“Oh, we’ll ... we’ll ... we’ll DO OUR BEST!” ended Eric, with a happy thought.
An icy blast was blowing up the passage, and it felt very damp. There was a soft, whispering sound ahead.
“It’s the sea!” said Eric. “Come on.”
They walked on for about ten yards, then turned a sharp corner. “Daylight!” whispered the boys in one breath, drawing back into cover. Sure enough, the light of day was streaming through a great jagged hole, far above. There was no sound, save the murmur of the sea, so the Cubs crept on, round the bend.
They were in a large cave, dimly lighted from the hole in the wall, above them. They were standing on what seemed like a small quay. Before them, black water moved softly, making a gurgling, sucking sound, as it gushed forth and drew back through a long, low opening in the further wall of the cave.
“We come right down to the sea, below the cliff,” said Eric. “This must be one of the old smugglers’ caves. It’s full of water because the shore, down here, is never quite out of the water, you know.”
The boys stole forward to the edge of the quay and peered down into the black water, a foot or two below them.
“Look!” whispered Donald, suddenly, pointing downward. Moored to an iron ring on the quay was a curious looking object. “It’s just like a submarine,” said Eric, “only much, much too small. But I say,” he added, bending over the boat, “it is a submarine—a tiny one! Now, I see it all! They put heaps of petrol in this, and just one or perhaps two men to work it; and then, when the tide is up, they dive, and get out of the cave by that opening, ahead. The German submarine comes up as near as it dares, and, at dead of night, this little boat gives it as much petrol as it wants. By Jove—we have found something!”
IV
FOOTSTEPS
As the two boys stood on the quay, looking down into the dark waters, a faint sound reached their ears. “Hush!” whispered Donald quickly, “let’s blow out our candles and take cover.”