Tom Swift and His Undersea Search, or, the Treasure on the Floor of the Atlantic

enno - Victor [Pseud.] Appleton

Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe
Tout savoir sur nos offres

94 pages

English

Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe
Tout savoir sur nos offres

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Project Gutenberg's Tom Swift and his Undersea Search, by Victor Appleton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Tom Swift and his Undersea Search or, The Treasure on the Floor of the Atlantic Author: Victor Appleton Posting Date: July 17, 2008 [EBook #1362] Release Date: June, 1998 Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH *** Produced by Anthony Matonac TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH or The Treasure on the Floor of the Atlantic by VICTOR APPLETON CONTENTS CHAPTER I UNTOLD MILLIONS II A STRANGE OFFER III THINKING IT OVER IV AGAINST HIS WILL V BUSY DAYS VI MARY'S ODD STORY VII THE TRIAL TRIP VIII THE MUD BANK IX READY TO START X STARTLING REVELATIONS XI BARTON KEITH'S STORY XII IN DEEP WATERS XIII THE SEA MONSTER XIV IN STRANGE PERIL XV TOM TO THE RESCUE XVI GASPING FOR AIR XVII WHERE IS IT? XVIII A SEPARATION XIX THE SERPENT WEED XX THE DEVIL FISH XXI A WAR REMINDER XXII STUDYING CURRENTS XXIII AN UNDERSEA COLLISION XXIV THE TREASURE SHIP XXV THE STEEL BOX TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH CHAPTER I UNTOLD MILLIONS "Tom, this is certainly wonderful reading! Over a hundred million dollars' worth of silver at the bottom of the ocean!

Informations

Publié par	enno
Publié le	01 décembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	21
Langue	English

Extrait

I UNTOLD MILLIONSII A STRANGE OFFERIII THINKING IT OVERIV AGAINST HIS WILLV BUSY DAYSVI MARY'S ODD STORYVII THE TRIAL TRIPVIII THE MUD BANKIX READY TO STARTX STARTLING REVELATIONSXI BARTON KEITH'S STORYXII IN DEEP WATERSXIII THE SEA MONSTERXIV IN STRANGE PERILXV TOM TO THE RESCUEXVI GASPING FOR AIRXVII WHERE IS IT?XVIII A SEPARATIONXIX THE SERPENT WEEDXX THE DEVIL FISHXXI A WAR REMINDERXXII STUDYING CURRENTSXXIII AN UNDERSEA COLLISIONXXIV THE TREASURE SHIPXXV THE STEEL BOXTOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEASEARCHCHAPTER IUNTOLD MILLIONS'"Tom, this is certainly wonderful reading! Over a hundred million dollars worth ofsilver at the bottom of the ocean! More than two hundred million dollars in gold! To saynothing of fifty millions in copper, ten millions in—""Say, hold on there, Ned! Hold on! Where do you get that stuff; as the boys say? Hassomething gone wrong with one of the adding machines, or is it just on account of theheat? What's the big idea, anyhow? How many millions did you say?" and Tom Swift,the talented young inventor, looked at Ned Newton, his financial manager, with aquizzical smile.

"It's all right, Tom! It's all right!" declared Ned, and it needed but a glance to showthat he was more serious than was his companion. "I'm not suffering from the heat,though the thermometer is getting close to ninety-five in the shade. And if you want toknow where I get 'that stuff' read this!"He tossed over to his chum, employer, and friend—for Tom Swift assumed all threerelations toward Ned Newton—part of a Sunday newspaper. It was turned to a pagecontaining a big illustration of a diver attired in the usual rubber suit and big helmet,moving about on the floor of the ocean and digging out boxes of what was supposed tobe gold from a sunken wreck."Oh, that stuff!" exclaimed Tom, with a smile of disbelief as he saw the source ofNed's information. "Seems to me I've read something like that before, Ned!""Of course you have!" agreed the young financial manager of the newly organizedSwift Construction Company. "It isn't anything new. This wealth of untold millions hasbeen at the bottom of the sea for many years—always increasing with nobody everspending a cent of it. And since the Great War this wealth has been enormously added tobecause of the sinking of so many ships by German submarines.""Well, what's that got to do with us, Ned?" asked Tom, as he looked over some blueprints and other papers on his desk, for the talk was taking place in his office. "You and Idid our part in the war, but I don't see what all this undersea wealth has to do with us.We've got our work cut out for us if we take care of all the new contracts that came inthis week.""Yes, I know," admitted Ned. "But I couldn't help calling your attention to thisarticle, Tom. It's authentic!""Authentic? What do you mean?"Well, the man who wrote it went to the trouble of getting from the ship insurancecompanies a list of all the wrecks and lost vessels carrying gold and silver coin, bullion,and other valuables. He has gone back a hundred years, and he brings it right down tojust before the war. Hasn't had time to compile that list, the article says. But withoutcounting the vessels the Germans sank, there is, in various places on the bottom of theocean today, wrecks of ships that carried, when they went down, gold, silver, copperand other metals to the value of at least ten billions of dollars!"Tom Swift did not seem to be at all surprised by the explosive emphasis with whichNed Newton conveyed this information. He gazed calmly at his friend and manager, andthen handed the paper back."I haven't time to look at it now," said Tom. "But is there anything new in the story?I mean has any of the wealth been recovered lately—or is it in a way to be?""Yes!" exclaimed Ned. "It is! A company has been formed in Japan for the purposeof using a new kind of diving bell, invented by an American, it seems. The inventorclaims that in his machine he can go down deeper than ever man went before, and bringup a lot of this lost ocean wealth.""Well, every so often an inventor, or some one who calls himself that, crops up witha new proposal for cleaning up the untold millions on the floor of the Atlantic or thePacific," replied Tom. "Mind you, I'm not saying it isn't there. Everybody knows thathundreds of ships carrying gold and silver have gone down in storms or been sunk inwar. And some of the gold and silver has been recovered by divers—I admit that. In fact,if you recall, my father and I perfected a new style diving dress a few years ago that wassuccessfully used in getting down to a wreck off the Cuban coast. A treasure ship went

down there, and I believe they recovered a large part of the gold bullion—or perhaps itwas silver."But this diving bell stunt isn't new, and it hasn't been successful. Of course a mancan go down to a greater depth in a thick iron diving bell than he can in a diving suit.That's common knowledge. But the trouble with a diving bell is that it can't be movedabout as a man can move about in a diving suit. The man in the bell can't get inside thewreck, and it's there where the gold or silver is usually to be found.""Can't they blow the wreck apart with dynamite, and scatter the gold on the bottomof the ocean?" asked Ned."Yes, they could do that, but usually they scatter it so far, and the ocean currents socover it with sand, that it is impossible ever to get it again. I admit that if a wreck isblown apart a man in a diving bell can perhaps get a small part of it. But the limitationsof a diving bell are so well recognized that several inventors have tried adjustingmovable arms to the bell, to be operated by the man inside.""Did they work?" asked Ned."After a fashion, yes. But I never heard of any case where the gold and silverrecovered paid for the expenses of making the bell and sending men down in it. For ittakes the same sort of outfit to aid the man in the diving bell as it does the diver in hisusual rubber or steel suit. Air has to be pumped to him, and he has to be lowered andraised.""Well, isn't there any way of getting at this gold on the floor of the ocean?" askedNed, his enthusiasm a little cooled by the practical "cold water" Tom had thrown."Oh, yes, of course there is, in a way," was the answer of the young inventor. "Don'tyou remember how my father and I, with Mr. Damon and Captain Weston, went in oursubmarine, the Advance, and discovered the wreck of the Boldero?""I do recall that," admitted Ned."Well," resumed Tom, "there was a case of showing how much trouble we had. Anordinary diving outfit never would have answered. We had to locate the wreck, and ahard time we had doing it. Then, when we found it, we had to ram the old ship and blowit apart before we could get inside. Even after that we just happened to discover the gold,as it were. I'm only mentioning this to show you it isn't so easy to get at the wealth underthe sea as writers in Sunday newspaper supplements think it is.""I believe you, Tom. And yet it seems a shame to have all those millions going towaste, doesn't it?" And Ned spoke as a banker and financial man, who is not happyunless money is earning interest all the while."Well, a billion of dollars is a lot," Tom admitted. "And when you think of all thathave been sunk, say even in the last hundred years, it amazes one. But still, all the goldand silver was hidden in the earth before it was dug out, and now it's only gone backwhere it came from, in a way. We got along before men dug it out and coined it intomoney, and I guess we'll get along when it's under water. No use worrying over theocean treasures, as far as I'm concerned.""You're a hopeless proposition!" laughed Ned. "You'd never make a banker, or aNapoleon of finance.""That's why my father and I got you to look after our financial affairs," and Tomsmiled. "You're just the one—with your interest-bearing mind—to keep us off the shoals

of business trouble.""Yes, I suppose I can do that, while you and your father go on inventing giantcannons, great searchlights, submarines, and airships," conceded Ned. "But this, to me,did look like an easy way of making money.""How's that, Ned?" asked Tom, a new note coming into his voice. "Were youthinking of going to Japan and taking a hand in the undersea search?""No. But stock in this company is being sold, and shareholders stand to win bigreturns—if the wrecks are come upon.""That's just it!" exclaimed Tom. "If they find the wrecks! And let me tell you, Ned,that there's a mighty big 'if' in it all. Do you realize how hard it is to find anything on theocean, to say nothing of something under it?""I hadn't thought of it.""Well, you'd better think of it. You know on the ocean sailors have to locate a certainimaginary position by calculation, using the sun and stars as guides. Of course, they havenavigation down pretty fine, and a good pilot can get to a place on the surface of theocean and meet another craft there almost as well as you and I can make an appointmentto meet at Main and Broad streets at a certain hour."But lots of times there are errors in calculations or a storm comes up hiding the sunand stars, and, instead of a captain getting to where he wants to, he's anywhere from oneto a hundred miles out. Now the location of Broad and Main Streets doesn't change evenin a storm."And I'm not saying that a location on an ocean changes. I'm only saying that theleast disturbance or error in calculation makes it almost impossible to find the exact spot.And if it's that hard on the surface, where you can see what you're doing, how muchharder is it in regard to something on the bottom of the sea? So don't take any stock inthese ocean treasure recovering companies. They may not be fakes, but they're mightyuncertain.""Oh, I don't know that I was really going to buy any stock in this Japanese concern,Tom. I only thought it would be interesting to think about. And perhaps you might sellthem a submarine or some of your diving apparatus.""Nothing doing, Ned. We've got other plans, my father and I. There's that newtractor for use in the big wheat-growing belt, to say nothing of—"Tom's remarks were interrupted by voices outside his office door. One voice, inparticular, rose above the others. It said:"No can go in! The Master he am busily! No can go in!""Nonsense, Koku!" exclaimed a man, and at the sound of his voice Tom and Nedsmiled. "Nonsense! Of course I can go in! Why, bless my watch fob, I must go in! I'vegot the greatest proposition to lay before Tom Swift that he ever heard of! There's at leasta million in it! Let me pass, Koku!""Mr. Damon!" murmured Tom Swift. "I wonder what he has on his mind now?"As he spoke the door opened rather violently and a short, stout man, evidently muchexcited, fairly burst into the room, followed, more sedately, by a stranger.

CHAPTER IIA STRANGE OFFER"Hello, Tom Swift! Hello, Ned! Glad to see you both! Busy, as usual, I'll wager.Bless my check book! I never saw you when you weren't busy at some scheme or other,Tom, my boy. But I won't take up much of your time. Tom Swift, let me introduce myfriend, Mr. Dixwell Hardley. Mr. Hardley, shake hands with Tom Swift, one of theyoungest, and yet one of the greatest, inventors in the world! I've told you a little abouthim, but it would take me all day to tell you what he really has done and—""Hold on, Mr. Damon!" laughed Tom, as he shook hands with the man whom Mr.Damon had named Dixwell Hardley. "Hold on, if you please. There's a limit to it, youknow, and already you've said enough about me to—""Bless my ink bottle, Tom, I haven't said half enough!" interrupted the little, eccentricman. "Wait until you hear what he has done, Mr. Hardley. Then, if you don't say he's thevery chap for your wonderful scheme, I'm mighty much mistaken! And shake handswith Ned Newton, too. He's Tom's financial manager, and of course he'll havesomething to say. Though when he hears how you are going to turn over a couple ofmillion dollars or more, why, I know he'll be on our side."Ned's eyes sparkled at the mention of the money. In truth he dealt in dollars and centsfor the benefit of Tom Swift. Ned shook hands with Mr. Hardley and Tom motioned Mr.Damon and his friend to chairs."Now, Tom," went on the strange little man, "I know you're busy. Bless my addingmachine, I never saw you when—"At that moment there arose in the corridor outside Tom's private office a discord ofvoices, in which one could be heard exclaiming:"Now yo' clear out oh heah! Massa Tom done tole me to sweep dish yeah place, an'ef yo' doan let me alone, why—why—""Huh! Radicate him big stiff—dat's what! Big stiff! Too stiff for sweep Master'sfloor. Koku sweep one hand!""Oh, yo' t'ink 'case yo' is sich a big giant, yo' kin git de best ob ole black Rad! But I'llshow yo' dat—""Excuse me a moment," said Tom, with a smile to his guests as he arose. "Eradicateand Koku are at it again, I'm sorry to say. I'll have to go out and arbitrate the strike," andhe left the room.While he is settling the differences between his faithful old black servant and Koku,the giant, I will take the opportunity of telling my new readers something about TomSwift.Those who are familiar with the previous books of this series may skip this part. Butit will give my new audience a better insight into this story if they will bear with me amoment and peruse these few lines.

As related in the first book, "Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle," the hero seemed bornan inventive genius. It was this inventive faculty which enabled him to take the motorcycle that tried to climb a tree with Mr. Wakefield Damon on it and make the wreck intoa serviceable bit of mechanism. Thus Tom became acquainted with Mr. Damon, whoamong other eccentricities, was always "blessing" something personal.Tom Swift lived in the city of Shopton with his father and their faithful housekeeper,Mrs. Baggert. It was so named because the Swift shops were an important industry there.Tom's father, as well as Tom himself, was an inventor of note, and employed many menin building machines of various kinds. During the Great War the services of Tom and hisfather had been dedicated to the government.There are a number of books dealing with Tom's activities, the list of titles of whichmay be found at the beginning of this volume.Sufficient to say here, that Tom invented and operated motor boats, airships, andsubmarines. In addition he traveled on many expeditions with Mr. Damon, Ned, andothers. He went among the diamond makers and it was when he escaped from captivitythat he managed to bring away Koku, the giant, with him. Since then Koku andEradicate Sampson, the faithful colored man, had periodic quarrels as to who shouldserve the young inventor.Besides inventing and using many machines of motive power, Tom Swift engaged inother industries. He helped dig a big tunnel, he constructed a photo-telephone, a greatsearchlight and a monster cannon. Occasionally he had searched for treasure, once underthe sea, with considerable success.Of late his and his father's industries had become so important that a number of newbuildings had been constructed and the plant greatly enlarged. Ned Newton, who hadonce worked in a Shopton bank, became financial manager for Tom and his father, andplenty of work he found with which to occupy himself.Just prior to the opening of this story Tom had perfected a noiseless aeroplane—orone so nearly silent as to justify the name. The details of it will be found in the bookcalled "Tom Swift and His Air Scout." In this mechanism of the air Tom had had somewonderful experiences, and they had not been at home more than a few weeks whenNew Newton broached the subject of undersea wealth.The talk of Tom and his financial manager was interrupted by the arrival of Mr.Damon and the stranger he had introduced as Mr. Hardley.Eradicate, or "Rad," and Koku, have been mentioned. Rad was an ancient coloredman who once owned a mule named Boomerang. Sampson was the colored servant'slast name, and he declared he had chosen the one "Eradicate" because in his youngerdays he was a great cleaner and whitewasher, "eradicating" the dirt, so to speak.Boomerang had, some time since, gone where all good mules go, though Eradicatedeclared he would get another and call him Boomerang II. But, so far, he had not doneso.Rad, though too old to do heavy work, still believed he was indispensable to thewelfare of Tom and his father; and as the giant Koku, who was physically an immenseman, held the same view, it followed there were frequent clashes between the two, as onthe occasion just mentioned."What was the matter, Tom?" asked Ned, when the young inventor came back intothe room.

"Oh, the same old story," replied Tom. "Rad wanted to sweep the hall, and Kokuinsisted he was to do it.""What'd you do, Tom?" asked Mr. Damon."I settled it by having Rad sweep this hall and sending Koku to do another—a biggerone I told him. He likes hard work, so he was pleased. Now we'll have it quiet for a littlewhile. Did I understand you to say, Mr. Damon, that—er—Mr. Hardley I believe thename is—had a proposition to make to me?""That's exactly it, my dear Mr. Swift!" broke in the man in question. "I have awonderful offer to make you, and I'm sure you will admit that it will be well worth yourwhile to consider and accept it. There will be at least a million in it—""Bless my check book, I thought you said several millions!" exclaimed Mr. Damon."So I did," was the rather nettled answer. "I was about to say, Mr. Damon, that therewill be at least a million in it for Mr. Swift, and another million for myself. There may bemore, but I want to be conservative.""Talking in millions, and calling himself conservative," mused Ned Newton."Somehow or other I don't just cotton to this fellow!""When our mutual friend, Mr. Damon, told me about you, my dear Mr. Swift," wenton Mr. Hardley, "I at once came to the conclusion that you were the very man I wantedto do business with. I'm sure it will be to our mutual advantage."Tom Swift said nothing. He was willing to let the other talk, while he waited to seehow far he would go. And, as Tom said afterward, he, as had Ned, took an instinctivedislike to Mr. Hardley. He could not say definitely what it was, but that was his feeling.That he might be mistaken, he admitted frankly. Time alone could tell."Have you a half hour to give me while it explain matters?" asked Mr. Hardley. "Imay go farther and say I need considerable time to go into all the details. May I speaknow?"To tell the truth Tom Swift had many important matters to consider, and, in addition,Ned Newton was prepared to go over some financial ends of the business with Tom. Butthe young inventor felt that, in justice to his friend Mr. Damon, who had brought Mr.Hardley, he could do no less than give the stranger a hearing. But only the introductionby Mr. Damon brought this about."I shall be glad to hear what you have to say, Mr. Hardley," said Tom, as courteouslyas he could. "I will not go so far as to say that my time is unlimited, but I will listen toyou now if you care to go into details.""That's good!" exclaimed the visitor. "I'm sure that when you have listened you willagree with me.""He's a little bit too sure!" mused Ned."Bless my pocketbook, Tom, but there are millions in it!" exclaimed Mr. Damon."Literally millions, Tom!"Mr. Hardley settled himself comfortably in his chair and looked from Tom to Ned."May I speak freely here?" he asked, with obvious intent.

"You may," the young inventor answered. "Mr. Newton is my financial manager,and I do nothing of importance without consulting him. You may regard him as amember of the firm, in fact, as he does own some stock. My father is practically retired,and I do not trouble him with unimportant details. So Mr. Newton and I are prepared tolisten to you.""Very well, Mr. Swift, I'm going to ask you a question. Have you all the money youwant?"Tom laughed."I suppose any man would answer that question in the negative," he replied."Frankly, I could use more money, though I am not poor.""So I have heard. Well, would a million dollars clear profit appeal to you?""It certainly would," was the answer."Then I am prepared to offer you that sum," went on Mr. Hardley. "But there arecertain conditions, and I may say that this vast wealth is not easy to come at. However,with your inventive genius, I am sure you will be able to solve the mystery of the sea.Now then as to details. There lies, on the floor of the ocean—""Hark!" exclaimed Tom, raising a hand to enjoin silence. "I think I hear some onecoming." At that moment there was a knock at the door.CHAPTER IIITHINKING IT OVER"Father, is that you?" asked Tom. "Father hasn't been feeling well, of late," he said tothe assembled company, "and I told him to go to lie down. But he's hard to manage, andhe won't rest more than ten minutes at a time. My father, I might explain, Mr. Hardley,"Tom went on, "is actively associated with me in business." "So Ihave understood," said the man who had been introduced by Mr. Damon."Dis Koku!" came the guttural voice of the giant from the other side of the door."Koku want more work. Hall, him all clean. Maybe I help dat no-good Rad now.""No you don't, Koku!" exclaimed the young inventor, with a laugh. "You keep awayfrom Rad. You'll get to disputing again and interrupt me, and I have business on hand.Here, wait a minute. I'll find something for you to do," he went on, opening the door todisclose the immense man standing outside, a broom in his hand seeming like a toy."Excuse me one moment," went on Tom to his friends. Taking up his desk telephonehe called one of the shops, asking: "Have you any heavy work on hand this morning;lifting big castings, or anything like that? You have? Good! I'll send Koku right over."Turning to the giant who apparently had not paid much attention to the talk over thewire, Tom said:"Koku, go over to shop number ten, ask for the foreman, and he'll keep you busy.There are some five-hundred-pound castings that need assembling, and you can help

him.""Good!" exclaimed the giant, with a cheerful grin. "Koku like big work—no likesweep. Good for women and Rad, but not for Koku!""He spoke the truth there," remarked Ned Newton, as the giant stalked down thehall. "I never saw such a strong man. I'm afraid to shake hands with him, for fear I'll beminus a couple of fingers in the operation"."Well, he's disposed of," remarked Tom, as he closed the door. "And now, Mr.Hardley, I'm at your service, as far as listening to your proposition is concerned.""Thank you. I shall endeavor to be brief," remarked the visitor. "Am I correct inassuming that you have had some experience in submarine work? I believe Mr. Damonmentioned something of that sort.""Submarine work? Bless my hydrometer, I should say so!" exclaimed the eccentricman. "And not only in submarine, but in aeroplane! but you don't need any aeroplanes,my dear Mr. Hardley. It's the submarine end of it that you are interested in, as far as TomSwift is concerned. Now go ahead and tell him what you told me, and how manymillions there are in it.""Very well," assented the visitor. "Have you ever had any experience in recoveringtreasure from sunken wrecks?" he asked Tom."Yes," was the answer. "And it is curious that you should ask me that, for my friendhere, Ned Newton, and I were just talking about that very matter. Here's what brought itup," and Tom showed the page from the Sunday paper."Hum! Yes!" musingly remarked Mr. Hardley. "That's all very well. Part of it is true;but I imagine most of it is the work of imagination of some enterprising reporter. Ofcourse there is no question but that there are untold millions on the bottom of the ocean.The only trouble, as I think you will agree with me, Mr. Swift, is in coming at themoney.""Exactly," said Tom."And will you bear me out when I say that if the wreck of a treasure ship could beexactly located in water that is not too deep, half the trouble would be solved?" askedMr. Hardley."A good share of it would," answered Tom. "That is usually the chief difficulty—locating the wreck. Nearly always they are anywhere from one to five miles from wherethe persons seeking them think they are. And five miles, or even half a mile, is a gooddistance on the bottom of the ocean.""Exactly," echoed Mr. Hardley. "Then if I could give you the exact location of asunken treasure ship, and prove to you that the owners had given up the search for it,leaving it open to salvage on the part of whoever wished to try—would that be anyinducement to you to make an attempt, Mr. Swift?""I should want to hear more about it before I gave an answer," replied Tom. "Asperhaps Mr. Damon has told you, I once went on a hunt for treasure in my submarine.We found it, but only after considerable trouble, and then I declared I'd never againengage in such a search. There wasn't enough net profit in it.""But there are millions in this, Tom! Bless my gold tooth, but there are millions!"cried the excitable Mr. Damon. "Hurry up and tell him!" he urged his friend.

"I will," assented Mr. Hardley. "I can readily believe," he went on, "that the cost ofhunting for undersea treasure is great. I have taken that into consideration. Now, in brief,my plan is this. I will join forces with you, and bear half the expense if I am allowed toshare half the proceeds. That's fair, isn't it?" he asked Tom."So far, yes," replied the young inventor."Now then, to business!" exclaimed the visitor. "Will you join with me in searchingfor some of the wealth-laden wrecks that are rotting at the bottom of the sea, Mr. Swift?""Do you mean make an indiscriminate search for any one of a number of wrecks?"Tom wanted to know."I should want the understanding broad enough to include all wrecks we mightdiscover," was the answer, "but I have in mind one in particular now. It is the wreck ofthe steamer Pandora which was sunk off the coast of one of the West Indian Islandsabout a year ago."Ned Newton quickly caught up the page of the Sunday supplement and scanned thelist of wrecks given there."No mention of the Pandora here," he said."No," agreed Mr. Hardley, "the story of this wreck is not generally known, and thestory of the treasure she carried is hardly known at all. As a matter of fact, this money,mostly in gold, was to finance a South American revolution, and such matters aregenerally kept quiet. That is why nothing much appeared in the papers about thePandora. But I happen to know that she carried over two million dollars in gold, and Iknow—""Think of that, Tom! Think of that!" cried Mr. Damon. "Two million dollars in gold!Why bless my—bless my—"But the eccentric man could think of nothing adequate to bless under thecircumstances, and he subsided with a murmur."Excuse me for interrupting you," he said to his new friend. "But I just couldn't help"it."That's all right," Mr. Hardley remarked, with a smile that showed two rows of veryeven, white teeth. "I don't blame you for getting excited. Does that interest you?" heasked Tom. "Two million dollars in gold, besides a quantity of silver—just how much Idon't know.""It certainly sounds interesting," replied Tom, with a smile. "But are you sure of yourfacts?""Absolutely," was the answer. "I was a passenger on the Pandora when she waswrecked in a storm. I saw the gold put on board. It was not taken off, and is on her nowas she lies at the bottom of the sea.""And the location?" queried Tom."I know that, too!" said Mr. Hardley eagerly. "I was with the captain just before wehad to abandon ship, and I heard the exact nautical location given him by an officer whomade the calculation. I have it written down to the second—latitude and longitude. Thatwill be a help in locating the wreck, won't it?"