What was their disappointment to find a heavy wind blowing with a rough sea breaking against the outer reef. Obviously there was nothing to be done but wait until the wind and sea subsided, and in the meantime they decided to explore the island.
CHAPTER XIV
THE TENTACLES OF THE DEVIL-FISH
Armed with keen knives and axes, they chopped a way through the dense jungle growth, finding that it thinned out as they mounted the steep ridges that formed the center of the island. Here the going was easier, and in a few hours they had reached the summit of the highest peak. From here they had a wide view of the far flung expanse of waters. To the west they thought they could descry land, but in every other direction the ocean stretched unbroken to the horizon.
What claimed their greatest attention, however, was the fact that the mountain they were on was evidently of volcanic origin. The sides were seamed with ridges and gulleys of hardened lava, and when they advanced a little further they found themselves gazing down into a deep crater. There was a sulphurous smell in the air, and near the bottom they could see what looked like jets of steam issuing from the rocks. It was not reassuring to learn that they were stranded on a volcanic island, but they reflected that the volcano, if it had not in centuries destroyed the island, was not likely to bother them now.
They descended the mountain in a direction that would bring them to the coast a considerable distance from their cave, as the going was easier in that direction. Eventually they came out on a strip of beach that was separated from theirs by a strip of jungle. This beach, however, was different from theirs. It was backed up by a rocky wall, in which the action of the waves had hollowed out great caves. When they reached the beach it was low tide, but they judged that it was probably entirely covered at flood.
“Let’s explore the caves,” proposed Dick, and they headed for the largest of these. It was a great, echoing cavern, from which other smaller caves opened, where the ocean had eaten out the soft spots in the stone. In some of these caves lay great pools of water left by the receding tide, some of them so deep that the boys could not touch bottom even with the long sticks they carried.
Dick was seated on the edge of one of these pools tying a loose shoelace, while the others had wandered off to explore other caves. He was leaning over, intent upon his task, when something cold and slimy suddenly encircled his neck, and he felt himself being drawn toward the water by an irresistible force. At the same time another snake like tentacle encircled his body, pinning his arms to his sides.
Dick struggled frantically and shouted wildly for the others to come to his assistance.
They were some distance off, but heard his cries, and rushed to the rescue. They arrived not a moment too soon. Dick was just being drawn beneath the water when they arrived, and took in the situation at a glance.
“A devil-fish has got him” shouted Benton, and without a pause they all leaped into the deadly pool. Their feet landed on something soft and pulpy, and they were surrounded in an instant by a maze of tentacles feeling for a grip.