Then for about a minute he didn't speak.
"Do you want the paddle?" I called.
"Nope—chuck it," he said. "This is a place of mystery. Know where the water went? There's a passageway down here; it's big enough to crawl through. Ouch!"
"Tell me the truth," I said, "you're hurt."
"I'm in a very critical condition from a swollen wrist," he said; "shut up, will you! There's a secret passageway or something or other down here. Where do you suppose it goes?"
"Hanged if I know," I said; "what about Skinny?"
"He's breathing, that's all I know," he said.
For a couple of minutes I sat on the edge thinking and I could hear him down there. I didn't know what he was doing.
Then I called, "You know Rebel's Cave, don't you? Above the shore south of Nick's Cove—near the outlet? Maybe it comes out there—the passage, I mean."
"What makes you think so?" he called.