Oscar shrugged his shoulders. "We must get out before that time, old chum."
And this meant that if they did not they would all die of suffocation!
Truly their peril was extreme.
The weight of the wrecked French cruiser was so great that she was slowly but surely sinking deeper and deeper, sending down the Holland under her.
In another hour the windows would be buried in the sand so that nothing of the outer world could be seen.
"We'll be in a living tomb," muttered old George Dross.
"If I could get outside I would inspect the situation," said the young captain.
"If we could get out we might all save ourselves," muttered one of the men.
"And leave the Holland XI.?" returned the inventor. "Never! I'll never desert her!" Oscar would no more have thought of leaving his treasure than would a young mother her child.
"The torpedo hole," suggested Andy Greggs.