Read 02 South Sea Adventure for Free Online Page A

quite at home either on the surface or under water. Now he chose to swim straight down a couple of fathoms, keeping his eyes open and enjoying the marvellous coral formations.
    A hole appeared in the reef wall and he swam through it into a cave. Sunlight striking a shelf of coral was reflected into the cave and filled it with a soft blue light. It was a place of bewildering beauty. Here the coral polyps had shown their skill as architects and the floor and walls were covered with fairy castles and palaces in blue, white, rose, and green coral.
    But Roger was getting winded and could not stay to enjoy the scene. He was about to swim out and up when he noticed that the water did not extend to the top of the cave. He rose until his head emerged. There was just room for his head between the surface of the water and the cavern roof.
    A mischievous idea crept into his mind. What a joke it would be if he stayed here just long enough to get the folks a little worried.
    He knew they had seen him dive in. If he didn’t come up they would think he had drowned. They would have to dive in and hunt for him and it wasn’t likely that they would happen upon this cave.
    Perhaps they’d appreciate him more if they thought for a little while that he was dead.
    He turned on his back and floated. He could breathe easily. The coral reef above him was so porous that it admitted plenty of air.
    He could vaguely hear shouts above him and the splashing of divers into the sea. He lay quietly, chuckling to himself.
    At the end of about ten minutes he filled his lungs with air and swam down and out of the cave. He did not come straight up but swam under water some twenty yards along the shore to where he knew some palm trees grew close to the edge.
    Then he rose softly, slipped out of the water without a splash, and hid behind a palm.
    The first thing he heard was Hal’s agonized voice saying, ‘I don’t know how I’ll ever explain this to Father. I should have kept a closer eye on him.’
    Then Captain Ike: ‘Poor kid! Such a nice kid too. I’m all broken up, that’s what I am,’ and he ended with what sounded very much like a snuffle.
    Even crusty Crab had something nice to say. Omo, panting from his last dive into the sea, fell back upon something the missionary lady had taught him. He tried to comfort Hal by reminding him that he would meet his brother in Heaven.
    Roger could not keep down a snort of glee. Then he stepped out from behind the palm tree, roaring with laughter.
    He was still laughing and crying all at once when the captain, Crab, and Omo held him down while Hal administered a whale of a spanking.
    ‘That’ll hold you for a while, you crazy spalpeen,’ fumed his angry elder brother. He was left flat on the reef, sick with laughter, while his annoyed companions resumed their search for specimens.
    ‘That’ll teach you to hide behind trees,’ Hal flung back.
    Roger stood up. ‘But you’ve got it all wrong,’ he chuckled. ‘I wasn’t behind the tree - most of the time. Look. I’ll prove it to you. Keep your eye on the tree.’
    And he dived again.
    But Hal had had enough of his brother’s pranks. Why should he keep his eye on the tree? Roger wouldn’t come up behind the same tree - it would be another this time.
    The idea of a submarine retreat never occurred to him. He went on after the others down the beach.
    As Roger swam into the cave he caught a glimpse of what looked like a huge snake stretched across the cave floor. One end of it disappeared into a black hole at the back of the cave.
    When he had reached the surface and taken breath he looked down to study this strange creature more carefully. It was hard to see plainly because it took on the colour of its background. Where it lay on pink coral it was pink, and it was blue, white, or black, according to what lay behind it.
    Presently Roger made out another like it, and then two more. The ends of them all went up to the black hole.
    And what was that at the