One thing was certain. It was impossible for the machine to travel through it. The adventurers were anchored to the hilltop isle.
What was to be done?
Frank knew well that the water was rising all the while. It was a desperate situation.
In the hold of the Scorcher there was stored a portable rubber boat. In this all could doubtless have made their way to the higher land and escaped.
But they would have been compelled to leave the Scorcher.
This would have been equivalent to signing a death warrant, and they knew it well. So Frank did not accept the chance.
He stepped down from the Scorcher’s deck and walked about the hilltop. At one end was a clump of giant pines.
And, as his eyes fell upon these mighty trees, a sudden, swift plan suggested itself to him. He saw one forlorn chance.
But Frank Reade, Jr., was never the one to yield to despair. Scant as the chance was, he decided to adopt it.
He went hurriedly back to the Scorcher.