However, he made his way across the cabin to the stairway. Up this he clambered.
He put his hand up. The hatch was still down.
He tried to force it upward.
It would not yield.
For a moment a stunned feeling came over Frank. He sank down upon the stairs and an awful reflection came over him.
“They have deserted me!” he muttered. “My God, they have left me to die!”
Imprisoned forever in that sunken vessel with the corpses of two hundred years ago for companions!
Truly it was an awful situation. What could he do?
Frank Reade, Jr., was a brave young man. But in spite of this he was almost unnerved by the reflection.
The temptation was strong upon him to end the affair then and there. Why make the end a lingering one?