Shortly before four o’clock that afternoon, the three friends rendezvoused on the Enterprises airfield and climbed aboard the amphibian. On signal from the tower, Tom taxied down the airstrip. They were soon air-borne and heading out over the North Atlantic.
Strong headwinds slowed their flight, with the result that darkness had fallen long before they reached the tiny rock formation near the Grand Bank.
“Boy, that hunk of rock is just a speck on the map,” Bud muttered. “This is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“Now they tell me!” Felix Wong groaned, but his eyes twinkled merrily in his round face. Felix was liked by everyone at the plant for his never-failing good nature.
“Don’t worry.” Tom winked at Felix. “Bud’s my navigator on this flight, so it’s his problem. If he lands us in the drink, we’ll sue himl”
“A consoling thought,” Felix retorted with a chuckle.
THE MYSTERIOUS ICEBERG 37
Tom checked Bud’s calculations, and, as they neared the location of the small rocky island, he turned off the plane’s lights. The night was overcast, with the sea visible only as a dim heaving mass below them.
Suddenly a light flickered into view near the horizon, then another. As Tom swooped lower, several more could be seen. The lights were clustered together, but revealed no clear formation.
“We’ve found something,” Bud murmured. “But what is it-a single ship or a bunch of small boats?”
Tom checked his radarscope. To his surprise, he could pick up nothing on the screen.
“Looks as though we’ll have to go down and find out in person,” he said in a puzzled voice.
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