"Maybe Bud surfaced out at sea somewhere," Arv Hanson suggested.
Repeated radio calls brought no response. Tom, now seriously worried,
took the seacopter down again for another search, hoping that Bud would
have switched off the antidetection gear by this time. But neither
sonarscope nor listening devices revealed the slightest clue.
Tom, Hank, and Arv exchanged fearful glances. Had the jetmarine
foundered on the ocean bottom--perhaps fouled somehow by Tom's new
invention? Or had Bud and his crew fallen victim to the enemy?
CHAPTER XIII
ENEMY FROGMEN
At the end of the test period, Bud had prepared to bring the jetmarine
to the surface. But just as he was about to blow the ballast tanks, Mel
Flagler sang out a warning from the sonarscope.
"Whoa! Hold it, skipper! I think we have company on the starboard beam!"
Bud jerked his head around in surprise. "You mean the _Sea Hound_?"
"No, she surfaced," Mel reported. "Can't make this out yet, but it could
be another sub."
Bud turned the controls over to Zimby Cox. Then he rushed to the scope
and examined the blip. "Seems to be moving away from us on a westerly
course. It's about two miles from here."
He donned the hydrophone earset and listened. "It's no seacopter, nor a
jetmarine either," he announced presently.
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