Маленькая хозяйка большого дома / The Little Lady Of The Big House

“Evan Graham is a real fish man. I saw the rock he dived from at Huahoa. That was after his time, and after the death of Queen Nomare. He was only a youngster—twenty-two. And he did it. So, get ready!”

“It’s almost a shame to play tricks on so reputable swimmer,” Paula said while both waited the signal.

“He may get you before you can turn the trick[55 - turn the trick – провернуть трюк],” Dick warned again.

“All OK,” one of Dick’s guest, Bert, assured. “I went in myself.

The pipe is working. There’s plenty of air.”

“Ready!” Dick called. “Go!”

Paula climbed the scaffold and jumped into the water. The moment she entered the water, Graham swung out on the platform and waited. He was confident that he could outspeed her, and his dive entered him in the water twenty feet beyond her entrance.

But at the instant he was in, Dick dipped two flat rocks into the water and struck them together. This was the signal for Paula to change her course.

Graham heard the noise and wondered. He swam to the far end at high speed. He pulled himself out and watched the surface of the pool. Little Lady was drawing herself out of the pool at the other end.

Again he ran down the side of the tank, and again she climbed the scaffold. She swam toward the west side of the pool. They almost were in the air at the same time. In the water and under it, he could feel the agitation left by her progress; but the water was so dark he could see nothing.

When he touched the side of the pool he came up.

Paula was not in sight. He drew himself out, panting, and stood ready to dive in at the first sign of her. But there were no signs.

“Seven minutes!” said Rita, Ernestine’s sister. “And a half! … Eight! … And a half!”

But they saw no Paula Forrest. Strangely, Graham saw no alarm on the faces of the others.

“She’s been under water over two minutes, and you’re all too calm about it,” he said. “I’ve still a minute—maybe I don’t lose,” he added quickly, as he stepped into the pool.

As he went down he turned over and explored the cement wall of the pool with his hands. Midway, possibly ten feet under the surface, his hands encountered an opening in the wall. He boldly entered. There was a pipe and at the end of it a little room, and he could stand up.

His fingers touched a cool smooth arm that shrank convulsively at contact while the possessor of it cried sharply.