Tom’s eyes blazed with excitement. “No wonder that electric trawler was so eager to keep us away, Bud!” he exclaimed. “Those lights must have been used by frogmen who were looting the Centurion!”
CHAPTER XIII
GOLD CLUE
ARV and the other crewmen were as astounded as Bud. But Tom’s theory seemed to be borne out as the Sea Hound glided down toward the mesa, about two hundred and fifty feet below the surface.
“There’d be plenty of reason to loot her with all that gold aboard-and the statue, too,” Arv agreed. “Could you make out anything like a liner’s hulk when you spotted those lights?”
Tom shook his head. “The guyot’s pretty big and we were approaching at too low a depth to see what was happening on top. All we could make out through the murk were gleams of light.”
“But why tow the Centurion all the way here to loot her?” Arv asked.
“Simple. The ocean’s over two miles deep in this area,” Tom replied. “If they had let her sink to the ocean floor, no ordinary sub could have got close to her.
But lodging the ship on the guyot kept her at an easy depth for frogmen.”
112
GOLD CLUE 113
Bud’s eyes widened. “Boy, what a neat trick!”
“If I’m right, the whole crime was cleverly planned and carried out,” Tom said.
“How do you figure they pulled the job?”
“Well, it’s a cinch the sub didn’t just happen along-she must have been dogging the Centurion, waiting to pounce,” Tom reasoned. “The bomb was probably planted aboard while she was still in port and set to explode at a time when she’d be as near as possible to the guyot.”