"Well, what's to be done?" asked Andy. "We can't stay here—that is, not much longer. The hill will be under water in a few hours more."
"That's true," said Frank. "We've got to do something, and that soon."
It was curious to see now how the Racer boys had, in a measure, taken charge of things. Now that an emergency had arisen—one that did not have to deal directly with range matters, with which Billy was familiar—his chums came to the fore, as they had often done in times past.
"What can we do?" asked Billy, half gloomily. "I don't believe we can swim that distance. It must be miles to the nearest shore."
"Fully three," said Frank. "Yes, it would be a pretty long swim, though we might do it. But I have a better plan than that."
"What is it?" asked Billy, eagerly.
"Well, there are two things we can do," went on the elder Racer lad. "In the first place we must go to the highest part of the Peak, the one that will be the longest out of water. Then I want to see just how fast the water is rising, and we'll know how much longer we have."
"But that isn't getting us away from here," said Andy, impatiently. "We're marooned on Golden Peak. What is to be done?"
"I'm coming to that," said his brother, calmly. "We can do two things. One is to make a signal fire on the highest point of the Peak. The smoke will be seen at the ranch, for they must be watching the forming of the lake. So get some wood from the cave and we'll climb to the top, and make the signal fire."
"What's the other thing?" asked Billy, as Frank paused.