[CHAPTER XXX]
THE RADIUM TREASURE—CONCLUSION
“Bless my soul!” exclaimed Professor Snodgrass.
Bob, with a catching of his breath, and a nervous tremor, started to run in a panic. But Jerry caught him by the shoulder.
“Hold on!” the tall lad cried. “It’s only a man.”
“A—a man!” gasped the fat lad. “I thought——”
“Stop thinking!” commanded Jerry.
The man in the cave advanced, and the boys and the professor saw that he carried a torch made from some resinous wood that burned with much smoke.
“Who are you?” again demanded the man, holding his torch on high. “Who comes here to disturb me? Why can’t you let me die in peace?”
The professor took a sudden resolve. Afterward he said he did not know why he did it.
“Hartley Bentwell!” cried the scientist, “we have come to save you. You are not going to die. We have come to take you away from Snake Island!”