What he might have said was cut short by a sudden splash in the water which caused the boat to rock violently and dashed the spray in their faces.
Then there was a whip-like sound and Jack felt himself struck by something which quickly wound itself about one arm and a part of his body and swiftly pulled him out of the boat.
He dropped his flashlight, but as he left the boat his free arm swung out and his hand touched something which he seized in an instant.
It was the short hatchet on the thwart and he had seized it by the helve, well up toward the top.
With the swiftness of thought itself he realized what had happened.
The octopus had wound one of its tentacles about his arm and body and, clinging to them with a tenacity which he could not overcome, had pulled him out of the boat.
Percival gave a scream of fright as Jack went overboard, although he was usually a very self-contained young fellow and not apt to give way to hysterical outbreaks.
It was dark in the cave, but he quickly groped for the torch which Jack had dropped, and cried out:
"Where are you, Jack? What has happened?"
Jack went under water and felt himself being drawn toward the end of the water cave where he had seen the octopus squatting on the rock.