Back they raced along the passage, slipping and stumbling on the wet, rocky floor. But it was only to come face to face with a solid wall of rock.
“No use trying to get through there,” said Andy. “We must try to move the big rock.”
“We can’t,” spoke Frank. “I think—”
But he never finished that sentence. Instead he focused his light down on the stone floor of the passage in the cave. A thin stream of water was trickling along it.
“Look! Look!” whispered Andy.
“Yes,” answered his brother in a low voice. “The tide is rising. It’s running into the cave, and we—we’re trapped here, Andy. No wonder that man said it was the last time. We’re trapped by the rising tide!”
CHAPTER XXI
DEATH IS NEAR
“Frank, are you there?”
“Yes, Andy. Give me your hand.”
The two brothers spoke softly. It was in the darkness of the cave, for they had both released the pressure on the springs of their portable lights to make the little dry batteries last as long as possible. It was several minutes after the first awful discovery of the incoming tide, and they had maintained a silence until the younger lad, unable to longer endure the strain, had called out.