“Whew!” exclaimed the old sea captain, finally. “Dash my timbers, but I’m afraid he’s come to harm.”
The more the captain pondered over the matter the deeper became his alarm.
At length he decided to go in quest of his companion.
He entered the cave and turned its angle just as the professor had done.
Only a strange sense of intuition and a swift downward glance saved the captain’s life at that moment.
He saw a deep and yawning abyss at his feet.
For a moment he was overcome with grisly horror.
He saw how easy it was for any one to unwittingly walk into that death hole. The light on his helmet partly displaced the gloom.
But unless one looked down he would be sure to walk over the edge.
That poor Von Bulow had done this there was no manner of reason to doubt.