Jimmy dragged him through the opening into the hold and felt keen relief when he saw that both pipes ran clear; then he guided him to the tunnel and, letting him lean on it, pushed him along. Clay was a big, heavy man, but his weight was counteracted by the air in his dress, and he could be moved with a push almost like a floating object. Sometimes he moved too far and fell away from the tunnel. Jimmy long afterward remembered with a shudder the time they spent in reaching the outlet. He could not use his lamp, because he needed both hands; and he was horribly afraid that the pipes and lines might get foul. He believed that he threw Clay down and dragged him out into the open water by his helmet, but he had only a hazy recollection of the matter.
When they reached the level sand, Jimmy signaled urgently with his line, and got a reply. Then the rope he looped round Clay’s shoulders tightened and he guided and steadied him as they were drawn toward the ladder. A few moments later Clay was lifted on to the Cetacea’s deck, and Jimmy sat down on the cabin top, feeling very limp.
When somebody took off his helmet he saw Clay lying on the deck, with Aynsley bending over him holding a spoon to his mouth. Jimmy thought he could not get him to take the restorative, but he was too dazed and exhausted to notice clearly, and shortly afterward Clay was lifted into the gig. It headed for the yacht, the crew pulling hard, and Jimmy turned to Bethune.
“I was afraid I couldn’t get him up,” he said weakly. “He seems pretty bad.”
“I think he is; but you don’t look fit yourself.”
“The dizziness is the worst,” murmured Jimmy. “I’ll go below and lie down. But I’m forgetting; we found the case.”
Bethune helped him into the cabin, and made him comfortable on a locker. He had a bad headache and a curious sense of heaviness which grew worse when the pain lessened. In a short time, however, he had fallen into a deep sleep.
And while he slept, Moran went below and brought up the case.
CHAPTER XXX—THE LAST OF THE WRECK
Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened. He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.