He must have yielded to the spell cast upon him much longer than he had thought, for he was recalled from them by a sudden feeling of oppression, and with a start he realized that his air was rapidly becoming close and unbreathable. He had only taken a limited supply of oxygen in his tank for this preliminary survey, which he figured would take him but a short time. Still he was not greatly worried, and he gave a sharp tug at the line by which he had been let down. There was no response. And then with a sinking of the heart he realized that the line must have been fouled on some part of the wreck.
There was no time to lose and he set about instantly to find where the cable was caught. It was not long before he discovered that it had been caught by the projecting stump of the bowsprit. This was high above his head, and already he was suffering from the first pangs of suffocation. He realized that unless he freed himself in a minute or two he would be too far gone to help himself and would perish miserably in the cold, green depths.
Summoning the last of his strength, he struggled up hand over hand toward the tangle that seemed so far away. By dint of sheer will power he reached it at last. Black spots were floating before his eyes and it seemed as though his laboring lungs must burst, but he finally succeeded, and as he gave a tug at the freed line consciousness left him.
When he came to, bright sunlight was in his eyes and delicious salt open air was entering his lungs. The anxious faces of his friends peered down at him, but when he opened his eyes they gave a cheer that startled the sea birds circling about overhead.
“Glory be!” exclaimed Benton, fervently. “We were just getting ready to dive for you as a last resort. What caught you?”
Phil briefly recounted what he had found, and the narrow escape he had experienced.
“But I’m all right now, and we’ve located the wreck,” he concluded. “I haven’t much doubt that it’s the one we’re looking for. But it’s so covered with sand that the only way we’ll ever be able to get at the inside is to blow it open.”
“Well, old man, dynamite is a fast worker,” said Benton. “I wish we had brought some with us on the raft, but I guess we’ve done enough for to-day, anyway. You must have had enough underwater experience for one day, Phil.”
“If we had the dynamite here, I’d go down again right now,” declared Phil. “Only this time I’d keep a closer watch on the line. I got so interested in the wreck that I forgot it for a time.”
They were all jubilant over the certainty that they had the wreck located, and pulled back to the beach in high spirits. Had it been a little earlier they would have gone out again, but the afternoon was waning, and besides the sky had become overcast and there were indications of a coming storm. So they reluctantly decided to postpone operations for the day, and repaired to the cave. The evening was spent in excited discussion of the day’s happenings and plans for the morrow, and they were up early the following morning to put them into execution.