
workshop. Old Jake was chipper as a chipmunk and
he moved about, pretending he hadn't ever been an
old softee, and had worried about his favorite trio of
young admirers. He whistled an ancient sea chantey
and shouted a lot of zestful Yo-ho's as he went about
his work.
Benjy was the first to arrive. He looked as down-
hearted as he felt when he glanced at the empty
mooring place where the Black Panther had been
berthed since the day she was launched and chris-
tened. As he entered the workshop, Old Jake spoke
cheerily.
“Well, well, my boy, and how be ya this fine morn-
ing? Kinda late to be showin' up for work, ain't it?”
“Haven't got anything to work with, now that the
Black Panther's gone,” Benjy answered in a mourn-
ful tone.

99


100 Haunt of High Island
“Feelin' pretty bad, eh? Well, I got news for ya –
the Coast Guard found your boat this morning!”
Benjy's eyes widened. “Where, Mr. Jake? Was it
wrecked or anything?” His words tumbled out in a
breathless rush.
“The way I heerd it, everything's okay! They
found the boat beached on the sand thar on Traverse
Bay, right in front of one of them ritzy summer places.
The police figured Swope maybe walked to the air-
port – it's only a mile or so. And sure 'nuff, they
found out that's exactly what he did. The ticket man
remembered selling a one-way ticket to Chicago to a
crazy-acting guy, and the police picked him up when
“‘. . . there's a lot of wrecks in the
Great Lakes. Lots of valuable cargo
going to waste down below. With
the Black Panther back for another
summer, well — we'll see!’” p. 103.


Lure of Silent-World Adventure! 103
sooner, Benjy!” Old Jake finished with a twinkle in
his eye.
“Now we know there really isn't any jinx anywhere
— just bad people! If that old King Strang hadn't
been bad and sent all those people who didn't do
just what he said to High Island to die, High Island
wouldn't have gotten such a bad name in the first
place. All those wrecks were caused by storms and
rocks at Rock Point, but I suppose it looked like a
jinx to a lot of folks.”
“Yup, I guess you're right, Benjy. But now I hope
you've had your fill of the place, and ya won't go
traipsin over there agin, skin-diving and such!” Old
Jake spoke heatedly. It was plain he still had no re-
spect for skin-diving
“Well, I don't know about that,” Benjy answered,
just as Suzanne and Bobo came in the workshop door.
“I learned a lot this summer. I don’t think I'll ever
take another job diving for somebody. Still, there's
a lot of wrecks in the Great Lakes. Lots of valuable
cargo going to waste down below. With the Black
Panther back for another summer, well — we'll see!”


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THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN.DEARBORN LIBRARY
J FN • Wexss H2
"exstaff,