nd of thing was hard to resist. It is hard not to dance when the
music is playing. There was an alluring fascination about it.

Suddenly, to the consternation of every one, there was Goliath in the
procession, moving along the pipeline, keeping his foothold by frantic
gesticulations with his arms. He was laughing all over his little face.
He swayed, he bent, he almost fell, he got his balance, almost lost it,
got along a few steps, and then down he went with a splash into the
water.

This climax of his wild enterprise occurred in a gap of the procession.
Some scouts had fallen out, others were clambering out the other side of
the dredge. So it happened that the splash was the first thing to
attract attention.

Goliath did not reappear and before any one had a chance to dive or knew
just where to dive, something was apparent, which sent a shudder through
Tom Slade, who was standing near the end of the pipeline. The pouring
forth of the wet sand out of the pipe ceased, or rather lessened and the
substance shot out in little jerks. Tom, ever quick to see the
significance of a thing, knew this for what it was. It was an awful
message from the bottom of the lake.

Something was clogging up the suction pipe there.

CHAPTER XXXV

THE HERO

This thing, as I said, all happened in a flash. There was shouting,
there was running about....

"Stop the machinery!" some one yelled.

"Reverse your engine!"

Tom felt himself thrust aside, lost his balance and fell into the
deposit of wet sand. The pouring out of this had ceased.

"_Don't let him do that! He's crazy!_" some one shrieked.

"Reverse the engine; he'll come up. Don't dive--you! You'll be chewed to
pieces."

"Who dived?" said Tom, scrambling to his feet.

"The body will come up when the suction stops."

"Both bodies, you mean; that crazy fool dived."

"They won't come up if they're wedged in. Keep her going--reversed."

Everybody crowded to the shore and to the deck of the dredge. The
pulsating of the big line had ceased. Men shouted to do this, to do
that. Others contradicted. All eyes were upon the water. They crowded
each other, watching, waiting....

Then a red spot appeared on the surface. It spread and grew lighter in
color as it mingled with the water. The watchers held their
breath--gasped. The tension was terrible.

Then (as I said, it all happened in a flash) a hand covered with blood
reached up and tried to grasp the nearest float. I