“Help us out,” came from Tom. “It is your duty to do it.”
“Not much!” answered Tad Sobber, with a sneer. “You can help yourself—if you can!” And with these words he walked away, in company with Crabtree and Pally, leaving the Rovers to their fate in the water and the darkness.
CHAPTER XXIX
A MINUTE TOO LATE
“Of all the rascals!” murmured Tom, as the light faded from sight.
“They are the worst!” supplemented Sam. And then he added: “How do you feel Dick?”
“Oh, I—I guess I’ll come around!” murmured the oldest Rover boy. “But I came pretty close to being drowned!” he added, with a shudder. “I struck something and it about stunned me, and I swallowed a lot of water.”
Tom and Sam continued to hold up their brother until Dick had recovered sufficiently to support himself. As they stood on the submerged rocks, they listened for some sound from their enemies, but none came.
“Maybe they have left the cave,” suggested Sam, after ten or fifteen minutes had passed.
“This is a fierce place,” was Tom’s comment. “It’s just like a great big well!”
“And we are like the frogs at the bottom of the well!” added Dick, grimly. He felt a little weak, but otherwise was all right.