"What has happened?" cried Andy.
"The gates of the dam are closed!" shouted Billy. "There has been some mistake! Uncle Richfield has closed the dam, and the lake is being made! We're caught here on Golden Peak! Everything else is under water!"
CHAPTER XXIX
MAROONED
Billy's announcement seemed to strike a chill of terror to the hearts of his chums. They stood there, at the mouth of the treasure cave, and looked at the water below them—a vast lake that was slowly growing in size, and increasing in depth as the river backed up against the dam, the gates of which had been, in some manner, closed.
"It—it can't be possible!" gasped Andy.
"But it is!" cried Frank. "Here's the lake, and here we are on Golden Peak, and there's no way of getting off!"
"Unless we swim," put in Billy, "and that's no easy job, with the horses——"
"And the gold," added Andy. "What are we going to do?"
No one could answer him. Their situation was desperate, and yet, after the first feeling of fear and terror, the boys looked at the situation more calmly. They were not the sort of lads to give up easily.