“Too bad that such an accident should have marred our first trip,” he said with that placid submission to circumstances which was characteristic of him.
“The only thing to do is to think of some way to release ourselves,” declared Mr. Chadwick energetically.
“Obviously; but what to do, my friend?”
The question was put bluntly and Mr. Chadwick had no reply for it. Tom broke the silence that followed.
“I think I’ve got a scheme,” he said.
They pressed about him eagerly while from the main cabin came a loud wail.
“Golly ter gracious, ah knowed suthin’ lak dis yar ’ud happen. De idea ob dis yar diving’ ’bout lak fishes ain’t right. Now we’s all gone coons.”
“Silence!” roared the voice of Silas Hardtack. “I’ve been on the old Ohio in worse holes than this ‘un, and I’ll bet my bottom dollar we’ll get out of this some way. But if you’ve got to die, ‘cookie,’ die like men did on the old Ohio—without a squeal or whimper.”