For his knees were drawn sharply upward, and hand over hand he scaled up his swaying support. But his ears heard the hiss where that terrible fin was cutting the waves beneath him. One quick glance he sped to the place comprehended the turning monster's belly, the open mouth, and even the hideous nose that shot beneath his very foot like the point of a speeding torpedo.
To the round above he scrambled no less galvanically--only to feel a sudden giving of the ladder. A wild conviction of the structure's insecurity above--its giving way beneath the incautious strain he had unavoidably put upon it--scorched its way into his brain, while he still looked down upon the shark.
But that one slip ended as abruptly as it had come. It was all in the rung he had clutched in desperate violence, and not in the ladder itself. Elaine's rock anchorage was firm!
A swift and weakening reaction now ensued in all his being, as he clung there, dripping but safe. He leaned on the ladder-rung heavily, to regain his breath and strength. He was panting and all but exhausted for the moment. When at length he resumed the upward climb, the shark was no longer to be seen.
He paused a bit longer on the shelving ledge above to gather his wits in proper order.
"Sidney!" he heard. "Are you coming? Are you there?"
"Well, rather!" he called out, cheerily. "Stopped like a kid to--examine the geological formation." He started upward promptly, whistling as he went.
It was not, however, without a tremendous effort that he finally pulled himself over the brink, in all the weight of his soaking garments, and struggled to his feet.
"Why--you're wet!" said Elaine, concealing her hands, which were cut and bruised from the heavy stones she had carried. "Did you have to swim to get the ladder?"
He knew her hands were hurt, but maintained his usual manner.
"I did. But the water is warm--in fact, it was very warm, indeed."
"I couldn't," he answered, candidly. "The raft got away while I was pothering about, and, unless it faithfully floats ashore, we may never see its honest face again."
"I'm perfectly delighted to hear it! Now you never can go there again!"
Grenville was amused at the turn of her reflections.
"But what about the treasure in the crypt?"