“He went after that other chap,” put in Captain Sanders. “Perhaps he caught him. They were over in that direction,” and the captain pointed with his hand.
All proceeded in the direction indicated. But they did not catch sight of either Dave or Merwell.
“Well, this is strange, to say the least,” remarked Phil, after they had called out several times. “What do you make of it, Roger?”
“I’m sure I don’t know, Phil. They can’t have gotten so far away but what they could hear us call.”
“Maybe they fell into one of the caves,” suggested Captain Sanders.
“If they have, we had better hunt for Dave at once,” returned Roger.
CHAPTER XXV—LINK MERWELL’S STORY
Down and down and still down went Dave, with Link Merwell in front of him. Daylight was left behind with a suddenness that was appalling. The brushwood scratched our hero’s face and he could not repress a cry of alarm. Merwell screamed loud and long and an echo came back that was weird and ghostlike. Then came a mighty splash, and both boys went into the water over their heads.
Dave was a good swimmer, and as soon as he entered the water he struck out to save himself. He came up in almost utter darkness, so he had to go it blindly, not knowing in what direction to turn. Then he heard a wild spluttering and knew the sounds came from his enemy.
“Merwell!”