involuntary recoil from compulsory immersion which has no
connection whatever with cowardice; and they will understand the
amount of resolution that it required in Peterkin to allow himself
to be dragged down to a depth of ten feet, and then, through a
narrow tunnel, into an almost pitch-dark cavern. But there was no
alternative. The pirates had already caught sight of us, and were
now within a short distance of the rocks.

Jack and I seized Peterkin by the arms.

"Now, keep quite still, no struggling," said Jack, "or we are
lost."

Peterkin made no reply, but the stern gravity of his marble
features, and the tension of his muscles, satisfied us that he had
fully made up his mind to go through with it. Just as the pirates
gained the foot of the rocks, which hid us for a moment from their
view, we bent over the sea, and plunged down together head
foremost. Peterkin behaved like a hero. He floated passively
between us like a log of wood, and we passed the tunnel and rose
into the cave in a shorter space of time than I had ever done it
before.

Peterkin drew a long, deep breath on reaching the surface; and in a
few seconds we were all standing on the ledge of rock in safety.
Jack now searched for the tinder and torch, which always lay in the
cave. He soon found them, and, lighting the torch, revealed to
Peterkin's wondering gaze the marvels of the place. But we were
too wet to waste much time in looking about us. Our first care was
to take off our clothes, and wring them as dry as we could. This