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diff --git a/1362-0.txt b/1362-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2e5fdb --- /dev/null +++ b/1362-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5719 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1362 *** + +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! More than two +hundred million dollars in gold! To say nothing 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? Has something gone wrong with one of the adding machines, or +is it just on account of the heat? 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 a quizzical smile. + +"It's all right, Tom! It's all right!" declared Ned, and it needed but +a glance to show that 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 to know where I get 'that +stuff' read this!" + +He tossed over to his chum, employer, and friend--for Tom Swift assumed +all three relations toward Ned Newton--part of a Sunday newspaper. It +was turned to a page containing 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 to be gold from a +sunken wreck. + +"Oh, that stuff!" exclaimed Tom, with a smile of disbelief as he saw +the source of Ned'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 +organized Swift Construction Company. "It isn't anything new. This +wealth of untold millions has been at the bottom of the sea for many +years--always increasing with nobody ever spending a cent of it. And +since the Great War this wealth has been enormously added to because 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 blue prints and other papers on his desk, for the talk was +taking place in his office. "You and I did 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 in this week." + +"Yes, I know," admitted Ned. "But I couldn't help calling your +attention to this article, Tom. It's authentic!" + +"Authentic? What do you mean? + +"Well, the man who wrote it went to the trouble of getting from the +ship insurance companies 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 to just before +the war. Hasn't had time to compile that list, the article says. But +without counting the vessels the Germans sank, there is, in various +places on the bottom of the ocean today, wrecks of ships that carried, +when they went down, gold, silver, copper and 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 which Ned Newton conveyed this information. He gazed calmly at his +friend and manager, and then 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 purpose of using a new kind of diving bell, invented by an +American, it seems. The inventor claims that in his machine he can go +down deeper than ever man went before, and bring up a lot of this lost +ocean wealth." + +"Well, every so often an inventor, or some one who calls himself that, +crops up with a new proposal for cleaning up the untold millions on the +floor of the Atlantic or the Pacific," replied Tom. "Mind you, I'm not +saying it isn't there. Everybody knows that hundreds of ships carrying +gold and silver have gone down in storms or been sunk in war. 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 was successfully 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 it was +silver. + +"But this diving bell stunt isn't new, and it hasn't been successful. +Of course a man can 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 moved about as a man can +move about in a diving suit. The man in the bell can't get inside the +wreck, 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 bottom of the ocean?" asked Ned. + +"Yes, they could do that, but usually they scatter it so far, and the +ocean currents so cover it with sand, that it is impossible ever to get +it again. I admit that if a wreck is blown apart a man in a diving bell +can perhaps get a small part of it. But the limitations of a diving +bell are so well recognized that several inventors have tried adjusting +movable 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 +silver recovered paid for the expenses of making the bell and sending +men down in it. For it takes the same sort of outfit to aid the man in +the diving bell as it does the diver in his usual rubber or steel suit. +Air has to be pumped to him, and he has to be lowered and raised." + +"Well, isn't there any way of getting at this gold on the floor of the +ocean?" asked Ned, 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't you remember how my father and I, with Mr. Damon and +Captain Weston, went in our submarine, 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. An ordinary diving outfit never would have answered. We had to +locate the wreck, and a hard time we had doing it. Then, when we found +it, we had to ram the old ship and blow it 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 under the 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 to waste, doesn't it?" And Ned spoke as a banker and +financial man, who is not happy unless money is earning interest all +the while. + +"Well, a billion of dollars is a lot," Tom admitted. "And when you +think of all that have been sunk, say even in the last hundred years, +it amazes one. But still, all the gold and silver was hidden in the +earth before it was dug out, and now it's only gone back where it came +from, in a way. We got along before men dug it out and coined it into +money, and I guess we'll get along when it's under water. No use +worrying over the ocean treasures, as far as I'm concerned." + +"You're a hopeless proposition!" laughed Ned. "You'd never make a +banker, or a Napoleon of finance." + +"That's why my father and I got you to look after our financial +affairs," and Tom smiled. "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 giant cannons, 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 +you thinking 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 big returns--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 the ocean, 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 certain imaginary position by calculation, using the sun and +stars as guides. Of course, they have navigation down pretty fine, and +a good pilot can get to a place on the surface of the ocean and meet +another craft there almost as well as you and I can make an appointment +to 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 sun and stars, and, instead of a captain getting to where he +wants to, he's anywhere from one to a hundred miles out. Now the +location of Broad and Main Streets doesn't change even in a storm. + +"And I'm not saying that a location on an ocean changes. I'm only +saying that the least 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 much harder is it in +regard to something on the bottom of the sea? So don't take any stock +in these ocean treasure recovering companies. They may not be fakes, +but they're mighty uncertain." + +"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 sell them a submarine or some of your +diving apparatus." + +"Nothing doing, Ned. We've got other plans, my father and I. There's +that new tractor 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, in particular, 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 Ned smiled. "Nonsense! Of course I can go in! Why, bless my watch +fob, I must go in! I've got the greatest proposition to lay before Tom +Swift that he ever heard of! There's at least a 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 much excited, fairly burst into the room, followed, more +sedately, by a stranger. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A 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 my friend, Mr. Dixwell Hardley. Mr. +Hardley, shake hands with Tom Swift, one of the youngest, and yet one +of the greatest, inventors in the world! I've told you a little about +him, 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, you know, and already you've said enough about me to--" + +"Bless my ink bottle, Tom, I haven't said half enough!" interrupted the +little, eccentric man. "Wait until you hear what he has done, Mr. +Hardley. Then, if you don't say he's the very chap for your wonderful +scheme, I'm mighty much mistaken! And shake hands with Ned Newton, too. +He's Tom's financial manager, and of course he'll have something to +say. Though when he hears how you are going to turn over a couple of +million 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 cents for 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 adding machine, I never saw you when--" + +At that moment there arose in the corridor outside Tom's private office +a discord of voices, 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's floor. 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'll show yo' dat--" + +"Excuse me a moment," said Tom, with a smile to his guests as he arose. +"Eradicate and Koku are at it again, I'm sorry to say. I'll have to go +out and arbitrate the strike," and he 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 Tom Swift. + +Those who are familiar with the previous books of this series may skip +this part. But it will give my new audience a better insight into this +story if they will bear with me a moment and peruse these few lines. + +As related in the first book, "Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle," the hero +seemed born an inventive genius. It was this inventive faculty which +enabled him to take the motor cycle that tried to climb a tree with Mr. +Wakefield Damon on it and make the wreck into a serviceable bit of +mechanism. Thus Tom became acquainted with Mr. Damon, who among 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 men in building +machines of various kinds. During the Great War the services of Tom and +his father had been dedicated to the government. + +There are a number of books dealing with Tom's activities, the list of +titles of which may be found at the beginning of this volume. + +Sufficient to say here, that Tom invented and operated motor boats, +airships, and submarines. In addition he traveled on many expeditions +with Mr. Damon, Ned, and others. He went among the diamond makers and +it was when he escaped from captivity that he managed to bring away +Koku, the giant, with him. Since then Koku and Eradicate Sampson, the +faithful colored man, had periodic quarrels as to who should serve the +young inventor. + +Besides inventing and using many machines of motive power, Tom Swift +engaged in other industries. He helped dig a big tunnel, he constructed +a photo-telephone, a great searchlight and a monster cannon. +Occasionally he had searched for treasure, once under the sea, with +considerable success. + +Of late his and his father's industries had become so important that a +number of new buildings had been constructed and the plant greatly +enlarged. Ned Newton, who had once worked in a Shopton bank, became +financial manager for Tom and his father, and plenty of work he found +with which to occupy himself. + +Just prior to the opening of this story Tom had perfected a noiseless +aeroplane--or one so nearly silent as to justify the name. The details +of it will be found in the book called "Tom Swift and His Air Scout." +In this mechanism of the air Tom had had some wonderful experiences, +and they had not been at home more than a few weeks when New 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 +colored man who once owned a mule named Boomerang. Sampson was the +colored servant's last name, and he declared he had chosen the one +"Eradicate" because in his younger days 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 +Eradicate declared he would get another and call him Boomerang II. But, +so far, he had not done so. + +Rad, though too old to do heavy work, still believed he was +indispensable to the welfare of Tom and his father; and as the giant +Koku, who was physically an immense man, held the same view, it +followed there were frequent clashes between the two, as on the +occasion just mentioned. + +"What was the matter, Tom?" asked Ned, when the young inventor came +back into the room. + +"Oh, the same old story," replied Tom. "Rad wanted to sweep the hall, +and Koku insisted 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 bigger one I told him. He likes hard work, so he was +pleased. Now we'll have it quiet for a little while. Did I understand +you to say, Mr. Damon, that--er--Mr. Hardley I believe the name is--had +a proposition to make to me?" + +"That's exactly it, my dear Mr. Swift!" broke in the man in question. +"I have a wonderful offer to make you, and I'm sure you will admit that +it will be well worth your while 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 there will be at least a million in it for Mr. Swift, and +another million for myself. There may be more, 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," went on Mr. Hardley, "I at once came to the conclusion that you +were the very man I wanted to 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 see how far he would go. And, as Tom said afterward, he, as +had Ned, took an instinctive dislike 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. "I may go farther and say I need considerable time to go into +all the details. May I speak now?" + +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. But the 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 introduction +by Mr. Damon brought this about. + +"I shall be glad to hear what you have to say, Mr. Hardley," said Tom, +as courteously as he could. "I will not go so far as to say that my +time is unlimited, but I will listen to you now if you care to go into +details." + +"That's good!" exclaimed the visitor. "I'm sure that when you have +listened you will agree 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 a member 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 to listen to you." + +"Very well, Mr. Swift, I'm going to ask you a question. Have you all +the money you want?" + +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 are certain 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 one coming." At that moment there was a knock at the door. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THINKING IT OVER + + +"Father, is that you?" asked Tom. "Father hasn't been feeling well, of +late," he said to the assembled company, "and I told him to go to lie +down. But he's hard to manage, and he 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 I have 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 away from 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 to disclose 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 +telephone he 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 the wire, 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 like sweep. Good for women and Rad, but not for Koku!" + +"He spoke the truth there," remarked Ned Newton, as the giant stalked +down the hall. "I never saw such a strong man. I'm afraid to shake +hands with him, for fear I'll be minus 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 in assuming that you have had some experience in submarine +work? I believe Mr. Damon mentioned something of that sort." + +"Submarine work? Bless my hydrometer, I should say so!" exclaimed the +eccentric man. "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 Tom Swift is concerned. Now +go ahead and tell him what you told me, and how many millions there are +in it." + +"Very well," assented the visitor. "Have you ever had any experience in +recovering treasure from sunken wrecks?" he asked Tom. + +"Yes," was the answer. "And it is curious that you should ask me that, +for my friend here, Ned Newton, and I were just talking about that very +matter. Here's what brought it up," 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. Of course 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 the +money." + +"Exactly," said Tom. + +"And will you bear me out when I say that if the wreck of a treasure +ship could be exactly located in water that is not too deep, half the +trouble would be solved?" asked Mr. 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 where the persons seeking them think they are. +And five miles, or even half a mile, is a good distance on the bottom +of the ocean." + +"Exactly," echoed Mr. Hardley. "Then if I could give you the exact +location of a sunken 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 any inducement to you to make +an attempt, Mr. Swift?" + +"I should want to hear more about it before I gave an answer," replied +Tom. "As perhaps 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 again engage 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 of hunting 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 to share +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 searching for 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 +might discover," was the answer, "but I have in mind one in particular +now. It is the wreck of the steamer Pandora which was sunk off the +coast of one of the West Indian Islands about a year ago." + +Ned Newton quickly caught up the page of the Sunday supplement and +scanned the list 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 the story 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 are generally kept quiet. +That is why nothing much appeared in the papers about the Pandora. But +I happen to know that she carried over two million dollars in gold, and +I know--" + +"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 +the circumstances, 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 very even, white teeth. "I don't blame you for getting excited. +Does that interest you?" he asked Tom. "Two million dollars in gold, +besides a quantity of silver--just how much I don't know." + +"It certainly sounds interesting," replied Tom, with a smile. "But are +you sure of your facts?" + +"Absolutely," was the answer. "I was a passenger on the Pandora when +she was wrecked in a storm. I saw the gold put on board. It was not +taken off, and is on her now as 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 we had to abandon ship, and I heard the exact nautical +location given him by an officer who made the calculation. I have it +written down to the second--latitude and longitude. That will be a help +in locating the wreck, won't it?" + +"Why, yes," Tom had to agree, "it will be, but if you know it, then the +captain and others must know it. And what is to prevent them from +making a search for the Pandora if they have not already done so?" + +"The best reason in the world," was the answer. "The boat containing +the captain and the officer who gave him the ship's position was sunk, +and all on board lost. The boat I was in was the only one picked up, +and I believe I am the only one who knows exactly where the Pandora +lies. + +"Now, here is my offer, Mr. Swift," went on the seeker after the +ocean's hidden wealth. "I will bear half the expense of fitting out a +submarine, or for any other kind of expedition to go in search of the +wreck of the Pandora. I will furnish you with the exact nautical +location, as I have it. And when the wealth is found and brought to the +surface, I will give you half--in other words at least a million +dollars! Does that appeal to you?" + +"I must say it is a fair, though perhaps strange, offer," conceded Tom. +"And a million dollars is not made every day nor every year. But what +about the title to this money? After we have recovered it--provided we +are successful--will not some person or some government lay claim to +it?" + +"None can successfully," declared Mr. Hardley. "As I told you, the +money was to finance a revolution. It was raised for an unlawful +purpose, so to speak, and no one has a valid claim to it under the +circumstances, so lawyers whom I have consulted have told me. But if +that is not enough, I have papers to prove that those who might be +called the owners have given up the search for it. More than a year has +elapsed, and though I don't know just how long it takes to outlaw an +under-ocean claim, I feel sure that we would have a legal and moral +right to take this gold if we could find it." + +"I should want to be satisfied on that point before I undertook the +search," said Tom. + +"Then you will undertake it?" eagerly exclaimed Mr. Hardley. + +"I will think it over," Tom answered quietly--so quietly that distinct +disappointment showed on the face of the visitor. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AGAINST HIS WILL + + +For a moment it seemed that Mr. Damon, as well as Mr. Hardley, felt +disappointment at Tom's answer, for the eccentric man exclaimed: + +"Bless my leather belt, Tom, but you aren't very keen on making a +million dollars!" + +"Oh, yes, I like to make money," the young inventor answered. "I guess +you know that, as well as any one, for you've been with me on several +trips. And I don't mind hard work, nor danger." + +"I'll say you don't!" added Ned, as he thought of some of Tom's +perilous voyages, among the diamond makers and in the caves of ice. + +"Well, if you are anxious to make money, as I admit I am," said Mr. +Hardley, "why can't you give me an answer now?" + +"Because," answered Tom, "there are many things to be considered. +Hunting for a treasure on the floor of the Atlantic isn't like going to +some location on land, however wild or inaccessible it might be. Do you +realize, Mr. Hardley, what a large difference in miles a small error in +nautical calculations makes? We might go to the exact spot where you +thought the wreck of the Pandora lies, only to find that we would have +to hunt around a long time. + +"I must think of that, and also think of my other business affairs. +Then, too, there is my father. He is getting old, and while he is still +active in the affairs of the company, particularly when it comes to +taking up new lines of work, I do not like to think of leaving him, as +I should have to, in case I went on this trip." + +"Take him along!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "He's gone with us before, Tom." + +"He's too old now," said the young inventor a bit sadly. "Father will +never make another extended trip. But I will let you have my answer as +soon as I can, Mr. Hardley, and I will give the matter considerable +thought." + +"I'm sure I hope you will, and also that you will consent to go," was +the answer. "A million is not easily to be come at in these days after +the Great War." + +"I realize that," agreed Tom with a smile. "And you shall have my +answer as soon as possible." + +With this the visitor was forced to be content, and a little later he +withdrew with Mr. Damon, the latter telling Tom that he would see him +again soon. + +"Well, that was queer, wasn't it?" remarked Ned, when he and Tom were +alone again. + +"What was?" asked Tom, as though his mind was far away, as indeed it +was. + +"That this man should come in with his project to search for a sunken +treasure wreck just as we were talking about how many millions were on +the bottom of the ocean." + +"Yes, it was quite a coincidence," Tom admitted. + +"What do you think of it--and him?" asked Ned. + +"Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't take a great fancy to Mr. +Hardley," Tom said. "I think he's altogether too cocksure, and takes +too much for granted. Still I may misjudge him. Certainly he doesn't +have a chance at a million dollars every day." + +"Do you think you could get the treasure out of this wreck, Tom, if you +could locate her?" + +"Why, it's possible; yes. We proved that with the Boldero." + +"Would you use the same submarine?" + +"No, I think I'd have to rebuild it, or make an altogether new one. +Possibly I might get one of Uncle Sam's and add some improvements of my +own." + +"Yes, you could do that," agreed Ned. "You've done so much for the +government that it couldn't refuse you something reasonable, now that +the war is over. Then do you think you'll go?" + +"Really, Ned, I can't make up my mind yet. Now let's forget the Pandora +and all the millions and get down to business. This Criterion company +seems to me to want altogether too much, We'll have to trim their +request down a bit. They owe the money and ought to pay it." + +"Yes, I'll get after them," said Ned, and then he and his chum, as well +as employer, plunged into a mass of business details. + +It was the next afternoon, when Tom, following a strenuous morning of +work, leaned back in his chair at his desk, that Mr. Damon was +announced. + +"Tell him to come in," ordered Tom, always glad to see his friend. +"Wait a minute, though!" he called to the messenger. "Is any one with +him?" + +"No, sir; he is alone." + +"Good! Then show him right in. I was afraid," said Tom to Ned, who was +also in the office, "that he had Hardley with him. I'm not quite ready +to see him yet." + +"Then you haven't made up your mind about going for the treasure?" + +"Not exactly. I shall, perhaps, this week." + +"Bless my matchbox, Tom, but I'm glad to see you!" cried Mr. Damon, as +he hastened forward with outstretched hand. "I was afraid you might be +out. Now look here! What about my friend Hardley? He's very anxious to +know your decision about going for that treasure, and I said I'd come +over and sound you. I don't mind saying, Tom, that if you go I'm going +too; if you'll take me, of course." + +"Well, Mr. Damon, you know you'll always be welcome, as far as I am +concerned," said the young inventor; "but, as a matter of fact, I don't +believe I'm going." + +"What? Not going to pick up a million dollars off the floor of the +ocean, Tom? Bless my bank balance! but that's foolish, it seems to me." + +"Perhaps it is, but I can't help it." + +"What's your principal objection?" asked the eccentric man. "It isn't +that you don't want the money, is it?" + +"Not exactly." + +"Then it must be that you object to Mr. Hardley personally." went on +Mr. Damon. "I began to suspect that, Tom, and I want to say that you +are wrong. Mr. Hardley is a friend of mine--a good friend. I have not +known him long, but he strikes me as being all right. He had some good +letters of introduction, and I believe he has money." + +"Where'd he get it?" asked Tom. + +"I don't know, exactly. Seems to me I heard him mention silver mines, +or it may have been gold. Anyhow, it had something to do with getting +wealth out of the ground. Now, Tom, I don't mind saying that I stand to +make a little money in case this thing goes through." + +"How's that, Mr. Damon?" asked the young scientist in surprise. + +"Why, I agreed to bear part of the expense," was the answer. "I thought +this was a pretty good scheme, and when Mr. Hardley came to me and told +me of the possibilities I agreed to help him finance the expenses. That +is, I have taken shares in the company he formed to raise his half of +the expense money. + +"Of course I thought of you at once when he spoke of having to search +out a sunken wreck, and I proposed your name. He'd heard of you, he +said, but didn't know you. So I brought you together and now--bless my +apple pie, Tom! I hope you aren't going to turn down a chance to make a +million and, incidentally, help an old friend." + +"Well," remarked Tom, slowly, "I must admit, Mr. Damon, that I didn't +think you'd go into a thing like this. Not that it is more risky than +other schemes, but I thought you didn't care for speculation." + +"Well, this sort of appealed to me Tom. You know--sunken wreck under +the ocean, down in a diving bell perhaps, and all that! There's +romance to it." + +"Yes, there is romance," agreed Tom. "And hard work, too. If I +undertook this it would mean an extra lot of work getting ready. I +suppose I could use my own submarine. I could get her in commission, +and make improvements more quickly than on any other." + +"Then you'll go?" quickly cried the eccentric man. + +"Well, since you tell me you are interested financially, I believe I +will," assented Tom, but he spoke reluctantly. "As a matter of fact, I +am going against my better judgment. Not that I fear we shall be in +danger," he hastened to add; "but I think it will prove a failure. +However, as Mr. Hardley will bear half the expense, and as by using my +own submarine that will not be much, I'll go!" + +"Then I'll tell him!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "Hurray! This is great! I +haven't had an exciting trip for a long while! Don't tell my wife about +it," he begged Tom and Ned. "At least not until just before we start. +Then she can't object in time. I'll have a wonderful experience, I +know. This will be good news to Dixwell Hardley!" + +And as Mr. Damon hastened away to acquaint his new friend with Tom's +decision, the young inventor remarked to Ned: + +"I'll go; but, somehow, I have a feeling that something will happen." + +"Something bad?" asked the financial manager. "No, I wouldn't go so far +as to say that. But I believe we'll have trouble. I'll start on the +search for the sunken millions, but rather against my better judgment. +However, maybe Mr. Damon's luck and good nature will pull us through!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BUSY DAYS + + +Once Tom Swift had made up his mind to do a thing he did it--even +though it was against his better judgment. His word, passed, was his +bond. + +In conformity then with his decision to take Mr. Damon and the latter's +friend, Mr. Hardley, on an undersea search for treasure, Tom at once +proceeded to make his preparations. Ned, too, had his work to do, since +the decision to make what might be a long trip would necessitate a +change in Tom's plans. But, as in everything he did, he threw himself +into this whole-heartedly and with enthusiasm. + +Not once did Tom Swift admit to himself that he was going into this +scheme because he thought well of it. It was all for Mr. Damon, after +Tom had learned that his friend had invested considerable money in a +company Mr. Hardley had formed to pay half the expenses of the trip. + +Tom even tried to buy Mr. Damon off, by offering the latter back all +the money the eccentric man had invested with his new friend. But Mr. +Damon exclaimed: + +"Bless my gasolene tank, Tom! I'm in this thing as much for the love of +adventure, as I am for the money. Now let's go on with it. You will +like Hardley better when you know him better." + +"Perhaps," said Tom dryly, but he did not think so. + +The young inventor insisted, before making any preparations for the +trip, that all the cards be laid on the table. That is, he wanted to be +sure there had been such a ship as the Pandora, that she was laden with +gold, and that she had sunk where Mr. Hardley said she had. The latter +was perfectly willing to supply all needful proofs, even though some +were difficult, because of the nature of the voyage of the treasure +craft. As a filibuster she was not trading openly. + +"Here are all the records," said Mr. Hardley to Tom one day, when the +young inventor, Ned, and Mr. Damon were gathered in Tom's office. "You +may satisfy yourself." + +And, with Ned's help, Tom did. + +There was no question but what the Pandora had sailed from a certain +port on a certain date. The official reports proved that. And that she +did carry a considerable treasure in gold was also established to the +satisfaction of Tom Swift. Because the gold was to be used for +furthering ends against one of the South American governments, the gold +shipment was not insured and, in consequence, no recovery could be made. + +"Then you are satisfied, are you, Mr. Swift, that the ship, set out +with over two millions in gold on board?" asked Mr. Hardley. + "Yes, that seems to be proved," Tom admitted, and Ned nodded. + "The next thing to prove is that she foundered in a storm about +the position I am going to tell you," went on Mr. Damon's friend. + +"He doesn't tell you the exact location now, Tom," explained Mr. Damon, +"because it might leak out. He'll disclose it to us as soon as we are +out of sight of land in the submarine." + +"I'm willing to agree to that proposition," Tom said. "But I want to be +sure she really did sink." + +This was proved to him by official records. There was no question but +that the Pandora had gone down in a big storm. And Mr. Hardley was on +board. He proved that, too, a not very difficult task, since the +official passenger list was open to inspection. + +Mr. Hardley repeated his story about having overheard the exact +location of the ship a few minutes before she sank, and he also told of +the captain and several members of the ship's company having been +drowned. This, too, was confirmed. + +"Then," went on Mr. Hardley, "all that remains for me to do is to +deposit at some bank my half of the expenses and await your word to go +aboard the submarine." + +"I believe that is all," returned Tom. "But, on my part, it will take +some little time to fit the submarine out as I want to have her. There +are some special appliances I want to take along which will aid us in +the search for the gold, if we find the place where the Pandora is +sunk." + +"Oh, we'll find that all right," declared Mr. Hardley, "if you will +only follow my directions." + +Tom looked slightly incredulous, but said nothing. + +Then followed busy days. The submarine Advance, which had made several +successful trips, as related in the book bearing the title, "Tom Swift +and His Submarine Boat," was hauled into dry dock and the work of +overhauling her begun. Tom put his best men to work, and, after a +consultation with his father, decided on some radical changes in the +craft. + +"Tom, my boy," said the aged Mr. Swift, "I wish you weren't going on +this trip." + +"Why, Dad?" asked the young inventor. + +"Because I fear something will happen. We don't really need this money, +and suppose--suppose--" + +"Oh, I'm not worrying, Dad," was the answer. "I've taken worse risks +than this, many a time. I'm really doing it as a favor to Mr. Damon. +He's got too much money invested to let him lose it. And we can use a +million dollars ourselves. It will enable me to put in operation a plan +to pension our workmen. I've long had that in mind, but I've never had +enough capital to carry it out." + +"Well, of course, Tom, that's a worthy object, and I won't make any +further objections. But take my advice, and strengthen the submarine." + +"Why, Dad?" asked Tom in some surprise. "Because you'll find the water +there of a greater depth than you think," was the answer. "I know you +have the official hydrographic charts, but there's a mistake, I'm sure. +I once made a study of that part of the ocean, and there are currents +there at certain seasons of the year that no one suspects, and deep +caverns that aren't charted. If the Pandora lies in one of these +you'll need a great strength of walls to your submarine to withstand +the pressure of deep water." + +The craft Tom Swift proposed to use in searching for the treasure ship +Pandora was of the regular cigar-shape, but inside it had many special +features. It was more comfortable than the usual submarine, not being +intended for fighting, though it did carry guns and a torpedo tube. Tom +intended renaming the craft, which had been called Advance, and one +day, when there had been some discussion as to what the undersea craft +ought to be called, Ned explained: + +"Why don't you name it after her?" + +"After whom?" inquired Tom, in some surprise, looking up from a letter +he was writing. + +"Your friend and future wife, Mary Nestor," answered Ned. "I'm sure +she'd appreciate it." + +"That isn't such a bad idea," conceded Tom musingly. "The only thing +about it is that I don't want Mary's name bandied about that way." + +"Use her initials, then," suggested Ned. + +"How do you mean?" + +"Why not call it the M. N. 1.? Isn't that a good name?" + +"The M. N. 1." mused Tom. "Not so bad. If the N. C. 4 flew over the +ocean the M. N. 1 ought to be able to navigate under it. I think I'll +do that, Ned." + +So the Advance, rebuilt and refitted in many ways, was christened the +M. N. 1, and a wonderful craft she proved to be. Mary Nestor was quite +pleased when Tom told her what he had done. She appreciated the +delicate compliment he had paid her. + +Busy and more busy were the days that passed. As the M. N. 1 had to be +refitted some miles from Tom's home, where it was feasible to launch +her for the trip, he had to make the journey between the drydock and +his shop either by automobile or aeroplane. Often he choose the latter, +since he had a number of small, speedy craft in his hangars. Sometimes +Ned or Mr. Damon went with him, but Mr. Hardley could never be induced +to ride in an airship. + +"I'll travel on the ocean or under it," he said, "but I'm not going to +take a chance in the air. I'm too afraid of falling." + +"Tom, what's this?" asked Ned one day, when he and Tom had come to see +how the work of remodeling the submarine was getting along. "It looks +like something you used when you dug your big tunnel." + +"That's a new kind of diving bell," Tom answered. "You know it isn't +easy to get treasure out of a sunken ship. It isn't like picking it off +the bottom of the ocean. We've got to get it out from inside--perhaps +from inside a strong box or a safe. This bell may come in useful." + +"Can't you use the special diving suits that you always used to carry?" +the financial manager wanted to know. + +"We might, if the water isn't too deep," replied Tom. "But you know +there is a limit to how far down a man in even my kind of diving dress +can go. With this diving bell a much greater depth can be reached. And +this diving bell is not like any you have ever seen or read about. My +father gave me the idea for it. I'll demonstrate it to you some day." + +A diving bell is shaped like its name. A common glass tumbler thrust +down into a pail of water, with the open side down, will show exactly +the principle on which a diving bell works. It illustrates the fact +that two things cannot occupy the same place at the same time. + +Pushing the tumbler, open end down, into the pail of water, leaves a +space in the upper end of the tumbler which the water cannot fill, +because it is already occupied with air. Imagine a big tumbler, made of +thick steel, lowered into the water. Air pumped into the upper part not +only keeps the water from entering, but also enables a man inside to +breathe and to move about inside the bell which may be lowered to the +floor of the ocean. But, as Tom told Ned, his diving bell was a big +improvement over those commonly used. + +The two young men inspected the progress made in refitting the +submarine, and Tom expressed himself as satisfied. + +"How soon do you think you can start?" asked Ned. + +"In about two weeks," was the answer. "I'll want to get to the West +Indies before the fall storms start. Not only will it be impossible to +make a search then, but the very location of the sunken wreck may be +changed." + +"How so?" asked Ned. + +"Because of undersea currents. They are strong enough, not only to +sweep a wreck away from the place where it may have settled, but they +may cover it with sand, and then it is hopeless to try to dig it out. +So we've got to go soon, if we go at all." + +"Well, I'm with you!" exclaimed Ned. "Hello! here's some one looking +for you, I guess," he added, as a boy came hurrying down to the dock +from the temporary office Tom had set up there. + +"You're wanted on the telephone, Mr. Swift," said the messenger. "It's +important, too." + +"All right. I'll come at once," was the answer. "Hope it isn't bad +news," mused Ned, as his chum hurried on in advance. "Maybe Hardley has +found out he hasn't a right to search for that sunken gold after all. +That would be too bad for Mr. Damon!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MARY'S ODD STORY + + +"Hello! Hello! Yes, this is Tom Swift. What's that? You've had an +accident? Great Scott, Mary! I hope you aren't hurt." + +Ned overheard these words as he stood outside the temporary office, +from inside which Tom Swift was telephoning. + +"There's been an accident!" thought the financial manager. "I wonder if +I can help?" + +He was about to hurry in to offer his services when he heard Tom laugh, +and then he knew it was all right. He heard his chum say: + +"I'll be right over and get you. Just where are you?" + +Then followed a period of listening on the part of Tom, to be broken by +the words: + +"All right, I'll be right with you. Lucky I have my Air Scout with me. +You aren't afraid to ride in that, are you? No, that's good! I'll be +right over. Ned is here with me, and I'll have him telephone to your +father and mother." + +With that Tom hung up the receiver and joined his chum. + +"Mary had a slight automobile accident about five miles from here," Tom +told his chum. "Some green driver ran into her and dished one of her +wheels. No one hurt, but she hasn't a spare wheel and can't navigate. +She called me up at the house, not wishing to alarm her father, and +Mrs. Baggert told her you and I had come down to the dock, so she +reached me here. I'll go in the small aeroplane and get her. Luckily I +left it here the last time I made a trip. Will you call up Mary's home +and let them know she's all right and that I'll soon be home with her? +They might hear an exaggerated account of the accident." + +Ned promised to do this, and at once put in a call for the home of his +chum's fiancee, while Tom had one of his men run out the Air Scout. +This was an aeroplane recently perfected by the young inventor which +slipped through space with scarcely a sound. So silent was it that the +craft had been dubbed "Silent Sam," and it stood Tom in good stead as +those of you know who have read the volume just before the present +book. This sky glider Tom would now use in going to the rescue of Mary +Nestor was not, however, the same large craft that figured in the +previous story. That airship had been given to the United States +government for war purposes. But Tom had built himself a smaller one +for his own use. It had the advantage of enabling him to carry on a +conversation with his passenger when he took one aloft. + +About a week before Tom and Ned had flown from Shopton to the dry dock +where the submarine was being reconstructed in this small airship. +Engine trouble had developed after they had landed, and they had gone +back by automobile, leaving the Air Scout to be repaired. This had been +done, and now Tom intended to use it in going to Mary's rescue. + +Now, when the Air Scout had been run out of the hangar, Tom climbed +into it. + +"Sorry I can't take you along," he called to Ned, who had finished +telephoning to Mary's home, "but, under the circumstances--" + +"Two's company and three's a crowd!" laughed Ned. "I know!" + +"No, I didn't mean that," Tom said. "You know Mary likes you, but this +will carry only two." + +"I know!" answered his chum. "On your way!" + +And with an almost noiseless throb of her engine and a whirr of her +propeller, the aeroplane rolled swiftly over the level starting ground +and took the air like a swan leaving its lake. + +Tom did not rise to a great height, as he would need only a few minutes +to reach the place where Mary was stalled by the accident to her +machine. Soon he was hovering over a level field, one of several that +lined the country highways in that section. A small crowd on the +turnpike gathered about an evidently disabled automobile gave Tom the +clew he needed, and presently he made a landing. Instantly the throng +of country people who had gathered to look at the automobile crash +deserted that for a view of something more sensational--an airship. + +Cautioning the boys who gathered about not to "monkey" with any of the +mechanism, Tom hastened over to where Mary was standing near her car. + +"Are you sure you aren't hurt?" he asked her anxiously. + +"Oh, yes, very sure," she replied, smiling at him. "It isn't much of an +accident--only one wheel smashed. We were both going slowly." + +"But it was all my fault!" insisted a young fellow who had been driving +the car that crashed into Mary's. "I'm all kinds of sorry, and of +course I'll pay all damages. I wanted this young lady to let me drive +her home and then send a garage man to tow her car, but she said she +had other plans. I don't blame her for not wanting to ride in my jitney +bus when I see what kind of car you have," and he looked over toward +Tom's aeroplane. + +"Thank you, just the same," murmured Mary. "I'm not quite sure that it +was all your fault. But if you will be so good as to send a man after +my machine I'll go back with Mr. Swift. Wait until I get my bag," she +added, and she extracted it from the seat in her automobile. "There'll +be room for this, won't there?" she asked. "I've been shopping." + +"You must have made some large purchases," laughed Tom, looking +critically at the small bag. "Yes, there'll be room for that, all +right." + +He made a brief examination of Mary's machine, ascertaining that the +dished wheel was the main damage, and then, having given the young man +who caused the accident directions for the garage attendant, Tom led +his pretty companion across the field to the waiting airship. + +Of course a crowd gathered to see them start off, and this was not long +delayed, as Tom was not fond of curiosity seekers. In a few minutes he +and Mary were soaring aloft. + +"Well, how are you?" he asked Mary, when they were alone well above the +earth. + +"Fine and dandy," she answered, smiling at him, for they were riding +side by side and could converse with little difficulty owing to the +silent running of Tom's latest invention. "I'm sorry to have called you +away from your work," she added, "but when Mrs. Baggert told me you +were at the submarine dock I thought perhaps you could run out and get +me in your machine. I didn't expect you to fly to me." + +"I'm always ready to do that!" exclaimed Tom, as he shot upward to +avoid a bank of low-lying clouds. "Were you frightened at the crash in +the machine?" + +"Not greatly. I saw it coming, and knew it was unavoidable. That chap +hasn't been running autos very long, I imagine, and he lost his head in +the emergency. But I had my brakes on and he just coasted into me. I +was lucky in that it wasn't worse." + +"I should say so! Do you want to get right home?" + +"I think I'd better. Mother and father may be a little worried about +me. And they've had trouble enough of late." + +"Trouble!" exclaimed Tom, in a questioning voice. "Anything serious?" + +"No, just family financial matters. Not ours," she hastened to add, as +she saw Tom look quickly at her. "A relative. I shouldn't have +mentioned it, but father and mother are a little worried, and I don't +want to add to it." + +"Of course not," agreed Tom. "If there's anything I can do?" + +"Oh, I expected you to say that!" laughed Mary. "Thanks. If there is +we'll call on you. But it may all be straightened out. Father was +expecting a message from Uncle Barton today. So, though I'd like to +take a cloud-ride with you, I think I'd better get home." + +"All right," agreed Tom. "I told Ned to telephone that you were all +right, so they won't worry. And now try to enjoy yourself." + +"I'll try," promised Mary, but it was obvious, even from the quick +glances Tom gave her, that she was worried about something. Mary was +not her usual, spontaneous, jolly self, and Tom realized it. + +"Well, here we are!" he announced a little later, as they soared above +a level field not far from her home. "Sorry I can't let you down right +on your roof, but it isn't flat enough nor big enough." + +"Oh, I don't mind a little walk, especially as I didn't have to hike it +all the way in from Bailey Corners," she said, referring to the place +of the automobile accident. "I suppose the time will come when +everybody who now has an auto will have an airship and a landing place, +or a starting place, for it at his own door," she added. + +"Either that, or else we'll have airships so compact that they can set +off and land in as small a space as an auto now requires," said Tom. +"The latter would be the best solution, as one great disadvantage of +airships now is the manner of starting and stopping. It's too big." + +Tom left his Air Scout in a field owned by Mr. Nestor, where he had +often landed before, and walked up to the house with Mary. + +"Oh, I'm glad you're back!" exclaimed Mrs. Nestor, when she saw the two +coming up the steps. + +"You weren't worried, were you, after Ned telephoned?" asked Tom. + +"Not exactly worried, but I thought perhaps he was making light of it. +Do tell me what happened, Mary!" + +Thereupon the girl related all the circumstances of the smash, and Tom +added his share of the story. + +"Did father hear anything from Uncle Barton?" asked Mary, after her +mother's curiosity had been satisfied. + +"Yes," was the answer, in rather despondent tones, "he did, but the +news was not encouraging. The papers cannot be found." + +"It's mother's brother we're talking about," Mary explained to Tom. +"Barton Keith in his name. Perhaps you remember him?" + +"I've heard you speak of him," Tom admitted. + +"Well," resumed Mary, "Uncle Barton is in a peck of trouble. He was +once very rich, and he invested heavily in oil lands, in Oklahoma, I +believe." + +"No, in Texas," corrected Mrs. Nestor. + +"Yes, it was Texas," agreed Mary. "Well he bought, or got, somehow, +shares in some valuable oil lands in Texas, and expected to double his +fortune. Now, instead, he's probably lost it all." + +"That's too bad!" exclaimed Tom. "How did it happen?" + +"In rather an odd way," went on Mary. "He really owns the lands, or at +least half of them, but he cannot prove his title because the papers he +needs were taken from him, and, he thinks, by a man he trusted. He's +been trying to get the documents back, and every day we've been +expecting to hear that he has them, but mother says there has been no +result." + +"No," said Mrs. Nestor. "My brother thought sure he had a trace of the +man he believes has the papers, or who had them, but he lost track of +him. If we could only find him--" + +At that moment a maid came into the room to announce that Tom Swift was +wanted at the telephone. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE TRIAL TRIP + + +"This is my busy day!" announced the young inventor as he went into the +Nestor sitting room, where the telephone was installed. + +"Perhaps it is some one else who wants you to come to their rescue," +suggested Mary. + +But it was not, as Tom related a little later when he had finished his +talk over the wire. + +"Just a business matter," he announced to Mary and her mother, when he +rejoined them. "A gentleman with whom I expect to make a submarine trip +is at the house, and wants to consult with me about details. He is +getting anxious to start. Mr. Damon is there, too." + +"Blessing every thing he lays eyes on, I suppose," remarked Mrs. +Nestor, with a smile. + +"Yes, and some things he doesn't see," agreed Tom. "He is going with us +on this submarine trip." + +"Oh, Tom, are you going to undertake another of those dangerous +voyages?" asked Mary, in some alarm. + +"Well, I don't know that they are particularly dangerous," replied Tom, +with a smile. "But we expect to make a search for a sunken treasure +ship in a submarine. That's the vessel I'm working on now," he added. +"We're rebuilding the Advance, you know, making her more up-to-date, +and adding some new features, including her name--M. N. 1." + +"I suppose Mr. Damon's friend is getting anxious to make a start, +particularly as he has already invested several thousand dollars in the +project," went on the young inventor. "He formed a company to pay half +the expenses of the search, and they will share in the treasure--if we +find it," Tom said. "I wish Mr. Damon, who holds most of the shares the +promoter let out of his own hands, had not gone into it, but, since he +has, I'm going to do the best I can for him." + +"Then aren't you friendly with the other man?" asked Mary. + +"I don't especially care for him," the young inventor admitted. "He +isn't just my style--too fond of himself, and all that. Still I may be +misjudging him. However, I'm in the game now, and I'm going to stick. +I'll have to be traveling on," he said. "Mr. Damon and his friend are +at my house, and they've been telephoning all over to find me. I guess +this was one of the first places they tried," he said with a smile, +referring to the fact that he spent considerable time at Mary's home. + +"Well, I'm glad they found you, but I'm sorry you have to go," Mary +said with a smile. + +A little later Tom Swift, with Ned, for whom he called, was on his way +back home in his Air Scout, having said goodbye to Mary and her mother +and expressing the hope that Mr. Keith would soon be over his business +troubles. + +"Oil wells are queer, anyhow," mused Tom. + +Then Tom got to thinking about Dixwell Hardley: "I don't like the man, +and the more I see of him the less I like him. But I'm in for it now, +and I'll stick to the finish. I only wish I could locate the treasure +ship, give him his share, and get back to my work. I'm going to try to +turn out an airship that a man can use as handily as he does a flivver +now." + +Musing on the possibilities in this field, Tom, having left Ned at the +latter's home, soared down from aloft, and a little later, having told +Koku to look after the Air Scout, much to the delight of the giant and +the discomfiture of Rad, the young inventor was closeted with Mr. Damon +and Dixwell Hardley. + +"Bless my straw hat, Tom!" exclaimed the eccentric man, "but we just +couldn't wait any longer. How are you coming on, and when can we start +on this treasure-hunting trip? I declare it makes me feel young again +to think about it!" + +"Well, it won't be long now," was the answer. "The men are working hard +to get the submarine in shape, and I should say that in another week, +or two weeks at the most, we could set off!" + +"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Hardley. "I have received additional +information," he went on, "to the effect that the amount of gold on +board the Pandora was even greater than we at first thought." + +"That sounds encouraging," replied Tom. "It only remains to find the +sunken ship now. But what interests me greatly is whether, after we +have gotten this gold, supposing we are successful, we shall be allowed +to keep it." + +"Bless my bank book! why not?" asked Mr. Damon. "Isn't it wealth +abandoned at the bottom of the sea, and isn't finding keeping?" + +"Not always," answered Tom. "There are certain rules and laws about +treasure, and it might happen that after we got this--if we do--it +could be taken away from us." + +"I think there will be no difficulty on this score," said Mr. Hardley. +"In the first place, two attempts were made to get this wealth, and +were unsuccessful. Then it was practically abandoned, and I believe +under the law the persons who now find it will be entitled to keep it. +Besides the persons who gathered it together did so for an unlawful +purpose--that of starting a revolution in a friendly country--and they +would not dare claim it for fear of giving their secret away." + +"Well, perhaps you are right," assented Tom. "We'll make a try for it, +anyhow." + +"You say the submarine is nearly ready?" asked Mr. Hardley. + +"She will be ready for a trial trip at the end of this week," said Tom, +"and be fitted up for the voyage within another seven days, I hope. +Then for the great adventure!" and he laughed, though, truth to tell, +he had no real liking for his task. The more he saw of Mr. Hardley the +less he liked him. + +"I shall begin getting my affairs in shape," said the latter, as he +gathered up some papers he had brought to attempt to prove to Tom that +the wealth of the Pandora was greater than had been supposed. "I have +many large interests," he went on, rather pompously, "and they need +looking after; especially if I undertake anything so extra hazardous as +a submarine trip." + +"Yes, there always is some danger," admitted Tom. "But then there is +danger walking along the street." + +"Oh, there's no danger with Tom Swift!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "I've +been under the sea and above the clouds with him, and, bless my +rainbow! he always brought us safe home." + +"And I'll try to do the same this time," said the young inventor. + +Busy days followed for Tom Swift and his friends. The force at work on +the submarine turned night into day to rush her completion, and in due +season she was set afloat in the dry dock basin and formally +rechristened the M. N. 1. + +Mary blushed as she gave the boat her new name, and there was a little +cheer from the group of workmen gathered at the dock. There was no +launching in the real sense of the word, since as the Advance that +ceremony had been gone through with for the undersea craft. + +She had been greatly changed interiorly and outwardly. Her skin, or +plates, having been doubled and strengthened. For Tom proposed to go to +a much greater depth than ever before. + +In addition to using the submarine herself in a search for the gold on +the Pandora, Tom had installed on board some new kinds of diving +apparatus and also a diving bell. If one would not serve, the other +might, he reasoned. + +"Well, Tom," remarked his aged father the night before they were to +start on the trial trip, "I understand you have practically rebuilt the +Advance." + +"Yes; and I think she's a much better craft, too, Father." + +"Glad to hear that, Tom. Of course you kept the gyroscope rudder +feature?" + +"No, I didn't," replied Tom. "If I had left that installed it would +have meant carrying a smaller diving bell, and I think that last will +be more useful than the gyroscope. I put in a set of double-acting +depth rudders instead." + +Mr. Swift shook his head. + +"I'm sorry for that, Tom," he remarked. "There's nothing like the +gyroscope rudder in a tight pinch--say when there's a storm. And for +holding the boat steady, if you have to make a sudden turn under water, +to avoid an obstruction you come upon unexpectedly, a gyroscope can't +be improved on. It holds you steady and prevents your turning turtle." + +"I've put side fin-keels to correct that," Tom explained. + +But still his father was not satisfied. + +"I'd rather you had kept the gyroscope," he said, and the time was to +come when Tom Swift wished that himself. + +But it was too late to make the change now, and so, with more than +usual confidence in his own designing abilities, the next day the young +inventor and his friends went aboard the M. N. 1 for the trial trip. + +"You don't easily get seasick, do you?" Tom asked Mr. Hardley, as they +descended the hatchway into the interior of the craft. + +"No, I'm considered a good sailor." + +"Well, you'll need to be," went on Tom, with a smile. "Not that we are +likely to strike any rough water now, though the reports say a stiff +breeze is blowing in the bay. But when we once start for the West +Indies you are likely to experience a new sensation. I've known +sailors who never had any qualms, even in terrible storms, to get ill +in a submarine when she went through only a small blow. The motion is +different from that on a surface boat." + +"I can imagine so," returned Mr. Hardley. "But I'll be thinking of the +millions in gold on the Pandora, and that will keep my mind off being +seasick." + +"Let us hope so," murmured Tom. + +He gave the word, they all descended, the hatch covers were closed +down, and the M. N. 1 was ready to start on a trial trip. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MUD BANK + + +"What's that noise?" asked Mr. Hardley. + +Mr. Hardley, Tom Swift, Mr. Damon, Ned Newton, Koku, and one or two +navigating officers of the craft, were gathered in the operating cabin +of the M. N. 1. + +"That's water being pumped into the tanks," explained Tom. "We are now +going down. If you'll watch the depth gauge you can note our progress." + +"Going down, are we?" remarked Mr. Hardley. "Well, it's interesting to +say the least," and he observed the gauge, which showed them to be +twenty feet under the surface. + +"Bless my hydrometer, but he's got nerve for a first trip in a +submarine! He's all right, isn't he?" whispered Mr. Damon to Tom. + +"Well, I'm glad to see he isn't nervous," remarked Tom, honest enough +to give his visitor credit for what was due him. And indeed many a +person is nervous going down in a submarine for the first time. "Still +we can't go more than thirty feet down in this water," went on Tom. "A +better test will be when we get about five hundred feet below the +surface. That's a real test, though as far as knowing it is concerned, +a person can't tell ten feet from ten hundred in a submarine under +water, unless he watches the gauge." + +"Well, I think you'll find Mr. Hardley all right," said Mr. Damon, who +seemed to have taken a strong liking to his new friend. + +Certainly the latter showed no signs of nervousness as the craft slowly +settled to the proper depth. He asked numberless questions, showing his +interest in the operation of the M. N. 1, but he showed not the least +sign of fear. However, as Tom said, that might come later. + +"We are going down now," Tom explained, as he pointed out to Mr. +Hardley the various controlling wheels and levers, "by filling our +ballast tanks with water. We can rise, when needful, by forcing out +this water by means of compressed air. When we are on the ocean we can +go down by using our diving rudders, and in much quicker time than by +filling our tanks." + +"How is that?" asked the seeker after the Pandora's gold. + +"Filling the tanks is slow work in itself," replied Tom, "and they have +to be filled very carefully and evenly, so we don't stand on our stern +or bow in going down. We want to sink on an even keel, and sometimes +this is hard to accomplish. But we are doing it now," and he called +attention to an indicator which told how much the M. N. 1 might be +listing to one side or to one end or the other. + +A submarine, as everyone knows, is essentially a water-tight tank, +shaped like a cigar, with a propeller on one end. It can sink below the +surface and move along under water. It sinks because rudders force it +down, and water taken into tanks in its interior hold it to a certain +depth. It can rise by ejecting this extra water and by setting the +rudders in the proper position. + +A submarine moves under water by means of electric motors, the current +of which is supplied by storage batteries. On the surface when the +hatches can be opened, oil or gasolene engines are used. These engines +cannot be used under water because they depend on a supply of air, or +oxygen, and when the submarine is tightly sealed all the air possible +is needed for her crew to breathe. While cruising on the surface a +submarine recharges her storage batteries to give her motive power when +she is submerged. + +There are many types of submarines, some comparatively simple and +small, and others large and complex. In some it is possible for the +crew to live many days without coming to the surface. + +Tom Swift's reconstructed craft compared favorably with the best and +largest ever made, though she was not of exceptional size. She was very +strong, however, to allow her to go to a great depth, for the farther +down one goes below the surface of the sea, the greater the pressure +until, at, say, six miles, the greatest known depth of the ocean, the +pressure is beyond belief. And yet is possible that marine monsters +may live in that pressure which would flatten out a block of solid +steel into a sheet as thin as paper. + +"Well, we are as deep down as it is safe to go in the river," announced +Tom, as the gauge showed a distance below the surface of a little less +than twenty-nine feet. "Now we'll move into the bay. How do you like +it, Mr. Hardley?" + +"Very well, so far. But it isn't very exciting yet." + +"Bless my accident policy!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "I hope you aren't +looking for excitement." + +"I'm used to it," was the answer. "The more there is the better I like +it." + +"Well, you may get your wish," said Tom. + +He turned a lever, and those on board the submarine became conscious of +a forward motion. She was no longer sinking. + +She trembled and vibrated as the powerful electric motors turned her +propellers, and Tom, having seen that all was running smoothly in the +main engine room, called Mr. Damon, Ned, and Mr. Hardley to him. + +"We'll go into the forward pilot house and give Mr. Hardley a view +under water," he announced. "Of course, you'll see nothing like what +you'll view when we're in the ocean," added the young inventor, "but it +may interest you." + +The four were soon in the forward compartment of the craft. She could +be directed and steered from here when occasion arose, but now Tom was +letting his navigator direct the craft from the controls in the main +engine room. A conning tower, rising just above the deck of the craft, +gave the pilot the necessary view. + +"Here you are!" exclaimed Tom, as he switched out the lights in the +cabin. For a moment they were in darkness, and then, with a click, +steel plates, guarding heavy plate glass bull's-eyes, moved back, and +Mr. Hardley for the first time looked out on an underwater scene. He +saw the murky waters of river down which they were proceeding to the +bay moving past the glass windows. Now and then a fish swam up, +looking in, and, with a swirl of its tail, shot away again, apparently +frightened well-nigh to death. + +"Bless my shoe laces, Tom!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "this isn't a marker +compared to some of the sights we've seen, is it?" + +"I can imagine not," said Mr. Hardley. "But it is interesting. I shall +be anticipating more wonderful sights." + +"And you'll get them!" exclaimed Ned. "Do you remember, Tom, the time +the big octopus tried to hold us back?" + +"Yes, indeed," answered the young inventor. "That gave us a scare for +the time being." + +Steadily the M. N. 1 kept on her way under water. Her path was +illuminated to a considerable degree by a broad, diffused beam of light +from a powerful searchlight that was fixed just back of the conning +tower, giving the helmsman a certain degree of vision. This light also +served to illuminate the water, so that those in the forward cabin +could see what was going on around them. + +"There isn't much of interest in the river," said Tom. "No big fish, or +anything else of moment. Even in the bay we won't see much to attract +our attention. But I want to make sure everything is working smoothly +before we start for the West Indies." + +"That's right!" agreed Mr. Hardley. "We want to make a success of this +trip." + +He remained at the glass bull's-eyes, now and then exclaiming as some +shad or other fair-sized fish came into view. Suddenly, however, his +exclamation was sharper than usual. + +"Look!" he exclaimed. "There's part of a wreck!" + +Ned, Mr. Damon, and Tom looked out and saw, sweeping past them, the +ribs and worm-eaten timbers of some craft, lying on the bottom of the +river. + +"Yes, that's the remains of an old brick scow," the young inventor +explained. "That's one of our water-marks, so to speak. It is at the +bend of the river. We turn now, and head for the bay." + +As he spoke they all became aware of a sudden swerve in the course of +the submarine. The helmsman had, doubtless, noted the "water-mark," as +Tom termed it, and as an automobilist on land might swing at the +cross-roads, the steersman was changing the course of his craft. + +"We'll go deeper," said Tom a moment later, as the wreck passed out of +view. "We can go about fifty feet down now. Yes, he's sinking her," he +added, as a gauge showed the craft to be descending. "Nelson knows his +business all right." + +"He is your captain?" asked Mr. Hardley. + +"One of the best, yes. He'll go with us on the search for the Pandora." + +They talked of various matters, Tom relating to Mr. Hardley how a tug +had rammed the brick scow some years ago, and sunk it in the river. + +The submarine was now about forty-eight feet below the surface, and +suddenly they all became aware that her speed had increased. + +"Guess he's going to give the motors a good try-out," observed Tom. "I +think I'll go back to the engine room. You may remain here, if you +like, and you'll probably see--" + +A cry from Mr. Damon interrupted him. + +"Bless my rubber boots, Tom! Look!" cried the eccentric man. "We're +going to ram a mud bank!" + +As he spoke they all became aware of a solid black mass looming in +front of the bull's-eye window. An instant later the submarine came to +a jarring stop, as if she had struck some soft, yielding substance. +There was a confused shouting throughout the craft, the noise of +machinery, a trembling and vibration, and then ominous quiet. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +READY TO START + + +Characteristic it was of Tom Swift to act calmly in times of stress and +danger, and he ran true to form now. Only for an instant did he show +any sign of perturbation. Then with calmness and deliberation the young +inventor quickly did a number of things to the controls within his +reach. + +First of all he signaled to the engine room that he was going to take +charge of the boat. This meant that the navigator in the conning tower +was to keep his hands off the various levers and wheel-valves. It was +possible to operate the M. N. 1 from three positions, but Tom wanted no +triplicate handling of his craft now. + +Almost the instant Tom signaled that he would take charge back came +flashing the electrical signal from the conning tower that his orders +were understood. The next thing that those aboard the craft became +aware of was a tremor that seemed to run through the whole under-sea +ship. The quiet had changed to a subdued humming, and the ominous lack +of motion was succeeded by violent vibration. + +"Backing her up, Tom?" asked Ned, in a low voice. + +"Trying to," was the answer. "But I'm afraid her nose has gone in +pretty deep. I've reversed the propellers." + +For perhaps a minute this vibration continued, showing that the +powerful electric motors were turning over the twin propellers at the +blunt stern of the craft. But she did not change her position. + +With a touch of his hand, and still almost as cool as the proverbial +cucumber (though why they should be cool it is hard to say), Tom +stopped the motors. Once again the craft was quiet, but now, instead of +the occupants being able to see clearly from the thick, glass windows +in the forward cabin, the water showed muddy and murky in the glare of +the underwater searchlight. + +"Bless my postage stamps, Tom! what has happened?" exclaimed Mr. Damon. +"Has a giant squid attacked us, as one did some time ago, and is he +roiling up the water?" + +"No, it isn't a squid, Mr. Damon," replied the young inventor easily; +"though the water does look as if a squid had spilled a lot of his ink +in it. This is just the effect of mud stirred up by our propellers. +There may be more of it." + +Ned looked toward Mr. Hardley to see how he was taking it. The seeker +after gold apparently had good control of his nerves, or else he was +ignorant of what was going on. For he asked, casually enough: + +"Have we stopped?" + +"We have," answered Tom. "I thought I'd give you a view of the scenery." + +Perhaps he spoke sarcastically, but, if he did, Mr. Damon's friend did +not seem to be aware of it. Coolly enough he replied: + +"Well, if this is a fair sample of underwater scenery I prefer +something up above, though I appreciate that this may be needful." + +"We'll soon be traveling along," announced Tom. "Koku," he added to the +giant, who had been calmly sitting during the excitement, "go to the +engine room and help with the big levers." + +"Yes, Master," was the answer. Koku had implicit faith in Tom. + +Waiting a moment for his faithful servant to reach the post assigned to +him, Tom again signaled to his helpers and then quickly turned a wheel +which produced startling results. For all within the submarine suddenly +slid forward across the cabin floor. + +"Bless my hammock hooks, Tom! are you standing her on her head?" cried +Mr. Damon. + +"That's exactly what I'm doing," was the answer. "I've started to empty +one of the after ballast tanks, and that, naturally, raises the stern +while the nose is held down." + +The submarine was indeed in a peculiar position. She was on a slant in +the water, her nose held fast in the soft mud bank, and it was Tom's +idea that by making the stern buoyant it might help to pull her free. + +To this end he also gave what assistance the propellers were capable of +adding by starting the motors again, so that the craft once more +trembled and vibrated. + +But it all seemed to no purpose. Aside from the slanting position, +there was no change in the M. N. 1. Ned, looking out into the murky +water, which had cleared slightly, saw that the craft was still held +fast. And then, for the first time, Mr. Hardley seemed to become aware +that something serious was the matter. Up to now he seemed to think +that all that had occurred was done for the purpose of testing the +newly outfitted underseas boat. + +"Is there anything wrong?" he asked sharply of Tom. "Why are we in this +position, and why don't we go on out to the open ocean and make a test +at considerable depth? We'll have to go down deeper than this if we +find the Pandora!" + +"I suppose so," agreed Tom. "But we have had an accident, and--" + +"An accident!" interrupted the gold-seeker, and then Ned saw him turn +pale. "Do you mean to say this is not part of the test?" + +"We have run into a mud bank," said Tom. "The steersman must have +become confused, or else, since we last used the submarine, there has +been a shift of the mud banks in this river and one exists where there +was none before. At any rate, we ran our nose deep into it, and here we +are--stuck!" + +"Can't we get loose--go up to the surface?" demanded Mr. Hardley. + +"I'm trying to bring that about," announced Tom calmly. "So far her +engines haven't been able to pull her loose." + +"But Great Scott, man, we can't stay here!" cried the now excited +adventurer. "We'll be drowned like rats in a trap! Let me out! Isn't +there some way? I'll be shot through a torpedo tube, if necessary! I +must get out! I can't stay here to be drowned! I have too much at +stake!" + +"Now wait a minute!" calmly advised Tom Swift. "You haven't any more at +stake than the rest of us. None of us wants to be drowned, and there is +only a remote possibility that we shall be. I haven't played all my +cards yet. We can live on this boat for a week, if need be." + +"You mean under water as we are now?" asked Mr. Hardley. + +"Yes. I always keep the boat provisioned and with plenty of air and +water for a long stay, if need be," replied Tom. "And I did not +overlook the fact that we might have an accident on the trial trip." + +"I don't see how you let an accident happen before we even got +started," complained the gold-seeker. "I should think your steersman +would have been more careful." + +"He is very careful," explained Tom. "But we have not used the craft +for some time, and, meanwhile, there have been changes in the river, +due, I suppose, to heavy tides. But we may get out of the grip of the +mud bank soon." + +"And if we don't, what then?" asked Mr. Hardley. + +"Then there is always the torpedo tube," said Tom calmly. "And we are +not very deep down. I think I can save you all." + +"I certainly hope so!" was the fretful comment of the adventurer. "I +have too much at stake to be drowned like a rat in a trap! You must +send me up first if it becomes necessary to use the tube." + +Tom did not answer. But as he looked out of the observation windows to +see if possible the conformation of the mud bank, the young inventor +whispered to Ned one word. And that word was: + +"Yellow!" + +"You said it!" was Ned's whispered rejoinder. + +Tom Swift arrived at a sudden determination. Once again the motors were +stopped, and the boat gradually assumed an even keel. + +"What are you going to try, Tom?" asked Ned. + +"I'm going to shove her farther into the mud bank," announced the young +inventor. "I think that's the only way to get her loose." + +"Bless my apple pie, Tom!" cried Mr. Damon, "doesn't that seem a +foolish thing to do?" + +"It's the only thing to do, I believe," was the answer. "This mud is of +a peculiar sticky and holding kind. The sub's nose is in it like a peg +in a hole. What I propose to do now is to enlarge the hole, and then +our nose will come loose--I hope." + +"But you haven't any right to shove our nose further in!" cried Mr. +Hardley. "I won't allow it! I demand to be put on the surface! I won't +be drowned down here before I get the gold that's coming to me--the +gold and--" + +"Now look here!" suddenly cried Tom. "I'm in command of this boat, and +you'll do as I say. I'll gladly set you on the surface if I can, and +this is the only way it can be brought about--it's the only way to save +all of us. I'm going to enlarge the mud hole so we can pull out. Please +keep still!" + +Mr. Hardley stared at the young inventor a moment, seemed about to say +something, and then changed his mind. + +"Hold fast, everybody!" suddenly called Tom. The next moment the M. N. +1 began behaving in a most peculiar manner. + +She appeared to be acting like a corkscrew. While her bow was +comparatively steady, her stern described a circle in the water which +was churned to mud by the two propellers, each being revolved in a +different direction. + +"I'm trying to make the hole bigger just as an amateur carpenter makes +a nail hole bigger, so he can pull out the nail, by twisting it +around," explained Tom. "The motion may be a bit unpleasant, but it is +needful." + +And indeed the motion was unpleasant. Tom, veteran airman and sailor +that he was, began to feel a trifle seasick, and Mr. Hardley was in +very evident distress. + +Suddenly, however, something happened. The M. N. 1 gave a lurch to one +side and then shot upward so quickly that Ned and Mr. Damon lost their +balance and slumped over on the bench that ran around three sides of +the room. + +"Are we free?" cried Mr. Hardley. + +"We have come loose from the mud bank," said Tom quietly. "By boring +into it the hole was enlarged sufficiently to enable us to pull loose. +There is no more danger!" + +His announcement was received in momentary silence, and then Ned +exclaimed: + +"Hurray!" + +"Bless my accident policy!" voiced Mr. Damon. + +Mr. Hardley appeared dazed, and then, as the submarine was again moving +through the water, seemingly none the worse for the accident, the gold +seeker approached Tom Swift. + +"I want to apologize, Mr. Swift, for my actions and words," said Mr. +Hardley frankly. "I admit that I lost my head. But it's my first trip +in a submarine." + +"I realize that," said Tom, equally frank, "and we'll forget all about +it. It was a strain on you--on all of us--though there really was no +very great danger. Now, are you game enough to continue the trip?" + +"Try me!" exclaimed the adventurer. "You won't find me acting so like a +baby again." + +Nor did he, even when the craft reached the open ocean and went down to +a considerable depth, where, had any accident occurred, there would +have been grave danger to all. But Mr. Hardley seemed to enjoy it. + +"Maybe I've misjudged him," Tom said to Ned, when they were getting +ready to go back. + +"It's possible," agreed the financial manager. This trial, which so +nearly ended disastrously, was only one of several. No damage resulted +from the collision with the river mud bank, and that trip and the ones +following gave Tom some new ideas in interior construction which he +followed out. + +About a month later all was ready for the trip to the West Indies to +look for the ill-fated Pandora. Tom's affairs were put in shape, the +submarine was laden with stores and provisions, the new diving bell and +other wonderful apparatus were put aboard, and the crew and officers +picked. Ned, Mr. Damon, Koku, and Tom were, of course, together, and +though Mr. Hardley was a stranger, he seemed to become more friendly as +the days passed. + +"Well, we start in the morning," said Tom to Ned one evening. "I'm +going over to tell Mary goodbye." + +"Give her my regards," requested Ned, and Tom said he would. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +STARTLING REVELATIONS + + +"Oh, Tom! And so you are really ready to start on that perilous trip!" +exclaimed Mary Nestor, a little later that same evening, when Tom +called at Mary's house in his speedy electric runabout, a car in which +he had once made a sensational ride. + +"Perilous? I don't know why you call it that!" exclaimed the young +inventor. + +"Didn't you tell me you were stuck in a mud bank away down under the +river and had hard work to get loose?" asked the young lady, as she +made a place for Tom on the sofa beside her. + +"Oh, that! Why, that wasn't anything!" he declared. + +"It would have been if you hadn't come up." + +"Ah, but we did come up, Mary." + +"Suppose you get in a similar position when you find the wreck of the +Pandora? You won't get up so easily, will you?" + +"No. But there aren't any mud banks in that part of the Atlantic, so I +can't be stuck in one," answered Tom. + +For some time Tom Swift and Mary talked of mutual friends and +happenings in which they were both interested. Mr. and Mrs. Nestor +stepped into the room for a minute, to wish the young inventor good +luck on his voyage, and when they had gone out, promising to see Tom +before he left for the night, the latter remarked to Mary: + +"Did your uncle ever find the oil-well papers and get his affairs +straightened out?" + +"No," was the answer, "he never did. And we feel very sorry for him. +Just think, he had a fortune in his grasp, and now it is slipping away." + +"Just what happened?" asked Tom, hoping there might be some way in +which he could aid Mary's uncle. Of course, Tom wanted to help Mary, +and this was one of the ways. + +"Well, I don't exactly understand it all," she replied. "Father says +I'll never have a head for business. But as nearly as I can tell, my +uncle, Barton Keith, went into partnership with a man to prospect for +oil in Texas. My uncle has been in that business before, and he was +very successful. He supplied the working knowledge about oil wells, I +believe, and the other man put up the money. My uncle was to have a +half share in whatever oil wells he located, and his partner supplied +the cash for putting down the pipe, or whatever is done." + +"I believe putting down a pipe is the proper term," said Tom. + +"Well, anyhow," went on Mary, "my uncle spent many weary months +prospecting in Texas. In fact, he made himself ill, being out in all +sorts of weather, looking after the drilling. At last they struck oil, +as I believe they call it. They drilled down until they brought in what +my uncle called a 'gusher,' and there was a chance of him and his +partner getting rich." + +"Why didn't he?" asked Tom. "A gusher, I believe, is one of the best +sort of oil wells. Why didn't your uncle clean up a fortune, to use a +slang term?" + +"Because he lost the papers showing that he had a right to half the oil +well," answered Mary. "At least my uncle thinks he lost them, but he +was so ill, directly after the well proved a success, that he says he +isn't sure what happened. At any rate, his partner claims everything +and my uncle can do nothing. He has been hoping he might find the +papers somewhere, or that something would happen to prove the rights of +his claim." + +"And nothing has?" inquired Tom. + +"Not yet. My father and mother have been trying to help him, and dad +engaged a lawyer, but he says nothing can be done unless my uncle +recovers the partnership and other papers. As it stands now, it is my +uncle's word against the word of his partner, and both are equally good +in a court of law. But if Uncle Barton could find the documents +everything would come out all right. He could claim his half of the oil +well then." + +"Is it still producing?" Tom questioned. + +"Yes, better than ever. But that's all the good it does my uncle. He is +ill, discouraged, and despondent. All his fortune was eaten up in +prospecting, and he depended on the gusher to make him rich again. And +now, because of a rascally partner, he may be doomed to die a poor man. +Of course we will always help him, but you know what it is to be +dependent on relatives." + +"I can imagine," conceded Tom. "It is tough luck! I wish I could help, +and perhaps I can after I get back from this trip." + +"The only way you or any one could help, would be to get back my +uncle's missing papers," said Mary. "And as he himself isn't sure what +became of them, it seem hopeless." + +"It does," Tom agreed. "But wait until I get back." + +"I wish you weren't going," sighed Mary. + +"So do I--more than a little," was Tom's remark. "I'm sorry I ever let +Mr. Damon persuade me to go into this deal with Dixwell Hardley!" + +Mary sat bolt upright on the couch. + +"What name did you say?" she cried. + +"Dixwell Hardley," repeated Tom. "That's the name of the man who claims +to know where the wreck of the Pandora lies. He says she has two +millions or more in gold on board, and I'm to get half." + +"Well!" exclaimed Mary, with spirit, "if you don't get any bigger share +out of the wreck than my uncle got out of the oil well, you won't be +doing so very nicely, Tom." + +"What do you mean?" asked the young inventor. "What has the oil well to +do with recovering gold from the wreck?" + +"A good deal, I should say," answered the girl, "seeing that the same +man is mixed up in both." + +"What same man?" + +"Dixwell Hardley!" + +"Is he the man who cheated your uncle?" cried Tom. + +"I won't say that he cheated him," said Mary. "But Dixwell Hardley is +the man who furnished the money when my uncle went into partnership +with him to locate oil wells in Texas. The oil wells were located, Mr. +Hardley got his share, and my uncle got nothing. And just because he +can't prove there was a legal partnership! I hope you won't have the +same experience with Mr. Hardley, Tom." + +"Whew!" whistled the young inventor. "This is news to me! I can say one +thing, though. Mr. Hardley doesn't take a dollar out of that wreck +unless I get one to match it. I think I hold the best cards on this +deal. But, Mary, are you sure it's the same man?" + +"Pretty sure. Wait, I'll call my father and make certain," she +answered, and as she went from the room to summon Mr. Nestor, Tom felt +a vague sense of uneasiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BARTON KEITH'S STORY + + +"What's this Mary tells me, Tom?" asked Mr. Nestor, as he followed his +daughter back into the room. + +"You mean about Dixwell Hardley?" + +"Yes. Do you suppose he can be the same man who has so meanly treated +my brother-in-law?" + +"I wouldn't want to say, Mr. Nestor, until you describe to me the Mr. +Hardley you know. Then I can better tell. But from what little I have +seen of the man to whom I was introduced by my friend Mr. Damon, I'd +say, off hand, that he was capable of such action." + +"Does Mr. Damon know this Mr. Hardley well?" asked Mrs. Nestor, who +accompanied her husband. + +"I wouldn't say that he did," Tom replied. "I don't know just how Mr. +Damon met this chap--I think it was in a financial way, though." + +"Well, if it's the same Mr. Hardley, I'll say he has some queer +financial ways," said Mr. Nestor. "Now let's see if we can make the two +jibe. Describe him, Tom." + +This the young inventor did, and when this description had been +compared with one given of the Mr. Hardley with whom Mr. Keith once was +associated, Mrs. Nestor said: + +"It surely is the same man! The Mr. Hardley who wants you to get wealth +from the bottom of the ocean, Tom, is the same fellow who is keeping my +brother out of the oil well property! I'm sure of it!" + +"It does seem so," Tom agreed. "Dixwell Hardley is not a usual name; +but we must be careful. In spite of its unusualness there may be two +very different men who have that name. I think the only way to find out +for certain is to see Mr. Keith. He'd know a picture of the Dixwell +Hardley who, he claims, cheated him, wouldn't he?" + +"Indeed he would!" exclaimed Mrs. Nestor. "But where could we get a +picture of your Mr. Hardley? I call him that, though I don't suppose +you own him, Tom," and she smiled at her future son-in-law. + +"No, I don't own him, and I don't want to," was Tom's answer. "But I +happen to have a picture of him. I made him furnish me with proofs that +he was on the Pandora at the time she foundered in a gale, and among +the documents he gave was his passport. It has his picture on. I have +it here." + +Tom drew the paper from his pocket. In one corner was pasted a +photograph of the man who had been introduced to Tom by Mr. Damon. + +"It looks like the same man my brother described," said Mrs. Nestor, +"but of course I couldn't be sure." + +"There is only one way to be," Tom stated, "and that is to show this +picture to Mr. Keith. Where is he?" + +"Ill at his home in Bedford," answered Mrs. Nestor. + +"Then we'll go there and see him!" declared Tom. + +"But it's a hundred miles from here!" exclaimed Mary. "And you are +leaving on your submarine trip the first thing in the morning, Tom!" + +"No, I'm not leaving until I settle this matter," declared the young +inventor. "I'm not going on an undersea voyage with a man who may be a +cheater. I want this matter settled. I'll postpone this trip until I +find out. A day's delay won't matter." + +"But it will take longer than that," said Mr. Nestor. "Bedford is a +small place, and there's only one train a day there. You'll lose at +least three days Tom, if you go there." + +"Not necessarily," was the quick answer. "I can go by airship, and make +the trip in a little over an hour. I can be back the same day, perhaps +not in time to start our submarine trip, as Mr. Keith may be too ill to +see me. But I won't lose much time in my Air Scout. + +"Mary, will you go with me to see your uncle? We'll start the first +thing in the morning and I'll show him this picture. Will you go?" + +"I will!" exclaimed the girl. + +"Good!" cried Tom. "Then I'll make preparations. I don't want to form +any rash judgment, so we'll make certain; but it wouldn't surprise me a +bit to have it turn out that the Dixwell Hardley who wants me to help +him recover the Pandora treasure is the same one who is trying to cheat +Mr. Keith." + +Early the next morning, when Tom arose in his own home, he met Mr. +Damon and Mr. Hardley, both of whom were guests at the Swift house, +pending the beginning of the undersea trip. + +"Well, Tom," began the eccentric man, "we have good weather for the +start. Bless my rubber boots! Not that it much matters, though, what +sort of weather we have when we're in the submarine. But I always like +to start in the sunshine." + +"So do I," agreed Mr. Hardley. "I suppose we'll get off early this +morning," he added. + +"We'll go to the dock in the auto, as usual, shall we not?" he asked. + +"We aren't going to start this morning," said Tom, as he sat down to +breakfast. + +"Not going to start this morning!" exclaimed Mr. Hardley. "Why--why--" + +"Bless my alarm clock!" voiced Mr. Damon, "has anything happened, Tom? +No accident to the M. N. 1 is there? You aren't backing out now, at the +last minute, are you?" + +"Oh, no," was the easy answer. "We'll go, as arranged, but not today. I +had some unexpected news last night which necessitates making a trip +this morning. I expect to be back tonight, if all goes well, and we'll +start tomorrow morning instead of this. It's a matter of important +business." + +"Well, I don't know that we can find fault with Mr. Swift for attending +to business," said Mr. Hardley, with a short laugh. "Business is what +keeps the world moving. And we are a little ahead of our schedule, as a +matter of fact. May I ask where you are going, Mr. Swift?" + +"To Bedford, to call on a Mr. Barton Keith," answered Tom quickly, +looking the adventurer straight in the eyes. + +Mr. Hardley was a good actor, or else he was a perfectly innocent man, +for he showed not the least sign of perturbation. + +"Oh, Bedford," he remarked. "Don't know that I ever heard of the place." + +"Or Mr. Keith, either?" asked Tom, a bit sharply. + +"No, certainly not. Why should I?" he asked, boldly. + +"I didn't know," Tom replied. "I'm sorry to postpone our trip, but it's +necessary," he added. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Everything is in +readiness, so there will be no delay." + +Tom made a hurried meal, and then, giving Ned a hint of what was in the +wind, but cautioning him to say nothing about it, Tom had the small Air +Scout brought out, and in that he flew over to Mary's home. + +He found her waiting for him, and, after being duly cautioned by her +mother to "be careful," though whether that was of any value or not is +possibly debatable, the small, speedy craft again took the air. + +"You haven't heard anything from your uncle since last night, have +you?" asked Tom, as they flew along. + +"Yes," answered Mary, "mother had a letter. He is worse, if anything, +and the doctor says the only thing that will save him is the knowledge +that the oil-well matter has turned out right and that my uncle will +get his share of the wealth." + +"That's too bad!" sympathized Tom. "I hope we can make it turn out that +way. If the two Dixwell Hardley chaps are the same it may be that I can +do something for your uncle. If not--we'll have to wait and see." + +It was not difficult for Tom and Mary to talk while in the aeroplane, +as it was almost noiseless. In due time, Bedford was reached without +mishap, and Tom and Mary were soon at the home of her uncle. + +An explanation to the housekeeper and an inspection on the part of the +nurse, brought forth permission for Tom to see the patient. Though he +had never known Mr. Keith he could see that the man's health was indeed +fast waning. + +Wasting little time in preliminaries, the object of the visit was told +and Tom showed the passport photograph of Dixwell Hardley. + +"Is that the man who cheated you on the oil-well deal?" asked the young +inventor. + +"I won't admit he has yet cheated me, but he is trying to!" exclaimed +Mr. Keith, with something of a return of his former spirit. "If I ever +get off my back I'm going to fight him tooth and nail. But that's the +same scoundrel! He got me to locate the wells, and when they panned out +big--bigger than either of us dreamed--he turned me out cold. He denied +he had ever offered to share with me, and said I was only working for +monthly wages! Why, sometimes I didn't get even that!" + +"How did he get the best of you?" asked Tom. + +"By making away with or hiding the papers by which I could prove our +partnership and my right to half a share in all the wells," answered +Mary's uncle. "Yes, that's the same man all right. I'd know his face +anywhere, and he has the same name." + +"He isn't going under a false name, that's sure," agreed Tom. "He must +be a bold chap." + +"He is--bold and unscrupulous! That's what makes him so successful in +his own way!" declared Mr. Keith. "And so you are working with him! +Well, I'm sorry for you." + +"I'm not exactly working with him," replied Tom. "As a matter of fact, +I'm sorry I ever agreed to look for this wreck." + +He told the details of the pending treasure-trove expedition, and +mentioned it as his belief that Mr. Damon had been mistaken in his +estimate of Mr. Hardley. + +"But, so far, Mr. Damon is quite taken with him," Tom went on. "Now, +Mr. Keith, if it isn't too much for you, I should like to hear all the +particulars." + +Thereupon Mary's uncle told his story. It was a long one. After many +hardships in life, which Mr. Keith related in some detail to Tom, the +oil-well prospector at last fell in with Dixwell Hardley. Then followed +the combination of interests. + +"We are actually partners," declared Mr. Keith. "I agreed to do the +work, and he agreed to furnish the money. I must say this for him, that +he kept to that end of the bargain. He supplied the money to locate and +drill the wells, but I got very little of it personally. And I +fulfilled my end of it. I discovered the wells. Then, when the break +came, and I wanted to be rid of the man--for I caught him in some +crooked transactions--he surprised me by telling me to get out. I asked +for my share of the oil-well stock, and was told I was not entitled to +any. + +"I put up a fight, naturally, and took the matter to court. But when it +came to trial Dixwell Hardley did not appear, and, though I won a +technical victory over him, I never got any money." + +"Where was he during the trial?" asked Tom. + +"At sea, I believe." + +"At sea?" + +"Yes, he was mixed up in some South American revolution, I heard." + +"A South American revolution!" exclaimed Tom, and a great light came to +him. + +"Yes," went on Mary's uncle. "He was always that kind--mixing up in +anything he thought would produce money. He didn't make out very well +in the revolution business, so I understood. The revolutionary party +was beaten, or they lost their shipment of arms, or something like +that. At any rate, Dixwell Hardley had a narrow escape with his life +when a ship went down, and from then on I've been trying to get him to +restore my rights to me." + +"Did he have the papers that would prove you were entitled to a half +share in the oil wells?" asked Tom. + +"He certainly did!" said the sick man, who was obviously being weakened +by this long and exhausting talk. "At first I was not sure of what +happened, but now I am positive he stole the papers and took them to +sea with him. What happened to them after that I don't know. But if I +had Dixwell Hardley here--now--I--I'd--" + +Mr. Keith fell back in a faint on the bed, and, in great alarm, Tom +summoned the nurse. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IN DEEP WATERS + + +Mary Nestor, as well as Tom Swift, felt great alarm over the condition +of Mr. Keith. But the nurse, after reviving him, said: + +"He is in no special immediate danger. Talking about his trouble +overstrained him, but in the end it may do him good." + +"Then will he get well?" asked Mary. + +"He may," was the noncommittal answer. "His recovery would be hastened, +however, if his mind could be relieved. He keeps worrying about the +loss of his papers that proved his share in the Texas oil wells. Until +they can be given back to him he is bound to suffer mentally, and of +course that effects him physically." + +"Oh, if we only could do something!" murmured Mary. + +"Perhaps we can," said Tom in a low voice. "I've learned something +these last few hours. I don't want to promise too much, but I think I +begin to see how matters lie. There, he's rousing. Speak to him, Mary." + +Mr. Keith opened his eyes, and smiled at his niece. + +"Did I dream it," he asked in a low voice, "or was there some young man +with you, Mary, my dear, to whom I was telling my troubles about the +oil-well papers?" + +"You didn't dream it, Uncle," Mary answered. "You were talking to Tom +Swift. Here he is," and Tom came forward. + +"Oh, yes, I remember now," said Mr. Keith passing his hand wearily over +his eyes. "I thought, for a moment, that he had recovered my papers for +me. But that was a dream, I'm sure." + +"It may not be, Mr. Keith!" exclaimed Tom. + +"May not be? What do you mean?" + +"I mean," replied the young inventor, "that I am much interested in +what you have told me. Now that I have proved that the Dixwell Hardley +who is to sail with me is the same one who has treated you so shabbily, +I think I understand the truth. I don't want to make a promise that I +may not be able to carry out, but I am going to watch this man while +he's on the submarine with me." + +"Then you are going on with the voyage, Tom?" asked Mary. + +"I shall have to," he said. "I have entered into an agreement with this +man and I'm not going to break my contract, no matter what he does. But +I think I know what his game is. Mr. Keith, I'm going to ask you to +keep quiet about this matter until I come back from the treasure +search. I may then have some news for you." + +"I hope you do, young man, I hope you do!" exclaimed the oil +contractor, with more energy than he had previously shown. "It means a +lot, at my age, to lose a small fortune. If I were well and strong I'd +tackle this Dixwell Hardley myself, and make him give up the papers I'm +sure he has hidden away. He has them, I'm positive." + +"Well, he may not have them, but perhaps he knows where they are," said +Tom. "And I'm going to make it my business to watch him and see if I +can find out his secret. I won't let him know I've heard from you. I'll +apply the old saying of giving him plenty of rope, and I'll watch what +happens. + +"Now, Mr. Keith, take care of yourself. Mary and I must be getting +back. Try not to worry, and I'll do my best for you," Tom concluded. + +Mary added a few words of comfort and encouragement to her uncle, and +then she and Tom took leave of him, flying back to Shopton in the +speedy Air Scout. + +"What are you going to do, Tom?" asked Mary, as he left her at her +home, having told Mr. and Mrs. Nestor his part in the visit to Barton +Keith. + +"I'm going to start on the submarine voyage tomorrow," was the answer +of the young inventor. + +"Do you really believe there is a treasure ship?" + +"Well, I've satisfied myself that a ship named the Pandora sunk about +where Hardley says it did, and she had some treasure on board. Whether +it's just the kind he has told me it was I don't know. But I'm going to +find out." + +"Then you'll be saying goodbye for a long time," observed Mary, rather +wistfully. + +"Oh, it may not be for so very long," and Tom tried to speak +cheerfully. "I'll bring you back some souvenirs from the bottom of the +sea," he added with a laugh. + +"Bring me back--yourself!" said Mary in a low voice, and then she +hurried away. + +By appointment Tom met Mr. Damon and Mr. Hardley at the submarine dock +the next morning. Everything had been made ready for the start, +postponed from the day before. Mr. Hardley's estimated share of the +expenses had been deposited in a bank, to be paid over later. + +"Well, are we really going this time, or are you going to delay again?" +asked the gold seeker, and his voice lacked a pleasant tone. + +"Oh, we're going this time!" exclaimed Tom. "And I hope everything turns +out the way I want it to," he added meaningly. + +"We'll find the treasure on the ship all right, if we can find the +ship," said Mr. Hardley. "That part is your job, Mr. Swift." + +"And I'll find her if she's where you say she went down," answered Tom. +"Now then, as soon as Ned comes we'll start." + +Ned Newton had been intrusted with some last-moment messages, but he +arrived a little later, and hurried on board the M. N. 1 which lay at +her dock, just afloat. + +"All aboard!" called Tom, when he saw his financial manager coming down +the pier. "We're ready to start now." + +"Bless my fountain pen!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "but we ought to do +something, Tom--sing a song, make a speech or something, oughtn't we?" + +"We'll sing a song of victory when we come back," replied Tom, with a +laugh. "Everything all right at home, Ned?" he asked, for his chum had +just come on from Shopton. + +"Yes; your father sent his regards, but he told me to make a last +appeal to you to install a gyroscope rudder." + +"It's too late for that now," said Tom. "He attaches, I think, too much +importance to that device. I shan't need it with the improvements I +have made to the craft. Get aboard!" + +Ned climbed down the hatchway, which, however, was not closed, as it +was decided to navigate the craft on the surface until it was necessary +to submerge her because of too rough water, or when the vicinity of the +wreck was reached. + +"Though we will go down to the bottom when we get to the Atlantic for +the purpose of testing her in deep water," decided Tom. "Most of the +time we'll steam on the surface, for we'll save our batteries that way, +and it's more comfortable breathing natural air." + +So, with part of her deck above the surface, the M. N. 1 began her +voyage, sent on her way by the cheers of the small force of Tom's +workmen at the submarine plant. The general public was not admitted, +for the object of the quest was kept secret from all save those +immediately interested. + +"Rad, him be plenty mad he not come," said Koku to Tom, as the giant +moved about the cabin, putting things to rights. + +"Well, don't start crowing over him until we get back," warned the +young inventor. "He may have the laugh on us." + +"Rad no laugh," declared Koku. "Rad him too mad dat I come on trip." + +"A submarine voyage is no place for old, faithful Eradicate," murmured +Tom. "He's better off looking after my father." + +The first part of the trip was without incident of moment. No mishap +attended the voyage of the M. N. 1 down the river, out into the bay, +and so on to the great Atlantic. + +Fairly good time was made, as there was no particular object in +speeding, and on the second day after leaving the dock Tom gave orders +for the hatch to be closed, the deck cleared, and everything made tight +and fast. + +"What's up?" asked Ned, hearing the instructions passed around. + +"We're approaching deep water," was the answer. "I'm going to submerge." + +A little later, by means of her diving rudders, aided also by the +tanks, the M. N. 1 began to sink. Down, down, down she went. + +"Now I'll be able to show you some pretty sights, Mr. Hardley," said +Tom, as he and his friends entered the forward compartment, while the +steel shutters were rolled back from the heavy glass windows. "We'll be +in deep waters presently." + +Ten minutes later the depth gauge showed that they were down about +three hundred feet, and that is pretty deep for a submarine. But Tom's +boat was capable of even greater depths than that. + +At first there was nothing much to observe save the opal-tinted water +illuminated by the powerful lights of the submarine. Small, and +evidently frightened, fish darted to and fro, but there was nothing +especially to attract the attention of Tom and his friends, who had +made much more sensational trips than this under water. + +Mr. Hardley, however, was fascinated, and kept close to the observation +windows. + +"Are there any wrecks around here?" he asked Tom. + +"Possibly," was the answer. "Though they do not contain any treasure, I +imagine--brick schooners or cargo boats would be about all." + +The submarine went deeper, plowing her way through the Atlantic at a +depth of more than three hundred and fifty feet, for Tom wanted to +subject her to a good test. + +Suddenly Mr. Hardley, who was now alone at the window on the port side, +uttered a cry of alarm. + +"Look! Look!" he fairly shouted. "We're surrounded by a school of +sharks! What monsters! Are we in danger?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SEA MONSTER + + +Tom Swift, who had been making readings of the various gauges, taking +notes for future use, and otherwise busying himself about the +navigation of his reconstructed craft, turned quickly from the +instrument board at the cry from Mr. Hardley. The gold-seeker, with a +look of terror on his face, had recoiled from the observation windows. + +"Bless my hat band!" cried Mr. Damon. "Look, Tom!" + +They all turned their attention to the glass, and through the plates +could be seen a school of giant fishes that seemed to be swimming in +front of the submarine, keeping pace with it as though waiting for a +chance to enter. + +"Are we well protected against sharks, Mr. Swift?" demanded the +adventurer. "Are these sea monsters likely to break the glass and get +in at us?" + +"Indeed not!" laughed Tom. "There is absolutely no danger from these +fish--they aren't sharks, either." + +"Not sharks?" cried Mr. Hardley. "What are they, then?" + +"Horse mackerel," Tom answered. "At least that is the common name for +the big fish. But they are far from being sharks, and we are in no +danger from them." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Hardley, and he seemed a little ashamed of the +exhibition of fear he had manifested. "Well, they certainly seem +determined to follow us," he added. + +The big fish were, indeed, following the submarine, and it required no +exertion on their part to maintain their speed, since below the surface +the M. N. 1 could not move very fast, as indeed no submarine can, due +to the resistance of the water. + +"They do look as though they'd like to take a bite or two out of us," +observed Ned. "Are they dangerous, Tom?" + +"Not as a rule," was the answer. "I don't doubt, though, but if a lone +swimmer got in a school of horse mackerel he'd be badly bitten. In +fact, some years ago, when there was a shark scare along the New Jersey +coast, some fishermen declared that it was horse mackerel that were +responsible for the death and injury of several bathers. A number of +horse mackerel were caught and exhibited as sharks, but, as you can +easily see, their mouths lack the under-shot arrangement of the shark, +and they are not built at all as are the man-eaters." + +"Bless my toothbrush!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "Still, between a horse +mackerel and a shark there isn't much choice!" + +Mr. Hardley, with a shudder, turned away from the glass windows, and +Tom glanced significantly at Ned. It was another exhibition of the +man's lack of nerve. + +"We'll have trouble with him before this voyage is over," declared the +young inventor to his chum, a little later. + +"What makes you think so?" asked Ned. + +"Because he's yellow; that's why. I thought him that once before, and +then I revised my opinion. Now I'm back where I started. You +watch--we'll have trouble." + +"Well, I guess we can handle him," observed the financial manager. + +"I'm going a little deeper," announced Tom, toward evening on the first +day of the voyage on the open ocean. "I want to see how she stands the +pressure at five hundred feet. I feel certain she will, and even at a +greater depth. But if there's anything wrong we want to correct it +before we get too far away from home. We're going down again, deeper +than before." + +A little later the submarine began the descent into the lower ocean +depths. From three hundred and fifty feet she went to four hundred, and +when the hand on the gauge showed four hundred and fifty there was a +tense moment. If anything went wrong now there would be serious trouble. + +But Tom Swift and his men had done their work well. The M. N. 1 stood +the strain, and when the gauge showed four hundred and ninety feet Mr. +Damon gave a faint cheer. + +"Bless my apple dumpling, Tom!" he replied, "this is wonderful." + +"Oh, we've been deeper than this," replied the young inventor, "but +under different conditions. I'm glad to see how well she is standing +it, though." + +Suddenly, as the needle pointer on the depth gauge showed five hundred +and two feet, there came a slight jar and vibration that was felt +throughout the craft. + +"What's that?" suddenly and nervously cried Mr. Hardley. "Have we +struck something?" + +"Yes, the bottom of the ocean," answered Tom quietly. "We are now on +the floor of the Atlantic, though several hundred miles, and perhaps a +thousand, from the treasure ship. We bumped the bottom, that's all," +and as he spoke he brought the submarine to a stop by a signal to the +engine room. + +And there, as calmly and easily as some of the masses of seaweed +growing on the ocean floor around her, rested the M. N. 1. It was a +test of her powers, and well had she stood the test, though harder ones +were in store for her. + +And inside the submarine Tom and his party were under scarcely greater +discomfort than they would have been on the surface. True, they were +confined to a restricted space, and the air they breathed came from +compression tanks, and not from the open sky. The lights had to be +kept aglow, of course, for it was pitch dark at that depth. The +sunlight cannot penetrate to more than a hundred feet. But sunlight was +not needed, for the craft carried powerful electric lights that could +illuminate the sea in the immediate vicinity of the submarine. + +"Are you going to stay here long?" asked Mr. Hardley, when Tom had +spent some time making accurate readings of the various instruments of +the boat. "Of course, I realize that you are the commander, but if we +don't get to the treasure ship soon some one else may loot her before +we have a chance. She's been given up as a hopeless task more than +once, but the lure of the millions may attract another gang." + +"I want to stay here until I make sure that nothing is leaking and that +everything is all right," answered the young inventor. "This is a test +I have not given her since the rebuilding. But I think she is coming +through it all right, and we can soon start off again. Before we do, +though, I want to try the new diving outfit. Ned, are you game for it +now? This is a little deeper than you have gone out in for some time, +but--" + +"Oh, I'm game!" exclaimed the young financial manager. "Get out the +suit, Tom, and I'll put it on. I'll go for a stroll on the bottom of +the sea. Who knows? Perhaps I may pick up a pearl." + +"Pearls aren't found in these northern waters, any more than are +sharks," said Tom with a laugh. "However, I'll have the suits made +ready. I'll send Koku with you, and I'll stay in this time. Mr. Damon, +do you want to go out?" + +"Not this time, Tom," answered the eccentric man. "My heart action +isn't what it used to be. The doctor said I mustn't strain it. At a +depth not quite so great I may take a chance." + +"How about you, Mr. Hardley?" asked Tom. "Do you want to put on one of +my portable diving suits and walk around on the bottom of the sea?" + +"I--I don't believe I've had enough experience," was the hesitating +answer. "I'll watch the others first." + +Tom felt that it would be this way, but he said nothing. He ordered the +diving suits made ready, a special size having been built for the +giant, and soon preparations were under way for the two to step outside +the craft. + +Those who have read of Tom Swift's submarine boat know how his special +diving outfit was operated. Instead of the diver being supplied with +the air through a hose connected with a pump on the surface, there was +attached to the suit a tank of compressed air, which was supplied as +needed through special reducing valves. + +The diving dress, too, was exceptionally strong, to withstand the awful +pressure of water at more than five hundred feet below the surface. The +usual rubber was supplemented by thin, reinforced sheets of steel, and +this feature, together with an auxiliary air pressure, kept the wearer +safe. + +Thus Ned and Koku could leave the submarine, walk about on the floor of +the ocean as they pleased, and return, unhampered by an air hose or +life line. In dangerous waters, infested by sea monsters, weapons could +be carried that were effective under water. The diving suit was also +provided with a powerful electric light operated by a new form of +storage current, compact and lasting. + +"Well, I think we're all ready," announced Ned, as he and Koku were +helped into their suits and they waited for the glass-windowed helmets +to be put on. Once these were fastened in place talk would have to be +carried on with the outside world by means of small telephones or by +signals. + +"Give me axe!" exclaimed Koku, as some of the sailors were about to put +his helmet in place. + +"What do you want of an axe?" Tom asked. + +"Maybe so one them cow fish come along," explained the giant. "Koku +whack him with axe." + +"He means horse mackerel," laughed Ned. "Give him the axe, Tom. I +don't like the looks of those fish, either. I'll take a weapon myself." + +Two keen axes were handed to the divers, their helmets were screwed on, +and they immediately began breathing the compressed air carried in a +tank on their shoulders. + +Slowly and laboriously they walked to the diving chamber. Their +progress would be easier in the water, which would buoy them up in a +measure. Now they were heavily weighted. + +To leave the submarine the divers had to enter a steel chamber in the +side of the craft. This craft contained double doors. Once the divers +were inside the door leading to the interior of the submarine was +hermetically closed. Water from outside was then admitted until the +pressure was equalized. Then the outer door was opened and Ned and Koku +could step forth. + +They entered the chamber, the door was closed tightly and then Tom +Swift turned the valve that admitted the sea water. With a hiss the +Atlantic began rushing in, and in a short time the outer door would be +opened. + +"If you'll come around to the observation windows you can see them," +said Tom, when a look at the indicators told him Ned and Koku had +stepped forth. + +To the front cabin he and the others betook themselves, and when the +interior lights were turned out and the exterior ones turned on they +waited for a sight of the two divers. + +"Bless my pickle bottle!" cried Mr. Damon, "there they are, Tom." + +As he spoke there came into view, moving slowly, Ned and Koku. Their +portable lights were glowing, and then, in order to see them better, +Tom turned out the exterior searchlights. This made the two forms, in +their rather grotesque dress, stand out in bold relief amid the +swirling green waters of the Atlantic. + +Ned and the giant moved slowly, for it was impossible to progress with +any speed under that terrific pressure. They looked toward the +submarine and waved their hands in greeting. They had no special object +on the ocean floor, except to try the new diving dress, and it seemed +to operate successfully. Ned made a pretense of looking for treasure +amid the sand and seaweed, and once he caught and held up by its tail a +queer turtle. Koku stalked about behind Ned, looking to right and left, +possibly for a sight of some monster "cow fish." + +"They're coming back in, I think," remarked Tom, when he saw Ned turn +and start back for the side of the craft, where, amidships, was located +the diving chamber. "They're satisfied with the test." + +Suddenly Koku was seen to glide to the side of Ned, and point at +something which none of the observers in the M. N. 1 could see. The +giant was evidently perturbed, and Ned, too, showed some agitation. + +"Bless my rubber shoes! what's the matter?" cried Mr. Damon. + +"I don't know," answered Tom. "Perhaps they have sighted a wreck, or +something like that." + +"Look! It's a sea monster!" cried Mr. Hardley. "I can see the form of +some great fish, or something. Look! It's coming right at them!" + +As he spoke all in the observation chamber saw a great, black form, as +if of some monster, move close to the two divers. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +IN STRANGE PERIL + + +"What is it, Tom? What is it?" cried Mr. Damon, not stopping in this +moment of excitement to bless anything. "What is going to attack Ned +and Koku?" + +"I don't know," answered the young inventor. "It's some big fish +evidently. I must get to the diving chamber!" + +He gave a quick glance through the observation windows. Ned and the +giant were moving as fast as they could toward the side of the craft +where they could enter. The black, shadowy form was nearer now, but its +nature could not be made out. + +Calling to his force of assistants, Tom stood ready to let his chum and +Koku out of the diving chamber as soon as the water should have been +pumped from it. + +A little later, as they all stood waiting in tense eagerness, there +came a signal that the two divers had entered the side chamber. Quickly +Tom turned the lever that closed the outer door. + +"They're safe!" he exclaimed, as he started the pumps to working. But +even as he spoke they felt a jar, and the submarine rolled partly over +as if she had collided with some object. Yet this could not be, as she +was stationary on the floor of the ocean. + +"Bless my cake of soap, Tom!" cried Mr. Damon, "what in the world is +that?" + +"If it's an accident!" exclaimed Mr. Hardley, "I think it ought to be +prevented. There have been too many happenings on this trip already. I +thought you said your submarine was safe for underwater trips!" he +fairly snapped at Tom. + +The young inventor gave one look at the irate man who was coming out in +his true colors. But it was no time to rebuke him. Too much yet +remained to be done. Ned and Koku were still in the chamber and +protected from some unknown sea monster by only a comparatively thin +door. They must be inside to be perfectly safe. + +Tom speeded up the pumps that were forcing the water from the chamber +so the inner door could be opened. Eagerly he and his men watched the +gauges to note when the last gallon should have been forced out by the +compressed air. Not until then would it be safe to let Ned and Koku +step into the interior of the craft. + +The submarine had not ceased rolling from the force of the blow she had +received when there came another, and this time on the opposite side. +Once more she rolled to a dangerous angle. + +"Bless my tea biscuit!" cried Mr. Damon, "what is it all about, Tom +Swift?" + +"I don't know," was the low-voiced answer, "unless a pair of monsters +are attacking us on both sides alternately. But we'll soon learn. There +goes the last of the water!" + +The gauge showed that the diving chamber was empty. Quickly the inner +doors were opened, and, with their suits still dripping from their +immersion in the salty sea, Ned and Koku stepped forth. In another +moment their helmets were loosed from the bayonet catches, and they +could speak. + +"What was it, Ned?" cried Tom. + +"Big fish!" answered Koku. + +"Two monster whales!" gasped Ned. "We barely got away from them! +They're ramming the sub, Tom!" + +As he spoke there came a blow on the port side, greater than either of +the two preceding ones. Those in the M. N. 1 staggered about, and had +to hold on to objects to preserve their footing. + +"Both at the same time!" cried Ned. "The two whales are coming at us +both at once!" + +This was evidently the case. Tom Swift quickly hurried to the engine +room. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Mr. Hardley. "You ought to do +something! I'm not going to be killed down here by a whale. You've got +to do something, Swift! I've had enough of this!" + +Tom did not deign an answer, but hurried on. Mr. Damon followed him, +having seen that some of the sailors were helping Ned and Koku out of +the diving suits. + +"Are we in any danger, Tom?" asked the eccentric man. + +"Yes; but I think it is easily remedied," was the answer. "We'll go up +to the surface. I don't believe the whales will follow us. Or, if they +do, they can't do much damage when we are in motion. It's because we +are stationary and they are moving that the blows seem so violent. +Unless they collide head on with us, in the opposite direction to ours, +we ought to be able to get clear of them. If they persist in following +us--" + +He paused as he pulled over the lever that would send the M. N. 1 to +the surface. + +"Well, what then?" asked Mr. Damon. + +"Then we'll have to use some weapon, and I have several," finished the +young inventor. + +A few moments later the craft was in motion, not before, however, she +was struck another blow, but only a glancing one. + +"We're puzzling them!" cried Tom. + +Having done all that was possible for the time being, Tom hurried to +the observation chamber, followed by the others. There Tom switched on +the powerful lights. For a moment nothing was to be seen but the +swirling, green water. Then, suddenly, a great shape came into view of +the glass windows, followed by another. + +"Whales!" cried Tom Swift. "And the largest I've ever seen." + +It was true. Two immense specimens of the cetacean species were in +front of the submarine, one on either bow, evidently much puzzled over +the glaring lights. They were bow-heads, and immense creatures, and it +would not take many blows from them to disable even a stouter craft +than was the submarine. + +But the motion of the undersea ship, the bright lights, and possibly +the feel of her steel skin was evidently not to the liking of the sea +monsters. One, indeed, came so close to the glass that he seemed about +to try to break it, but, to the relief of all, he veered off, evidently +not liking the look of what he saw. + +Just once again, before the craft reached the surface, was there +another blow, this time at the stern. But it was a parting tap, and +none others followed. + +"They've gone!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, as the whales vanished from the +sight of those in the forward cabin. + +"Have you any adequate protection against these monsters of the deep?" +asked Mr. Hardley in a fault-finding voice. "I should think you would +have taken precautions, Swift!" + +He had dropped the formal "Mr." and seemed to treat Tom as an inferior. + +"We have other protection than running away," said the young inventor +quietly. "There are guns we can use, and, if the whales had been far +enough away, I could have sent a small torpedo at them. Close by it +would be dangerous to use that, as it would operate on us just as the +depth bombs operated on the German submarines. However, I fancy we have +nothing more to fear." + +And Tom was right. When the surface was reached and the main hatch +opened, the sea was calm and there was no sight of the whales. They +evidently had had enough of their encounter with a steel fish, larger +even than themselves. + +"But they surely were monsters," said Ned, as he told of how he and +Koku had sighted the animals; for a whale is an animal, and not a fish, +though often mistakenly called one. + +"Koku was for attacking them with his axe," went on Ned, "but I +motioned to him to beat it. We wouldn't have stood a show against such +creatures. They were on us before we noticed their coming, but I +presume the big submarine attracted them away from us." + +"It might have been the lights you carried that drew them," suggested +Tom. "I am glad you came out of it so well." + +Mr. Hardley seemed to recover some of his former manners, once the +peril was passed, but his conduct had been a revelation to Mr. Damon. + +"Tom," said the eccentric man in private to the young inventor, "I'm +disgusted with that fellow. I don't see how I was ever bamboozled into +taking up his offer." + +"I don't, either," replied Tom frankly. "But we're in for it now. We've +agreed to do certain things, and I'll carry out my end of the bargain. +However, I won't put up with any of his nonsense. He's got to obey +orders on this ship! I know more than he thinks I do!" + +The next two days the M. N. 1 progressed along on the surface, and +nothing of moment occurred. Then, as they neared southern waters, and +Tom desired to make some observations of the character of the bottom, +it was decided to submerge. Accordingly, one day the order was given. + +Not until the gauge showed a hundred fathoms, or six hundred feet, did +the craft cease descending, and then she came to rest on the bottom of +the sea--a greater depth than she had yet attained on this voyage. + +"How beautiful!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, when Tom turned on the lights and +they looked out of the forward cabin windows. "How wonderful and +beautiful!" + +Well might he say that, for they were resting on pure white sand, and +about them, growing on the bottom of this warm, tropical sea were great +corals, purple and white, of wondrous shapes, waving plants like ferns +and palms, and, amid it all, swam fish of queer shapes and beautiful +colors. + +"This is worth waiting for!" murmured Ned. "If only moving pictures of +this could be taken in colors, it would create a sensation." + +"Perhaps I may try that some day," said Tom with a smile. "But just now +I have something else to do. Ned, are you game for another try in the +diving dress? I want to see how it operates with a new air tank I've +fitted on. Want to try?" + +"Sure I'll go out," was the ready answer. "It's nicer walking around on +this white sand than on the black mud where we saw the whales. You can +see better, too." + +A little later he and one of the sailors were outside the submarine, +walking around in the diving dress, while Tom and the others watched +through the glass windows. The new air tank seemed to be working well, +for Ned, coming close to the window, signaled that he was very +comfortable. + +He walked around with the sailor, breaking off bits of odd-shaped coral +to bring back to Tom. Suddenly, as those inside the craft looked out, +they saw the sailor turn from Ned's side, and with a warning hand, +point to something evidently approaching. The next instant a queer +shape seemed to envelope Ned Newton, coming out from behind a ledge of +weed-draped coral. And a cry went up from those in the submarine as Ned +was seen to be enveloped in long, waving arms. + +"An octopus!" cried Mr. Damon. "Bless my soul, Tom, an octopus has Ned!" + +"No, it isn't that!" cried the young inventor hoarsely. "It's some +other monster. It has only five arms--an octopus has eight! I've got +to save Ned!" + +And he hurried toward the diving chamber, while the others, in +fascinated horror, looked at the diver who was in such strange peril. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +TOM TO THE RESCUE + + +Mr. Damon came to a pause in the compartment from which the diving +chamber gave access to the ocean outside. Tom, standing before the +sliding steel door, had summoned to him several of his men and was +rapidly giving them directions. + +"What are you going to do, Tom Swift?" asked the eccentric man. + +"I'm going out there to save Ned!" was the quick answer. "He's in the +grip of some strange monster of the sea. What it is I don't know, but +I'm going to find out. Koku, you come with me!" + +"Yes, Master, me come!" said the giant simply, as if Tom had told him +to go for a pail of water instead of risking his life. + +"Barnes, the electric gun!" cried the young inventor to one of his +helpers, while others were getting out the diving suits. + +"The electric gun!" exclaimed the man. "Do you mean the small one?" + +"No, the largest. The improved one." + +"Right, sir! Here you are!" + +"Do you mean to say you are going out there, where that monster is, and +attack it with a gun?" asked Mr. Hardley. + +"That's what I'm going to do!" answered Tom, as he began to put on the +suit of steel and rubber, an example followed by Koku. + +"But you may be attacked by the monster! You may be killed! You are +risking your life!" cried the gold seeker. + +"I know it." Tom spoke simply. "Ned would do the same for me!" + +"But hold on!" cried Mr. Hardley. "If you are killed there will be no +one to navigate this boat to the place of the wreck! You can't desert +this way!" + +Tom gave the man one look of contempt. "You need have, no fears," he +said. "This submarine is under international maritime laws. If I die, +Captain Nelson, the next in command, takes charge, and the original +orders will be carried out. If it is possible to get the gold for you +it will be done. Now let me alone. I've got work to do!" + +"Bless my apple cart, Tom, that's the way to talk!" exclaimed Mr. +Damon, and he, too, for the first time, seemed ready to break with +Hardley. "If I were a bit younger I'd go out with you myself and help +save Ned." + +"Koku and I can do it--if he's still alive!" murmured the young +inventor. "Lively now, boys! Is that gun ready?" + +"Yes, and doubly charged," was the answer. "Good! I may need it. Koku, +take a gun also!" + +"Me take axe, Master," replied the giant. + +"Well, perhaps that will be better," Tom agreed. "If two of us get to +shooting under the water we may hit one another. Quick, now! The +helmets. And, Nash, you work the big searchlight!" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" answered the sailor. + +The helmets were now put on, and any further orders Tom had to give +must come through the telephone, and it was by that same medium that he +must listen to the talk of his friends. It was possible for the divers +to talk and listen to one another while in the water by means of these +peculiarly constructed telephones. + +"All ready, Koku?" asked Tom. + +"All ready, Master," answered the giant, as he grasped his keen axe. + +The inner door of the diving chamber was now opened, and, the water +having been pumped out of the chamber since Ned and the sailor had +emerged, it was ready for Tom and Koku. They entered, the door was +closed, and presently they felt the pressure of water all about them, +the sea being admitted through valves in the outer door. + +While this was going on Mr. Damon, the gold-seeker, and some of the +crew and officers went into the forward chamber to observe the undersea +fight against the monster that had attacked Ned. + +Suddenly the waters glowed with a greatly increased light, and in this +illumination it was seen that the monster, whatever it was, had almost +completely enveloped Tom's chum with its five arms. + +"What makes it possible to see better?" asked Mr. Damon. + +"I've turned on the big searchlight," was the answer. "Mr. Swift had it +installed at the last moment. It's the same kind he invented and gave +to the government, but he retained the right to use it himself." + +"It's a good thing he did!" exclaimed the eccentric man. "Now he can +see what he's doing! Poor Ned! I'm afraid he's done for!" + +"Look!" exclaimed one of the crew. "Norton, the sailor who went out +with Mr. Newton, is trying to kill the monster with his spear!" + +This was so. Ned's companion, armed with a lone pole to which he had +lashed a knife, was stabbing and jabbing at the black form which almost +completely hid Ned from sight. But the efforts of the sailor seemed to +produce little effect. + +"What in the world can it be?" asked Mr. Damon. "Tom says it isn't an +octopus, and it can't be, unless it has lost three of its arms. But +what sort of monster is it?" + +No one answered him. The powerful searchlight continued to glow, and in +the gleam Ned could be seen trying to break away from the grip of the +Atlantic beast. But his efforts were unavailing. It was as if he was +enveloped in a sort of sack, made in segments, so that they opened and +closed over his head. About all that could be seen of him was his feet, +encased in the heavy lead-laden boots. The form of the other sailor, +who had gone out of the submarine with him, could be seen moving here +and there, stabbing at the huge creature. + +"Here comes Tom!" suddenly exclaimed Mr. Damon, and the young inventor, +followed by the giant Koku, came into view. They had emerged from the +diving chamber, walked around the submarine as it rested on the ocean +floor, and were now advancing to the rescue. Tom carried his electric +rifle, and Koku an axe. + +So desperately was Norton engaged in trying to kill the sea beast that +had attacked Ned, that for the moment he was unaware of the approach of +Tom and Koku. Then, as a swirl of the water apprised him of this, he +turned and, seeing them, hastened toward them. + +"What is it?" Tom asked through the telephone, this information being +given to the watchers in the submarine later, as all they could gather +then was by what they saw. "What sort of monster is it?" + +"A giant starfish!" answered Norton, speaking into his mouthpiece and +the water serving as a transmitting medium instead of wires. "I never +knew they grew so big! This one has its five arms all around Mr. +Newton!" + +"A starfish!" murmured Tom. This accounted for it, and, as he looked at +the monster from closer quarters, he saw that Norton had spoken the +truth. + +Small starfish, or even large ones, two feet or more in diameter, may +be seen at the seashore almost any time. Nearly always the specimens +cast up on the beach are in extended form, either limp, or dead and +dried. In almost every instance they are spread out just as their name +indicates, in the conventional form of a star. + +But a starfish alive, and at its business of eating oysters or other +shell animals in the sea, is not at all this shape. Instead, it +assumes the form of a sack, spreading its five radiating arms around +the object of its meal. It then proceeds to suck the oyster out of its +shell, and so powerful a suction organ has the starfish that he can +pull an oyster through its shell, by forcing the bivalve to open. + +And it was a gigantic starfish, a hundred times as large as any Tom had +ever seen, that had Ned in its grip. The creature had doubtless taken +the diver for a new kind of oyster, and was trying to open it. An +octopus has suckers on the inner sides of its eight arms. A starfish +has little feelers, or "fingers," arranged parallel rows on the inner +side of its arms--thousands of little feelers, and these exert a sort +of sucking action. + +The gigantic starfish had attacked Ned from above, settling down on him +so that the head of the diver was at the middle of the creature's body, +the five arms, dropping over Ned in a sort of living canopy. And the +arms held tightly. + +"Come on, Koku, and you, too, Norton!" called Tom through his headpiece +telephone. "We'll all attack it at once. I'll fire, and then you begin +to hack it. The electric charge ought to stun it, if it doesn't kill +the beast!" + +Tom's new electric gun, unlike one kind he had first invented, did not +fire an electrically charged bullet. Instead it sent a powerful charge +of electricity, like a flash of lightning, in a straight line toward +the object aimed at. And the current was powerful enough to kill an +elephant. + +Bracing his feet on the white sand, which gleamed and sparkled in the +glare of the searchlight, Tom aimed at the gigantic starfish which had +enveloped Ned. Standing on either side of him, ready to rush in and +attack with axe and lance, were Koku and Norton. + +For an instant Tom hesitated. He was wondering whether the powerful +electric charge might not penetrate the body of the starfish and kill +his chum. + +"But the rubber suit ought to insulate and protect him," mused the +young inventor. "Here goes!" + +Taking quick aim, Tom pulled the switch, and the deadly charge shot out +of the rifle toward the sea monster. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +GASPING FOR AIR + + +For an instant after the electrical charge had been fired nothing seem +to happen. The giant starfish still enveloped Ned Newton in its grip, +while Tom and his two companions stood tensely waiting and those in the +submarine looked anxiously out through the thick glass windows. + +Then, as the powerful current made itself felt, those watching saw one +of the arms slowly loosen its grip. Another floated upward, as a strand +of rope idly drifts in the current. Tom saw this, and called through +his telephone: + +"He's feeling it! Go to him, boys! Koku, you with the axe!" + +They needed no second urging. + +Springing toward the monster, Koku with upraised axe and Norton with +the lance, they attacked the starfish. Hacking and stabbing, they +completed the work begun by Tom's electric gun. With one powerful +stroke, even hampered as he was by the heavy medium in which he +operated, Koku lopped off one of the legs. Norton thrust his lance deep +into the body of the monster, but this was hardly needed, for the +starfish was now dead, and gradually the remaining arms relaxed their +hold. + +Pushing with their weapons, the giant and the sailor now freed Ned from +the bulk of the creature, which floated away. It was almost immediately +attacked by a school of fish that seemed to have been waiting for just +this chance. Ned Newton was freed, but for a moment he staggered about +on the floor of the sea, hardly able to stand. + +"Are you all right, Ned? Did he pierce your suit?" asked Tom, anxiously +through the telephone. + +"Yes, I'm all right," came back the reassuring answer. "I'm a bit +cramped from the way he held me, but that's all. Guess he found this +suit of rubber and steel too much for his digestion." + +Slowly, for Ned was indeed a bit stiff and cramped, they made their way +back to the submarine, passing through a vast horde of small fishes +which had been attracted by the dismemberment of the monster that had +been killed. + +"There'll be sharks along soon," said Tom to Ned through the telephone. +"They're not going to miss such a gathering of food as these small fry +present. And sharks will present a different emergency from starfish." + +Tom spoke truly, for a little later, when they were all once more +safely within the submarine, looking through the windows, they saw a +school of hungry sharks feeding on the millions of small fish that +gathered to eat the creature that had attacked Ned. + +"What did you think was happening to you out there?" asked Tom, when +the diving suits had been put away. + +"I didn't know what to think," was the answer. "I was prospecting +around, and I leaned over to pick up a particularly beautiful bit of +coral. All at once I felt something over me, as a cloud sometimes hides +the sun. I looked up, saw a big black shape settling down, and then I +felt my arms pinned to my sides. At first I thought it was an octopus, +but in a moment I realized what it was. Though I never thought before +that starfish grew so large." + +"Nor I," added Tom. "Well, you've had an experience, to say the least." + +They remained a little longer in the vicinity, Tom and his officers +making observations they thought would be useful to them later, and +then the submarine went up to the surface. + +They cruised in the open the rest of that day, recharging the storage +batteries and getting ready for the search which, Tom calculated, would +take them some time. As he had explained, it would not be easy to +locate the Pandora in the fathomless depths of the sea. + +Ned and Mr. Damon did some fishing while they were on the surface, and, +as their luck was good, there was a welcome change from the usual food +of the M. N. 1. Though, as Tom had installed a refrigerating plant, +fresh meat could be kept for some time, and this, in addition to the +tinned and preserved foods, gave them an ample larder. + +"When are we going to begin the real search for the gold?" asked Mr. +Hardley that evening. + +"I should say in another day or two," Tom answered, after he had +consulted the charts and made calculations of their progress since +leaving their dock. "We shall then be in the vicinity of the place +where you say the Pandora went down, and, if you are sure of your +location, we ought to be able to come approximately near to the +location of the gold wreck." + +"Of course I am sure of my figures," declared Mr. Hardley. "I had them +directly from the first mate, who gave them to the captain." + +"Well, it remains to be seen," replied Tom Swift. "We'll know in a few +days." + +"And I hope there will be no more taking chances," went on the +gold-seeker. "I don't see any sense in you people going out in diving +suits to fight starfish. We need those suits to recover the gold with, +and it's foolish to take needless risks." + +His tone and manner were dictatorial, but Tom said nothing. Only when +he and Mr. Damon were alone a little later the eccentric man said: + +"Tom will you ever forgive me for introducing you to such a pest?" + +"Oh, well, you didn't know what he was," said Tom good-naturedly. +"You're as badly taken in as I am. Once we get the gold and give him +his share, he can get off my boat. I'll have nothing more to do with +him!" + +Not wishing to navigate in the darkness, for fear of not being able to +keep an accurate record of the course and the distance made Tom +submerged the craft when night came and let her come to rest on the +bottom of the sea. He calculated that two days later they would be in +the vicinity of the Pandora. + +The night passed without incident, situated, as they were, on the sand +about three hundred feet below the surface; and after breakfast Tom +announced that they would go up and head directly for the place where +the Pandora had foundered. + +The ballast tanks were emptied, the rising rudder set, and the M. N. 1 +began to ascend. She was still several fathoms from the surface when +all on board became aware of a violent pitching and tossing motion. + +"Bless my postage stamp, Tom!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "what's the matter +now?" + +"Has anything gone wrong?" demanded Mr. Hardley. + +"Nothing, except that we are coming up into a storm," answered the +young inventor. "The wind is blowing hard up above and the waves are +high. The swell makes itself felt even down here." + +Tom's explanation of the cause of the pitching and rolling of the +submarine proved correct. When they reached the surface and an +observation was taken from the conning tower, it was seen that a +terrific storm was raging. It was out of the question to open the +hatches, or the M. N. 1 would have been swamped. The waves were high, +it was raining hard and the wind blowing a hurricane. + +"Well, here's where we demonstrate the advantage of traveling in a +submarine," announced Tom, when it was seen that journeying on the +surface was out of the question. "The disturbance does not go far below +the top. We'll submerge and be in quiet waters." + +He gave the orders, and soon the craft was sinking again. The deeper +she went the more untroubled the sea became, until, when half way to +the bottom, there was no vestige of the storm. + +"Are we going to lie here on the bottom all day, or make some progress +toward our destination?" asked the gold-seeker, when Tom came into the +main cabin after a visit to the engine room. "It seems to me," went on +Mr. Hardley, "that we've wasted enough time! I'd like to get to the +wreck, and begin taking out the gold." + +"That is my plan," said Tom quietly. "We will proceed presently--just +as soon as navigating calculations can be made and checked up. If we +travel under water we want to go in the right direction." + +His manner toward the gold-seeker was cool and distant. It was easy to +see that relations were strained. But Tom would fulfill his part of the +contract. + +A little later, after having floated quietly for half an hour or so, +the craft was put in motion, traveling under water by means of her +electric motors. All that day she surged on through the salty sea, no +more disturbed by the storm above than was some mollusk on the sandy +bottom. + +It was toward evening, as they could tell by the clocks and not by any +change in daylight or darkness, that, as the submarine traveled on, +there came a sudden violent concussion. + +"What's that?" cried Mr. Damon. + +"We've struck something!" replied Tom, who was with the others in the +cabin, the navigation of the craft having been entrusted to one of the +officers. "Keep cool, there's no danger!" + +"Perhaps we have struck the wreck!" exclaimed Mr. Hardley. + +"We aren't near her," answered the young inventor. "But it may be some +other half-submerged derelict. I'll go to see, and--" + +Tom's words were choked off by a sudden swirl of the craft. She seemed +about to turn completely over, and then, twisted to an uncomfortable +angle, so that those within her slid to the side walls of the cabin, +the M. N. 1 came to an abrupt stop. At the same time she seemed to +vibrate and tremble as if in terror of some unknown fate. + +"Something has gone wrong!" exclaimed Tom, and he hurried to the engine +room, walking, as best he could with the craft at that grotesque angle. +The others followed him. + +"What's the matter, Earle?" asked Tom of his chief assistant. + +"One of the rudders has broken, sir," was the answer. "It's thrown us +off our even keel. I'll start the gyroscope, and that ought to +stabilize us." + +"The gyroscope!" cried Tom. "I didn't bring it. I didn't think we'd +need it!" + +For a moment Earle looked at his commander. Then he said: + +"Well, perhaps we can make a shift if we can repair the broken rudder. +We must have struck a powerful cross current, or maybe a whirlpool, +that tore the main rudder loose. We've rammed a sand bank, or stuck her +nose into the bottom in some shallow place, I'm afraid. We can't go +ahead or back up." + +"Do you mean we're stuck, as we were in the mud bank?" asked Mr. +Hardley. + +"Yes," answered Tom, and Earle nodded to confirm that version of it. + +"But we'll get out!" declared Tom. "This is only a slight accident. It +doesn't amount to anything, though I'm sorry now I didn't take my +father's advice and bring the gyroscope rudder along. It would have +acted automatically to have prevented this. Now, Mr. Earle, we'll see +what's to be done." + +All night long they worked, but when morning came, as told by the +clocks, they were still in jeopardy. + +And then a new peril confronted them! + +Earle, coming from the crew's quarters, spoke to Tom quietly in the +main cabin. + +"We'll have to turn on one of the auxiliary air tanks," he said. "We've +consumed more than the usual amount on account of the men working so +hard, and we used one of the compressed air motors to aid the +electrics. We'll have to open up the reserve tank." + +"Very well, do so," ordered Tom. + +But a grim look came to his face when Earle, returning a little later, +reported with blanched cheeks: + +"The extra tank hasn't an atom of air in it, sir!" + +"What do you mean?" asked Tom, in fear and alarm. + +"I mean that the valve has been opened in some way--broken perhaps by +accident--and all the air we have is what's in the submarine now. Not +an atom in reserve, sir!" + +"Whew!" whistled Tom, and then he stood up and began breathing quickly. + +Already the atmosphere was beginning to be tainted, as it always +becomes in a closed place when no fresh oxygen can enter. Without more +fresh air the lives of all in the submarine were in imminent peril. And +even as Tom listened to the report of his officer, he and the others +began gasping for breath. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +WHERE IS IT? + + +"Down on your faces!" called Tom to those with him in the cabin. "Lie +down, every one! The freshest air is near the floor; the bad air rises, +being lighter with carbonic acid. Lie down!" + +All obeyed, Tom following the advice he himself gave. It was a little +easier to breathe, lying on the tilted cabin floor, but how long could +this be kept up? That was a question each one asked himself. + +"Is every bit of our reserve air used?" asked Tom, speaking to Earle. + +"As far as I can learn, yes, sir. If I had known that the auxiliary +tank was empty I wouldn't have ordered the compressed air motor used. +But I didn't know." + +"No one is to blame," said Tom in a low voice. "It is one of the +accidents that could not be foreseen. If there is any blame it attaches +to me for not installing the gyroscope rudder. If we had had that when +we were caught in the cross current, or the whirlpool swirl, our +equilibrium would have been automatically maintained. As it is--" + +He did not finish, but they all knew what he meant. + +"Bless my soda fountain, Tom!" murmured Mr. Damon, "but isn't there any +way of getting fresh air?" + +"None without rising to the top," Tom answered. "We'll have to try +that. Come with me to the engine room, Mr. Earle. It may be possible we +can pull her loose." + +They started to crawl on their hands and knees, to take advantage of +the purer air at the floor level. The situation of the M. N. 1 was +exactly the same as it had been when she ran into the mud bank in the +river, with the exception that now she was in graver danger, for the +supply of air for breathing was almost exhausted. + +Reaching the engine room, where he found the crew lying down to take +advantage of the better air near the floor, Tom made a hasty +examination of the apparatus. There was still plenty of power left in +the storage batteries, but, so far, the motors they operated had not +been able to pull the craft loose from where her nose was stuck fast. + +"Are the tanks completely emptied?" asked Tom. + +"As nearly so as we could manage with the pumps not acting to their +full capacity," answered Earle. "If we could turn the craft on a more +level keel we might empty them further, and then her natural buoyancy +would send her up." + +"Then that's the thing to try to do!" exclaimed Tom, his head beginning +to feel the heaviness due to the impure air. "We'll move every +stationary object over to the port side, and we'll all stand there, or +lie there, ourselves. That may heel her over, and help loosen the grip +of the sand." + +"It's worth trying," said Earle. "Get ready, men!" he called to the +crew. + +Tom crawled back to the main cabin and told Mr. Damon and the others +what was to be attempted. + +"Koku, you come and help move things," requested Tom. + +"Me move anything!" boasted the giant, who, because of his great +strength and reserve power did not seem as greatly affected as were the +others. + +Going back to the engine room with Koku, Tom assisted, as well as he +could, in the shifting of pieces of apparatus, stores and other things +that were movable. They all worked at a great disadvantage except Koku, +and he did not seem to feel the lack of vitalizing air. + +One thing after another was shifted, and still the M. N. 1 maintained +the dangerous angle. + +"It isn't going to work!" gasped Tom, as he noticed the indicator which +told to what angle the craft was still off an even keel. "We'll have to +try something else." + +"Is there anything to try?" asked Earle, in a faint voice. He was on +the point of fainting for lack of air. + +Tom looked desperately around. There was one piece of heavy machinery +that might be moved to the other side of the engine room. It was bolted +to the floor, but its added weight, with that of the crew and +passengers, together with what had already been shifted, might turn the +trick. + +"Let's try to move that!" said Tom faintly, pointing to it. + +"It will take an hour to unbolt it," said one of the men. + +"Koku!" gasped Tom, pointing to the heavy apparatus. "See if--see if +you--" + +Tom's breath failed him, and he sank down in a heap. But he had managed +to make the giant understand what was wanted. + +"Koku do!" murmured the big man. Striding to the piece of machinery, +the legs of which were bolted to the floor, Koku got his arms under it. +Bending over, and arching his back, so as to take full advantage of his +enormous muscles, the giant strained upward. + +There was a cracking of bone and sinew, a rasping sound, but the +machinery did not leave the floor. + +"Him must come!" gasped the giant. "One more go!" + +He took a hold lower down. Tom's eyes were dim now, and he could not +see well. Some of the men were unconscious. + +Then, suddenly, there was a loud, breaking sound, and something tinkled +on the steel floor of the submarine engine room. It was the heads of +the bolts which Koku had torn loose. Like hail they fell about the +giant, and in another instant the big man had pulled loose the machine, +weighing several hundreds of pounds. In another moment he shoved it +across the floor, toward the elevated side of the craft. + +For a second or two nothing happened. Then slowly, very slowly, the M. +N. 1 began to heel over. + +"She's turning!" some one gasped. + +An instant later, freed by this turning motion from the grip of the +sand bank, the submarine shot to the surface. Up and up she went, +breaking out on the open sea as a great fish darts upward from the +hidden depths. + +It was the work of only a few seconds for the man nearest it to open +the hatch, and then in rushed the life-giving air. Tom and his +companions were saved, and by Koku's strength. + +"Me say him machine got to come up--him come up!" said the giant, +smiling in happy fashion, when, after they had all gulped down great +mouthfuls of the precious oxygen, they were talking of their experience. + +"Yes, you certainly did it," said Tom, and due credit was given to Koku. + +"Never again will I travel without a gyroscope," declared Tom. "I'm +almost ready to go back and have one installed now." + +"No, don't!" exclaimed the gold-seeker. "We are almost at the place of +the wreck." + +"Well, I suppose we can travel more slowly and not run a risk like that +again," decided Tom. "I'll put double valves on the emergency air tank, +so no accident will release our supply again." + +This was done, after the broken valves had been repaired, and then, +when the machine Koku had torn loose was fastened down again, and the +submarine restored to her former condition, a consultation was held as +to what the next step should be. + +They were in the neighborhood of the West Indies, and another day, or +perhaps less, of travel would bring them approximately to the place +where the Pandora had foundered. The latitude and longitude had been +computed, and then, with air tanks filled, with batteries fully +charged, and everything possible done to insure success, the craft was +sent on the last leg of her journey. + +For two days they made progress, sometimes on the surface, and again +submerged, and, finally, on the second noon, when the sun had been +"shot," Tom said: + +"Well, we're here!" + +"You mean at the place of the wreck?" asked Mr. Hardley. + +"At the place where you say it was," corrected Tom. + +"Well, if this is the place of which I gave you the longitude and +latitude, then it's down below here, somewhere," and the gold-seeker +pointed to the surface of the sea. It was a calm day and the ocean was +the proverbial mill pond. + +"Let's go down and try our luck," suggested Tom. + +The orders were given, the tanks filled, the rudders set, and, with +hatches closed, the M. N. 1 submerged. Then, with the powerful +searchlight aglow, the search was begun. Moving along only a few feet +above the floor of the ocean, those in the submarine peered from the +glass windows for a sight of the sunken Pandora. + +All the rest of that day they cruised about below the surface. Then +they moved in ever widening circles. Evening came, and the wreck had +not been found. The search was kept up all night, since darkness and +daylight were alike to those in the undersea craft. + +But when three days had passed and the Pandora had not been seen, nor +any signs of her, there was a feeling of something like dismay. + +"Where is it?" demanded Mr. Hardley. "I don't see why we haven't found +it! Where is that wreck?" and he looked sharply at Tom Swift. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A SEPARATION + + +"Mr. Hardley," began Tom calmly, as he took a seat in the main cabin, +"when we started this search I told you that hunting for something on +the bottom of the sea was not like locating a building at the +intersection of two streets." + +"Well, what if you did?" snapped the gold-seeker. "You're supposed to +do the navigating, not I! You said if I gave you the latitude and +longitude, down to seconds, as well as degrees and minutes, which I +have done, that you could bring your submarine to that exact point." + +"I said that, and I have done it," declared Tom. "When we computed our +position the other day we were at the exact location you gave me as +being the spot where the Pandora foundered." + +"Then why isn't she here?" demanded the unpleasant adventurer. "We +went down to the bottom at the exact spot, and we've been cruising +around it ever since, but there isn't a sign of the wreck. Why is it?" + +"I'm trying to explain," replied Tom, endeavoring to keep his temper. +"As I said, finding a place on the open sea is not like going to the +intersection of two streets. There everything is in plain sight. But +here our vision is limited, even with my big searchlight. And being a +few feet out of the way, as one is bound to be in making nautical +calculations, makes a lot of difference. We may have been close to the +wreck, but may have missed it by a few yards." + +"Then what's to be done?" asked Mr. Hardley. + +"Keep on searching," Tom answered. "We have plenty of food and +supplies. I came out equipped for a long voyage, and I'm not +discouraged yet. Another thing. The ship may have moved on several +fathoms, or even a mile or two, after her last position was taken +before she went down. In that case she'd be all the harder to find. And +even granting that she sank where you think she did, the ocean currents +since then may have shifted her. Or she may be covered by sand." + +"Covered by sand!" exclaimed the gold-seeker. + +"Yes," replied Tom. "The bottom of the ocean is always changing and +shifting. Storms produce changes in currents, and currents wash the +sand on the bottom in different directions. So that a wreck which may +have been exposed at one time may be covered a day or so later. We'll +have to keep on searching. I'm not ready to give up." + +"Maybe not. But I am!" snapped out Mr. Hardley. + +"What do you mean?" asked the young inventor. + +"Just what I said," was the quick answer. "I'm not going to stay down +here, cruising about without knowing where I'm going. It looks to me +as if you were hunting for a needle in a haystack." + +"That's just about what we are doing," and Tom tried to speak +good-naturedly. + +"Then do you know what I think?" the gold-seeker fairly shot forth. + +"Not exactly," Tom replied. + +"I think that you don't understand your business, Swift!" was the +instant retort. "You pretend to be a navigator, or have men who are, +and yet when I give you simple and explicit directions for finding a +sunken wreck you can't do it, and you cruise all around looking for it +like a dog that has lost the scent! You don't know your business, in my +estimation!" + +"Well, you are entitled to your opinion, of course," agreed Tom, and +both Mr. Damon and Ned were surprised to see him so calm. "I admit we +haven't found the wreck, and may not, for some time." + +"Then why don't you admit you're incompetent?" cried Mr. Hardley. + +"I don't see why I should," said Tom, still keeping calm. "But since +you feel that way about it, I think the best thing for us to do is to +separate." + +"What do you mean?" stormed the other. + +"I mean that I will set you ashore at the nearest place, and that all +arrangements between us are at an end." + +"All right then! Do it! Do it!" cried Mr. Hardley, shaking his fist, +but at no one in particular. "I'm through with you! But this is your +own decision. You broke the contract--I didn't, and I'll not pay a cent +toward the expenses of this trip, Swift! Mark my words! I won't pay a +cent! I'll claim the money I deposited in the bank, and I won't pay a +cent!" + +"I'm not asking you to!" returned Tom, with a smile that showed how he +had himself in command. "You put up a bond, secured by a deposit, to +insure your share of the expenses--yours and Mr. Damon's. Very well, +we'll consider that bond canceled. I won't charge you a cent for this +trip. But, mark this, Hardley: What I find from now on, is my own! You +don't share in it!" + +"You mean that--" + +"I mean that if I discover the wreck of the Pandora and take the gold +from her, that it is all my own. I will share it with Mr. Damon, +provided he remains with me--" + +"Bless my silk hat, Tom, of course I'll stay with you!" broke in the +eccentric man. + +"But you don't share with me," went on the young inventor, looking +sternly at the gold-seeker. "What I find is my own!" + +"All right--have it that way!" snapped the adventurer. "Set me ashore +as soon as you can--the sooner the better. I'm sick of the way you do +business!" + +"Nothing like being honest!" murmured Ned. But, as a matter of fact, he +was glad the separation had come. There had been a strain ever since +Hardley came aboard. Mr. Damon, too, looked relieved, though a trifle +worried. He had considerable at stake, and he stood to lose the money +he had invested with Dixwell Hardley. + +"This is final," announced Tom. "If we separate we separate for good, +and I'm on my own. And I warn you I'll do my best to discover that +wreck, and I'll keep what I find." + +"Much good may it do you!" sneered the other. "Perhaps two can play +that game." + +No one paid much attention to his words then, but later they were +recalled with significance. + +"Get ready to go up!" Tom called the order to the engine room. + +"Where are you going to land me?" asked Mr. Hardley. "I have a right to +know that?" + +"Yes," conceded Tom, "you have. I'll tell you in a moment." + +He consulted a chart, made a few calculations and then spoke. + +"I shall land you at St. Thomas," answered the young inventor. "I do +not wish to bring my submarine to a place that is too public, as too +many questions may be asked. From St. Thomas you can easily reach Porto +Rico, and from there you can go anywhere you wish." + +"Very well," murmured the malcontent. "But I don't consider that I owe +you a cent, and I'm not going to pay you." + +"I wouldn't take your money," Tom answered. "And don't forget what I +said--that what I find is my own." + +The other answered nothing. Nor from then on did he hold much +conversation with Tom or any others in the party. He kept to himself, +and a day later he was landed, at night, at a dock, and if he said +"good-bye" or wished Tom and his friends a safe voyage, they did not +hear him. + +They were steaming along on the surface the next day, and at noon the +submarine suddenly halted. + +"What's on now, Tom?" asked Ned, as he saw his chum prepare to go up on +deck with some of the craft's officers. + +"We're going to 'shoot the sun' again," was the answer. "I want to make +sure that we were right in our former calculations as to the position +of the Pandora. The least error would throw us off." + +Using the sextant and other apparatus, some of which Tom had invented +himself, the exact position of the submarine was calculated. As the +last figure was set down and compared with their previous location, one +of the men who had been doing the computing gave an exclamation. + +"What's the matter?" asked Tom. + +"Look!" was the answer, and he pointed to the paper. "There's where a +mistake was made before. We were at least two miles off our course." + +"You don't say so!" exclaimed Tom, and, taking the sheet, he went +rapidly over the results. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE SERPENT WEED + + +All waited eagerly for Tom Swift to verify the statement of the other +mathematician, and the young inventor was not long in doing this, for +he had what is commonly known as a "good head for figures." + +"Yes, I see the mistake," said Tom. "The wrong logarithm was taken, and +of course that threw out all the calculations. I should say we were +nearer three miles off our supposed location than two miles." + +"Does that mean," asked Mr. Damon, "that we began a search for the +wreck of the Pandora three miles from the place Hardley told us she +was." + +"That's about it," Tom said. "No wonder we couldn't find her." + +"What are you going to do?" Ned wanted to know. + +"Get to the right spot as soon as possible and begin the search there," +Tom answered. "You see, before we submerged as nearly as possible at +the place where we thought the Pandora might be on the ocean bottom. +From there we began making circles under the sea, enlarging the +diameter each circuit. + +"That didn't bring us anywhere, as you all know. Now we will start our +series of circles with a different point as the center. It will bring +us over an entirely different territory of the ocean floor." + +"Just a moment," said Ned, as the conference was about to break up. "Is +it possible, Tom, that in our first circling that we covered any of the +ground which we may cover now? I mean will the new circles we propose +making coincide at any place with the previous ones?" + +"They won't exactly coincide," answered the young inventor. "You can't +make circles coincide unless you use the same center and the same +radius each time. But the two series of circles will intersect at +certain places." + +"I guess intersect is the word I wanted," admitted Ned. + +"What's the idea?" Tom wanted to know. + +"I'm thinking of Hardley," answered his chum. "He might assert that we +purposely went to the wrong location with him to begin the search, and +if we afterward find the wreck and the gold, he may claim a share." + +"Not much he won't!" cried Tom. + +"Bless my check book, I should say not!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. + +"Hardley broke off relations with us of his own volition," said Tom. +"He 'breached the contract,' as the lawyers say. It was his own doing. + +"He has put me to considerable expense and trouble, not to say danger. +He was aware of that, and yet he refused to pay his share. He accused +me of incompetence. Very well. That presuggested that I must have made +an error, and it was on that assumption that he said I did not know my +business. Instead of giving me a chance to correct the error, which he +declared I had made, he quit--cold. Now he is entitled to no further +consideration. + +"An error was made--there's no question of that. We are going to +correct it, and we may find the gold. If we do I shall feel I have a +legal and moral right to take all of it I can get. Mr. Hardley, to use +a comprehensive, but perhaps not very elegant expression, may go fish +for his share." + +"That's right!" asserted Mr. Damon. + +"I guess you're right, Tom," declared Ned. "There's only one more thing +to be considered." + +"What's that?" asked the young inventor. + +"Why, Hardley himself may find out in some way that we were barking up +the wrong tree, so to speak. That is, learn we started at the wrong +nautical point. He may get up another expedition to come and search for +the gold and--" + +"Well, he has that right and privilege," said Tom coolly. "But I don't +believe he will. Anyhow, if he does, we have the same chance, and a +better one than he has. We're right here, almost on the ground, you +might say, or we shall be in half an hour. Then we'll begin our search. +If he beats us to it, that can't be helped, and we'll be as fair to him +as he was to us. This treasure, as I understand it, is available to +whoever first finds it, now that the real owners, whoever they were, +have given it up." + +"I guess you're right there," said Mr. Damon. "I'm no sea lawyer, but I +believe that in this case finding is keeping." + +"And there isn't one chance in a hundred that Hardley can get another +submarine here to start the search," went on Tom. "Of course it's +possible, but not very probable." + +"He might get an ordinary diving outfit and try," Ned suggested. + +"Not many ordinary divers would take a chance going down in the open +sea to the depth the Pandora is supposed to lie," Tom said. "But, with +all that, we have the advantage of being on the ground, and I'm going +to make use of that advantage right away." + +He gave orders at once for the M. N. 1 to proceed, and this she did on +the surface. It was decided to steam along on the open sea until the +exact nautical position desired was reached. This position was the same +Mr. Hardley had indicated, but that position was not before attained, +owing to an error in the calculations. + +As all know, to get to a certain point on the surface of the ocean, +where there is no land to give location, a navigator has to depend on +mathematical calculations. The earth's surface is divided by imaginary +lines. The lines drawn from the north to the south poles are called +meridians of longitude. They are marked in degrees, and indicate +distance east or west of the meridian of, say, Greenwich, England, +which is taken as one of the centers. The degrees are further divided +into minutes and seconds, each minute being a sixtieth of a degree and +each second, naturally, the sixtieth of a minute. + +Now, if a navigator had to depend only on the meridian lines indicating +distance east and west, he might be almost any distance north or south +of where he wanted to go. So the earth is further divided into sections +by other imaginary lines called parallels of latitude. As all know, +these indicate the distance north or south of the middle line, or the +equator. The equator goes around the earth at the middle, so to speak, +running from east to west, or from west to east, according as it is +looked at. The meridian of Greenwich may be regarded as a sort of half +equator, running half way around the earth in exactly the opposite +direction, or from north to south. + +The place where any two of these imaginary lines, crossing at right +angles, meet may be exactly determined by the science of navigation. It +is a complicated and difficult science, but by calculating the distance +of the sun above the horizon, sometimes by views of stars, by knowing +the speed of the ship, and by having the exact astronomical time at +hand, shown on an accurate chronometer, the exact position of a ship at +any hour may be determined. + +By this means, if a navigator wants to get to a place where two certain +lines cross, indicating an exact spot in the ocean, he is able to do +so. He can tell for instance when he has reached the place where the +seventy-second degree of longitude, west from Greenwich, meets and +crossed the twentieth parallel of latitude. This spot is just off the +northern coast of Haiti. Other positions are likewise determined. + +It was after about an hour of rather slow progress on the surface of +the calm sea, no excess speed being used for fear of over-running the +mark, that Tom and his associates gathered on deck again to make +another calculation. + +Long and carefully they worked out their position, and when, at last, +the figures had been checked and checked again, to obviate the chance +of another error, the young inventor exclaimed: + +"Well, we're here!" + +"Really?" cried Ned. + +"No doubt of it," said his chum. + +"Bless my doormat!" cried Mr. Damon. "And do you mean to say, Tom +Swift, that if we submerge now we'll be exactly where the Pandora lies, +a wreck on the floor of the ocean. + +"I mean to say that we're at exactly the spot where Hardley said she +went down," corrected Tom, "and we weren't there before--that is not so +that we actually knew it. Now we are, and we're going down. But that +doesn't guarantee that we'll find the wreck. She may have shifted, or +be covered with sand. All that I said before in reference to the +difficulty in locating something under the surface of the sea still +holds good." + +Once more, to make very certain there was no error, the figures were +gone over, Then, as one result checked the other, Tom put away the +papers, the nautical almanac, and said: + +"Let's go!" + +Slowly the tanks of the M. N. 1 began to fill. It was decided to let +her sink straight down, instead of descending by means of the vertical +rudders. In that way it was hoped to land her as nearly as possible on +the exact spot where the Pandora was supposed to be. + +"How deep will it be, Tom?" asked Ned, as he stood beside his chum in +the forward observation cabin and watched the needle of the gauge move +higher and higher. + +"About six hundred feet, I judge, going by the character of the sea +bottom around here. Certainly not more than eight hundred I should +say." And Tom was right. At seven hundred and eighty-six feet the gauge +stopped moving, and a slight jar told all on board that the submarine +was again on the ocean floor. + +"Now to look for the wreck!" exclaimed Tom. "And it will be a real +search this time. We know we are starting right." + +"Are you going to put on diving suits and walk around looking for her?" +asked Ned. + +"No, that would take too long," answered Tom. "We'll just cruise about, +beginning with small circles and gradually enlarging them, spiral +fashion. We'll have to go up a few feet to get off the bottom." + +As Tom was about to give this order Ned looked from the glass windows. +The powerful searchlight had been switched on and its gleams +illuminated the ocean in the immediate vicinity of the craft. + +As was generally the case, the light attracted hundreds of fish of +various shapes, sizes, and, since the waters were tropical, beautiful +colors. They swarmed in front of the glass windows, and Ned was glad to +note that there were no large sea creatures, like horse mackerel or big +sharks. Somehow or other, Ned had a horror of big fish. There were +sharks in the warm waters, he well knew, but he hoped they would keep +away, even though he did not have to encounter any in the diving suit. + +Slowly the submarine began to move. And as she was being elevated +slightly above the ocean bed, to enable her to proceed, Ned uttered an +exclamation and pointed to the windows. + +"Look, Tom!" he cried. + +"What is it?" the young inventor asked. + +"Snakes!" whispered his chum. "Millions of 'em! Out there in the water! +Look how they're writhing about!" + +Tom Swift laughed. + +"Those aren't snakes!" he said. "That's serpent grass--a form of very +long seaweed which grows on certain bottoms. It attains a length of +fifty feet sometimes, and the serpent weed looks a good deal like a +nest of snakes. That's how it got its name. I didn't know there was any +here. But we must have dropped down into a bed of it." + +"Any danger?" asked Ned. + +"Not that I know of, only it may make it more difficult for us to see +the wreck of the Pandora." + +As Tom turned to leave the cabin the submarine suddenly ceased moving. +And she came to a gradual stop as though she had been "snubbed" by a +mooring line. + +"I wonder what's the matter!" exclaimed Tom. "We can't have come upon +the wreck so soon." + +At that moment a man entered the cabin. + +"Trouble, Mr. Swift!" he reported. + +"What kind?" asked Tom. + +"Our propellers are tangled with a mass of serpent weed," was the +answer. "They're both fouled, and we can't budge." + +"Bless my anchor chain!" ejaculated Mr. Damon. "Stuck again!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE DEVIL FISH + + +It was true. The long sinuous strands of ocean grass, known under the +name of "serpent weed," had caught around the whirling propellers and +there had been wound and twisted very tightly. Just as sometimes the +stern line gets so tightly twisted around a motor boat propeller as to +require hours of work with an axe to free it, the seaweed was twisted +around the blades of the M. N. 1. + +Slowly the undersea craft came to a stop, and there she remained, +floating freely enough, but a few feet above the bottom of the ocean. +There was a look of alarm on the faces of Ned and Mr. Damon, but Tom +Swift smiled. + +"This is annoying, and may cause us delay," he announced, "but there is +no danger." + +"How are we to get free from the weed?" asked Mr. Damon. "We can't move +if it's wound around our propellers, can we?" + +"Not very well," Tom answered. "But all that will have to be done will +be for some of us to put on diving suits, go out and chop the strands +of weed away. We can do it more easily than could an ordinary vessel, +for they would have to go into dry dock for the purpose. I think I'll +go out myself. I want to look around a little." + +"I'll go with you," said Ned. "As long as we haven't seen any sharks I +don't mind." + +"Nor gigantic starfish, either," added Tom with a smile, and Ned nodded +in agreement. + +"We might try reversing the propellers," suggested the man from the +engine room, who had come in with the information about the serpent +weed. "The chief didn't like to try that. We saw the weed from our +observation windows and stopped as soon as we felt we had fouled it." + +"That was right," commended Tom. "Well, try reversing. It can't do any +harm, and it may make it easier for us to free the propellers when we +go out." + +He went to the engine room himself to see that everything was properly +attended to. Slowly the motors were reversed, and only a slight current +was given them, as, with the resistance of the tightly wound weed, too +powerful a force might burn out the insulation. + +Slowly the starting lever was thrown over. There was a low humming and +whining as the current jumped from the batteries, and a slight +vibration of the craft. Tom looked at the movable pointer which showed +the speed and direction of the propellers. The hand oscillated +slightly and then stopped. + +"Shut off the current!" cried Tom. "It's of no use. The propellers are +held as tight as a drum! We've got to go out and cut loose the serpent +weed!" + +The experiment of reversing the propellers had failed. But still Tom +did not believe his craft was in danger. He gave orders for the engine +room force to stand by and then arranged for himself, Ned, and Koku to +go outside in diving dress and cut the weed off the shafts. There were +twin propellers on the submarine, each revolving independently by +separate motors, and each capable of being sent in forward or reverse +direction. + +"Start the engines as soon as we give the signal," Tom told the +machinist. "Two knocks on the hull with an axe will mean go ahead, and +three will mean reverse." + +"I understand," said Weyth, the machinist. "But stand away from the +propellers after you give the signal. I'll give you three minutes to +move clear." + +"That will be enough," Tom said. "But better make it half speed in +either case. My idea is that if we can partly cut the weed off, +starting the propellers, either forward or in reverse, will finish the +trick." + +"It may," agreed Weyth. + +Armed with axes and sharp steel bars, Tom, Ned, and Koku were soon +ready to step outside the submarine. + +They entered the diving chamber. In the usual manner water was +admitted, and, when the pressure was equalized, the outer door was +opened and they walked out on the floor of the ocean, the submarine +having been allowed to settle down again on the bottom of the Atlantic. + +The powerful searchlight had been turned so that the beams were +diffused toward the stern. In addition to this Tom and his two +companions carried, attached to their suits, small, but brilliant, +electric torches. Of course they had their air tanks with them, and +also the telephones, by means of which they could communicate with one +another. + +As they emerged into the warm waters surrounding the submarine they +disturbed thousands of small fish which were feeding all about. Like +ocean swallows, the creatures scattered in all directions, some even +brushing the divers as they slowly made their way toward the stern of +the craft. + +"Nice place here," said Ned to Tom, as they walked along, Koku coming +just behind them. + +"Yes. If we could take this up above and exhibit it in some city park +it would make a hit all right," answered the young inventor. + +They were walking on the pure, white, sandy floor of the ocean, some +seven hundred feet below the surface, protected from the awful pressure +of the water by means of the specially constructed suits which Tom had +invented. About them, growing as if in a garden, were great masses of +coral, some so thin and sinuous that it waved as do palms and ferns in +the open air. Other coral was in great rock masses. + +Then, too, there was the unpleasant serpent weed. It did not grow all +over, but in patches here and there, as rank grass springs up in a +meadow. + +And it had been the misfortune of the M. N. 1 that she poked her tail +into a mass of this long, tough grass, which was now wound about her +propellers. + +In addition to the many wonderful vegetable forms that grew on the +ocean floor, some rivalling in beauty the orchids of the tropics, and +almost as delicate, there were the fishes, which darted to and fro, now +swiftly swimming beneath some coral arch, and again poising around some +mass of waving sea fronds. + +"Well, let's get busy," called Tom to Ned through the telephone. "We +want to free the propellers and find the wreck of the Pandora. She may +be a hundred feet from us, or a mile away, and in that case it's going +to take longer to locate her." + +Together they walked to the stern of the disabled craft. One look at +the propeller shafts, the examination being made by the diffused glow +from the searchlight, as well as from the electric torches carried, +showed that the diagnosis of the trouble was correct. + +Wound around both propellers was a mass of the serpent weed, tightly +bound because the machinery had whirled it around and around after the +grass had once been caught. It was almost as bad as though manila cable +had been thus accidentally fastened. + +"Well, might as well begin to cut it loose," said Tom to his +companions. "Koku, you take the port propeller, and Ned and I will work +on the other. You ought to be able to beat us at this game." + +"Me do," said the giant, as he got his axe ready for work. + +Blows struck in water lose much of their force. This can easily be +proved by filling a bathtub full of water, rolling up the sleeves, and +then taking a hammer in the hand, immersing it fully, and trying to +strike some object held in the other hand. The water hampers the blows. + +It was this way with Tom and his friends. Nearly half of Koku's great +strength was wasted. But they knew they could take their time, though +they did not want to waste many hours. + +The streamers of weed were like strands of tightly wound rope, and +this, under certain circumstances, acquires almost the density of wood. +Tom and Ned, working together, had managed to chop a little off their +propeller shaft, and Koku had done somewhat better with his task, when +Ned became aware of a shadow passing above him. + +Instinctively he looked up, and as he did so he could not repress a +start of horror. Tom, too, as well as Koku, saw the menacing shadow. +Ned grasped more tightly his sharp, steel bar and spoke through the +telephone to his companions. + +"Devil fish!" he said. "The devil fish are after us." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A WAR REMINDER + + +To a large number of people the name devil fish brings to mind a +conception of an octopus, squid, cuttle fish, or a member of that +species. This is, however, a mistake. + +The true devil fish of the tropics is a member of the sting ray family, +and the common name it bears is given to it because of two prongs, or +horns, which project just in front of its mouth. His Satanic Majesty +is popularly supposed to have horns, together with a tail, hoofs and +other appendages, and the horns of this sting ray fish are what give it +the name it bears. + +The devil fish, some specimens of which grow to the weight of a ton and +measure fifteen feet from wing tip to wing tip, are armed with a long +tail, terminating in a tough, horny substance, like many of the ray +family members. This horn-tipped tail, lashing about in the water, +becomes a terrible weapon of defense. Possibly it is used for offense, +as the devil fish feeds on small sea animals, sweeping them into its +mouth by movements of the horns mentioned. These horns, swirled about +in the water, create a sort of suction current, and on that the food +fishes are borne into the maw of the gigantic creature. + +A whale rushes through a school of small sea animals with open mouth, +takes in a great quantity of water, and the fringe of whalebone acts as +a strainer, letting out the water and retaining the food. In like +manner the devil fish feeds, except that it has no whalebone. Its +"horns" help it to get a meal. + +The "wing tips" of the devil fish have been spoken of. They are not +really wings, though when one of these fish breaks water and shoots +through the air, it appears to be flying. The wings are merely fins, +enormously enlarged, and these give the fish its great size, rather +than does the body itself. It is the whipping spike-armed tail of the +devil fish that is to be feared, aside from the fact that the rush of a +monster might swamp a small boat. + +It was two or three of these devil fish that were now floating in the +water above Tom and his companions, who were grouped about the stern of +the disabled submarine. + +"They won't attack us unless we disturb them," said Tom through his +telephone, speaking to Ned and Koku. "Keep still and they'll swim away. +I guess they're trying to find out what new kind of fish our boat is." + +All might have gone well had not Koku acted precipitately. One of the +devil fish, the smallest of the trio, measuring about ten feet across, +swam down near the giant. It was an uncanny looking creature, with its +horns swirling about in the water and its bone-tipped tail lashing to +and fro like a venomous serpent. + +"Look out!" cried Tom. But he was too late. Koku raised his axe and +struck with all his force at the sea beast. He hit it a glancing blow, +not enough to kill it, but to wound it, and immediately the sea was +crimsoned with blood. + +The devil fish was able to observe under water better than its human +enemies, and it was in no doubt as to its assailant. In an instant it +attacked the giant, seeking to pierce him with the deadly tail. + +These tails are not only armed with a tip of horn-like hardness, they +are also poisonous, and their penetrating power is great. Fishermen +have sometimes caught small sting rays, which are a sort of devil fish. +Lashing about in the bottom of a boat a sting ray can send its tail tip +through the sole of a heavy boot and inflict a painful wound which may +cause serious results. + +The beast Koku had wounded was trying to sting the giant, and the +latter, aware of his peril, was striking out with the axe. + +"Look out, Tom!" called Ned through his telephone, as he saw one of the +two unwounded devil fish swirl down toward the young inventor. Tom +looked up, saw the big, horrible shape above him, and jabbed it with +the sharp, steel bar. He inflicted a wound which added further to the +crimson tinge in the sea, and that fish now attacked Tom Swift. + +In another instant all three divers were fighting the terrible +creatures, that, knowing by instinct they were in danger, were using +the weapon with which nature had provided them. They lashed about with +their sharp-pointed tails, and more than one blow fell on the suits of +the divers. + +Had there been the least penetration, of course almost instant death +would have followed. For the sea, at that depth and pressure, entering +the suits would have ended life suddenly. But Tom had seen to it that +the suits were well made and strong, with a lining of steel. And +however great a thickness of leather the devil fish could send his +sting through, it could not overcome steel. + +There was danger, though, that the slender tip might slip through the +steel bars across the windows in the helmets and shatter the glass. And +that would be as great a danger as if the suits themselves were +penetrated. + +"We've got to fight 'em!" gasped Tom through his instrument, and, +seeing his chance, he gave another jab to the devil fish attacking him. +Koku, too, was standing up well under the attack of the monster he had +first wounded. Ned, watching his chance, got in several blows, first at +one and then at the other of the huge creatures. The third devil fish, +which had not been wounded, had disappeared. Finally Koku, with a +desperate blow, succeeded in severing the tail from the beast attacking +him, and that battle was over. + +As if realizing that it had lost its power to harm, the devil fish at +once swam off, grievously wounded. Then Koku turned his attention to +Tom's enemy. Ned, too, lent his aid, and they succeeded in wounding the +creature in several places, so that it sank to the bottom of the sea +and lay there gasping. + +Slowly the red waters cleared and the three divers, exhausted by the +fight, could view the remaining creature--the one wounded to death. It +was the largest of the three, and truly it was a monster. But it was +past the power to harm, and in a few minutes an under sea current +carried it slowly away. Later it would float, doubtless, or be devoured +by sharks or other ocean pirates before reaching the surface. + +"Thank goodness that's over!" said Ned to Tom. "I don't want to see any +more of them." + +"There may be more about," Tom said. "We'd better keep watch. Ned, you +lay off and Koku and I will work on the propellers. Then you can take +your turn." + +This plan was followed. Koku, not being tired, did not need to stop +working, and he was the first to free his shaft partially of the +entangling weeds. Tom rapped a signal, the blades were slowly revolved +and then came free. A little later the second was in like condition. + +"Now we can move!" said Tom, as they started back toward the diving +chamber. "I hope we don't run into another patch of that serpent grass." + +"Nor see any more devil fish," added Ned. + +"Same here!" echoed the young inventor. + +Luck seemed to be with the gold-seekers after that, for as the +submarine was sent ahead, no more of the long, entangling grass was +encountered. + +The search for the sunken Pandora was now begun in earnest, since they +were positive that they were at the right spot. + +No immediate sign of her was found. But Tom and his friends hardly +expected to be as lucky as that. They were willing to make a search. +For, as Tom had said, a current might have shifted the position of the +wreck. + +They followed the plan of moving about in ever-widening circles. Only +in this way could they successfully cover the ground. It was the third +day after the encounter with the devil fish that Tom, Ned and Mr. Damon +were in the forward observation cabin. The eccentric man suddenly +pointed to something visible from the starboard window. + +"There's a wreck, Tom!" he cried. "Maybe it's the Pandora!" + +Tom and the others hurried to Mr. Damon's side and peered out into the +sea, illuminated by the great searchlight. + +"That isn't the Pandora!" said the young inventor. + +"But it's a wreck, isn't it?" asked Ned. + +"Yes, it's a sunken vessel, all right," Tom assented. "But it's a +reminder of the Great War. Look! She has been blown up by a torpedo!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +STUDYING CURRENTS + + +There was no question about Tom's statement. They had approached close +to the side of a small, sunken and wrecked steamer, and in her side was +torn a great hole. In the light from the submarine it could be seen +that the plates bent inward, indicating that the explosion was from +outside. + +"What are you going to do, Tom?" asked Ned, as he saw his chum move the +engine room telegraph signal to the stop position. + +"Going to investigate," was the answer. "We might as well take the +time. We may learn something of value." + +"Do you think there is any treasure in her?" asked Mr. Damon. + +"There might be," answered Tom. "We'll put on the diving suits and go +outside." + +"I hope there aren't any devil fish," remarked Ned. + +"Same here," Tom agreed. "But I don't believe we'll meet with any. Will +you take a chance, Ned?" + +"I surely will! I'd like to find out what sort of ship that is--or +rather, was, for there isn't much left of her." + +He spoke truly, for indeed the torpedo had created fearful havoc. The +full extent of it was not observed until Tom, Ned, Koku and two of the +crew had put on diving suits and approached the hulk. She lay on her +side on the sandy bottom, heeled over somewhat, and when the +investigators had walked around her, as they were able to do, they saw +a second, and even larger hole in the opposite side. + +"Two submarines must have attacked her," said Ned, speaking through his +telephone to Tom. + +"Either that, or else one sent a torpedo into her, dived, came up on +the other side and sent another." + +"Well, let's see if she has any treasure aboard," Ned proposed. +"Wouldn't it be queer if we should discover two treasure ships?" + +"More queer than likely," Tom answered. "We've got to be careful going +inside her." + +"Why?" asked Ned. "Do you think we'll set off a hidden mine?" + +"No, but part of the wreckage might be loosened if we climbed over it, +and we might fall and be pinned down. I've read of divers being caught +that way. We must be careful." + +"Do you suppose a German sub did this?" Ned asked. + +"I think very likely," Tom answered. "Maybe we can tell if we can +discover the nationality of this craft." + +They made their way to a position just outside the gaping hole in the +starboard side of the craft. Evidently; it was, or had been, a tramp +steamer, and the torpedo hole on her starboard side was about +amidships. She must have filled and sunk quickly with two such great +holes torn in her. + +Standing near the wound in the steel skin, Tom and his companions tried +to see what was inside. Their portable torches did not give light +enough to make out clearly the character of the cargo carried, and it +was too risky to venture into the mass of wreckage that must be the +result of the explosion of the torpedo. + +"Let's try the other side," suggested Tom, and they moved around the +stern of the craft. When they reached the place where the name was +visible Tom raised his electric torch and, in the glow of it, they all +read the painted inscription, Blakesly, New York. + +"That's the vessel that disappeared so mysteriously!" exclaimed Ned, +speaking through his instrument. "I remember reading about her. She +sailed from New York for Brest, but was never heard of. At last we +have solved the mystery!" + +"Yes," agreed Tom, "but without much avail. We are too late to do any +good." + +"Not one of her crew or passengers was ever heard of," went on Ned. "It +was surmised that a German sub attacked her, and that she was either +sunk 'without a trace' or else her survivors were taken aboard the +submarine and carried to Germany." + +"Perhaps we may learn something to that end," said Tom, as they got +around to the other side. The hole there was not quite so big, and as +it seemed safe to enter Tom and Ned prepared to do so, the others +remaining outside to give them aid in case of necessity. + +It was comparatively easy to enter by this wound in the side of the +Blakesly, and, proceeding cautiously, Tom and Ned made the attempt. +They found they could not penetrate far, however, because of the mass +of wreckage scattered about by the explosion. They could see through +into the engine room, and there the machinery was in every stage of +destruction, while below the boilers were disrupted. + +"She must have gone down in a hurry," remarked Tom. + +"Yes, and with part of her crew," added Ned, as he pointed to where a +heap of white bones lay--grim reminders of the Great War. The engine +room forces had been trapped and carried down to death. + +"I wonder if, by any chance, she did carry gold," suggested Ned. + +"It wouldn't be down here if she did," asserted Tom. "And if she was a +treasure ship, and the huns knew it, they wouldn't leave any on board." + +"That's just it," went on his chum. "They may not have known it, and +have ripped a couple of torpedoes at her without any warning. It would +be just like them." + +"Granted," assented the young inventor. "Well, we can take another look +around outside. Maybe there's a way of getting on deck, and so going +below from there. I wouldn't chance it from here." + +"Me, either," Ned answered. + +They looked around a little more, a further view showing how dangerous +it would be to attempt to enter the shattered engine room, where a +misstep or a sudden change of equilibrium might cause disaster. + +"Nothing there," Tom reported to Koku and the others waiting for him +outside. + +"Rope by up go him stern," said Koku, motioning toward the after part +of the wreck. + +"What does he mean?" Tom asked one of his crew. + +"Oh, he went walking around outside while you were inside, sir," was +the answer, "and he seems to have found a rope ladder or a chain, or +something hanging from the stern." + +"Let's go and see it," proposed Tom. "I've been wondering if we could +get on deck." + +"Are we going to spend much time here?" Ned wanted to know. + +"Not much longer," Tom replied. "Why?" + +"Well, I was thinking we'd better keep on looking for the Pandora. I +don't want that fellow Hardley to get the bulge on us." + +"Oh," laughed Tom, "he isn't likely to. But we won't take any chances. +As soon as I see if we can learn anything that may be useful from this +hulk, we'll go back and start on our way again." + +The party of divers, led by Koku, who wanted to point out his +discovery, walked slowly along on the bottom of the sea, around to the +stern of the Blakesly. + +"See!" said the giant through his telephone, and, as the instruments +were interchanging, all heard him. + +Koku pointed to several ropes and chains that were dangling from the +stern of the sunken craft. Evidently they had been used by those who +sought to escape from the sinking ship after she had been torpedoed. + +"Wait a minute!" Tom telephoned, as he saw Koku grasp a chain, +evidently with the object of hoisting himself up on deck by the simple +method of going up hand over hand. He could easily do this by adjusting +the air pressure inside his diving suit to make himself more buoyant. + +"Koku go up!" said the giant. + +"Better make sure that chain will hold you," cautioned Tom. The giant +proved it by several powerful tugs, and then began to raise himself +from the sandy bed of the ocean. + +"Well, if it will hold him it will hold us," asserted Tom. "Ned, we'll +go up. You two stay here," he said to the members of his crew. "We +can't take any chances of all getting in the same accident if there +should be one." + +A little later Tom, Ned, and Koku stood on the deck of the sunken +craft. Much of what she had carried had been swept off, either in the +explosions or by reason of currents generated by storms since the +fatality. But what seemed to be the cabin of the captain, or of some of +the officers, was in plain view and easy of access from this level. + +"Let's take a look!" said Tom. + +Ned followed him to the door. It had been torn off, and inside was a +table made fast to the floor. From the appearance of the room it was +evidently the compartment where the charts were kept, and where the +captain or his officers worked out the reckoning. But it was +tenantless now, and if any maps or papers had been out they were +dissolved in sea water some time since. + +"Let's see if we can find the log book," proposed Ned. + +"Good idea," assented Tom. + +Using the iron bars they carried, they forced open some of the lockers, +but aside from pulp, which might have been charts or almost anything in +the way of documents, nothing was come upon that would tell anything. + +"Unless the log book was kept in a water-tight case the ink would all +run, once it was wet," Tom said, when they were about ready to give up +their search. + +"I suppose so," agreed Ned. "But I would like to know whether she +carried treasure." + +However, it was impossible to discover this, and dangerous to look too +far into the interior. So Tom and his party were forced to leave +without discovering the secret of the Blakesly, if she possessed one. + +Later, however, when they had returned home, Tom and Ned made a report +of what they had seen, and so cleared up the fate of the vessel. They +learned that she carried no treasure, and they were glad they had not +risked their lives looking for it. What had happened to her crew was +never learned. + +They returned to the submarine and told what they had viewed. And +then, with a last look at the wreck, they passed on in their search for +the Pandora. + +Several fruitless days followed, and though a careful search was made +in the vicinity of the true location given by Mr. Hardley, nothing was +discovered. + +"How long will you keep at it before you give up?" asked Ned one +evening, as they went aloft to replenish the air tanks and charge the +batteries. + +"Oh, another week, anyhow. I have a new theory, Ned." + +"What's that?" + +"Ocean currents. I believe there are powerful currents in these waters, +and that they may have shifted the position of the Pandora +considerably. I'm going to study the currents." + +"Good idea!" cried his chum. + +And the next day they began observations which were destined to have +surprising results. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AN UNDERSEA COLLISION + + +Under the warm, tropical sun the submarine floated idly on the surface +of the calm sea. She had risen from the depths, her hatches had been +opened, and now the crew, the owner, and his guests were breathing free +air. The men were taking advantage of the period above water to wash +out some of their garments, hanging them on improvised lines stretched +along the deck. For Tom Swift had said he would remain above the +surface all day. + +Some slight repairs were necessary to the electric motors, and they +could be made only when the craft was on the open sea. This, too, would +afford a chance to recharge the batteries and repair one of them. + +For the time being the search under the sea for the treasure ship +Pandora had been abandoned. But it was not given up entirely. As Tom +had announced to Ned, a new theory would be worked out. So far, +cruising about in the place where the fillibuster ship was supposed to +have gone down had resulted in nothing. + +Mr. Damon, who had been below, shaving, came up on deck to see Tom and +Ned tossing into the water large pieces of cork taken from spare life +preservers. Tom tossed his in from one side of the deck, and Ned from +the other. Then, as the eccentric man listened, he heard Tom say: + +"I think mine is going to beat yours, Ned!" + +"Then you've got another guess coming," declared the young financial +man. "Mine's going twice as fast as yours is now, though yours did +start off better." + +"Bless my beefsteak!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "what's this, Tom Swift? I +thought we came on a treasure-hunting expedition, and here I find you +and Ned playing some childish game! I hope you aren't laying any wagers +on it!" Mr. Damon did not approve of gambling in any form. + +"No, we aren't doing that," laughed Tom, as he dropped another bit of +cork into the ocean. + +"We are trying to arrive at some valuable scientific facts, Mr. Damon." + +"Scientific facts--that childish play?" + +"It isn't play," said Tom, turning to remark to Ned: "I think we've +settled it. The current has a decided twist to the north." + +"Yes," agreed his chum. "You were right, Tom." + +"If you don't mind explaining," began Mr. Damon, "I should like to +know--" + +"We're trying to determine the drift of the ocean currents in this +locality," Tom said. + +"So we'll know better where to look for the Pandora," added Ned. + +"Oh, so you haven't given up the hunt, then?" asked the eccentric man. + +"By no means!" exclaimed Tom. "It's this way, Mr. Damon. We went down +at as nearly the exact spot where the treasure-ship was sunk as we +could determine by means of calculations. She wasn't there, nor could +we find her by going around in circles. Then it occurred to me, and to +some of the others also, including Ned, that the ocean currents might +have shifted the position of the craft after she had sunk. There are +powerful currents in the ocean, as you know, the Gulf Stream being one +and the Japan Current another. Now there may be smaller ones in these +waters that would produce a local effect. + +"So Ned and I have been dropping bits of cork of different shapes into +the water and watching which way they drifted. Our conclusion is that +the currents here have a decided set toward the north." + +"And what does that indicate?" asked Mr. Damon. + +"That we should have begun our search some distance north of the point +where we actually did begin," answered Tom. + +"How far north?" the eccentric man wanted to know. + +"That's just what we have yet to ascertain," the young inventor +replied. "So far our conclusions have been arrived at merely from +surface data. Now we've got to go below." + +"And play with bits of cork there?" asked Mr. Damon. + +"No, we'll have to use something heavier than cork," Tom said. "We'll +probably use weights, and see how far they move along the bottom in a +given time. But we have established one thing, and I begin to have +hopes now that we may locate the Pandora." + +The remainder of the day was spent in various ways aboard the +submarine, which continued to float idly on the waves. + +It was toward evening, when the red, setting sun gave promise of a fair +day on the morrow that the submarine's deck lookout approached Tom, +and, waiting until he had the attention of the young inventor, reported: + +"There is a smudge of smoke dead astern, sir." + +"Is there?" exclaimed Tom. "Let me have the glasses." + +He took them from the lookout and made a long and careful study of the +slight, black smudge which was low down on the horizon. + +"A steamer," decided Tom, "and coming on fast. We'll go below!" he +added. "Please make ready," he said to the officer in charge. + +"What's up, Tom?" asked Ned, as his chum gathered up the papers on +which he had been figuring on an improvised table set under an awning +on deck. + +"Some craft is coming, and I'd just as soon she wouldn't sight us," was +the answer. + +"You mean she might interfere with our search for the treasure-ship?" + +"Not exactly. But she might want to start a search on her own account, +and there's no use of giving our presence away, or letting them guess +at what might be right conclusions as to the location of the Pandora." + +"But, Tom, no one knows of the wreck! At least, no one is supposed to +but our party and--" + +"Hardley. Exactly!" exclaimed Tom, as he saw his chum about to utter +the name. + +"And you think he is coming?" + +"I shouldn't be a bit surprised. Anyhow, it's just as easy for us to +submerge and let them do their own guessing. I was going down soon, +anyhow, and another hour won't make any difference. Here, take a look, +if you like." + +Ned peered through the glasses, but his eyes not being trained in sea +interpretation, as were Tom's, he could make out nothing but a black +smudge, now larger and darker. + +"It might be a cloud for all I can tell," he said, as he handed the +binoculars back to Tom. + +"Well, it's a steamer all right, and she's under forced draft, too, if +I'm any judge. We'll go below before she sights us." + +"Perhaps she has already," suggested Ned, as the crew began clearing +the submarine's deck. + +"No, we lie too low in the water for that. Well, now we can start our +underwater observations of current trends." + +It did not take long, once she started, for the M. N. 1 to go down. +Just as the sun sank below the horizon, and while the smudge of smoke +was becoming more distinct, the waves closed over the steel deck of the +submarine. Half an hour later she was nearly a quarter of a mile below +the surface, resting on the bottom of the sea again. + +On this trip Tom did not go to any such depths as he did on his former +voyage in the Advance. Not that the reconstructed submarine was not +capable of it, for she was even stronger than when first built. But the +wreck they were seeking did not lie in so great a depth of water, and +there was no need of running useless risks. + +"Well," remarked Ned, when they came to a stop, "I don't believe any +one will find us here." + +"Not an ordinary diver, at any rate," Tom agreed. "And after supper I'm +going to have another go at the currents." + +The meal was served as usual, and a very good one it was, considering +the fact that not as many supplies could be carried in the rather +limited space of a submarine as may be transported in an ocean liner. +Then, as it was still early, Tom and Ned, with the help of some of the +officers, got ready for a new series of experiments. + +The big searchlight was set aglow, and, going out on the ocean bed in +diving suits, Tom and his friends dropped on the sand various weighted +objects. + +These were made in the shape of the hull of a steamer, and in +proportion. Once they were on the sand, an iron rod was thrust into the +ocean bed near each object. + +"Now," remarked Tom, as they all went into the submarine again, "we'll +let them drift until morning. Then we'll make new calculations. I think +we'll arrive at some results, too." + +"Just what are you aiming to do?" asked Mr. Damon. + +"See how far each one of those weighted objects drifts," Tom replied. +"We have planted them in different spots on the ocean bed. Some will +drift farther than others. Some are large and some are small. By +striking an average we may be able to tell about how far from the +supposed location of the Pandora we ought to look for her." + +The night passed without incident and as calmly and peacefully as +though they were all in some deep cave beneath a great mountain. In the +morning after breakfast Tom and his friends went outside the submarine +again and noted the weighted objects. Some had drifted farther than +others. Measurements were carefully taken, and then began a series of +intricate calculations. + +The distance each object had drifted from the iron bar marker was +considered in reference to its size and shape. Also the elapsed time +was computed. The results were then compared, an average struck, and +then the size and weight of the Pandora, as nearly as they could be +ascertained, were figured. The resultant figures were compared, and Tom +announced: + +"If we are anywhere near right in our conclusions we ought to begin to +search for the treasure-ship about four miles from here, in a general +northerly direction." + +"Do you think she has drifted that far?" asked Ned. + +"Fully that," Tom answered. "That is only our starting point--the +center of a new series of circles." + +A moment later Tom gave the order to rise to the surface. + +"Going up?" exclaimed Ned. + +"Yes, I want to make some observations to determine our exact nautical +position." + +"But suppose that other steam--" + +"We'll have to take a chance. We can submerge quickly if we have to, +and I don't believe she's able to do that." + +An observation was taken through the conning tower, however, before the +M. N. 1 went all the way up, and there was not a sail nor a smudge of +smoke on the horizon. + +"So far so good," murmured Tom. "Now we'll 'shoot the sun,' and after +we submerge we'll begin our search in earnest. I think we are on the +right track now." + +The observation was made at noon, and then, as nearly as possible, the +submarine was moved to a position approximately four miles north of the +place where the Pandora was supposed to have foundered. + +"Down we go!" exclaimed Tom, and down they went. + +The depth gauge showed more than a thousand feet below the surface when +the M. N. 1 came to rest. This was deeper than Tom had thought to find +the wreck, but his craft was able to withstand the pressure. A brief +wait, to make sure that everything was in readiness, was followed by +the beginning of the new search. In gradually widening circles the +craft moved about under water. + +If the voyagers had expected to locate at once the treasure-ship, they +would have been disappointed. For the first day gave no signs. But Tom +had not promised immediate results, and no one gave up hope. + +It was shortly after noon on the second day of the search at the new +location that, as they were proceeding at rather greater speed than +usual, something happened. + +Ned had just suggested that he and Tom might go out and try the +current-setting experiments again, when suddenly they were both thrown +off their feet by a terrific jar and concussion. The M. N. 1 seemed to +reel back, as if from a great blow. + +"Bless my safety razor!" cried Mr. Damon, "what's the matter, Tom?" + +"I think we've had a collision!" was the answer. "I must see how badly +we are damaged!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE TREASURE-SHIP + + +Sudden and forceful had been the underwater collision in which the M. +N. 1 had participated. Either the lookout, aided though he was by the +focused rays of the great searchlight, had failed to notice some +obstruction in time to signal to avoid it, or there was an error +somewhere else. At any rate the submarine had rammed something--what it +was remained to be discovered. + +"Bless my shotgun," cried Mr. Damon, "perhaps it was one of those big +whales, Ned!" + +"It didn't feel like a whale," answered the young financial man. + +"And it wasn't!" declared Tom, who was hastening to the engine room. +"It was too solid for that." + +Following the collision there had been considerable confusion aboard +the vessel. But discipline prevailed, and now it was necessary to +determine the extent of the damage. This, Tom and his officers and crew +proceeded to do. + +There were automatic devices in the various control cabins, as well as +in the main engine room, which told instantly if a leak had been sprung +in any part of the craft. In that serious difficulty automatic pumps, +controlled by an electrical device, at once began forcing out the +water. Other apparatus rushed a supply of compressed air to the flooded +compartment in order to hold out the water if possible. For further +security the submarine was divided into different compartments, as are +most ships in these days. The puncturing or flooding of one did not +necessarily mean the foundering of the craft, or, in the case of a +submarine, prevent her rising. + +But Tom had sensed that the collision was almost a head-on one, and in +that case it was likely that the plates might have started in several +sections at once. This he wanted to discover, and take means of safety +accordingly. + +"How do you make it, Mr. Nelson?" cried the young inventor to the +captain in the engine room. + +"Only a slight leak in compartment B 2," he answered, as Tom's eyes +rapidly scanned the tell-tale gauges. "The pumps and air are taking +care of that." + +"Good!" cried Tom. "It doesn't seem possible that there isn't more than +that, though. We struck a terrible blow." + +"Yes, but a glancing one, I think, sir." + +"Send for the lookout," ordered Tom. "I can't understand why he didn't +see whatever we've hit in time to avoid it." + +The lookout came in, very much frightened, it must be admitted. Only +by a narrow margin had all escaped death. + +"It was impossible to see it, Mr. Swift," he said. "We had a clear +course, not a thing in sight. The bottom was white sand, and I could +almost count the fishes. All at once there was a big swirl of water +that threw our nose around, and before I could signal to slow down or +reverse we were right into her." + +"Into what?" asked Tom. + +"Some sort of wreck, I took it to be. I shoved the wheel hard over as +quickly as I could, and we struck only a glancing blow." + +"That's good," murmured Tom. "I thought that must have been the +explanation. But what's that about a sudden swirl of water?" + +"It seemed to me like a change in the current," the lookout answered. +"It threw us right over against the wreck." + +"I can very easily imagine something like that happening," admitted +Tom. "Well, as long as we're not badly damaged I think we'll go outside +and take a look. If we hit a wreck--" + +"Bless my looking glass!" cried Mr. Damon, "it may be the Pandora, Tom." + +"That's too good to be true!" cried Ned. "Anyhow, let's get out and +take a look." + +Tom first made sure that the slight leak was not likely to increase, +and then arrangements were made for himself, Ned, Koku, and some of the +others to go outside in the diving suits. Mr. Damon wanted to be of the +party, but Tom was afraid to permit him in that depth of water. Mr. +Damon, in spite of his jollity, was not as young as he had been. + +Shortly after the collision, which had missed being a disaster by a +narrow margin, Tom and his companions were outside the submarine, +walking on the white, sandy bottom of the sea. Around them was a myriad +of fishes, some of large size, but seemingly harmless, as they scudded +rapidly away after a glance at the strange creatures who appeared to +have come to dispute with them for possession of Father Neptune's +element. + +Moving more slowly than usual, because of the greater pressure of water +at that depth, Tom and the others made their way around the nose of the +submarine. And then, in the glow of the big searchlight, they saw the +dim outlines of a steamer, partly imbedded in the sand. Her stern was +toward the undersea craft that had rammed her, and the name was not so +obliterated but what the young inventor could read it. + +"The Pandora!" exclaimed Tom, speaking into his helmet telephone +transmitter, the others all hearing him. "We've found the treasure-ship +at last!" + +And so they had. An accident had brought them to the end of their +quest, though it is probable they would have found the Pandora anyhow, +since they were making careful circles in her vicinity. + +"Yes, that's the Pandora," said Ned. "And now the thing to do is to +find out if she really has any treasure on board." + +"That's what I'm going to do," declared Tom. "But first I want to +investigate this queer current. We can't feel it here, but we may if we +get out beyond the wreck. We don't want to be swept off our feet." + +"Yes, we had better be careful," said one of the officers. + +Accordingly they proceeded with caution along the length of the sunken +Pandora. And as they neared her bow they all began to feel some +powerful force in the current. + +"This is far enough!" said Tom. "Don't get out beyond the protection of +the hull. I see what it is. The steamer has drifted here from where she +was originally sunk. And here two currents meet, forming a very strong +one. It was that which threw us off our course. As long as we remain +behind the wreck we'll be safe. But beyond her we may be in danger. +She's firmly held in the sand, or, at best, is drifting only slightly. +She'll be a sort of undersea breakwater for us. And now to see if we +can get on board!" + +This proved comparatively easy. Several lengths of chain and one iron +ladder were over the stern, evidently having been used when the crew +abandoned the ship in the storm that destroyed her. By means of these +Tom and his companions gained the main deck near the stern. + +The Pandora was a typical tramp steamer. She was high in the bows and +stern and low amidships, and it was evident that the quarters of the +officers and passengers, if any of the latter were carried, were in the +stern. Tom was glad to find the vessel thus comparatively easy of +access. + +She lay on an almost even keel, and all he and his companions had to do +was to walk along the deck and enter the cabins. As they did not have +to look out for life lines or air hose they could enter, and even go +below decks, in comparative safety. + +"Well, here's for it," said Tom to the others. "Let's go in. + +"Where would the treasure be, if she had any?" asked Ned. + +"Captain's cabin or the purser's strong room, I imagine," Tom answered. +"Hardley didn't actually see it, but he said those two places were +constantly guarded. I'm inclined to think the purser would have charge +of the gold. But we'll try both places." + +It was easy to learn which had been the commander's cabin. It had the +name "Captain" on a brass plate over the door. Tom and Ned entered. The +place was in confusion, and confusion not all caused by the ocean +currents. A small safe in the room stood with rusted door open, and the +contents of the strong box were gone. Drawers and lockers, too, were +opened and empty. + +"I guess the captain took as much with him as he could when he got into +his boat," commented Tom. + +"And the gold, too," added Ned, pointing to the empty safe. + +"That wouldn't have held two million dollars in gold," Tom retorted. "I +believe the purser's cabin is the place to look." + +Making sure they were not missing anything in the captain's room, they +came out, to find Koku and the others waiting for them on deck. + +"Nothing there," Tom reported. "Did any of you locate the purser's +strong room?" One of the men pointed to an open door to the left. + +"That's it!" exclaimed Tom. "Yes, and there's a safe here big enough to +hold gold for all the revolutions in South America," he added. "I guess +we're on the right track at last." + +It needed but a look to show them that they had at last reached the +place of the treasure. The great safe stood open, and piled inside were +a number of small boxes, such as are generally used to ship gold in. +Ned, from his bank experience, recognized them at once. + +"There's the gold!" he exclaimed. "We've found the treasure!" + +"They tried to take some of it with them," said one of the submarine +officers, pointing to some opened boxes which were floating near the +cabin ceiling. They were caught on some projections which had prevented +them from being washed out. + +"Maybe they looted the whole safe," suggested Tom. "We'd better have a +look." + +He tried to pull out one of the many boxes set in tiers in the safe, +but it was beyond his strength. + +"Me do!" murmured Koku. + +It was easy for the giant to pry out one of the boxes with his iron +bar, and with another blow from his bar he opened the cover. + +"Gold!" cried Ned, as he saw a gleam of yellow showing in the glow from +his torch. "There's the gold!" + +There was a table in the purser's cabin, made fast to the floor so it +had not floated away. At a sign from Tom, the giant turned the box +bottom side up on this table. + +And then a murmur of wonder came from all who saw the result. For +aside from the top layer of gold pieces, the box was filled with iron +disks cut to the size of twenty-dollar gold pieces. In an instant it +was borne to all what this meant. + +"A fake!" exclaimed Tom Swift. "If all the boxes are like this there +isn't enough gold on the treasure ship to pay the expenses of this +trip! Somebody has been fooled! Open another box, Koku!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE STEEL BOX + + +Perhaps the least of all affected by what had taken place was the +giant. Gold meant nothing to him. To serve Tom Swift was his whole aim +in life. Born in a savage country, he had not acquired an overwhelming +desire for wealth. + +Consequently he was cool enough as he tore another box from the many +that were fitted into the safe. The water had swelled the wood, and it +was not easy to get them out. + +A pressure of the giant's iron bar broke the sealed lid. On top was the +same layer of gold pieces, but when the box was emptied the same trick +was discovered. Iron disks made up the remainder of the contents. + +"Bilked! That's what I call it! Regularly bilked!" exclaimed one of the +divers, an Englishman who had been in Tom's service several years. +"Somebody's got the cream of this pudding before we did!" + +"I'm inclined to agree with you," said Tom. "Unless it transpires that +not all the boxes have been thus camouflaged. We must take time to +examine." + +Then began a period of hard work. Laboring in relays of divers, every +box that had been locked in the purser's safe was brought out on the +submerged cabin table, broken open, and the contents examined. The hoax +was even worse than indicated at first. For after the front section of +boxes had been taken out none of the others remaining contained any +gold at all. There were only iron disks. + +"Well, Tom, what do you think of it?" asked Ned of his chum, when they +had returned to the cabin of the submarine, leaving some members of the +crew to complete the examination. For this the diving bell was used, as +well as the suits. + +"I don't think very much," was the answer. "It looks as though we had +been sold." + +"Do you think Hardley knew that the gold had been changed to iron--that +is, all but a small part of it?" + +"No, I don't believe he did," Tom answered. "If he were here I'd +warrant he would be as much surprised as we are. He certainly believed +the Pandora was a regular treasure-ship." + +"Just how much did she really have in gold?" asked Mr. Damon, looking +at the double eagles on the table of the M. N. 1. + +"Well, at a rough guess I'd say ten thousand dollars," Tom answered. +"We haven't brought it all out yet, and it's possible they may find a +full box in the safe. But, unless there is one, I guess ten or fifteen +thousand dollars will cover it." + +"And Hardley said two millions!" exclaimed Ned. "Whew, what a +difference!" + +"Do you think he was in on the change?" asked one of the officers. + +"No," replied Tom. "I guess it was like a good many of these +filibustering plots. Somebody put up good money to be used to gain +control of a country--perhaps for the country's good. But somebody else +made the substitution, and the patriots were left. I don't believe +Hardley knew this." + +"Well, you'll get a little out of it, Tom," Ned remarked. + +"Nothing worth while," was the answer. "But I'm not disappointed; that +is, very much. Of course I could use the money, but I don't really need +it. The trip has been a wonderful experience, and I have learned +something I didn't know before. I'm sorry for you, though, Mr. Damon. +You invested considerable with Hardley, didn't you?" + +"About twenty thousand dollars, Tom. It will be hard to lose it, but I +guess I can stand it." + +Tom privately made up his mind to see that his old friend did not +suffer financially, for the gold discovered on the Pandora, while it +was far from the amount hoped for, would almost reimburse Mr. Damon. +But the young inventor did not say anything about that just then. + +They were looking at the recovered gold and getting ready to store it +in some of the boxes that had been brought from the wreck when the +divers that had remained on the Pandora to bring the last of the +treasure returned through the chamber. Two of them carried a small +steel box. + +"What's that?" asked Tom, when they had their helmets off. + +"Don't know," was the answer. "It was in the purser's safe. Stuck away +in the far corner." + +"Maybe it has jewels in it!" exclaimed Ned. "If it has--" + +At that moment the lookout who had maintained his position in the +conning tower called for Tom on the telephone. + +"What is it?" asked the young inventor. + +"There's some sort of grappling iron, or cable with a hook on it, being +lowered from the surface, and it's near the wreck," was the answer. "If +it isn't any of your apparatus it may be some other ship having a try +for the gold." + +"It must be Hardley!" cried Tom. "He's come back with another ship, as +he half threatened to do, and, instead of diving for the wreck, which +he can't get ordinary men to do in this depth, he's trying to grapple +for it. Come on, we'll have a look!" + +Ned and Mr. Damon followed Tom to the conning tower. Looking out +through the heavy glass windows, while the searchlight illuminated the +waters, the young inventor and his friends saw a great grappling iron +swaying this way and that through the sea not far from the wreck, and +once, indeed, uncomfortably close to their own craft. + +"He's struck it uncommonly near," remarked Tom. "I guess it's time for +us to be leaving." + +"Suppose it's Hardley up above there?" suggested Ned. + +"I don't doubt but it is." + +"Well, are we going off and leave the wreck--and possibly other gold +that may be hidden on her?" + +"I wouldn't give ten dollars for the chance of searching for any more +gold!" Tom exclaimed. "We'll take this steel box--it may contain +something of value. The rest we'll leave to Hardley." + +Preparations for rising to the surface were quickly made. Up and up +went the M. N. 1, leaving the ill-starred Pandora to whatever else fate +had in store for her. + +Tom's craft broke water with gentle undulations of the waves. The top +of the hatch was thrown back, admitting the bright sunshine on those +who had been long in the shadow of the underseas. And, as the young +inventor and his friends went out on deck, they saw a small steamer +riding on the ocean not far away. + +One look was enough to tell them it was from this craft that the +grappling iron had been let down, and as the submarine drifted nearer +the form of Hardley was seen on deck. He was directing operations. + +Some one must have called his attention to the M. N. 1, for he hurried +to the rail of the craft which he had evidently chartered to seek the +Pandora, and he exclaimed: + +"What are you doing here, Swift?" + +"The same thing you are, I believe," coolly answered Tom. "Cleaning up +the treasure ship. You might as well save your money though, for we +have all the gold there is!" + +"Impossible!" cried the now irate man. "You cannot have found the +Pandora!" + +"That's just what we did, though," answered Tom. "And, for your +information, I'll say that we took all the gold we found, though it was +considerably less than you stated." + +"How dare you?" stormed the adventurer. "I'll have the law on you for +this!" + +"I guess you forget," replied Tom, "that we parted company at your +request and that I told you I was on my own. Finding is keeping. I +didn't find what I expected to, and, on the other hand, I got something +I didn't look for." + +"What do you mean?" + +"The Pandora was rightly named," went on Tom. "If you recall the old +story, Pandora had a box of treasures. They all flew out except Hope, +which remained in the bottom. Well, most of the gold seems to have +flown away, but we found a box on the Pandora. What's in it I don't +know yet, as I haven't opened it. Still, if it doesn't contain more +than Hope I shall be disappointed." + +The face of Hardley showed the rage felt. + +"Give me that box! Give me that box!" he cried, shaking his fist at Tom. + +"Not today," was the cool answer of the young inventor. "I may let you +know what I find in it if you leave your address. Goodbye!" + +Tom waved his hand, gave orders to close the hatches and submerge the +M. N. 1, and a few moments later the sea closed over her, leaving the +other vessel to grapple uselessly for the treasure-ship. + +"What are you going to do, Tom?" asked Ned of his chum, as they were +all gathered in the main cabin half an hour later. + +"Head for home as soon as we can. I've had enough of this, and I want +to get at something else I have in mind. But first I'm going to see +what's in this box." + +It required the strength of Koku to open the small steel box, but when +it was torn apart, for the combination was impossible to guess at, all +that was seen were bundles of papers. The case having been hermetically +closed, no water had penetrated it, though it had been submerged a long +time. + +"What are they?" asked Ned of his chum. + +Tom did not answer for a moment. Then having quickly examined the +papers, he cried: + +"We've struck it!" + +"What?" they all wanted to know. + +"The very thing Hardley was after. These are the missing papers in the +oil-well deal--the papers that prove Barton Keith has a half share in +property worth many millions of dollars. It was these papers that +Hardley was after. He may have thought he could get the gold, too, but +he wanted most these oil shares. Boys, we've found the fortune anyhow, +in spite of the fellows who looted the gold boxes!" + +There was no doubt about it. There were all the papers--the +certificates of shares, the partnership agreement and other +documents--to show that Mary's uncle was a rich man. The wreck of the +Pandora held a fortune after all. + +"How do you account for Hardley's acts?" asked Ned of his chum. + +"Well, there are several explanations. I think we may be certain that +he knew these papers were aboard the Pandora, for he must have +intrusted them to the purser himself when he made a trip on the ship. +When she sank he had not time to get them to take with him." + +"He either knew then, or found out later, that the vessel carried, or +was supposed to carry, a large amount of gold. He may have been +honestly mistaken in thinking it was two millions. In any case he was +playing safe, for he only promised me half if the treasure was found. +He could have claimed this box as his property, and that is probably +what he was after from the beginning. He was using me as a cat's paw, +so to speak." + +"Well, you beat him to it," observed Ned. + +"Bless my necktie, I should say so!" agreed Mr. Damon. "Do you think he +really expected to find the gold?" + +"Either that or the papers," was Tom's answer. "He must have engaged +the vessel and the grappling apparatus, and, possibly, a diver, after +we set him ashore at St. Thomas. Well, we'll leave him to his own fun." + +The M. N. 1 made good time back to her home port, nothing except a +terrific storm occurring to mark the voyage. And as she submerged when +that was on she did not feel it. After greeting his father, Tom lost +little time in going to Mary's house with the box of securities and +other papers. + +"I want you to hand these to your uncle with my compliments," he said. +"I've got the Air Scout out in the meadow. We'll go over in that. How +is Mr. Keith?" + +"Not very well," Mary answered, after she had got over her surprise at +seeing Tom. "But this good news will restore him, I think." + +And it certainly was a great tonic. Mr. Keith could hardly believe the +story that Mary and Tom jointly told him. But at length he grasped the +idea that he was a wealthy man again, and he exclaimed: + +"Tom Swift, I'm going to share half with you!" + +"Oh, no," retorted the young inventor. "I couldn't think of that. If +you want to pay part of the expenses of the trip I shan't object to +that, as I intend giving the gold I recovered to Mr. Damon. But as for +taking any of the oil shares--" + +"Then, Mary, you shall take half!" exclaimed Mr. Keith. "I have more +money now than I'll ever spend. Mary, half of it is yours, and if you +don't let Tom Swift have a say in the spending of it-- Say, Mary, have +you thanked him yet?" he asked with a twinkle of his eyes. "Well, Uncle +Barton, I--I don't know--" + +"Then do it now!" cried her uncle. "Tom, if you could have any reward +you wanted, what would it be?" + +Tom took Mary in his arms and--But I refuse to betray any secrets. +Anyhow, some time later when Ned asked his chum if he felt entirely +satisfied with the result of his undersea search, the young inventor +replied: "I certainly do!" + +Tom admitted to his father that a mistake had been made in not +installing the gyroscope rudder. There was no excuse for not taking it. +Tom declared, as it was small and took up little room, and it might +have saved them from what was a close call at one time. + +"I'll take it on my next submarine trip," the young inventor promised. + +Ned wanted to bring suit against Hardley to recover half the expenses +of the trip, but Tom would not consent to it. After all, the value of +the oil well property was more than the gold the Pandora was reputed to +have carried. No attempt was made to take from Tom the comparatively +small amount he had salvaged. Perhaps whoever had put it on board did +not want to admit the trick that had been played in filling the boxes +with iron disks. + +Dixwell Hardley made no further trouble. He could not, for he was so +entirely in the wrong. He sold out his shares in the oil property, and +a company took possession which gave fair treatment to Mary's uncle. + +And this is the end of the story. But the future holds further +adventures for Tom Swift which, let it be hoped, he will see fit to +order recorded. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tom Swift and his Undersea Search, by +Victor Appleton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1362 *** |