“Two hundred—and—eight—and a half. Ten. No—now a drop—thirty, thirty-one—two—three—”
Then Dave’s voice boomed through, drowning out the whisper. “O.K. We saw some sort of monster,” he was saying. “He was in one of these caverns and Johnny got his picture—we hope! Wish you were down here.”
“So do we!” Doris’ voice exclaimed. “We heard a whisper. Thought you might—”
“You’ve been dreaming!” Dave boomed back. “Forget it—and tell that man at the cable to let us down again, slowly. Boy!—how I do want to see things!”
Yes, Dave wanted to see things. Most of all, on this particular day he wished to go down—down—down into the watery depths, to discover, if possible, just how far down, sea vegetation and coral were to be found.
“If only I don’t find bottom too soon,” he thought. “And if the sea remains calm.”
The sea. He shuddered a little at this. If the anchors held—all would be well. But if they should give way—that would be truly terrible. To the right and left of them, not a quarter-mile apart, were parallel walls of rock. To be dragged against one of these—? Who could tell what disaster might result!
* * * * * * * *
In the meantime, as they listened, the two girls talked of many things, of home, of thrilling tropical nights, of Mildred’s sunken schooner and many other things.
Of a sudden, their conversation was interrupted by a sound, conveyed through their head-phones.