All expected the boy to reappear, and they waited anxiously for several seconds. Then, as he failed to show himself, their anxiety turned to alarm.
“Where is he? Where did he go?” gasped Jack, peering down from the opening above.
“I don’t know,” answered Andy. “He was pushing on the boathook and it slipped and he and the pole went down into the water.”
“What do you suppose is keeping him down?” questioned Randy, who was also peering anxiously from the opening above.
“Don’t ask me,” answered his twin. “Gee, this is fierce!”
“He was sucked under!” spluttered Ira Small, excitedly. “Sucked under! There must be some kind of a hole under them rocks!”
“If he’s in a hole, we’ve got to get him out,” returned Jack, and regardless of the danger, he leaped down into the water beside the scow and then climbed on board.
Randy quickly followed him. Then the searchlight was played upon the water where the youngest of the Rover boys had so mysteriously disappeared.
“I see the hole in the rocks!” cried Jack, an instant later. “It’s less than two feet under water. Here! Give me that rope. You fellows pull in when I give a jerk. I’ll try to find him.”