“Have it your own way,” Frank laughed. “I’m afraid I don’t remember my Sunday School lessons very well. Have it your own way, only plan some escape from this everlasting pit.”
“Just as I was about to say when you interrupted with your fake story about the Egyptian army,” Jack went on, “we may be able in time to cut through the natural levee that separates the waters of the pool from the old channel. If we can, we can draw the water out of the present exit and use it for our own escape.”
The two boys now made a closer inspection of the natural levee and the mouth of the crevice. They discovered that by cutting through a couple of feet of sand, the distance being about ten feet, they could, indeed, turn the waters of the pool into its old channel.
Of course this would not provide a depth of channel sufficient to empty the pool, but they believed that, with the natural wash of the current, the surface might be lowered so that water would no longer find its way into the large opening.
Working with such bits of sharp-edged shale as they could find, the boys fell to their task without delay. Harry, observing their industry from a distance, smiled happily at the thought that the boys had at least found a way out which was worth considering.
“If we just had a couple of shovels like those muckers use over on the East river,” Jack said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket, “we could cut through this obstruction in about five minutes. This is a fierce game!”
“I’m getting so I like these strenuous moments,” Frank declared, putting both hands to his aching back. “The fact of the matter is,” he went on, “that I’d rather be at work draining the Devil’s Punch Bowl than playing the part of a little sissy cigar-store boy in New York.”
“I’m glad you like it!” Jack replied, sourly.
It was almost dark when at last the trench was completed. It was with great satisfaction that the boys saw the water trickle into the new channel and find its way to the crevice. As the current grew stronger, it washed the banks away, and in a very short time a roaring torrent was rushing into the old outlet.
“That’s the idea!” Frank exclaimed. “There’s a head of water here that ought to cut that channel six feet deep,” he went on. “And that will give us a dry tunnel to walk out of.”