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himself.
    “We’re on the right track,” he announced. “They’re within five miles of us, chattering
     at the tops of their voices.”
    The
Flying Fish
set off again, a few points to the west of her original course. And in ten minutes
     she was surrounded by dolphins.
    There were hundreds of them, making their easy, effortless way across the sea. When
     the
Flying Fish
came to rest, they crowded around her as if they had been expecting such a visit;
     perhaps, indeed, they had.
    The crane was brought into action, and Einar was lowered over the side. But only Einar,
     for, as the Professor explained, “There’ll be a good many boisterous males down there,
     and we don’t want any trouble while Einar’s scouting around for us.” Peggy was indignant,
     but there was nothing she could do about it except splash everyone who came within
     range.
    This, thought Johnny, must be one of the strangest conferences that has ever taken
     place. He stood with Mick on the foredeck, leaning over the side and looking down
     at the sleek, dark-gray bodies gathered round Einar. What were they saying? Could
     Einar fully understand the language of his deep-sea cousins—and could the Professor
     understand Einar?
    Whatever the outcome of this meeting, Johnny felt a deep gratitude toward these friendly,
     graceful creatures. He hoped that Professor Kazan could help them, as they had helped
     him.
    After half an hour, Einar swam back into the sling and was hoisted aboard, to Peggy’s
     great relief—as well as to the Professor’s.
    “I hope most of that was just gossip,” he remarked. “Thirty minutes of solid Dolphin
     talk means a week’s work, even with all the help the computer can give me.”
    Below deck, the engines of the
Flying Fish
roared into life, and once again the ship lifted slowly out of the water. The dolphins
     kept up with it for a few hundred yards, but they were soon hopelessly outpaced. This
     was one speed contest in which they could not compete. The last that Johnny saw of
     them was a frieze of distant, dark bodies, leaping against the skyline, and already
     miles astern.

Chapter 10
    Johnny began his skin-diving lessons at the edge of the jetty, among the anchored
     fishing boats. The water was crystal clear, and as it was only four or five feet deep,
     he could make all his beginner’s mistakes in perfect safety while he learned the use
     of flippers and face mask.
    Mick was not a very good teacher. He had been able to swim and dive all his life,
     and could no longer remember his early troubles. To him it seemed incredible that
anyone
could fail to go effortlessly down to the sea bed, or could not remain there in complete
     comfort for two or three minutes. So he grew quite impatient when his pupil remained
     bobbing about on the surface like a cork, with his legs kicking up in the air, unable
     to submerge more than a few inches.
    Before long, however, Johnny got the right idea. He learned
not
to fill his lungs before a dive; that turned him into a balloon and gave him so much
     buoyancy that he simply couldn’t go under. Next, he found that if he threw his legs
     clear out of the water, their unsupported weight drove him straight down. Then, once
     his feet were well below the surface, he could start kicking with his flippers, and
     they would drive him easily in any direction.
    After a few hours of practice, he lost his initial clumsiness. He discovered the delights
     of swooping and gliding in a weightless world, like a spaceman in orbit. He could
     do loops and rolls, or hover motionless at any depth. But he could not stay under
     for even half as long as Mick; like everything that was worth doing, that would take
     time and practice.
    He knew now that he had the time. Professor Kazan, although mild-mannered, was a person
     who wielded a great deal of influence, and he had seen to that. Wires had been pulled,
     forms had been filled in, and Johnny was now officially on the island establishment.