The circles were so much smaller at the bottom of the basin, and the
boat moved so much more swiftly, that Trot was beginning to get dizzy
with the motion, when suddenly the boat made a leap and dived headlong
into the murky depths of the hole. Whirling like tops, but still
clinging together, the sailor and the girl were separated from their
boat and plunged down--down--down--into the farthermost recesses of the
great ocean.
At first their fall was swift as an arrow, but presently they seemed to
be going more moderately and Trot was almost sure that unseen arms were
about her, supporting her and protecting her. She could see nothing,
because the water filled her eyes and blurred her vision, but she clung
fast to Cap'n Bill's sou'wester, while other arms clung fast to her,
and so they gradually sank down and down until a full stop was made,
when they began to ascend again.
But it seemed to Trot that they were not rising straight to the surface
from where they had come. The water was no longer whirling them and
they seemed to be drawn in a slanting direction through still, cool
ocean depths. And then--in much quicker time than I have told it--up
they popped to the surface and were cast at full length upon a sandy
beach, where they lay choking and gasping for breath and wondering what
had happened to them.
Trot was the first to recover. Disengaging herself from Cap'n Bill's
wet embrace and sitting up, she rubbed the water from her eyes and then
looked around her. A soft, bluish-green glow lighted the place, which
seemed to be a sort of cavern, for above and on either side of her were
rugged rocks. They had been cast upon a beach of clear sand, which
slanted upward from the pool of water at their feet--a pool which
doubtless led into the big ocean that fed it. Above the reach of the
waves of the pool were more rocks, and still more and more, into the
dim windings and recesses of which the glowing light from the water did
not penetrate.
The place looked grim and lonely, but Trot was thankful that she was
still alive and had suffered no severe injury during her trying
adventure under water. At her side Cap'n Bill was sputtering and
coughing, trying to get rid of the water he had swallowed. Both of them
were soaked through, yet the cavern was warm and comfortable and a
wetting did not dismay the little girl in the least.
She crawled up the slant of sand and gathered in her hand a bunch of
dried seaweed, with which she mopped the face of Cap'n Bill and cleared
the water from his eyes and ears. Presently the old man sat up and
stared at her intently. Then he nodded his bald head three times and
said in a gurgling voice:
"Mighty good, Trot; mighty good! We didn't reach Davy Jones's locker
that time, did we? Though why we didn't, an' why we're here, is more'n
I kin make out."
"Take it easy, Cap'n," she replied. "We're safe enough, I guess, at
least for the time being."
He squeezed the water out of the bottoms of his loose trousers and felt
of his wooden leg and arms and head, and finding he had brought all of
his person with him he gathered courage to examine closely their
surroundings.
"Where d'ye think we are, Trot?" he presently asked.
"Can't say, Cap'n. P'r'aps in one of our caves."
He shook his head. "No," said he, "I don't think that, at all. The
distance we came up didn't seem half as far as the distance we went
down; an' you'll notice there ain't any outside entrance to this cavern
whatever. It's a reg'lar dome over this pool o' water, and unless
there's some passage at the back, up yonder, we're fast pris'ners."
Trot looked thoughtfully over her shoulder.
"When we're rested," she said, "we will crawl up there and see if
there's a way to get out."
Cap'n Bill reached in the pocket of his oilskin coat and took out his
pipe. It was still dry, for he kept it in an oilskin pouch with his
tobacco. His matches were in a tight tin box, so in a few moments the
old sailor was smoking contentedly. Trot knew it helped him to think
when he was in any difficulty. Also, the pipe did much to restore the
old sailor's composure, after his long ducking and his terrible
fright--a fright that was more on Trot's account than his own.
The sand was dry where they sat, and soaked up the water that dripped
from their clothing. When Trot had squeezed the wet out of her hair she
began to feel much like her old self again. By and by they got upon
their feet and crept up the incline to the scattered boulders above.
Some of these were of huge size, but by passing between some and around
others, they were able to reach the extreme rear of the cavern.
"Yes," said Trot, with interest, "here's a round hole."
"And it's black as night inside it," remarked Cap'n Bill.
"Just the same," answered the girl, "we ought to explore it, and see
where it goes, 'cause it's the only poss'ble way we can get out of this
place."