Eagerly they looked for the welcome gleam of the searchlight. But they looked in vain.
The “Seal” had vanished!
A despairing cry burst from the baronet as this fresh misfortune became apparent.
What hope was there for Garth and Mervyn? What chance of their ultimate rescue now?
Even Haverly grew depressed as he thought of the issues at stake. It seemed as though fate itself were against them.
That now, while their comrades’ lives were perhaps trembling in the balance, the vessel, upon whose aid they had relied, should fail them, was a blow indeed.
“Perhaps Wilson’s been attacked, and had to put out from shore,” Seymour suggested gloomily, after standing for some time in moody silence; but the hopelessness of his tones belied his words. In his heart he fully believed that the faithful Seal had vanished for ever.
Vividly to his mind came the adventure of a few days before—the attack of the giant octopus. What if another of the huge cephalopods had attacked the vessel, and had dragged both it and the engineer below the surface!
He shuddered at the thought.
“I reckon we’ll be getting used to reverses shortly,” said the Yankee bitterly.