"Steve!" Bob's voice did not seem to carry far. It sounded weak to him.
"Oh, Steve! Steve Rush!" shouted the superintendent.
There being no response, he repeated the call several times, but with no better result.
"I guess it is useless, boys. I am afraid we shall not find him here. In fact, I can't believe that he came down here at all."
"The boy said you had telephoned to Steve to come down, didn't he?" asked Jarvis.
"Yes; but I did nothing of the sort. The telephone man must have made a mistake in the message--or else----" Mr. Penton checked himself sharply. "We will look further, though I am sure we are wasting time. We shall probably find that he has fallen somewhere on one of the upper levels and hurt himself. If that is so, one of the watchmen is sure to discover him and report the matter at once. We will go out to the platform, then on up to the next level. I'll have all the watchmen notified at once to take up the search."
The searchers walked out on the planking where Steve had stood a couple of hours before. Mr. Penton peered down into the black pit, while the others stood a little back from him.
"He is not here. It is as I thought. He has not been here, in all probability. We shall have to go on up, boys. I----"
Bob suddenly jerked his candle from his hat, holding the light to the floor. As he did so, he uttered a half-smothered exclamation, at the same time grabbing something from the planking and holding it up to the light.
"Look!" cried the lad. "Look! He hasn't been here, eh?"
Steve did not cry out when he found himself plunging into the water, principally for the reason that he was too plucky to make an outcry when his safety was imperiled. In the second place, his mind was working so rapidly that he did not have time to cry out.
He struck the water with a splash, broadside on, quickly sinking beneath the surface. Steve was too good a swimmer to swallow any water, however, and began holding his breath even before he struck the water, knowing as he did what was about to happen. The result was that he had propelled himself to the surface before many seconds had elapsed. He came up shaking himself like a water dog, but was careful to make as little noise as possible.