Sandy backed away hastily. But as she dodged his outstretched hand, she lost her balance, gave a scream of fright, and toppled into the welll Bud was furious. “You dope!” he cried out at Hutchcraft. “Maybe you’d like to get dunked yourself!”
The Bostonian gulped and turned pale as he saw that Bud meant business.
“No, no! I can’t swim!” he pleaded. Ducking away from the outraged Bud, Hutchcraft fled toward the village in panic.
Meanwhile, Tom and Phyl were anxiously watching for Sandy to appear.
“Something’s wrong!” Phyl cried in alarm.
Tom was about to dive in when Bud said, “I’ll go.” He did not wait even to remove his heavy hiking boots.
The others waited tensely and gave sighs of relief as Sandy and Bud rose to the surface together. They swam to the edge and clambered up the steep side.
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“You scared us silly, Sandy,” Phyl said as her friend reached the top. “What happened?”
Sandy laughed. “I thought as long as I’d played being a sacrificed maiden, I’d see if I could pick up some ancient jewelry in the well.” She made a wry face.
“Nothing on the bottom but mud!”
The blazing tropical sun, almost directly overhead, soon dried the swimmers’
clothing. When the four young people finally returned to the village, they found that Hutchcraft had “gone for a walk.”
“Smart move!” Tom commented with a chuckle. “He didn’t like that fighting gleam in your eye, Bud!” Turning to Phyllis Newton, the young inventor added, “How would you like to take a trip with me in my new paraplane? We can fly over to the Sky Queen-if my crate will start, that is.”