“Why did you let him do it?” he asked in a whisper.
“There was no stopping him,” answered Abe. “He would do it. He knew that I needed a saw, but, pshaw! I’d rather he hadn’t done it. I could have made out, only the storm that——”
Then he stopped at the look of alarm on Tom’s face.
“What storm?” demanded the lad.
“Oh, Joe had a notion that a storm was coming up, and he wanted us to get the boat done before then, so we’d have a chance to scud before the wind. But, bless my jib-boom! there ain’t going to be no storm, in my estimation,” and Abe cast a hasty glance about the heavens, now cloud-encumbered. “No storm at all—leastways not soon,” he added.
Amid a strained silence they all watched the opening into the ship, waiting for the reappearance of Joe. A minute went by, and he did not come up. A minute and a half,—two minutes!
“He can’t stay under much longer,” murmured Abe.
“No man can hold his breath that long under water,” spoke Mr. Skeel, “at least not an ordinary man. Maybe something has——”
He hesitated, Abe began taking off his shoes, ready for a rescue.