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diff --git a/old/69368-0.txt b/old/69368-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7261f35..0000000 --- a/old/69368-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5229 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The motion picture comrades aboard a -submarine, by Elmer Tracey Barnes - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The motion picture comrades aboard a submarine - or, Searching for treasure under the sea - -Author: Elmer Tracey Barnes - -Release Date: November 16, 2022 [eBook #69368] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Demian Katz, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy - of the Digital Library@Villanova University.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES -ABOARD A SUBMARINE *** - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_), and text -enclosed by equal signs is in bold (=bold=). - -Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. - - * * * * * - -THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES SERIES - -By ELMER TRACEY BARNES - -The object of these books is to place before the reader the unusual -experiences of a party of boys who succeed in filming a number of -interesting scenes. - -The stories are replete with striking incidents on land and sea, and -above all they describe with remarkable accuracy the methods employed -to obtain many of the wonderful pictures which may be seen on the -screen. - -=The Motion Picture Comrades’ Great Venture; or, On the Road with the -Big Round Top= - -=The Motion Picture Comrades Through African Jungles; or, The Camera -Boys in Wild Animal Land= - -=The Motion Picture Comrades Along the Orinoco; or, Facing Perils in -the Tropics= - -=The Motion Picture Comrades Aboard a Submarine; or, Searching for -Treasure Under the Sea= - -_12mo. Cloth 50c per volume_ - - THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY - 201-213 EAST 12th STREET NEW YORK - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: _Before him he discovered the long sought hulk._] - - * * * * * - - - - -THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES ABOARD A SUBMARINE - - - OR - SEARCHING FOR TREASURE UNDER THE SEA - - BY - ELMER TRACEY BARNES - - [Illustration] - - THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY - NEW YORK - - * * * * * - -Copyright, 1917, by AMERICAN AUTHORS PUBLISHING CO. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I HOW IT HAPPENED 13 - - II THE FIRST DIP UNDER THE SURFACE 20 - - III A PERIL OF TROPICAL WATERS 31 - - IV THE INDIAN SHARK-KILLER 38 - - V GIVING THE ENEMY THE SLIP 46 - - VI TREASURE ISLAND 55 - - VII WONDERFUL UNDER-THE-SEA SIGHTS 63 - - VIII “TALK ABOUT LUCK!” 71 - - IX THE DIVER AT WORK 79 - - X SPIED UPON 90 - - XI EQUAL TO THE EMERGENCY 97 - - XII THE WATER CHASE 105 - - XIII RECOVERING THE TREASURE 113 - - XIV INGOTS OF GOLD 121 - - XV WHEN MORNING CAME 129 - - XVI LEFT HOLDING THE BAG 138 - - XVII VIA WIRELESS 146 - - XVIII IN THE CANAL LOCKS 157 - - XIX BLOCKING THE GAME OF BADGER 164 - - XX THE END OF THE CRUISE--CONCLUSION 173 - - * * * * * - -THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES ABOARD A SUBMARINE - - - - -CHAPTER I HOW IT HAPPENED - - -“Jack will be back from the express office soon, and then, I take -it, if everything is shipshape, this queer contraption they call -a diving-boat and named the _Argonaut_, expects to get away from -Baltimore, eh, Oscar?” - -“So the Captain told me, Ballyhoo. He has his clearance papers, all -right.” - -“Huh! Guess the port officials didn’t examine this craft as closely as -they might have done in these troublous times, with more than half the -world ablaze.” - -“Lower your voice a bit, Ballyhoo, when you are referring to the -rifles, and that quick-firing gun they’ve got so snugly hidden below. -But it’s all fair and square. Every steam craft is allowed one gun for -defensive purposes. Some big Atlantic liners have a three-inch gun at -the stern, you remember.” - -“A very good reason we have, too, for carrying one, Oscar, since the -main object of our trip to tropical seas is the recovery of sunken -treasure.” - -“And don’t forget either, while about it, Ballyhoo, that there’s -opposition in the field, a rival expedition headed by that old -blockade-runner and adventurer, Captain Badger.” - -“That’s right, and we may need our gun badly before we come back -again--if we ever do.” - -“Well, most of our interest in this wonderful trip doesn’t lie in -the chance of finding the stores of gold and silver lying in the old -hulks of vessels that were sunk, some of them a hundred or two years -ago. We’ve got our own plans to carry out, and could call the venture -a glorious success even if we didn’t run across a single Spanish -doubloon.” - -“Yes, providing the scheme works, as Jack believes it will, and his -judgment is worth a whole lot on anything that is connected with motion -picture photography. We hope to secure films that are bound to startle -the world of screen lovers, showing as they will the up to now unknown -secrets lying deep down under the surface of the sea.” - -“It’s a great risk we’re taking, but we’ve put over two big jobs so far -and why not a third? Those circus films are still going the rounds, and -pronounced gilt-edged wherever they are shown.”[1] - -“Yes, and our series of pictures depicting wild animal life in -the African jungles have met with great favor too.[2] We’ve been -overwhelmed ever since we got back, with all sorts of wildcat offers to -undertake new schemes, all of which so far we’ve had to turn down. And -yet here we are about to start off on the most hazardous adventure that -any one could possibly think of.” - -“But this is different, you know, Ballyhoo; and besides it came to us -through that old uncle of your mother’s, who has a third interest in -the venture, though he was knocked out of accompanying the boat by that -bad attack of rheumatism.” - -“Well, I wish Jack would hurry up, because I think our Captain acts as -if he might be anxious to cast off, and steam down Chesapeake Bay.” - -The speakers were a couple of hardy looking well grown boys. They -lounged on the little upper deck, if such it could be called, of a -very odd-looking craft lying snugly hidden in a certain secluded basin -connected with a Baltimore shipyard. - -In fact the low, squatty craft was nothing more nor less than a -submarine built somewhat after the style of those steel whaleback -barges used for carrying huge cargoes of grain on the Northern Lakes. - -Money had not been spared in the building and equipping of this craft, -which was really owned and controlled by the “Argonaut Submarine -Diving-boat Company,” and constructed for a purpose which has been -partly disclosed by the brief conversation between the two boys. - -Oscar Farrar and his two chums lived in the town of Melancton in -an Eastern State. The boy whom he had been calling by that quaint -nickname of “Ballyhoo” was really Jonathan Edwards Jones. For some -years he had taken such delight in mimicking the animals usually seen -in a menagerie, as well as the “barkers” who tried to coax the gaping -public to patronize their side shows, where all manner of freaks were -on exhibition, that naturally enough he soon found himself given the -name of “Ballyhoo,” which term is often used to designate loud-tongued -orators. - -The third boy, whom they had mentioned as “Jack,” had Anderson for a -surname. He was a positive marvel in connection with anything that -had to do with photography in all its branches. His father before him -had been devoted to the art, and had spent several years, lost in the -wilds of Darkest Africa, a prisoner in the big kraal of a savage black -king, from which captivity he had only recently escaped, thanks to the -bravery of his son and his chums. - -The three comrades were now about to start forth on an expedition that -really dwarfed their previous successes by virtue of its daring. This -fascinating project had come about in a peculiar fashion which may as -well be explained here and now while Oscar and Ballyhoo impatiently -await the coming of Jack. - -To the Jones home in Melancton had come one day a queer old gentleman -who turned out to be an uncle of Ballyhoo’s mother. This Abner Crawley -had led an adventurous life, though no one would suspect it to look at -his mild blue eyes and hear his mellow, jolly laugh. - -He had followed the hazardous profession of a deep sea diver, spending -years out in Far Eastern seas, diving with the natives for pearl -oysters, and in many ways had managed to accumulate quite a nice little -fortune. - -The stories he spun to Ballyhoo, Oscar and Jack thrilled them with a -boyish desire to also see some of the wonders of that same submarine -world. Then, as the old man learned how they had already shown a -disposition to do and dare, he began to interest them in his latest and -greatest scheme. - -It seemed he had been induced to take a third interest in a -venture that had for its main object the salvage of certain sunken -treasure-ships, which were located on a chart. In many cases -these ships had gone down scores and scores of years ago, but in -comparatively shallow water, so that it seemed feasible to reach them -through the agency of an ordinary diving suit; or better still, with -the assistance of a modern submarine built for that express purpose. - -The boys of course hastened to read Jules Verne’s startling book, -“Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” with which they were more or -less familiar beforehand. Their enthusiasm grew by leaps and bounds -as they started to discuss the possibilities of their being allowed to -join this strange expedition. - -Jack, aided and abetted by his father, had conceived the idea that as -the undersea boat had been constructed particularly with a view to -cruising down at the bottom of the sea, and had unusual facilities for -allowing those aboard to see all that went on in subterranean depths, -it might be possible to secure a remarkable series of motion pictures -disclosing undreamed of wonders, the queer creatures that never came to -the surface, as well as the amazing forest of giant plants that grew -far down in the ever peaceful valleys of the ocean. - -In the end it had worked out just as the scheming old master diver had -wished. The boys were given an opportunity to accompany the expedition -as representatives of Uncle Abner Crawley. They would be given all -sorts of chances to use their camera, and at the same time if fortune -favored the work of the divers one half of the Crawley third was to be -handed over to them. - -And such was the final arrangement that had been made. They had -proceeded to Baltimore, made the acquaintance of their intended future -companions, taken up their limited quarters aboard the well named -_Argonaut_, and Jack was even now paying a parting visit to the post -office to get final mails, as well as to the express office for an -extra supply of films made especially to resist damage by warm, sticky -weather in the tropics. - -“There he comes at last!” Ballyhoo presently announced, as a boy was -discovered heading their way, and well laden with bundles. - -Jack turned out to be a well-built young chap, with a thoughtful face, -and the glow of an enthusiastic artist in his eyes. He soon climbed -aboard the strange boat, after which the Captain’s voice was heard -giving orders. Then they could feel the quiver that told them the -engines were beginning to work; cables were cast off, and a cheer broke -from the group on the shore, some of them laboring men belonging to the -shipyard, others relatives of those aboard, or it might be stockholders -in the venture. - -Soon afterwards they had left the city of Baltimore behind them, and -were moving smoothly and swiftly down the bay. After that would come -the open sea, with its mysterious influences, its terrible storms, -dreaded calms, and all surrounded by the halo of romance of long-gone -centuries. - -The three boys sat there on the miniature upper deck long after the -voyage had really begun, saying little, since their hearts naturally -enough were heavy because of the fact that they had finally severed the -ties that bound them to the loved ones at home. - -And so they started down the great Chesapeake Bay, bound for the -tropics. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] See “The Motion Picture Comrades’ Great Venture.” - -[2] See “The Motion Picture Comrades Through African Jungles.” - - - - -CHAPTER II THE FIRST DIP UNDER THE SURFACE - - -By degrees this feeling of depression passed away. They were healthy -boys, and as such could not long remain in the grip of the “blues.” It -was all their own doings, too, and they were headed for an experience -that certainly no other young fellows had ever been given before. - -Soon they were taking an interest in all that went on around them. -Oyster boats with the men at work dredging or tonging; duck hunters in -blinds, or lying, it might be, in sink-boxes on the shallows with their -decoys all around them--things like these were constantly cropping -up to be observed through the marine glasses which they had been -thoughtful enough to provide themselves with before starting on the -voyage. - -The afternoon sun was sinking toward the western horizon, and it was -figured that by morning they would have arrived close to the ocean at -Hampton Roads. - -“How fast are we going, do you think, boys?” Ballyhoo was asking, while -they continued to sit there and enjoy the bracing air of that late Fall -afternoon. - -“That’s hard to decide,” Oscar told him. “I understand that this boat -can make about seventeen miles on the surface of the water, providing -the sea is fairly calm. We may be doing nearly that right now.” - -“And when she sinks down under the sea, what is she capable of doing -then?” continued Ballyhoo, always eager for facts. - -“Oh! I think it was about eight or nine knots an hour, which would be -pretty good, all things considered,” Oscar replied. - -“Our quarters are pretty cramped and we’ll be crowded a whole lot,” -Jack said in a reflective way, “but we expected that before we came. -Your uncle told us, Ballyhoo, we’d likely have to put up with many -discomforts, and lack of space would be one of them.” - -“What’s the odds so long as we’re happy,” Ballyhoo Jones laughingly -declared. “We can be as snug as three bugs in a rug. There are some -things a heap worse than being crowded. Sitting up in a bally old tree -the livelong night, with a pair of hungry lions prowling around under -you is one of them.” - -“Yes, you know all about that sort of thing, Ballyhoo,” chuckled Oscar; -“also how being almost devoured by cannibal ants feels. But we’re not -going to run across anything like that on _this_ trip, I reckon.” - -“Oh! give things a chance, boys,” said Ballyhoo, confidently, “and -there’ll be adventures a-plenty cropping up to make our hearts jump -like mad. This time it may be storms, pirates, a damaged engine while -we’re lying at the bottom of the sea so we can’t rise for air, and all -that sort of thing.” - -“What are you staring so hard at through the glasses, Jack?” asked -Oscar, giving little heed to the pleasant prospect thus outlined so -cheerfully by Ballyhoo, for he knew very well the other was only joking -when he rattled these possible perils off so glibly. - -“Why, I was watching that black steam yacht over there a mile or so -away from us,” Jack remarked, lowering the marine glasses as he spoke. -“I could see a fellow in some sort of uniform holding glasses on us -right along. I guess he must be wondering whether we mightn’t prove to -be a German submarine that had strayed across the broad Atlantic, like -they threaten to do some of these fine days, to sink British munition -steamships close to our shores, rather than wait for them to get over -into the waters they’ve marked as the war zone.” - -“I tell you what I think,” he observed a minute afterwards, “that same -black steam yacht may be our rival, the _Dauntless_, and the man who is -watching us all the while would then be that rollicking old world-wide -adventurer, Captain Badger, who has sailed the Seven Seas from boyhood, -been everything from blockade-runner to naval officer, and perhaps a -little of a pirate on the sly besides.” - -“Whew! do you really think so, Oscar?” cried Ballyhoo; “please let me -have a peek at him then. I’ve heard so much about the old reprobate I’d -love to say I’d actually set eyes on his phiz, even at a mile away.” - -“We may see a little more of him than we want, before we’re done with -this job,” Oscar told him, with the air of a prophet, but Ballyhoo only -laughed, for he was not the one to cross any bridge before he came to -it. - -Just then Captain Barnaby Shooks, the man who had been placed in full -charge of the treasure-hunting expedition by the incorporated company, -came up the ladder from the conning-tower of the submarine boat. He was -a grizzled old sea dog, who had seen much of life on many waters, and -was well qualified to manage just such a strange mission as the one -that had been placed in his hands. - -He too carried a glass which he quickly focussed on the black steam -yacht that was evidently capable of making much faster time than the -low _Argonaut_, often almost awash. - -“We’ve about made up our minds, Captain,” remarked Ballyhoo, who had -struck up quite an intimate acquaintance with the commander, after his -frank, confiding fashion, “that yonder vessel might be the _Dauntless_, -our rival in the salvage trade. Were we right about that, sir?” - -“It’s the _Dauntless_, sure enough,” the captain told them, “and -they’re holding in as if they’d like to shadow us all the way down to -where we’re going.” - -“Oh! could they do that?” demanded Ballyhoo, in dismay. - -“Well, if you’ve ever tried to clap your finger on a flea,” laughed the -old mariner, “you’d know what it means to keep tabs on a boat that can -duck under the surface of the sea, and stay there for ten hours, moving -all the while.” - -Captain Barnaby Shooks somehow did not seem to talk as most sea -captains do in stories. He never once said “shiver my timbers” or used -any similar phrase that was calculated to stamp him as a nautical man. -Perhaps this arose from the fact that many years had elapsed since -last he trod the deck of a genuine sailing vessel. With the gradual -disappearance of the full-rigged ships, the brigs, and the barques, all -that peculiar language is going out of date. Mechanics have taken the -places of the old-time sailors accustomed to clambering up the shrouds, -and standing on the yards of a ship reeling in an eighty mile gale. - -When later on, after the sun had set, the boys prepared to go down -below for supper, that black steam yacht was still on their lee -quarter, and apparently bound to keep within sighting distance. - -“Goodness gracious!” Ballyhoo was remarking the last thing before he -crept down the steep little ladder leading into the conning tower, from -which place they could reach the lower parts of the queer vessel, “I -only hope they don’t mean to ram us in the night-time, and so get rid -of a dangerous rival.” - -“Not much danger of that,” Oscar assured him. “Captain Shooks will -keep a faithful watch every minute of the time. And besides, I’ve got -a sneaking suspicion that those fellows don’t know all we do about the -location of sunken treasure, also that their plan is to spy on us, and -then steal our thunder.” - -They did not go on deck again after partaking of the evening meal in -the little saloon devoted to cabin purposes, in which, as Ballyhoo -said, was not room to “whirl a cat around by the tail.” The night air -was cold, and the blackness would prevent them from seeing anything -worth while. - -None of them secured much sleep during that first night. Everything -was against it, for their quarters were terribly cramped, and the air -anything but fresh, even though the boat continued to remain upon the -surface of the water all through the night. - -“Whee! just imagine what it’s going to be when we’re down under the -surface of the sea,” said Ballyhoo, at one time, as they prepared to -lie down in their bunks, placed above each other in a tier. - -“Oh! you can get used to most anything in time,” Jack assured him, “if -only you make up your mind that way. Always think of something that’s a -whole lot worse, and it’s wonderful how satisfied you soon feel.” - -The boat rolled somewhat later on in the night, and Oscar, being awake, -made up his mind that no doubt they were coming closer to the wide -mouth of the great bay, so that they now encountered the long inward -sweep of the ocean’s heaving billows. - -Sure enough, when, after awakening to find that it was morning, for -light came in through the heavy glass observation bull’s-eyes arranged -in numerous places, the boys upon reaching the deck again discovered -that they could look far out to sea, as the submarine had already -passed Fortress Monroe and was now awaiting the coming of a cutter -from a black destroyer carrying the U. S. flag, that had shot out to -overtake them. - -An officer came aboard, and was shown down into the captain’s -diminutive cabin, where no doubt he looked over the ship’s papers, -asked many questions concerning the proposed voyage, which must have -interested him considerably, and finally said “good-bye and good luck” -to the smiling skipper. - -Then the engines once more began to throb, and the boat to quiver with -the energy they displayed. The boys, looking back toward the beautiful -shores they were leaving, again had their thoughts turn toward the -folks at home. But the summons to breakfast dissipated all such sad -reflections; and when an hour later they again came on deck the shore -was dim and hazy in the distance. - -Evidently they were now well started on their interesting voyage. What -the outcome was going to be could only be guessed at; but hope ran high -in all their hearts. - -“There’s our friend, the enemy, just as we expected would be the case!” -cried Ballyhoo Jones as he pointed to a dim spot several miles off, -and which seemed to be some sort of black boat, also bound south. - -“I’m looking at something else, though,” remarked Oscar. “That bank of -clouds lying low along the horizon in the south seems to have a storm -hidden in it. And we are heading straight that way in the bargain.” - -“Oh! perhaps it’s only a little squall, such as they often meet in -these waters,” Jack was saying. “The West Indian hurricane season is -pretty well over by now, you know, or else the expedition wouldn’t have -started when it did.” - -“But even a little storm would send the waves clean over this low -boat,” suggested Ballyhoo. “I’m not a born sailor, and I don’t want to -seem bothered when there’s no danger, but you can see how we wallow at -times right now, when we run smack up against one of those long swells.” - -“You mustn’t forget,” Oscar told him, “that we’ve got one way of -snapping our fingers at the wind and the waves when the time comes.” - -“Course you mean by submerging, Oscar,” continued the other, grinning -amiably. “I had that in mind all the while, but was only fishing to -find out what you other fellows thought about it. The wind seems to be -increasing a whole lot, and, yes sir, those clouds are rising right -now. Whee! looks like we’ll experience our first dip below the waves -before another hour goes by.” - -As the clouds rose higher the sea began to look black. Although they -knew what caused this the boys could not keep from feeling a little -anxious, especially when the waves commenced to splash them with scud, -as they struck the bow of the dipping submarine and broke. - -They were really glad, therefore, when the captain ordered them to go -below, as it was necessary to make preparations against foul weather. -For some time afterwards the little boat labored heavily, until -Ballyhoo began to feel the first signs of uneasiness in the pit of his -stomach. - -All of them felt relieved when they discovered that they were -commencing to sink. The water tanks were being filled rapidly, and -before long they realized that in truth they had vanished from the -surface of the sea. - -How calm it seemed down there, with the engines once more taking up -their regular pulsations. The boys glued their eyes to the thick -plate-glass observation bull’s-eyes, but all they could see when the -searchlight was turned on was rushing green water all around them. - -Doubtless the storm raged above as the squall spread over the sea, but -safe in the stanch little submarine, far beneath the troubled surface, -they knew nothing of it. By degrees the three chums became more used -to their strange surroundings. The experience of novelty began to wear -away. When one becomes accustomed to anything it no longer has the -power to excite wonder, and give the same kind of thrill. - -Later on they could sleep calmly when lying at the bottom of the sea, -even though the manufactured air did seem queer, and breathing not -as comfortable as under ordinary conditions, with the pure article to -inhale. - -Hours passed during which they continued to forge ahead. Oscar figured -that they were making something like eight knots an hour while pushing -through the depths. - -Then came the time when they arose to take an observation through the -periscope. The boys, of course, had to be allowed a chance to see, of -which they hastened to avail themselves eagerly. - -Never would they forget that first experience at looking through the -periscope of a submarine far out at sea. The still heaving waters, -running far away to the horizon, looked startling to their unaccustomed -eyes. It seemed as though they might be lying on the edge of the world -itself, and looking over a vast undulating plain. - -When the captain judged that it would be safe to come up, as the storm -had passed, and the sea was no longer rough, he gave the order. - -Again the boys sought their old stand up on the small deck where the -ventilation shafts protruded, and the periscope reared its lofty head. - -Everywhere they looked the same tumbling waters met their gaze. Not a -vessel was in sight, even through the glasses. - -“We’ve given the _Dauntless_ the slip, all right!” Ballyhoo hastened to -boast after he had made sure of this fact. - -“But the chances are we’ll see considerably more of that same boat -before we’re through with this voyage,” said Jack; and subsequent -happenings proved him a true prophet, as will be made manifest later on -in this story. - - - - -CHAPTER III A PERIL OF TROPICAL WATERS - - -Days and nights followed. All the time the boat continued to head into -the south, and leagues upon leagues were placed behind them. Sometimes -they were able to pick up glimpses of land far away to the west; and -one night the boys were told that the flashlight they watched, so like -a distant star, was Jupiter Light situated at the lower extremity of -the Indian River in Florida. Off somewhere in the opposite quarter lay -the Bahamas, and Old Nassau, of which they had read so often. - -They were now getting down to a warm climate, and on this account -spent as much time on deck as possible. Here the ocean breeze fanned -their already ruddy cheeks, and they could watch the white-winged -gulls and other sea birds flying in eccentric fashion here, there, and -everywhere, now dipping to snap up a fragment of food cast overboard, -and anon wheeling high overhead, or following the course of the -speeding submarine as though keeping time with its progress. - -Occasionally they met some vessel bound north. Now it might be a -lumber schooner, and then again a coastal steamer. When one of the -latter passed not far away the side seemed to be black with people, -all staring at the strange, squatty craft, for doubtless the officers -passed the word around that it was one of those species of undersea -boats that had been creating such terrible havoc across the Atlantic. - -So the time slipped along, and one sunny day they drew near an island -in the Caribbean Sea where the palms hung low over the water, and made -a picture that set Jack busy with his camera, for it was really his -first chance to do anything along that favorite line. - -“Seems that we’re meaning to lay by here a short spell,” Ballyhoo -announced, as the ardent photographer was busying himself with his -camera. - -“What’s the scheme?” asked Oscar. “Have we arrived at the first pocket -where they believe they can strike a rich bonanza?” - -“Not yet, along those lines,” he was informed by the wise Ballyhoo, -evidently seeking to let them know that he had been interviewing -Captain Shooks. “Our port engine doesn’t work as it should, you see, -and our careful skipper believes in taking time by the forelock, so -he’s going to spend a few hours in overhauling it. You see, they’re -putting out an anchor in the lee of this island. If we only had time we -might get the collapsible boat out and go ashore.” - -“It would hardly pay us,” ventured Oscar. “We’ll have plenty of other -chances to stretch our legs on a tropical cocoanut island, I imagine.” - -“Then I wonder if it wouldn’t be a bully good idea to have a swim?” -continued the other, evidently bent on making some sort of dent in the -monotony of the programme. - -“Better ask the captain about that first,” suggested Oscar. - -“But why should he care, when I can swim and dive like a duck?” -objected Ballyhoo. - -Just then the commander coming up from below the Jones boy put the -question to him, and in such a wheedling way that the grizzled old -skipper chuckled as he went on to say in reply: - -“Well, I can feel for you, Ballyhoo, because when I was young swimming -was my best hold. I’d go any distance just to get in the water. It’s a -fine day for a duck, too, with those clouds sailing over, and dimming -the hot sun part of the time. So I guess you can enjoy yourself for -half an hour or so. But stick close by, son, and if you hear a shout -make for the boat like greased lightning.” - -Ballyhoo looked curious on hearing him talk in that way. - -“Who’s going to bother with me here, sir?” he asked. “I can see a -couple of natives in canoes headed out this way, but the Indians are -only bent on trade of some sort; most likely they’ve got cocoanuts or -oranges or bananas to sell. What should I be afraid of here, Captain?” - -“Oh! I don’t really believe there’s any danger, lad, but in these -Southern waters it’s always wise to keep an eye to windward for -squalls, and by that I mean sharks.” - -“Gee whiz! I forgot that!” exclaimed Ballyhoo; and then thinking that -he saw Jack laughing in his sleeve he hastened to add: “but that -doesn’t faze me one little bit. I guess I could get out of the way of -a lazy old shark any time.” - -Accordingly, Ballyhoo commenced to undress. He was a regular water duck -when it came to all such aquatic sports as boys delight in, and could -both swim and dive in a way that no other fellow in all Melancton ever -equalled. - -Somehow neither of the others seemed to care to follow his example, -though he called out to them to “come in, the water’s fine.” Jack was -too much interested in his camera just then, while Oscar didn’t feel -like it. The thought of any peril hovering around did not keep him from -copying Ballyhoo’s example; but he had suffered terribly from sunburned -shoulders not a great while before, and hardly liked the idea of taking -the risk again. - -While Ballyhoo and two of the crew frisked in the water, seeming to be -having a glorious time, Jack and Oscar sat there on the upper deck and -talked. - -“How little we dreamed when we first read that wonderful book of Jules -Verne,” the former was saying, “that the time would come when all of us -might experience many of the very sensations he described so well.” - -“That’s a fact,” his chum admitted, “yet here we are aboard an -undersea boat, and bound on an enterprise almost as romantic as that of -the _Nautilus_. The combination of searching for lost treasure at the -bottom of the sea, and also taking motion pictures of the ocean depths, -is something worth while.” - -“Look at Ballyhoo cutting up in the water, will you, Oscar. That chum -of ours can give a big lead to either of those two men, and then make -circles around him. Hey! Ballyhoo, better not get too far away, you -know!” - -“Oh! that’s all right, Jack,” answered the other, who had gone a third -of the way toward the palm-fringed shore of the island; “nothing doing -along the danger line. You fellows don’t know what you’re missing, I -tell you.” - -The boys busied themselves in purchasing some tropical fruits from one -of the natives who had paddled out in their canoes for barter. They -also had shells and some nautical curios, but the boys did not purchase -any of these. - -“I’m afraid the captain would toss everything overboard if he found us -loading up with such stuff,” laughed Oscar. “The boat is crowded as it -is; and what little space they have left is for something worth a heap -more than just marine shells, and such junk.” - -From down below could be heard the clinking sound of hammers as the -engineer and his assistant worked at the engine to put it in better -condition for business. The day was sultry and both boys felt relieved -that these clouds mercifully stood between the pitiless rays of the -sun and themselves. - -“We must be getting somewhere near our first stop,” remarked Oscar, -after another little spell had gone by; “for I saw the skipper -overhauling his charts this morning, and that looked like business.” - -“None of us will be sorry,” Jack went on to say, “because we’re fairly -wild to learn what it really looks like down there among the sea ferns, -and the queer forests they say grow on the bottom of the ocean. Then -again there are all kinds of queer monsters that you’re likely to come -on, most of them never seen near the surface. Oh! I’m clear daffy with -wanting to click off some of those sights.” - -Just then the captain came up the ladder again. Oscar was about to ask -some question that had occurred to him when he held his tongue. The -skipper was seen to shade his eyes with his hand, and stare earnestly -toward the shore. Ballyhoo was still almost a third of the way across -the open water lying between the boat and the palms. - -Then they heard Captain Shooks utter an exclamation. It thrilled them -both, and brought them to their feet, as though touched by a galvanic -battery. - -Turning swiftly, the skipper snatched up the megaphone that had been -lying close by, and this he raised to his mouth. - -Across the water his heavy voice rang like the brazen notes of an alarm -bell. - -“Sharks! Ahoy, Ballyhoo, swim for the boat, lad, swim for the boat!” - -And looking beyond the spot where their chum was idly floating on his -back, Oscar and Jack caught sight of an ugly black fin cutting the -water in eccentric curves. - - - - -CHAPTER IV THE INDIAN SHARK-KILLER - - -Other voices blended with that of the skipper. The two sailors in the -water were screeching as loud as they could, though in no apparent -peril, since they had not followed Ballyhoo far from the side of the -boat. - -Both Jack and Oscar were thrilled with a sudden fear. Now they could -see a second sharp-pointed fin zigzagging through the waters. From -the excited manner in which the sharks were swimming, first this way -and then that, it seemed as though some instinct must have told them -there was a chance to secure a dinner. Oscar was forcibly reminded of -the mysterious way in which those carrion birds away over there in -Africa would appear high in the heavens almost as soon as game had been -brought down, as though their wonderful sense of smell, or some strange -instinct, told them of the feast that was preparing. - -Ballyhoo was no longer lying there floating on his back. The sturdy -shout of the captain through the megaphone had reached him as clear -as a bell. It was enough to put activity into the boldest swimmer’s -frame; and so Ballyhoo started at full speed in the direction of the -submarine. - -Oscar vanished down the ladder leading into the conning tower, as -though he had conceived some project that might help in case of -desperate need. Jack, like the captain, could only stand there and -stare. All at once the instinct came to him to turn his camera on the -scene. Perhaps it was mechanically that the boy commenced to turn the -crank, hardly knowing what he was doing, save that the artist spirit in -him was being appealed to by the dramatic nature of the event. - -Although Ballyhoo was working his arms like flails, and making prize -time in cutting through the water, those monsters of the deep could -swim twice as fast as a mere human being at his best. - -Now it seemed as though they must have found the right scent at last. -They were coming on in a direct line for the struggling boy. The sound -of his arms beating the water into foam as he fought his way onward may -have attracted them; but no matter from what cause, both sharks were -speeding directly to the spot. - -“Faster, lad, faster! they’re after you!” roared the captain, himself -horror-stricken at the prospect of a sea tragedy. - -If anything could cause Ballyhoo to put new vigor into his frantic -strokes, it was that urgent appeal. But even though he may have added -to his speed it was but a matter of fractions, and could not enter into -the result at all. - -Just then Oscar came shooting out of the little trap in the deck, -looking white and peaked. He clutched something in his hands. Jack, -even as he continued to grind mechanically away at his machine, saw -what it was, and a fresh spasm of hope gripped his aching heart. - -How fortunate it was that Oscar always kept his repeating rifle ready -charged for business. He had gone down below like “a streak of greased -lightning,” as he afterwards explained it, and, snatching his gun, -started up again, flinging aside the engineer, who, having heard the -outcries, was bent on reaching the deck so as to learn what was the -matter. - -So Oscar flung himself forward, and, raising his rifle, waited to see -at which of the two monsters he should commence firing. They had gained -on Ballyhoo fearfully. The swimming boy, glancing over his shoulder -each time he swung back and forth with his alternate strokes, could, -doubtless, see those sharp fins cutting the water like so many knife -blades. - -Ballyhoo was pretty badly frightened by that time. No doubt all that -he had ever read about swimmers attacked and bitten by man-eating -sharks must have flashed before his mental vision. But he was straining -himself to the very utmost now, and nothing could increase his pace. - -At that rate he must be overhauled long before he could gain the safety -of the boat. Oscar realized this even as he glanced along the barrel of -his gun, and then pressed the trigger. - -With the sharp report he saw the water splash upward where the bullet -struck. - -“You hit him, lad, you surely did; give the begger another try!” -snapped the intensely interested captain. - -Again Oscar fired, and this time there could be no doubt, for they all -plainly saw the flirt of a huge tail above the surface of the water; -and, unless their eyesight deceived them, the sea in that vicinity was -immediately tinged with blood. - -Apparently that monster was disposed of, temporarily at least, and with -a grim intention of repeating his triumph Oscar sought to get a chance -at the other man-eater. - -He found that somehow it was harder to hit this fellow, for as he came -on he dodged so violently from side to side that the shots seemed to -miss him entirely. - -“Splash as hard as you can, son!” boomed the skipper through his -megaphone; for it is a well-known fact that often sharks may be kept -away by a tremendous commotion in the water, and more than a few lives -have been saved through that artifice. - -Ballyhoo heard and obeyed. He kept up his strenuous efforts right -along, but managed to accompany them with such splashing as he found -possible, though doubtless himself quite at a loss to know why he had -been told to do this. - -Then Oscar awoke to a terrible realization. His magazine had been -emptied, for no fresh cartridge slipped into the firing chamber when -he threw out the old brass shell, and worked the mechanism for a -succession! - -He could not lift a hand toward helping his chum! How bitterly did he -repent being in such great haste, and taking too big chances. Had he -only restrained his eagerness until the shark came closer, he might -have easily sent a bullet home that would have finished the ugly -monster. - -He dropped the gun with a crash on the deck. It seemed to Jack, still -working at his camera crank, that Oscar was almost tempted to madly -fling himself over into the sea, and try to save poor, exhausted -Ballyhoo, or else suffer the consequences. - -But a hand seized the boy and held him fast. - -“No, no, youngster, none of that foolishness,” cried the skipper. “Look -again, and you’ll see that it isn’t so hopeless after all. The Injun is -a-going to show us something. I’ve seen it done many a time out there -at Ceylon, and along the Australian pearl shore too.” - -These encouraging words caused Oscar to notice that one of the natives -with whom he and Jack had just been bartering for fresh fruit was -urging his canoe along like mad. He aimed to pass the swimmer by, and -get between Ballyhoo and the oncoming sea monster. - -“Keep cranking, Jack, keep it going, old fellow!” cried Oscar. “This -picture will be something worth while! There, see that brown-skinned -native go in, will you, just like a plummet? It’s good-bye to Mr. -Shark, I guess, Jack--but don’t stop a second, do you hear?” - -Indeed, Jack was working steadily, and with a much lighter heart, for -something within seemed to tell him that Ballyhoo would after all be -spared. He had seen that Indian plunge gracefully into the sea, and -vanish from sight; and between his strong, white teeth Jack had also -noticed that he held a long-bladed knife. - -He knew, or could easily guess at any rate, just to what use the dusky -young fellow meant to put that weapon. Coming up underneath the clumsy -man-eater, he would, with one mighty stroke, rip him open, and cause -his death. - -It was a simple trick, once learned, and not half so dangerous as it -seemed; though a greenhorn might run the chance of making a bad job of -it, and inviting an attack from the monster. - -Ballyhoo was not staying his efforts, even though fresh hope may have -taken possession of his heart, once he saw that canoe flit past him, -with the Indian standing erect in it, that knife between his teeth. - -Oscar kept his eyes riveted upon that advancing fin. Suddenly he saw -that it had disappeared. A dreadful fear assailed him. Had the wily -shark taken warning of his peril, and swung around so as to give the -diver the slip? Then it might yet be that Ballyhoo would suffer from -his awful teeth, that could sever an arm or a leg as a hungry boy could -bite a wedge from a slice of bread and butter. - -But the simitar-like fin did not flash into view again. Ballyhoo, -continuing his frantic efforts, was now close to the boat, and Oscar -hurriedly clambered down to where he could give the almost exhausted -chum a helping hand, so as to hasten his leaving the water. - -He was just in the act of doing this when he heard Jack give a whoop. -The Indian had bobbed up again, and was swimming with easy strokes -around toward where his abandoned canoe floated. - -Into this he climbed with considerable agility that aroused the -ardent admiration of the watchers; but then these Caribs are regular -water-ducks at all times, and can do the most wonderful “stunts” in -diving for coins tossed overboard by curious tourists, which they -usually recover before the silver bit has sunk ten feet below the -surface. - -The other native had also pushed forward, and both were seen to be -leaning over the sides of their boats tugging at something. - -“They’ve got rope-ends in their hands, Oscar,” advised Jack, still -turning that crank of his industriously, for he wished to get it all in -the picture. “I guess we’ll see both sharks again, for here the Indians -come paddling back.” - -It proved just as Jack had said. Each of the Indians had secured one -of the marine monsters, and they were terrible looking creatures to be -sure, with a length of almost thirteen feet, and sporting rows of teeth -that made the boys shiver just to look at them. - -Ballyhoo was white, but no more so than Jack himself, who sank back -from his camera with a drawn look on his face. He had suffered -intensely while trying to do his duty, and at the same time feel an -agony of dread grip his heart. - -Captain Shooks proceeded to extract several cruel-looking teeth from -the jaws. - -“Like as not you’ll want to keep the same,” he told Ballyhoo Jones, -“so’s to remember the little incident by.” - -“Huh!” grunted the winded boy, “small chance of me ever forgetting -this raw deal, I guess. I’ll dream I’m being chased by those hungry -monsters ever so many times. But ain’t they whales, though? And strikes -me I came near playing that Jonah part for once. Please drop them back -again, and let ’em float away for the buzzards to feed on.” - -This was done, and then Oscar saw to it that the Indian shark killer -was abundantly rewarded for his labor, since his prompt dive had -undoubtedly saved the life of the boy in the water. - -After that Ballyhoo Jones would be mighty careful, so he admitted, when -and where he took his bath, for “once bit, twice shy” was going to be -his motto. - - - - -CHAPTER V GIVING THE ENEMY THE SLIP - - -“Please don’t scold, Oscar,” Ballyhoo was saying soon afterwards. “I -understand I was a silly fool to take such big chances. The captain -knew what he was talking about when he told me to stay near the boat.” - -“We all know now,” Jack remarked, “that the thrilling yarns told you by -your Uncle Abner Crawley were founded on truth. He’d seen those East -Indian pearl-divers stick sharks many a time; yes, and he even said -he’d learned to do the same himself while out around Ceylon.” - -“I think we’ll be moving along pretty soon,” Oscar remarked, not -wishing to add to the repentant Ballyhoo’s confusion, “for I heard the -engineer tell Captain Shooks that he had things shipshape once more.” - -“Then we can expect to be at our first destination any old time,” Jack -went on to say, with an eager gleam in his eye; for he was yearning to -see some of the wonderful submarine sights that had been so vividly -described to them by the old deep sea master-diver. - -Within ten minutes they discovered that the engines had started working -again, and a little while later their propeller began to churn the -water at the stern. - -It was now late in the afternoon. They had really spent several hours -behind the island instead of the short space of time at first intended; -but then no one felt that it mattered to any great extent, since they -were in no particular hurry. - -“Let me have that glass, please, Oscar?” Ballyhoo asked. “There’s a -vessel off to the southwest, low down, and I’ve got a sneaking notion -she looks a whole lot like that same _Dauntless_ we gave the slip to.” - -This, of course, aroused considerable interest on the part of the other -boys. Oscar obediently handed the marine glasses over, for they had -been lying close beside him on the little upper deck, which Ballyhoo -persisted in describing as the “hurricane deck” of the undersea boat. -Jack, on his part, ceased handling his camera, and also turned his eyes -in the direction indicated. - -Hardly had Ballyhoo located the object he had been watching than he -gave a satisfied grunt. - -“That means you were right, I take it?” remarked Oscar. - -“Just what it does,” came the ready answer. “She’s beat us down here, -and seems to know just about where we ought to turn up, hang the luck!” - -“Oh! nothing much to worry about yet,” Oscar told him. “Whenever we -feel like giving her the once over, all we have to do is to turn the -nose of our craft down, kick our heels in the air, and disappear, to -come up fifty miles away in any old direction.” - -“Guess you’re right there, Oscar,” admitted the boy who still held the -glasses glued to his eyes, as though fairly fascinated by the abrupt -reappearance of the mysterious black craft, which, as they knew, must -be manned by the rival party under the lead of that reckless buccaneer -of fortune, Captain Badger. - -“That’s the beauty of these submarine wrecking craft,” laughed Jack; -“they can swim on the surface in fair weather, dive below in foul, -remain hidden about as long as they please, and all the while be making -their little eight or ten knots an hour in any old direction. Yes, they -are as hard to locate as a jumping flea--now you’ve got him, but when -you go to look he isn’t there.” - -Captain Shooks had been summoned on deck, and agreed with the boys -the boat was their persistent rival that continued to shadow them. As -evening was coming on he laid his plan of campaign accordingly. They -started off on a course at right angles with the one they had intended -to take. This would, of course, deceive the enemy, doubtless keeping a -watch over their movements all the while. - -“When it gets good and dark,” explained Oscar to his comrades, “why, we -mean to dip under, turn around, and head into the southwest again. Once -we get twenty miles away from this point, and it will be safe for us -to come to the surface again, because our lights won’t show. By that -time they’ll be in a haze, and dodging every-which-way, looking for a -speck on the water.” - -So the sun set, and, as always happens down toward the tropics, there -was a very short intermission between that event and the coming of -darkness. Twilight belongs to the Northern zones. - -When the call to supper came it was already growing dusk. - -“We’ll not be up again to-night, I reckon,” assumed Ballyhoo, with a -sigh, for to tell the truth he did not particularly relish being made -a prisoner inside that strange boat, and kept hermetically sealed -far below the surface of the ocean, “just as much shut-in,” he often -said, “as sardines in a can, or one of those old mummies we’ve seen in -museums when they were kept tight in their sarcophagi.” - -It turned out just as he prophesied. Even while they were eating they -knew from various signs that the boat was sinking. The intake of water -filling the tanks could be plainly heard; and then besides the engines -had ceased working. While it was always possible for the submarine to -dive when in motion, still as a rule the skipper preferred to take his -dip while stationary. - -Once below and they were able to steer any course they pleased, by the -aid of their compass, which worked just as well then as when the boat -rode on the surface. - -By now the boys were beginning to grow a little accustomed to some of -the experiences that had seemed so marvelous to them at first. - -Taking it all in all it was very comfortable there in that snug -little saloon, where the captain and the three boys ate their meals. -Considerable ducking had to be indulged in so as to avoid knocking -their heads, which Ballyhoo seemed to be particularly addicted to, much -to his discomfort. - -“Why, I’ll have a whole row of knobs around my coco before we’re -through with this trip,” he complained after he had again arisen too -suddenly, and, consequently, banged the top of his head against the low -ceiling of the saloon. - -“I notice that already you’re beginning to have a lot of trouble -pulling your cap on,” Jack told him; “and if you take my advice you’ll -think twice before you jump up so hastily. It’s going to be a good -thing to tone you down, Ballyhoo. Beware of getting a swelled head.” - -They spent the evening as best the conditions allowed. Space was at -such a high premium down inside the little submarine craft that there -could be no moving around except in exceptional cases. On this account -they had to sit close together and amuse themselves by exchanging views -on various subjects, writing up their logs, and, of course, thinking of -those left at home. - -Then came the time for sleep. Ballyhoo had quite exhausted himself -through his fierce exertions in the water, coupled with the mental -anguish he must certainly have endured. Consequently, he was dozing -long before either of the others thought to retire. - -At the time Oscar crawled into his tight-fitting bunk it was four -bells, or ten o’clock. He lay there for some time planning, and also -allowing his mind to travel back to former scenes, most of them -pleasant in their nature. - -The engines were working steadily, and he could hear the singular -“swish” of the water just beyond the steel shell of the boat alongside -his head. How strange it was to realize that he meant to calmly seek -forgetfulness in slumber while they were many fathoms under the sea, -and traveling along at an eight-knot speed; just as though that had -always been the customary method of procedure, instead of a very recent -innovation and novelty. - -Then finally he lost himself, and during the balance of the night -really awoke only three times. - -It was on one of these occasions that Oscar knew from a change in the -sounds coming to his ears that they were ascending to the surface -again. He could hear the throb of the electric motors pumping the water -ballast from the reservoirs, which could be emptied in a marvelously -short time should necessity compel such haste. - -He lay there listening until assured that once again they were afloat -on the bosom of the deep, and continuing their voyage. Somehow the full -significance of this gave him a sense of relief; it was certainly more -natural that they should be cruising on rather than under the water. -And soon fresh air would be circulating through the interior of the -boat, when the ventilation shafts were opened. - -Then came morning, and the boys upon awakening made all haste possible -to get on deck, where they found Captain Shooks, partly dressed, with a -glorious red flannel nightcap still covering his bald head, as he took -a look around through his glasses. - -The boys, too, made use of their opportunity, and scoured the horizon -diligently. So far as they could see there was no sign of the -suspicious black steam yacht; and it seemed as if they had successfully -eluded Badger and his crew. - -Over on the port side lay one of those small keys found in many parts -of the great Caribbean Sea, with the stately palms hanging over the -green water, and the mangroves making another part of the shore look as -though it might prove a hard task to break through the thick barrier. - -A native was seated in his canoe fishing, and now surveying the -singular looking, squatty craft with evident amazement. Even as they -looked he started frantically for the shore, as though his fears had -finally gotten the best of him. If the mere sight of a submarine gave -him such a fright the boys wondered what his sensations would have been -had he chanced to see the _Argonaut_ suddenly emerge from _beneath_ the -water like a monster fish, her rounded steel sides glistening in the -sunlight. - -“Looks like we had given them the slip all right, eh, boys?” remarked -the skipper, as he lowered his glass, and allowed a broad smile to -cross his sunburned face; for already he had come to feel a very -friendly relationship toward the trio of fine young fellows, so modest -and yet so able. - -“We must be in a far corner of the Caribbean by now, I should think, -Captain?” Oscar was saying. - -“Quite out of the ordinary track of vessels,” admitted the commander, -nodding his head in the affirmative. “Seldom does a ship pass here, -because the region has a bad reputation. You see it is directly in -the customary track of all those West Indian hurricanes that are bred -around the Windward Islands, make a great curve, and then sweep toward -the Florida coast, generally to pass into the Mexican Gulf, though now -and then one slips past and goes booming up toward Hatteras.” - -“And we must be getting near our first destination, too, I should -think?” continued Oscar, with the idea of drawing the old skipper out. - -“Right you are there, my lad,” came the quick reply. “Unless something -not down on the bills happens to prevent, I expect that by another -sundown we’ll be close on Coco Key,” with which parting shot he ducked -below, to finish his toilet, and put on his captain’s uniform. - -That was apparently good news to the three Camera Boys, judging -from the way they proceeded to exchange hand-shakes, while smiles -illuminated their several faces. And, looking around upon the vast -expanse of salt water by which they were surrounded, they naturally -wondered whether that persistent black steam yacht could once more find -them out. - - - - -CHAPTER VI TREASURE ISLAND - - -All through that hot day they continued to push ahead. The captain knew -where the Key lay that was to be his destination, and being a good -mariner, he was laying his course directly thither. By taking the usual -observation at noon he found his bearings, and could alter his course -more or less in consequence. Then there were small islands they passed -from time to time, some of which bore characteristics that he could -recognize, either from having seen them before, or because they were -thus described on his chart as landmarks. - -“The skipper tells me he has sailed all through the Caribbean many -a time in years that are past,” Oscar informed his two chums that -afternoon, as they sat there on the “hurricane deck” and took things -easy. - -“I guess it would be hard to mention a particular spot on the globe -where the old man hasn’t cruised in his time,” Jack observed. “And how -strange it is that of late we should run across two such roamers as our -skipper here and Ballyhoo’s Uncle Abner Crawley.” - -“Call it three while you’re about it, please, fellows,” interrupted -Ballyhoo, “for while we’ve really not actually had the pleasure of -meeting the gentleman face to face so far, we feel that we know him -just the same, because he keeps haunting our track. I refer to that -born trouble-maker and adventurer, Captain Josephus Badger.” - -“Oh! there are rafts of just such men in the world!” Oscar declared, -“if only you happen across them, fellows who are rolling stones of -fortune, seeking spots for their operations where men are at war -with their fellows, living by their wits at times, and at others -making fortunes by running cargoes of contraband goods or arms past -a blockade. Right now across in Europe thousands are doing just that -same thing, trying to get food and things into Germany through neutral -countries, and the open sea.” - -“Hello!” exclaimed Ballyhoo just then, “listen, will you, boys?” - -“The engines have stopped running!” observed Jack, partly rising to his -feet as though to look around and see whether this could be accounted -for by anything in sight, and immediately adding: “but there’s only an -island some distance beyond, and not a sign of any vessel.” - -“Perhaps the engines have broken down?” suggested Ballyhoo. - -“A poor guess, I predict,” said Oscar. “They’ve been tested under all -sorts of strain, and it isn’t likely they’d go back on us as easy as -that. If you asked me now, boys, I’d say that yonder Key is the one -we’re aiming to reach, and that our skipper isn’t in any great hurry to -draw in there before nightfall.” - -“Just what is in the wind, lad,” observed Captain Shooks, who had -thrust his head above the combing of the little deck hatch while the -boys were exchanging these views. “We’ll drop down until we’re almost -awash, and in that way manage to avoid attracting attention in the -gathering darkness, as we approach yon island. Yes, it is Coco Key, -marked on our chart as the place for trying out our glorious plans.” - -Of course this was pleasing news for the three chums. Things were going -to take on a substantial change with them. Prowling around there on -or near the bottom of the sea, endeavoring to locate the hulk of the -treasure ship that was said to have been sunk there many, many years -before, they would be also given an opportunity for observing those -amazing sights which Jack meant to catch with his magical camera. - -So they continued to gaze at the still far distant Key through the -glasses. Of course they could not have seen any human being, but -Ballyhoo, who really possessed remarkable vision, stoutly declared he -could trace a thin column of smoke rising above the tree-crowned isle. - -The others being unable to locate this sign of Coco Key being -inhabited told Ballyhoo that it must be a vein of clouds he saw; but, -nevertheless, he stubbornly persisted in sticking to his assertion. - -“You wait and see who’s right, that’s all, fellows,” he told them, for -Ballyhoo, as we have seen on other occasions, was a very stubborn chap, -and ready to “nail his flag to the mast before giving up the ship.” - -So they continued to move on at half speed. So low in the water did the -submarine lie that no one without the aid of a good glass could, from -the Key, have detected its presence amidst the choppy little waves. And -presently, after the sun had sunk amidst the gathering clouds, there -was no danger of their coming being known. - -After they had eaten their supper the boys once more mounted to the -upper deck. It was only natural that they should feel an intense -interest in this lonely little Key that lay directly in the path of the -hurricanes bred amidst the terrible Windward Islands. - -“It seems to be covered with vegetation, all right,” Ballyhoo was -saying, as if that fact caused him to wonder. “You’d think that long -ago the storms that cross this stretch of the old Caribbean would have -just wiped out every trace of such a little spot of land.” - -“Well, there must be some reason why they haven’t,” Oscar advanced. -“It may be a reef that lies to the northeast, and protects Coco Key -whenever one of those hurricanes swoop down here. I’ve got an idea, -though, that they gather force as they go, and are a whole lot worse -hundreds of miles further on, when they strike Cuba, or Jamaica, and -then sail over to Galveston.” - -Although this was just a guess with Oscar, the probability is the boy -struck what might be the exact truth. Later on Captain Shooks told them -his experience was all along those lines; and that it took those West -Indian hurricanes some time to get going at their full force; so the -probability was they did not strike Coco Key as furiously as when days -afterwards they were reported going at a hundred and ten miles an hour. - -All lights were “doused” so that not by a glimmer would their coming -be made known. And, sitting there, always watching ahead, it was not a -great while after coming on deck that the boys discovered what seemed -to be a far distant gleam. - -“What do you suppose it can be?” queried Ballyhoo Jones. - -“I’ve held the glasses steadily on it,” reported Jack, “and there’s no -doubt it’s a light of some kind, and not a star near the horizon, as I -thought at first.” - -“Could it be a fire on some other island back of Coco Key?” continued -Ballyhoo. - -“I’d say no to that, and for several reasons,” Oscar interrupted. “In -the first place you forget that the skipper told us Coco lay all alone -here in this desolate section of the Caribbean Sea. Then again a fire -always wobbles, now bright and again dim. That light is steady, if too -far away to be figured out.” - -“You mean that it must be on some vessel, then, don’t you, Oscar?” Jack -asked. - -“Nothing else,” he was told. “The boat must have been behind the Key -when daylight was with us, which would account for our not seeing the -same.” - -“Whew! I bet you it’s that Artful Dodger, Captain Badger,” ventured -Ballyhoo. - -“The skipper will be coming up on deck before long,” Oscar continued, -“and we’ll call his attention to the suspicious light. From what he -says I don’t believe any spongers or loggerhead turtle fishermen could -be away over here; though it might be possible. They cruise about -everywhere looking for some corner where they can pick up a cargo. -These West India ‘conchs,’ as they call them, are pretty daring chaps, -I’m told.” - -But a short time later Ballyhoo announced that the strange light had -vanished, nor did they glimpse it again, though looking many times. - -“Chances are the boat has slipped behind the island again,” Jack -ventured to say, “or else for some reason those aboard have decided -they don’t need any light, just as we’re doing.” - -While the night was fairly dark, at the same time it was later on -possible for them to tell where the island lay. The mass seemed to make -a shadow on the water that resembled a dark spot. - -“I could just manage to see through the glass,” Ballyhoo explained, -“that it had trees and scrub, and plenty of those queer mangroves -growing all along the edge of the shores. The skipper told us the -water was quite deep, too, and that we’d be likely to see all sorts of -tropical growth, once we went down.” - -“Yes, although he hasn’t ever been here before in a submarine,” Oscar -went on to say, “he has often looked through a water glass, and hunted -for sponges that way, so he knows what these tropical waters can hold.” - -“Huh! I was just thinking!” Ballyhoo exclaimed in a stage whisper, -“that it looks kind of spooky off yonder toward the Key, as we see it -now in this queer light. Oh! did you notice that, boys? Really and -truly something flashed up right ashore, then!” - -“I saw it, too,” admitted Jack, and Oscar followed with: - -“No question about it, the island isn’t as deserted as Captain Shooks -thought. It may be that first light came from a sponging vessel -anchored on the other side of the Key, and that some of her crew are -ashore, meaning to turn turtles when they crawl up on the beach; though -it’s generally in the Spring of the year they come out to lay their -eggs in the warm sand.” - -The skipper, coming on deck just then, was put in possession of such -facts as they had accumulated. Apparently he did not much like the -news. It would interfere considerably with their intended movements, -for they could not very well remain on the surface in the daytime -without being seen, and their presence suspected. - -To allay any suspicions, in case they met with some cruising pleasure -yacht while in the vicinity of the treasure island, the wily captain -had laid out a plan of campaign quite original. The boys entered into -it with more or less zeal, since they were always ready for a lark. - -Captain Shooks, while an American, could speak German like a born -native of the Rhine country, and it was his intention to make frequent -use of this language, so as to cause the inquisitive pleasure voyagers -to believe the craft to be a hostile German submarine, lying in this -isolated quarter to wait for stores and torpedoes, so as to commence -a raid on the Allies’ oil vessels coming out from Mexican ports with -cargoes for the British trade. - -The skipper decided that in all probability the explanation given by -Oscar to account for the presence of the lights might be the true one. -Nevertheless, they must not run any unnecessary chances so early in -the game. It might be the _Dauntless_ after all, for Captain Shooks -had a very great respect for the sagacity of that tricky mariner who -commanded the black steam yacht. - -And so a little later on he decided they had gone as close to Coco Key -as common prudence would dictate. Accordingly, the boys were ordered -below, the hatches closed, and the boat sank below the surface of the -sea. - -Lower than they had ever gone before the boys realized they were -dropping, until finally the electric lights were switched on, and -looking eagerly out through the observation search ports they could -catch their first glimpse of the vast world that lay at the bottom of -the ocean. - - - - -CHAPTER VII WONDERFUL UNDER-THE-SEA SIGHTS - - -The submarine was moving slowly forward, so that they were being -treated to a constant change of scene. It was like a vast panorama -being unrolled before their eyes, and for their especial benefit. The -three boys clung to their ports of observation, and continued to gaze -at the marvelous sights as though fascinated. - -They could see as plainly as though looking into one of those aquarium -tanks with the glass sides, where all manner of curious fish swim idly -back and forth, and rub their noses vainly against the transparent -barrier. - -“Such gloriously colored fish I never saw before!” Ballyhoo was saying, -and the others could easily echo his words, for they discovered some -new object of interest with almost each passing minute. - -Sometimes these denizens of the depths were of a brilliant scarlet hue; -then again they seemed to possess most of the colors of the rainbow, -delicately shaded. Others had long waving tails, and often the boys -would discover some ugly looking monster that seemed quite out of place -in such splendid surroundings, like an ogre at a feast of fairies. - -“There, I saw a shark swing past!” exclaimed Ballyhoo, later on, -perhaps with an odd shiver passing over him, for sharks always brought -up that little adventure of his. - -Jack had already commenced to arrange his camera. Before now he had -tried it for height, and hence knew just how to proceed so as to get -the proper results. - -“Some of these things seem too fine to be lost,” he told Oscar, who had -his station close beside him. “And as we sink a little lower I begin to -notice those waving fields of submarine flowers, or weeds, or plants, -whatever you can call them. Any time now we’re apt to run into a field -that I’d like to get a picture of.” - -Oscar said nothing to discourage him. In fact, he, too, felt that it -was high time they were remembering that the main object of their -coming to this part of the Caribbean Sea had been to secure wonderful -pictures of the ocean depths and its denizens, rather than to share in -the treasure that was the magnet drawing Captain Shooks. - -Up in the bow no doubt the skipper was at his post. His was the hand -that controlled the destiny of the undersea boat now. It required -another sort of education than that of the ordinary pilot’s to -manipulate the wheel when once down in those depths, where buoyancy -could be so easily altered. To rise or fall was possible by the mere -touch of a finger, it seemed, so delicately were they poised there. - -Now it became necessary to come to a full stop on account of some -obstacle ahead in the shape of an undersea cliff that barred progress. -This must be surmounted by pumping out some of the water ballast so -that they would rise above its summit, or perhaps it might be deemed -advisable to turn aside, and pass around the obstruction. - -From time to time Jack’s exclamations, and the sound of his cranking, -announced that he was busily engaged at his labor of love. If he -could only catch some of those wonderful vistas of waving plants, and -floating fish with their goggle-eyes, he felt he would be amply repaid -for all his work. - -“Another shark!” announced Ballyhoo, who seemed to have a good eye for -those savage monsters of the deep, “and let me tell you he’s some size -in the bargain. Oh! get him in the picture, Jack, because we seem to -have stopped right here for some reason or other. Don’t you see, he -must be one of those leopard sharks we’ve heard Uncle Abner tell about, -for he’s all spotted.” - -“I can hardly believe that,” Oscar told him, “because, unless I’m -mistaken, he also said that species was only to be found away over in -the East Indies. But that chap was a dandy, all right, and I hope you -got him, Jack.” - -“Whee! there’s another right now!” cried Ballyhoo, “and as sure as you -live, boys, he acts like he meant to knock a chip off the shoulder of -his first cousin, too. See him make that furious rush for Mr. Spot, -will you? Oh! we’re going to be treated to a regular shark duel, that’s -what we are! Be sure and don’t miss that, on your life, Jack. It’s all -been staged just for our benefit. Those monsters knew it was a chance -of a lifetime for them to get in the spot-light!” - -While Ballyhoo rattled along at this rate, events outside were taking -on a sanguinary hue. Something had happened to anger both of the huge -sharks, and they continued to make savage attacks on one another. Their -teeth must have been busily engaged in these frequent contacts, for the -boys soon saw that they began to show the marks of many terrible wounds. - -By now the whole crew of the submarine must have learned of what was -taking place close by, for they crowded to the various glass-covered -openings in the endeavor to see what they could of the affair. It -enlisted their sympathies, even as a group of Cubans might take a -lively interest in a cock fight, or ten thousand Mexicans gather to -watch a bull match his horns and muscles against the agility of his -human baiters in the arena. - -Back and forth the pair swam, tearing at each other as though anxious -to take advantage of this unusual flood of light visiting their -undersea range. One was a little larger than the other, and, of course, -the boys immediately allowed their hopes to rest upon the smaller shark. - -Indeed, it soon began to prove that this one was the more agile of -the two, and could get away with less punishment after some of their -terrific rushes. From this fact the spectators expected that in the end -the battle would result in the vanquishing of the larger spotted fish, -which appeared a trifle sluggish in its movements. - -“You see,” said Ballyhoo, who noted all these points with the eye of -a professional, “it’s a heap sight better to be quick and spry than -big and powerful. That spotted shark could just lie on the other and -squeeze him to death, but he’ll never get the chance. Oh! my stars! -what a smash that was, and both of them took a hunk away! Why, they’ll -be all torn to pieces if they keep it up much longer.” - -“It’s getting near an end right now,” asserted Oscar. “That spotted one -is showing signs of being almost all in. A few more such clashes and -his name will be Dennis, you mark what I’m telling you, boys.” - -“I do believe Captain Shooks has stopped the boat just on purpose to -let us get a picture of the shark duel!” cried Jack, who was turning -his crank, and at the same time trying to watch what was going on -outside, a rather difficult task, all things considered. - -“He knows what this must mean to us, that’s right,” asserted Ballyhoo. -“Here they come again at it, hammer and tongs. They make me think of -some things I once saw in the stock yards I visited with my father -when I was smaller, for this is butchery, if ever there could be such -a thing. I’m hoping deep down in my heart that both of them get wiped -out, for I haven’t any use at all for sharks! Ugh!” - -That seemed to be the concluding round to the battle. The two sharks -stayed close to each other, and continued to snap viciously; but the -jaws of the big spotted one lacked something of their former vigor. -Indeed, it could be seen that this fish was at the end of his rope, for -he swung this way and that, as though unable to guide his course. - -Even as the spectators continued to stare through their glass-covered -windows, arranged for this very purpose, and well protected against all -pressure to be met with down at the depth to which the boat could be -lowered, they saw the larger shark give a last flip with its tail, and -then roll over, belly up. - -“That settles him, all right!” Ballyhoo was heard saying quite -revengefully, just as if he had taken a vow upon himself never to spare -a shark when he had a chance to annihilate such a creature. - -“But the victor is almost as badly off, you notice,” Oscar called -out. “See how he wobbles as he starts to swim away. The chances are a -hundred to one he’ll be attacked by another of his kind before an hour -goes by; and if that happens it’s good night to the game little chap.” - -“Well, it was a pretty fast scrap while it lasted,” Ballyhoo asserted, -“and if we’d staged it ourselves we couldn’t have done it any better. -The luck of the Camera Boys still holds good, seems like. Everything -comes our way, given time.” - -“I only hope my pictures turn out first class,” Jack was heard saying. -“You see, I’ve never had any experience taking such through a heavy -glass like these observation windows or big bull’s-eyes are made of. -Still, everything looked perfectly natural to the eye, as far as I -could make out. How about that, boys?” - -Oscar, wishing to satisfy the anxiety of the operator, hastened to -assure him that all was well. - -“If that’s all you’ve got to bother you, Jack, just take it for granted -it will be the boss picture,” he went on to say. “Of course, a whole -lot depends on whether your focus was good, and if the rising and -falling motion of the boat didn’t interfere with first-class work.” - -“I’m not afraid of that part,” the other asserted, which ended the talk -on that particular subject. - -“Now the engines have started up again, you notice,” Ballyhoo announced -glibly. “The show being over, that act of it anyway, we mean to -commence going on again. What comes next, I wonder? Some terrible -monster of this under-the-sea land will perhaps try to knock a hole in -the side of our craft, thinking it’s a big whale come down to look the -ground over. Be ready for anything, Jack. We’re in this business for -thrillers, just remember.” - -“And I imagine we’ll have all we want of the same before we’re through -with it,” Jack told him in return, as he once more took up his station -at his post, and made ready to turn on the “hand power” when the right -occasion arose. - -Now that they were moving back and forth, they discovered new and -entrancing objects to admire. Captain Shooks was evidently carrying out -his announced programme when he said that his line would be to drop -down and “comb every foot of the sea bottom around Coco,” looking for -some sign of that long-lost vessel, the fame of whose treasure-trove -had come down in some musty document. - -The Company believed there might be an element of truth in the story, -and until a thorough investigation had been made the first project of -the list would not be abandoned. - -Some times they were so near the sea bottom that they actually cruised -amidst those strange trees such as mortal eye had possibly never before -beheld, their greenish trunks bending as the submarine’s nose touched -them, just as though they were great canes, and as pliable as reeds. - -Other moving objects were encountered from time to time, giant crabs, -and singular looking creatures to which the staring boys could give -no distinguishing name, because they had never before seen anything -similar, nor did they remember having read of such grotesque objects. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII “TALK ABOUT LUCK!” - - -Although they had been passing through these fields of water ferns -and tree-like forms for only half an hour or so, the boys were ready -to declare that the reality far exceeded even their most sanguine -expectations. - -“Of course,” Jack admitted when they commenced talking about their -work, and what a satisfaction it was not to be disappointed, “this -thing will get a bit monotonous in due course, unless we keep on -meeting up with new sights. But then down here in these depths there’s -apt to be something novel happening any old time; just as that terrible -fight between the two species of sharks turned out.” - -“We had the same sort of luck out in Africa, remember,” Ballyhoo -reminded the other two chums. “Whenever things got a little dull along -would come something out of the ordinary to liven up the show. When we -got through taking pictures of all the wild animals that could be met -with in the jungle and the forest, why, what followed but that trip to -the black king’s kraal, where we saw his army drill, and watched ’em do -the Lion Dance to the tune of a horrid din.” - -The crew had before this fallen away from the ports, and gone back to -their customary work. They saw little that was attractive about those -waving forests of singular submarine growths; though the prospect of -another fight between some of the denizens of the depths would have -brought them rushing forward again. - -“Notice how the skipper keeps lunging from side to side as we move -along?” observed Oscar. “He is scouring the ground as he goes forward. -By the time we’ve made several revolutions around Coco Key we’ll know -whether there was any truth in that old yarn about the sunken hulk, or -not.” - -“Well,” ventured Ballyhoo, with a shrug of his shoulders that was -intended to express incredulity, “so far as I’m concerned I reckon it -was only a fishy story that some newspaper man got up just to fill -space. You never know how much to believe of anything you see in the -newspapers nowadays, when the reporters are paid for space.” - -“The proof of the pudding is the eating of the same,” laughed Oscar; -“so we’ll not quite condemn that yarn until we’ve proved it to be a -bad egg. You’d feel pretty cheap, Ballyhoo, if we really did uncover -something in the shape of an old hulk, whether it held any treasure or -not.” - -“Oh! I surely hope they do, for the captain’s sake, yes, and for -Uncle Abner’s, too; because he’s sunk a wheen of good hard cash in -this venture, that he may never get back again. With us, now, it’s -different, I claim, for we’re going about a legitimate business. Let us -get our pictures, and it’s going to line our pockets with gold. That’s -the way to do things, according to my notion.” - -“Stop and think,” said Jack, “how would we ever have found such a -glorious chance to accomplish what we’re aiming to do now if it hadn’t -been for this same wildcat treasure hunting expedition you’re harping -on? Sometimes it’s cruel to look a gift-horse in the mouth, Ballyhoo.” - -“Kick me, Oscar,” said the other contritely, “for I certainly deserve -it. And after this I’ll try and keep my thoughts to myself, especially -when they run counter to the balance of you. Sure I hope the captain’ll -strike it rich, and locate this Aladdin stuff--or was it King Midas who -had everything he touched turned straightway into gold, even the coffee -he drank at meals?” - -Before either of the others could say another word they all became -conscious of a perceptible shock that made the little submarine tremble -all over as though stricken by a monster fist. - -“Wow! was that my whale butting into us?” gasped Ballyhoo, who had only -managed to keep himself from falling by clutching a convenient cleat on -the wall. - -“We’ve run up against something that was hidden among the waving, giant -water ferns, that’s sure!” ejaculated Oscar anxiously. - -They listened. Men could be heard calling out excitedly. The engines -had stopped working, and the boys immediately felt a dreadful fear grip -their hearts--had the motive power been disabled, and would they be -unable to rise again to the surface when the compressed air chambers no -longer contained the elements necessary to keep the imprisoned voyagers -alive? - -They may have remembered how the crew of an ill-fated U. S. submarine -out at Hawaii had some accident occur that caused the boat to sink to -the bottom of the sea in a deep hole; and that delay in rescuing her -imprisoned crew resulted in the death of every one in the doomed boat. - -Strange how things like this, common incidents under normal conditions, -and simply glanced at in curiosity among other news items, arise to -stagger one when suddenly placed in similar distressing conditions. - -“Could it be possible for a hole to be punched in the outside shell of -our bully little boat?” Ballyhoo wanted to know, and his voice quivered -as he asked it. - -“Hardly a likely thing,” Oscar told him. “But what I’m really afraid of -is that our engines may be knocked galley-west and hurt so badly that -the engineer can’t possibly repair the same.” - -“As a last resort,” Jack added, seriously enough, “there’s a way of -getting out of here through a chamber that can be emptied of water -again and again. And once on the surface a fellow could swim to the -island all right enough. So you see it hasn’t got to the desperate -stage.” - -“One of us ought to try and find out what happened, don’t you think?” -asked Jack. - -“Let Oscar do it,” suggested Ballyhoo; for somehow it seemed that when -something really important had to be carried through the Jones boy felt -considerable more confidence in Oscar’s ability than in his own. - -“All right, I will,” promptly spoke up the one indicated. “Both of you -stay here so as not to get in the way. This is a tight fit, you must -remember, and any useless confusion would be next door to criminal. -I’ll be back in a jiffy; the chances are nothing so terrible has -happened.” - -With that he left them. Jack and Ballyhoo waited impatiently for his -return, and, of course, conjectured all sorts of miserable things. -Still, their spirits began to brighten in some degree when they noticed -that pretty much all the furore had by now died down. - -“Guess we’re not taking in water _very_ fast, anyhow,” said Ballyhoo -bravely. - -“I haven’t seen or felt any leak,” agreed Jack, just as if such a thing -as flooding the little compartment where they had their bunks were -possible without a panic among the crew. - -Then came Oscar almost crawling back to them, because passing from one -part of the boat to another necessitated considerable of this sort of -thing. - -“It’s good news he’s fetching us, I warrant you!” exclaimed the eager -Ballyhoo, “because I can see his face all wrinkled up in a smile.” - -Oscar sank down beside them. - -“Well, it seems that we certainly butted into something or other that -was quite hidden in among that extra big patch of submarine imitation -trees,” he commenced. “The captain doesn’t know just yet whether any -damage was done, but they haven’t discovered that we’re taking on any -water, and that is a comfort.” - -“Bully!” zipped Ballyhoo, drawing in a big breath of relief. - -“And the engines, how about them?” demanded Jack. - -“Oh! he said they were all right,” Oscar told him. “The engineer shut -off power the very instant we rebounded.” - -“Lucky we were going pretty slow at the time, too,” Jack added. “If -we’d been racing along at top speed it would have been good-night for -everybody by now.” - -“What do you suppose it was we struck?” asked Ballyhoo. - -“Oh! one of those queer ledges that we’ve had to climb over several -times before this,” Jack went on to say. “The floor of the ocean isn’t -always like a level plain, you know. Sometimes there are hills, and -then deep valleys, just as we have them on the land.” - -“Somehow or other,” continued Oscar, “Captain Shooks doesn’t quite -believe it was hard rock we struck. He says it didn’t just feel like -it. Still, down in this section there’s a heap of coquina rock, which -you know is really made by myriads of insects building. It looks like -a mass of tiny shells welded together with some sort of cement. The -skipper says coquina rock is lots softer than ordinary stone. It may -have been a bank of that we ran smack up against.” - -“Let’s hope so, anyhow,” said Ballyhoo fervently, “because to have -anything injure our boat at this early stage of the game would be -terrible. Jack here has only begun to take his under-the-sea motion -pictures; and then again nary a cent have the treasure hunters found up -to now, to help pay the e_nor_mous expenses of the enterprise.” - -“There, the engines are working again,” remarked Oscar. “I suppose -the next move will be to draw back out of this mess of giant ferns -and other plants ten or twenty feet high. They’re all around us, you -notice, boys.” - -The boat was moving slowly, and just as Oscar had supposed would be -the case, in a backward direction. It also began to swing to one side -so that quite a broad avenue was left behind, showing where they had -smashed through the aquatic growth. - -During this time the boys had their eyes glued to the observation -bull’s-eyes as though more than curious to discover what had lain ahead -of them. The powerful electric searchlights were turned on again as -soon as the engines had started, and they were thus enabled to see with -distinctness. - -“I can just make out something ahead there, boys!” Ballyhoo was calling -out. - -“Ditto here,” echoed Jack, “and I guess it must be a bank of that -coquina rock Oscar was telling us about. Still, there’s something queer -about it to me.” - -“You bet there is,” snapped Ballyhoo, as quick as a flash. “I can begin -to make out a shadowy outline further on. It rises just so high, and -that’s all. If that’s a rock all I want to say is--why, boys, it looks -to me a whole lot like some sort of vessel lying there partly on its -side!” - -Oscar laughed aloud. - -“This is a big joke!” he exclaimed gleefully. - -“In what way?” demanded Ballyhoo, still groping for an answer. - -“Why, to think that after we’ve dropped down here with the principal -idea of searching the bottom of the sea around Coco Key for a sunken -treasure-ship that was said to have foundered here ever so many years -ago in one of those hurricanes, we should actually bump the nose of our -boat into the same!” - -Jack and Ballyhoo uttered exclamations of amazement. - -“Talk about luck!” cried Ballyhoo. - -“Do you really mean that you think we’ve found that wreck already?” -asked Jack. - -“It looks mighty like it,” came the steady and confident reply, “for -that object we can glimpse there in the midst of the thick growth has -all the earmarks of an old hulk that’s been lying at the bottom of the -sea for scores and scores of years!” - - - - -CHAPTER IX THE DIVER AT WORK - - -Shortly afterwards the captain came along, and they seized upon him. -He was looking anything but downcast, and in reply to the flood of -eager questions with which the Camera Boys deluged him imparted the -information that to the best of his belief they had actually run into -the object of their search. - -He also told them that it was his intention to stand by the hulk until -morning, and then get busy carrying out the plans that had long ago -been arranged. - -Of course it would not be necessary to remain below during the night, -so he was about to give the signal to the engineer and the man at the -wheel to rise to the surface; only strict orders were being passed -around that the utmost silence must be enforced; all lights, too, were -forbidden. - -After the skipper had gone on the boys talked it over again. - -“Guess he hasn’t forgotten that light on the Key,” remarked Ballyhoo. - -“More than likely,” added Jack, “he’s got that sly adventurer, Captain -Badger, on his mind. He knows that individual has played many a -desperate game, and also how he’s said to be the most tricky subject -that ever led an expedition through a blockade.” - -“Suppose then that we have come on the old hulk,” Ballyhoo continued, -seeking further information, since he was not quite sure in his mind -about certain things, “what would be the programme, do you think, -Oscar?” - -“Oh! that’s all been cut and dried this long while,” he was told. “Of -course we would mark the spot where the wreck lies in deep water, so -we could find it again, if for any reason we had to cut and run--for -instance, if we happened to see that other boat coming along, Oscar.” - -“Yes, I understand all that, but how do they expect to get working at -the wreck, for I happen to know they have several divers’ suits aboard -here?” - -“Listen, and I’ll try to explain,” the other went on. “We carry a large -number of empty oil barrels in our small cargo space, also planks with -which to make a float, just as they do on the lakes in front of hotels -and cottages. Get that, Ballyhoo?” - -“Surely, and I begin to see that you’re going to say about the diving -part of it, too, Oscar. That float will make a working place for the -operation.” - -“Just what it will,” Oscar further explained. “They have some sort of -windlass they use to help raise the diver, whose armor is terribly -heavy, you understand. It is also meant to lift up any cargo the man -who goes down may gather while working about the wreck. Sometimes this -is heavy machinery, or it may be a ship’s safe that they’re trying to -salvage.” - -“But will a little float like that stand being knocked about by the -waves, for they must run pretty high here sometimes?” Ballyhoo added. - -“But those are the times when no work will be attempted,” he was told. -“There’s also a chance, if the wind is coming from the quarter that I -think it is, we’ll find that the Key itself will act as a buffer to the -waves, and on this side it will be almost calm.” - -“I declare, you seem to think of nearly everything, Oscar,” the Jones -boy exploded. “Now, the captain said we were to ascend, but so far as I -can see we’re only moving around to another side of that great bunch of -stuff covering the wreck.” - -“Then I reckon he means to approach from several different quarters,” -proceeded Oscar, “so as to get an idea of just how it lies. In that way -a mistake may be avoided such as would cost us dear in the end.” - -This sort of procedure continued for nearly an hour. By that time the -boys figured that they had run close to the wreck on as many as six -different occasions. There was no longer the slightest doubt about the -object lodged in the midst of that submarine growth being the hulk of -a long sunken ship. Thanks to the play of their powerful searchlight -they had been able to make out just how the wreck was lying, and also -figure which would be the best method of entering the same, when the -diver was sent down. - -Finally they changed the programme, and the steady laboring of the -electric engines announced that the water ballast reservoirs were being -emptied. This meant the captain was bound for the surface again. - -So they finally emerged, with every light either fully extinguished or -else so effectually concealed that there would not be the slightest -chance for a hostile eye to discover their presence there on the water. - -An anchor was silently let go, and the submarine lay there, all snug -and secure. The boys hastened to get on deck to secure a breath of pure -air before seeking their bunks for the balance of the night. - -It was just as dark as ever; indeed, after being accustomed to the -powerful light that had been used while they were below it seemed worse -than before to Ballyhoo, who rubbed his eyes and whimpered that he -feared he must be going blind, for somehow he just couldn’t see a thing -around him. - -They had been warned not to converse above whispers, which instructions -all of them faithfully carried out. Sounds carry wonderfully over the -water, as they very well knew; an oar striking against the side of a -rowboat makes a noise that can be heard a mile away, according to the -condition of the atmosphere at the time. - -“Look up, and you’ll see the stars,” Oscar told him. “But it is -terribly black around here. I can just barely manage to find where the -island lies.” - -“You don’t happen to notice any lights ashore, do you?” asked Ballyhoo, -as though he kept that significant fact constantly on his mind. - -“Nothing doing,” reported the other promptly. “If there are people on -the Key, then they’ve either gone to sleep, or else for some reason are -keeping under cover.” - -The night air seemed damp and chilly after being below so long, and, -consequently, the boys soon felt that it would be much more comfortable -down in their snug quarters. Besides, Ballyhoo was yawning as though in -need of sleep. - -“I’m really ashamed of myself to be gaping so,” he told the others, -“but I just can’t help it. Must be something in the sea air around here -that makes me so terribly sleepy.” - -So they presently left the “hurricane deck,” and shortly afterwards -crawled into their berths. The last Oscar knew of anything the boat was -gently moving up and down on the long night swell of the sea, broken -somewhat by the Key near at hand. - -Then morning came, and once more they were on deck, for the submarine -had remained on the surface, showing that Captain Shooks anticipated no -serious interruption to his work of the day. - -Now they could, for the first time, plainly see the little island Coco -Key. It was not much to look at, a mere hump covered with heavy growth -of trees and brush. A few palmettoes, and several beautiful cocoanut -trees stood up above the rest of the vegetation, and the presence of -the latter doubtless accounted for the name that had been given to the -place. - -Perhaps it may have been a couple of miles at the most in -circumference, counting all the little bayous along the shore. In -many places the edge of the water was covered with those singular -trees known as mangroves, which can be found all over southern Florida -wherever salt water abounds. Their seed grows in the shape of a catalpa -“cigar,” so well known to most boys. This drops into the soft mud at -low tide, and roots spring from it in an incredibly short time, so that -another tree is started. Thus they spread and thrive until they form a -veritable thicket. - -In Florida at a certain season of the year the leaves seem to exude a -sticky, sweet substance that the bees gather, and which forms the basis -for tons and tons of mangrove honey. - -The boys looked long and earnestly at that island. Ballyhoo in -particular seemed to still entertain certain suspicions regarding its -being as peaceful and innocent as outward appearances would indicate. - -“I see the skipper has sent out the collapsible boat,” he went on to -say, almost as soon as they reached the deck; “but it doesn’t look as -if the two men in the same meant to land on the Key after all, for -they’re rowing off at right angles to the land.” - -“I can give a guess what’s in the wind,” said Oscar. - -“Oh! that’s easy,” added Jack. “Captain Shooks wants to make sure that -there’s no boat belonging to spongers or turtle hunters anchored on the -other side of the island; so he’s sending out his men to row completely -around the same, and make a sure job of it before he starts to work.” - -“He’ll have his trouble for his pains, I feel sure,” Oscar continued, -“because only a fool would anchor his boat on the windward side of a -Key like this, when he had the choice of getting in its lee.” - -Half an hour later the boat came in sight again, and from the opposite -quarter, showing that the men had, indeed, gone completely around the -Key. They reported the coast as clear, though, of course they had made -no landing. While there were numerous little indentations in the shore -line, still the trees and mangroves were not high enough to conceal a -schooner, or even one of the native boats with a mast. - -As though this settled the matter in his mind the skipper immediately -gave orders for work to be commenced. The empty and watertight barrels -were first of all brought out, and thrown overboard, though secured -together. Then the carpenters got busy, and the sound of hammering told -that they were making the indispensable float. - -It was soon a busy scene, indeed, and half of the morning went by -before the object of their industry took on the desired shape. Care -was taken to make everything as secure as possible, so that it could -withstand considerable pounding. - -Finally this part was finished, and even the windows and air pump put -in place. All was now in readiness for the diver, and one of the two -men who had been engaged for this special work began to don his strange -garments, his heavy shoes being weighted with lead, and, to cap all, -the helmet, from which ran the air pipes. - -Jack, desirous of catching the full spirit of the occasion, had taken -his camera in the small boat, with Ballyhoo to do the rowing, and -pulling off just a little distance proceeded to faithfully record -all that went on. It would, he believed, make an interesting and -instructive picture. Then, besides, every stockholder in the enterprise -could later on see just how his money was being expended in the effort -to locate and recover long lost treasure. - -The diver finally went over the side of the raft, and vanished from -view with only a mass of bubbles on the surface to indicate where he -had gone down. Minutes dragged along, and the men kept working at the -pump so as to keep the diver supplied with plenty of fresh air; though, -in case of necessity, he could depend on the small amount of compressed -air which he carried in a special reservoir. - -In the end the long expected signal came, telling that he wished to be -raised. Jack was waiting to get that part of it, so as to complete his -picture of “going down and coming up.” When the man finally appeared, -and his helmet was removed, all on the float gathered anxiously around -to hear what he had to report. - - - - -CHAPTER X SPIED UPON - - -After all the diver was not prepared to give any positive report. He -had found it a difficult job to get aboard the old hulk, which he said -must have lain there many, many years, for it seemed to be of a model -that had been in vogue away back in the days when Spanish galleons -carried cargoes of gold and silver stolen from the Mexicans across to -Spain, many of the clumsy sailing craft being lost on the way. - -The presence of part of a high afterdeck betrayed the fact that it -belonged to that type of vessel, he told them. At which the captain -shot Oscar a look of grim delight, for doubtless he anticipated great -things to come. - -All of them were of the opinion that they had actually come upon the -wreck of the chart, and hopes ran high. The second diver was now ready -to take his turn below. Time was a factor in the game. They were in the -hurricane belt, and though the period of the year when these “twisters” -are supposed to come out of the Windward Islands had passed, still -occasionally one is belated. - -There were other reasons, too, why they should not dally. One of these -went by the name of Badger, and as such might be set down as a constant -menace. All day long they must scan the horizon, looking for any sign -of an approaching boat. Should such be discovered, haste would be made -to dismantle the float, so that all signs of their recent labors might -be destroyed, after which the submarine could drop out of sight. - -In one quarter only could they see what appeared to be another Key. It -lay about ten or twelve miles away, possibly further, since distances -are so deceptive over the water. - -This time it was the design of Captain Shooks to sink the submarine, -so that the diver might have the benefit of the electric searchlight, -which would aid him in his work very much indeed. - -Jack went down with the boat, desirous of adding to his interesting -collection of sub-aqueous pictures. It was worth something to actually -see the diver, clad in his suit, handling an axe in the water, just as -though he might be a woodchopper in the forest attacking a tree. - -But it needed a very powerful man to wield that axe, such was the -resistance of the water. Blows that required every ounce of strength he -could put in them made but a faint impression. - -The wreck, as could be easily seen, lay partly on its side. On this -account it was necessary to fashion some sort of rude ladder by means -of which the diver could climb up to one of the openings in the deck. - -All these years the sea had preserved the vessel, so that it was in -almost as good condition as when it went down with its cargo and -crew. Fishes had swarmed out of the hulk, and great stone crabs, with -monstrous, threatening claws, backed off as the diver made his way -about. He never knew what strange and horrible sea monsters he might -disturb after entering the interior of the wreck, one end of which was -partly buried in the sand. - -It was about the middle of the afternoon when for the fourth time the -submarine ascended to the surface, the captain wishing to get the -report of the man who was just then going up. He had managed to get -part way inside the hulk, and it was possible that he might be in a -position to tell something encouraging. - -Oscar and Ballyhoo had remained above this time, and when Jack came out -on deck he was just in time to discover them rowing toward the island -in the small, collapsible boat. - -“Please wait for me,” he called out. “I’d like to go along, and take my -box with me. I ought to get a view of things from a little distance, so -as to take in the whole outfit, with the sea for a background, if you -can call it that.” - -Accordingly, the other pair came back, and shipped Jack, together with -his inseparable companion, that wonderful box with its crank, necessary -machinery, and fine lens. - -They leisurely pulled to the shore. A small, sandy beach offered an -inviting landing place, and the light boat soon ran up on the gentle -slope. Then some time was spent in watching Jack get busy, though after -he had once found his focus he soon secured all he wished in order to -complete his picture. - -“Do we go back now?” asked Ballyhoo. “It feels so jolly just to stretch -your legs on solid ground again after all the time we’ve been cooped up -in those narrow quarters that I’d like to stay ashore a while, if it’s -all the same to you, Oscar.” - -“I was going to suggest that we start out and explore the Key,” the one -addressed went on to say, at which Ballyhoo grinned amiably, and nodded -his head. - -“Good idea, too,” he hastened to observe. “We’ve never had a chance -before to see what one of these sandy Keys is like. And from the looks -of things, now we’re close in, it wouldn’t be such a tough job to break -through that scrub. Most of the thick growth, it seems, is in the -mangrove thickets along the shores.” - -“Will you come along with us, Jack?” asked Oscar. - -“Please excuse me, boys,” the other replied. “This camera weighs a -whole lot, as you both know, and it’s a pretty hot day in the bargain. -I wouldn’t like to leave it behind, because we only fetched the one -with us this time, and if anything happened to injure it my cake would -be all dough.” - -“Perhaps you’re sensible, after all, Jack,” laughed Oscar. “We may be -sorry we started before we get through with the job.” - -“If we find the going hard through the island,” said Ballyhoo shrewdly, -“why, we could come back along the beach, mebbe. But shucks! there -isn’t going to be any difficulty at all. Still, I’m curious to know -what that smoke I saw meant.” - -At hearing him say that Jack spoke up. - -“I’m glad you thought it worth while to fetch your rifle along with -you, Oscar, because if anything should happen, and you did run across -some hard characters, they’d find you armed.” - -“Oh! give Ballyhoo credit for thinking about the gun,” replied Oscar; -“but if we mean to get back before sunset, Ballyhoo, we’d better be -starting.” - -They left Jack sitting there near the boat, and “fiddling” with -his camera, as Ballyhoo always called it when the artist chose to -manipulate certain screws, or make any sort of changes to suit his whim. - -“Why, this isn’t half bad, after all, Oscar!” the Jones boy declared -after they had been moving along for some little time, keeping their -faces in the one set direction, which was easily done, since they had -the sun to guide them. - -“A regular picnic, I should call it,” the leader said over his shoulder. - -Some time afterwards Oscar reached the conclusion that they must be -drawing near the opposite side of the Key, having gone directly across -it from end to end. The breeze was rustling the serrated leaves of the -palmettoes, and waving the long fronds of the cocoanut trees, showing -that there was quite a little air stirring at this end of the island, -even while it seemed calm where they were working. - -Suddenly Oscar stopped dead in his tracks. - -“Did you hear anything then, Ballyhoo?” he asked. - -“I certainly did,” came the reply, “and it sounded mighty like an oar -hitting the side of a boat, in the bargain.” - -“Just what I thought,” continued the other. “Come, let’s creep forward -and take a look out. I expect we must be close to the beach that I’ve -figured lies at this end of the Key, protected by a reef or two further -off.” - -Accordingly, they continued to advance, their eyes constantly on the -lookout for any sign of life beyond. Then they began to catch glimpses -of the water, showing that at this end of the Key the thick mangroves -did not grow at all. - -“I can see green cocoanuts up there, hanging in clusters on those -trees,” whispered the observant Ballyhoo; for it had been one of his -most ardent hopes that while on this expedition to the semi-tropics -he might have the pleasure of knocking down a green cocoanut himself, -and trying to see what the mushy contents tasted like; for all his -experience hitherto had been with the ripened nuts of commerce, with -their milk, and hard rim of meat. - -“Never mind that just now,” warned Oscar, in a whisper, “for we’ve got -other fish to fry. There, I heard that sound again, only further away. -And when that rustle among the leaves quiets down it strikes me I catch -the splash of oars.” - -“There’s something doing, as sure as eggs are eggs,” muttered Ballyhoo, -even as the pair of them crept further on, and by degrees began to -get a clearer view of the pretty sandy beach, as well as the open sea -beyond. - -“I see the boat!” snapped Ballyhoo suddenly. - -“Not so loud, please,” warned his companion; “and don’t move again if -you can help it. The men who are rowing have their faces turned this -way, and might discover us.” - -So Ballyhoo crouched there and hurriedly began working at the marine -glass case, which he had slung over his shoulder. Presently he brought -the contents out, and commenced adjusting the glasses to suit his -eyesight, knowing just about how far to lengthen them. - -“Fortunately, the sun is almost back of us,” Oscar was saying, “and -on that account it couldn’t flash from the glass, and make them take -notice. But don’t move too hurriedly, whatever you do, Ballyhoo. Plenty -of time to get there safe and sound.” - -Both of them took a look through the glasses. - -“One thing sure,” Ballyhoo was saying, excitedly, “they’re no sponger -crowd nor yet turtle hunters.” - -“That goes without saying,” Oscar told him. “One look at the boat -would tell the story, for you can see it’s a fine mahogany one, and a -small gasolene launch at that.” - -“There are three men aboard, two of them using the oars, and the other -sitting in the stern-sheets taking care of the rudder. I can see him -looking back most of the time, as if he wanted to steer in a certain -course, so as not to come out where our people on the float might -glimpse the launch. But I say, Oscar, tell me, will you, what are those -ninnies doing all that rowing for when they could go off in fine style -if they only started up their engine?” - -“For the same reason, I take it, Ballyhoo, that the steersman is -keeping the Key between himself and our float--he doesn’t want to have -his presence known if he can help it. And you ought to remember, that -muffler or no muffler, most of these gasolene engines have a way of -making a great puttering noise when they work. Why, you can sometimes -hear them three miles away. Perhaps a little later they’ll think it -safe to start up.” - -“They’re heading right for that other Key far away off yonder, too, -Oscar. Here, take the glasses and see for yourself. Well, this _is_ a -great mystery, believe me.” - -A minute later and Oscar uttered a snort as of satisfaction. - -“The boat turned just then, when one of the men stopped rowing to light -his pipe, and I had a chance to make out a name that is painted up -at the bow,” was what he told his mate, who, of course, immediately -exclaimed: - -“And what was that name, Oscar--the _Dauntless_?” - -“You have said it, Ballyhoo, for that was just what I saw there,” said -Oscar. - - - - -CHAPTER XI EQUAL TO THE EMERGENCY - - -“Whee! then there’s a nigger in the woodpile, I should say!” burst out -the impulsive Ballyhoo. “That smart old Badger has been too tricky for -our skipper. Why, if those fellows have been on the island all the -while, of course it’s dollars to doughnuts they’ve watched everything -we’ve done, and know that we’re working on that old hulk of a wreck!” - -“No doubt about it,” said Oscar promptly, shutting his jaws together in -the way his chums knew meant business. - -“What ought we to do about it, Oscar?” continued Ballyhoo. - -“First of all we must get across to our boat in as big a hurry as we -can,” came the answer. “Captain Shooks ought to know what’s in the -wind, so he can act.” - -“What d’ye suppose he can do about it?” continued the Jones boy. - -They had already turned, and were making off hastily; and their last -glimpse of the retreating boat showed them the two men handling the -oars just as carefully as before. - -“We’ll have to wait and see,” snapped Oscar. “But don’t talk any more -than you can help, Ballyhoo; we’ll need all our wind for running.” - -They had one advantage, since in returning they followed the tracks -they had made in coming. Thus they could avoid certain obstructions -that had delayed them more or less on the former occasion. - -Arriving at the other end of the island they found Jack sitting there, -still busily engaged with his camera. He had evidently taken what -pictures he wanted, and was amusing himself while waiting for the -return of his chums. - -Upon seeing the pair come rushing out of the palmetto scrub he -scrambled to his feet, looking more or less alarmed. - -“What is it--a bear, or a wildcat?” he demanded, starting to place his -precious camera and tripod in the boat, so as to be ready for a hasty -departure. - -“Get away from here in a hurry, Jack!” gasped Ballyhoo; “we’ve seen -something that threatens all sorts of tough things, and Captain Shooks -ought to know about the same.” - -The boat was launched without loss of time, Ballyhoo even wading in the -wash of the sea up to his knees, in order to shove off, for that was -the kind of a fellow the Jones boy was. - -Then the paddles fairly flew, and they sped out toward the spot where -the float and the squatty submarine lay. How fortunate, Oscar told -himself as he worked his paddle, that the undersea boat chanced to be -on the surface just then. Had it been otherwise the delay consequent -upon getting their message to the skipper might have made all the -difference imaginable with regard to results. - -Captain Shooks was on the float talking with the diver, who had -apparently just before come to the surface. Oscar noticed that the -bronzed face of the skipper appeared to be wreathed in a broad smile, -as though he had received some happy news in the report of the diver. - -As the three boys hastened to climb aboard the float, he called out to -them: - -“Well, we’ve struck oil, lads! What d’ye think of that for a starter, -now?” - -He was holding something out toward them, and the boys could see first -of all that it required an effort for him to do so, as though the -brick-like object might be quite heavy. They stared hard at it. So far -as a first look went there did not seem to be anything very remarkable -about the thing. It had a peculiar, greenish look, as though the action -of the sea water had covered it with a slime in all the long years that -it had lodged there far down in the depths. - -“What is it?” asked Ballyhoo eagerly, yet evidently puzzled to guess -the truth. - -“Bullion!” said Captain Shooks with a queer chuckle, “some of the bully -stuff that we organized this expedition to find. And Hicks here says -there’s more down in the bowels of the old Spanish galleon where he got -this, much more!” - -“Oh! what d’ye think of that, now?” cried Ballyhoo, reaching out his -hands for the weighty object, and showing by his actions as soon as he -received it that he had all he could do to hold the same, it was so -heavy. - -Jack, like the investigating fellow that he had always proved in -the past quickly snatched out his knife, opened the big blade, and -commenced scratching the back of the dull-looking brick. Immediately -they caught a bright sheen wherever the edge of the blade pursued its -activities. - -“You’re right, Captain, it’s gold!” gasped Ballyhoo, grinning as though -he had seen one of his most wonderful dreams come true. - -They all stared at the bullion. Perhaps through Oscar’s imaginative -mind there may have flashed a strange picture just then. Remembering -all he had ever read concerning the doings of those old-time worthies -who defied the perils of the sea in those early days, he saw this same -precious metal handled by men in odd, picturesque dress, carrying long -swords, and wearing hats adorned with waving feathers--those reckless -conquistadores, in fact, who raided both Mexico and Peru under such -leaders as Cortez and Pizarro. - -Possibly for a brief space the scroll of time seemed to unroll before -the boy’s vision, and he peopled that float with those ancient -worthies, all carrying just such weighty bricks of gold, seized from -the stores of the poor natives, and meant to be carried across the sea -to Spain. - -Then he came to himself with a shock. The presence of that modern -miracle boat capable of descending to the bottom of the sea told him -that he was living in the Twentieth Century, and not away back there in -those primitive days. - -Yes, and he also remembered something else--those three spies in the -little motor launch, who had evidently been watching their operations -until assured that they possessed accurate knowledge of the location of -the lost galleon--they were even now on the way to carry the news to -Captain Badger. - -“But we have come to give you warning, Captain!” he hurriedly -exclaimed, while, of course, Jack listened eagerly, being almost eaten -up with curiosity to know what it really was had frightened his two -chums. - -“What’s that you say, lad?” cried the skipper, recovering the precious -bullion. - -“We made a discovery while ashore,” Oscar went on. “As we drew near the -other end of the Key we heard the sound of oars, and then saw a boat -that had just left land.” - -“Then there _were_ people on the island after all,” snapped the -captain, frowning, as though now it was too late, he regretted that he -had not gone ashore in the first place, and closely examined every rod -of ground before commencing operations; for, as Ballyhoo afterwards -remarked, Captain Shooks was like most folks whose “hindsight was a -heap better than their foresight.” - -“Yes, and they were no turtle hunters or spongers either,” blurted -out Ballyhoo, desirous of having a hand in divulging the great news. -“The boat was a small launch that could be rowed, and had one of -those overboard motors at the stern. Yes, and when it swerved Oscar -here, through our glasses, saw the name painted at the bow. It was -_Dauntless_, Captain; what d’ye think of that, now?” - -The gruff skipper said something pretty strong, but it seemed to -express the state of his feelings to a fraction. From the way in which -he glanced down at the relic just recovered from the wreck, it was -plain to be seen he felt doubly furious to have such a thing as this -happen just when they had commenced to strike “pay dirt.” - -“They’ve been keeping tabs on us, then, the snakes!” he growled. - -“All day long, I reckon,” admitted Oscar, “and finally, after making -sure that we meant business, and had found a wreck of some kind, -they’ve started off to tell that Badger man, so he can come bullying -around here, and chase us away by a show of force.” - -Ballyhoo looked disconsolate. Already in imagination he possibly saw -the black steam yacht tied up to their float, with divers going down to -loot the prize at the bottom of the sea, which had lain there hundreds -of years, and might have continued to defy all the efforts of ambitious -mankind to locate the same only for the enterprise of the “Argonaut -Submarine Diving-Boat Company.” - -“Which way were they heading?” demanded the skipper, grinding his teeth -hard together, and looking as though he could “bite a ten-penny nail in -two,” as Ballyhoo would have put it. - -“Trying to keep the land between themselves and our float here,” -explained Oscar, “but we guessed they meant to swing around some, and -put for that other Key after they thought they were so far away we -wouldn’t hear the putter of the motor when muffled.” - -“And using only the oars, you say?” continued the other, eagerly. - -“Yes, sir, not making any desperate hurry,” replied Oscar. - -“That settles it,” ground out the skipper. “We’ve got to overtake that -crowd unless we want to have all our plans knocked galley-west.” - -Turning, he proceeded to give orders to the man who acted as his mate. - -“Send Finnegan down right away, and rush things like hot cakes, d’ye -hear? We’ve got to get our hands on all this stuff that’s lying around -loose, and save our bacon. If it’s necessary, I’ll take my turn at the -job; which wouldn’t be the first time I’d been down below.” - -Then once more addressing the boys, he went on to say: - -“Get aboard the boat, lads; and you men hoist the collapsible on deck. -We may have need of the same to pick up some poor chaps swimming in the -sea!” - -Ballyhoo was thrilled by hearing the captain say this. He guessed that -the energetic skipper meant to adopt stern means in order to block the -game of the enemy. - -They all hastened to comply with his wishes, for every minute was -precious. If those spies had already started to make use of their -little overboard motor they would be speeding along at the rate of -at least eight miles an hour; but then the submarine was capable of -doing twice that, so before a great while the fugitive craft could be -overhauled. - -Apparently, there promised to be some lively times ahead. From what -Captain Shooks had said, Ballyhoo surmised it was his intention to -actually run the launch down, after which they would, of course, do -their best to pick up the survivors. These were drastic methods of -meeting the schemes of Badger’s men, but the conditions required heroic -measures. - -Hardly had the boat been lifted aboard the submarine, and lines cast -off than the engines started up, and they began to leave the float with -its occupants behind. - -“Now for some rattling pictures, Jack,” said Ballyhoo; “get ready to -grab everything that goes on, because it’s going to be a thriller, -unless I miss my guess.” - - - - -CHAPTER XII THE WATER CHASE - - -Those on the “hurricane deck” waited eagerly to see what would meet -their vision as soon as the submersible rounded the lower end of the -island. They were now gliding swiftly along, and presently the last of -the palmettoes and mangroves would be passed, when, doubtless, a full -sweep of the sea beyond must reward them. - -“There they are, Captain!” cried Ballyhoo, pointing. - -The boat lay in full sight, with its stern toward them. Already those -in the small cedar launch must have taken the alarm, knowing full well -that pursuit would follow discovery. Plainly the little popping sound -of the exhaust connected with the overboard motor came to the ears -of the boys, showing that the man in the stern had instantly set his -engine going, and was leaving the muffler open in the hope of gaining a -little additional speed. - -So the chase began, for the submarine was now heading directly after -the launch, and throwing off a white “bone” from her squat bow. - -“Whoo! we’re gaining hand over fist on the bally thing!” asserted -the Jones boy, after a couple of minutes had elapsed, and there was a -chance to make comparisons. - -Everybody could see that this was so; even the three men in the launch -must have realized that it was only a question of time when the -submarine would overtake them. - -“That man in the stern is crouching there as if he meant to do -something, Captain!” called out Ballyhoo; while Jack was grinding away -at his crank, and getting it all in for future reference; because they -would doubtless often wish to recall these tempestuous happenings when -once more safe at home, and the living, moving thing must far excel -mere word painting. - -“I saw a little flash then,” asserted Oscar, “as if he gripped -something in his hand. I wouldn’t be surprised now if he had a weapon -of some sort, perhaps a revolver!” - -“Do you believe he’d actually _shoot_ at us?” asked Jack, doubtless -thinking more about his camera than himself, should hostilities open. - -“Better be ready to duck down in case he does,” warned the captain. -“That Badger generally surrounds himself with the same kind of men he -is himself; and he’d shoot at the drop of the hat. But we’ll soon fix -that bunch, don’t forget it.” - -The efforts of the three men in the little cedar launch to escape were -almost pitiful, Oscar thought. Still, they could not attempt a thing to -increase their speed, for the motor was doing its best already. - -All of them seemed to crouch there, and wait for what was going to -happen. Possibly the man at the stern expected that the submersible -would try to draw up alongside, meaning thus to capture the motor-boat; -and it may have been his intention, by a quick flirt to one side, to -avoid the contact. Thus by playing at a game of hide-and-seek, and by -clever dodging, they might be able to defy the efforts of the others to -capture them. - -Straight at the launch pushed the larger boat. The distance had been -cut down to one-third by now. Those on the deck of the submarine could -see the faces of the three men clearly, and note the looks of anxiety -that had settled there as they watched the rapid overhauling of their -craft. - -“Hey! better keep away, Captain Shooks!” shouted the one in the stern, -waving the object he held in his hand, and which the boys could now -see was indeed an automatic pistol, a dangerous looking weapon in the -bargain. - -“Get out of the road, you lubbers!” roared the skipper, as though in -anger; “don’t you see we’re in a hurry? What d’ye mean blocking our way -like that?” - -It must have burst upon the minds of the three men in the small boat -what fate was in store for them, and that the submarine captain fully -intended to run them down. The two in the middle of the boat acted as -though ready to jump overboard at the last moment, rather than remain -to take the chances of being hit by the bow of the rushing submersible. - -That fellow at the motor was made of different stuff, however. He -immediately raised his arm as though bent on carrying out his loud -threat. - -“Drop down, lads!” cried Captain Shooks, who thus showed that he could -be discreet as well as reckless. - -All of them hastened to obey, that is, all but Jack, who, despite the -danger, continued grinding away as though bent on accepting all sorts -of risks rather than spoil so good a picture by “stops.” - -Then came the sharp report of the automatic. Jack involuntarily ducked, -as though willing enough to make as small a target as possible for the -excited marksman. It seemed as though the man either did not mean to do -any deadly damage for fear of the immediate consequences, or else had -his aim badly shaken by the jarring of the wildly running little motor. - -Things had by this time reached a crisis, and the result must be a -collision between the two craft. At the very last the wheelsman had -attempted to make a quick swerve, abandoning his weapon in order to pay -attention to his boat, but it was useless. - -The man in the conning tower of the submarine had his orders, and knew -just what was expected of him. There followed a loud crash as the blunt -bow struck the small motor-boat squarely in the centre. Two figures -were seen flinging into the sea on one side, and almost like magic the -cedar motor-boat, splintered by the shock, sank under the agitated -waves. - -Immediately the submarine was stopped almost in its own length. - -“We’ve got to rescue those poor chaps!” cried Oscar involuntarily, for -all of them had been thrilled by the catastrophe. - -“There, I can see one of them over yonder!” called out Ballyhoo; “and -he’s waving his hand to us as if he feared we’d run along and leave him -out here. Hurry, boys, and get around to him, because he acts like he -might be hurt, or else can’t swim very well.” - -“And I can see the other sailor now,” added Oscar, “just to one side -of the first one. They both act as if they wanted to surrender. It’s a -long way to land, and then only the Key would be left after all, where -we could easily find them.” - -The submarine by this time was making a turn, and heading back to the -spot where the collision had occurred. So far only those two men, -together with a few things connected with the sunken motor-boat could -be seen floating around--a couple of cork cushions, and some parts of -woodwork that had been broken clear of the wreck. - -As for the boat itself it had completely vanished, such was the -tremendous impact with which the onrushing submarine had struck. - -After making a turn they were now pushing toward the two sailors in the -water. These fellows made no attempt to swim off toward the island, but -seemed satisfied to “tread water,” and wait to be picked up. They could -not believe those on the submarine meant them any further harm, since -by this “accident” they had been deprived of all chance to carry their -information to the one who employed them. - -“Where did that third man go to?” asked Ballyhoo, suddenly remembering -that there had been still another aboard the ill-fated launch. - -Oscar pointed toward the Key. - -“If you will look yonder you’ll glimpse him,” he went on to say. “He’s -swimming for all he’s worth, and now he’s bobbed under just like a -wounded duck.” - -“What a silly fool,” laughed Ballyhoo, “to think he could fool us that -easy. Why, even if he did manage to land we’d soon hunt him out. But -he’s built on that order, you see, and won’t give up till the last horn -blows.” - -“We know another fellow who often shows just the same stubborn nature,” -chuckled Jack, “without mentioning names either.” - -Now they had reached the two sailors, and as the boat drew alongside -they managed to reach the hands that were held down to assist them. So -they were dragged on to the lower deck, dripping wet, and looking as -though they hardly knew what they might expect afterwards. - -Captain Shooks roared out an order, and at once the submarine started -after the man who was swimming toward the island, as best he could -with his clothes on. He kept on with gallant overhand strokes, and was -making quite fine progress. If left to his own devices there could be -little doubt he might have easily reached his goal, the island from -which his recent start had been made. - -“He acts like he was keeping tabs on us, all right,” said Ballyhoo, -“and means to dive to one side as soon as we get a certain distance -away.” - -“And there he goes right now!” added Jack, covering the spot with -his finder, and using his crank energetically to show the sudden -disappearance of the fugitive. - -Captain Shooks seemed to be in a merry mood again. - -“We’ll give him all the chase he wants,” he told the boys. “I was -always said to be the most accommodating man alive. With those clothes -dragging him down, he’s apt to throw up the sponge pretty soon. It -stands to reason he can’t hold out long.” - -The boys reasoned along the same lines. Ballyhoo was for launching the -collapsible, and in this way increasing their force; but Oscar told him -there would be no need. Besides, the chances were that if they came -upon the man, in his anger he would try to upset them, or damage the -light canvas tender of the submarine. - -“Better leave it to the skipper, fellows,” he went on to explain; -“he knows what he’s doing, and can gauge that swimmer’s powers of -resistance better than we could. We’ll get him all in good time, never -fear.” - -The man in the water gave them a good healthy chase before he found -himself getting so exhausted that it was risky to try any longer. What -with swimming and diving he had to be in constant motion; and just as -the captain said his soaked garments were pulling dreadfully upon his -reserve stock of strength. - -“He’s nearly all in now, let me tell you,” Ballyhoo was saying at last, -“and he’s a regular corker when it comes to water dodging. I’ve learned -a few things right here by watching his ways. Yep, there he’s holding -up his hand, which means he is ready to come aboard, if we draw closer. -Well, he’s won the right to be treated decently as a prisoner of war.” - -The boy’s words only prove how every one seems to admire the fellow who -puts up a stiff fight. Toward the coward who runs away, even a boy like -Ballyhoo could feel only detestation. - -So the boat moved ahead, and then the swimmer was hauled aboard. He had -a sarcastic grin on his face, as, dripping, he finally stood there. -Captain Shooks brushed up to him and thrust out a huge paw. - -“Shake hands, you!” he told the latest arrival; “you put up a game -fight, and that’s the kind of man I take off my hat to. Guess you’ve -been taking lessons from your old piratical boss, Badger, because he’s -always had the reputation of being a hard loser.” - -At least the man had the good sense to understand it would be wise to -make the best of a bad bargain, so he accepted the skipper’s hand. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII RECOVERING THE TREASURE - - -“You’ll have to pay for that boat, Captain Shooks!” said the officer; -for the boys had seen some time before that the man in the stern of the -cedar motor-boat was dressed in some sort of blue uniform, and wore -a cap with gold braid, though this latter had been lost when he went -overboard at the time of the crash. - -The skipper of the submersible laughed good-naturedly. - -“Oh! my company will be only too glad to settle your bill, Mr. Anstey,” -he said. “I remember you now, and also that once on a time we were both -working for the Hecla people. I was sorry to have to smash into you -like that, but it was unavoidable. When two old filibusters like Badger -and me get to swapping blows, it’s going to be a case of ‘dog eat dog.’ -You had it in for me, and I played you a trick worth two of yours, -that’s all.” - -“But it’s a nice situation of affairs,” blustered the other, as though -trying to make the most of a bad situation, “when a peaceable man -can’t travel on the high seas, and minding his own business at that, -without having a reckless pirate run him down, and nearly drown his -crew.” - -“Oh! tell that to the marines, Mr. Anstey,” laughed the skipper. “You -were minding some other people’s business all the time you hid there on -that Key, and watched what we were doing. And you meant to carry the -news to Badger, sure you did, only my young friends here happened to go -ashore, and saw you starting off. So since it would ruin some little -plans of ours if you ever got back to Badger, I made up my mind you’d -stay with me as my guests until we’d sucked the orange dry.” - -“Then you have found something, have you?” asked the other quickly. - -“Take it out in guessing,” he was drily advised by Captain Shooks, who -saw no reason for telling all he knew. - -“And you’re going to keep us aboard your old tub, are you?” continued -the other, as he glanced at the homely looking undersea boat, which, -when compared with the jaunty steam yacht on which he served, might be -compared to a canal-boat. - -“Tub or not,” said the skipper grimly, “it’s built for the sort of work -we’re doing right now. And what’s best of all, when we don’t want any -spies to take a look in on us we just give a kick, and go down fifty or -a hundred feet below, to stay there as snug as you please for hours and -hours.” - -“Well, you’ve got us, all right, and I suppose we’ll have to make the -best of a bad bargain, Captain Shooks. But I give you fair warning that -I mean to escape the first chance I get.” - -“Thank you for telling me,” laughed the other; “I’ll make sure that -your chance doesn’t arrive until we’re all through here. I reckon now -your craft is hiding over behind yon Key to the northeast of us?” - -“You wouldn’t expect me to tell you that, Captain,” replied the other, -shutting his lips together resolutely. - -“And it also seems,” continued Shooks, “that you suspected pretty -strong like that Coco Key was going to be our first stop; so Badger ran -down here ahead of us, sent three men ashore in that mosquito craft, -which could be hidden among the reeds and mangroves, and then made for -the shelter of that other Key to wait for news; is that right, Mr. -Anstey?” - -“Nothing to say,” the other snapped. - -“Well, I’ll give orders to have a place fixed for you down below,” -continued the captain, with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “There -you’ll have to stay, and eat your three meals a day, until we’re ready -to pull out of here, when mebbe I’ll put you ashore with some grub, and -maroon you there. But you’ll not be given a chance to spy on us or get -away, make up your minds to that.” - -“Better than we could have looked for, under the circumstances,” -admitted the officer, doubtless knowing how much more severely his -commander would likely have acted under similar conditions, for Badger -was known as a cruel as well as daring adventurer. - -They were now well on the way back to the island, around which their -course would take them, until once more the float made of empty oil -barrels and planks had been regained. - -Since the spies had already watched them making this, and knew -everything excepting the very last discovery, there was no need to -hurry them below. Captain Shooks, however, was not the man to take -chances. He understood that Anstey was likely to attempt any sort of -sudden, desperate move if by so doing he thought he could cripple their -industry, and give his commander a better opportunity to win out. - -“We’ll just tie your hands behind your backs, my friends,” he told -the trio, “for I wouldn’t like to tempt you to get in worse trouble. -You can sit here a little while, and I’ll see that the cargo hold -is arranged for your accommodation. You’ll have to get used to the -darkness, for I’ll give you no light except a hand torch to use when -you are being fed. That goes, you understand?” - -None of the three made any attempt to rebuff the sailor who brought -stout cord and fastened their wrists behind their backs. They -understood that any foolishness on their part would only arouse the -tiger in the skipper, causing a frown to take the place of that smile. - -Meanwhile, those on the float were working industriously away. One of -the divers had gone down again, and the other was sitting there with -his helmet removed, taking in great draughts of fresh air, and looking -to the time when he might be called on to once again go down. - -While the captain was still below with a couple of his crew, -superintending the arrangements in the hold that had contained the -barrels and planks, it happened that the diver, who was down, gave a -signal, and those on the float commenced hauling at a rope. - -“Hello! something’s coming up!” exclaimed Ballyhoo; and with that all -of them crowded to the side of the little deck to watch, the three -prisoners as well as Oscar and his chums. - -The men had no trouble as long as the bag was in the water, but as soon -as they attempted to raise it to the float it became necessary for both -to exert themselves to the utmost. - -Then the stout sack was turned inside-out, and three of those -dull-looking, brick-shaped bars came tumbling out. Oscar instantly -glanced at the face of Anstey. He saw the other stare as though he -could hardly believe his eyes, for, of course, a man of his varied -experience knew without being told what those singular looking objects -must be. - -“By thunder! you _did_ hit the cache, didn’t you?” he exclaimed, his -eyes fairly sparkling with avarice, as he fixed them upon those three -dull-looking bricks that he knew would mean a nice little fortune for -any one lucky enough to get them in his possession. - -Just then the captain appeared, coming up from below. He frowned when -he saw how accident had revealed more than he wanted the prisoners to -know. However, it could not be helped now, since the “cat was out of -the bag.” And if his plans carried as he expected, this information -would never reach Badger until it was too late to profit him, since he -must only find a plundered hulk left behind, as the treasure hunters -sailed for their next destination. - -So the three men were ordered to follow him below, their hands being -once more freed from the bonds. Captain Shooks watched their every -movement, and made no bones of showing a pistol he carried. - -Later on he came up again, and looked satisfied that he had gotten rid -of a nuisance. - -“They’ll not be able to break out of the cargo hold, I’m thinking,” -he told the boys, who, by their demeanor, were expecting some sort of -explanation from him, which the obliging skipper was only too willing -to give. - -“How long do you think we will be able to work here without being -bothered by that old piratical cutthroat, Badger?” asked Ballyhoo, who -did not seem at all particular how he called names. - -“Well, that’s impossible to say,” he was told by Captain Shooks. “They -evidently mean to lie low, and trust to these chaps to let ’em know if -anything interesting happens. We’ll work like troopers to complete our -job. I’ll take my turn at it, too. And all the while we’ll have some -one on guard to let us know if any craft shows up. If it looks bad, -and we still feel there are things to be got at down below, we’ll -dismantle the float and take a dive before they get here. At the worst -we can run for it, and fight if hard pushed.” - -Apparently, Captain Shooks had the situation well in hand. He did not -intend to yield a single point to the enemy if he could help it. And -the more Ballyhoo saw of the skipper of the _Argonaut_ the better he -liked him. - -“If that slick article of a Badger is any improvement on our captain,” -he told the others, as they sat there watching Shooks getting ready -to equip himself in the armor of the diver who had just come to the -surface after an exhausting time of it below, “he must be a holy -terror, that’s what; because the skipper of our boat seems to be right -there with the goods, every time. Oscar, didn’t I hear you saying you’d -like mighty much to go down in one of those suits, and see what the old -hulk looks like at close quarters?” - -“Yes, and later on this afternoon, if the skipper is willing, I’m -meaning to try one little trip. I may not be as good in the water as -you, Ballyhoo, but I’m tall and strong, and think I could stand my turn -playing diver.” - -“But Oscar, you did go down once before, you remember,” said Jack. - -“Yes, when that diver came up from the city to discover what had -happened to the outlet of the lake by the big dam. The water was thirty -feet deep, too. I made good friends with the man, and he let me put -on his suit, and creep down the long ladder. So I stood there at the -bottom, and saw what he was doing to fix things. Ever since then I’ve -had a longing to make another try; and when we agreed to join this -expedition I told myself I’d do the same at the first chance.” - -The diver who had just come up had not managed to run across any -further prizes. He said he had covered quite some territory inside -the hulk; but it was dark even in spite of his electric torch, made -especially for underwater work, slippery and very hard to get around -even to an old hand. - -Captain Shooks went over the side, and was lowered by means of a rope, -though a stout ladder extended part way down, to give the diver a fair -start. After reaching the foot of this he must swing free, and depend -on those above to keep lowering him until the ground was gained. - -The time passed away. It was long after the middle of the short -afternoon, when again Captain Shooks appeared. Apparently he had not -been successful in his laborious search, for he sat down at once, and -allowed them to unfasten his helmet. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV INGOTS OF GOLD - - -“No luck that time, lads,” the skipper went on to say, as soon as they -detached the big heavy helmet that had been securely fastened to its -base, resting on his shoulders. “I scoured every part of the old hulk -I could reach, but it seems that in all these years the bars have been -knocked about, and perhaps many of them are buried deep under the sand -if they ever got outside the shell of the wreck.” - -Now was Oscar’s chance to mention what he had on his mind. - -“I’d like to take a turn down below, Captain, if you don’t object,” he -said. - -The skipper looked at him quizzically. - -“I’d be only too glad of the chance for a new recruit, if only you knew -the ropes, lad,” he observed seriously. “Both of my men are tired out, -and need a spell of rest. It’s no child’s play to stay down there an -hour at hard work.” - -“But I have been down in a diver’s suit before,” protested Oscar. - -“You don’t tell me!” ejaculated Captain Shooks; “well, it’d be hard -to run across any sort of game you boys haven’t tried. Where did it -happen, lad?” - -Oscar explained in as few words as possible. - -“So you see I know a little about the business,” he continued, -believing he had made some sort of an impression on the commander. “I -would promise to be very careful, and not take any unnecessary risks. -So say yes, Captain. There is just time between now and sunset for -a little look around, and I want to see what the inside of the old -Spanish galleon is like.” - -Captain Shooks smiled as though a pleasant thought had flashed through -his mind. These Motion Picture Comrades had a great record for being -lucky. Many things they had told him connected with their previous -exploits pointed to that as a positive fact. Hence, it might be a wise -thing for him to let one of them take a hand in searching the old -wreck. If that little cherub aloft that seemed to be guarding their -fortunes continued on the job, possibly something fine might come out -of the “little look-in” Oscar declared he wanted. - -“Well, have your own way, lad, have your own way,” he told Oscar; “only -if you do get into any trouble don’t try to shove the blame on to me.” - -“Everything will work all right, Captain, I promise you that,” said -the boy, who felt a thrill pass over him at the thought of being about -to go down, just as these veteran divers had been doing, and prowling -around there amidst that strange waving growth, where all sorts of -queer creatures might have their abiding places. - -And then there was the old hulk of the Spanish galleon, too, with all -its romantic association; Oscar wondered whether he would run across -any grisly reminder of the fact that human beings once walked that -sloping deck, and that they had gone down centuries back with the -ancient ship to an ocean grave. - -The two divers had listened to all this talk with more or less -interest. They knew that if the captain figured they should work -throughout the night, taking turns, they would have all they could -reasonably do; and if Oscar was able to “spell” them as he suggested -doing it would be something gained. Besides this, they had come to -take a great interest in the trio of venturesome chums, having, with -considerable interest, heard them tell of their previous undertakings. - -They commenced rigging the boy up in the suit worn by Hicks, the first -man who had gone down. As they worked they told Oscar many things, both -with regard to how he should manage the air pipe, and the life line. -Besides this they explained to him as well as was possible, just how -the wreck lay, and what he must do in order to keep from getting caught -in the same. - -Finnegan, a warm-hearted Irishman, also told the boy where he had -discovered the three bars which came up by rope. - -“Sure the trend all sames to be in thot direction, me bye,” he -concluded, as he got ready to affix the headpiece that would complete -Oscar’s diving armor. “Look beyant the place where I set three stones, -wan on top av the rist. ’Twas mesilf meant to continue me labors in the -same quarrter av I wint down agin.” - -“I’ll remember that, Finnegan,” the boy told him thankfully. - -Ballyhoo insisted on shaking hands with Oscar. - -“Look here, don’t get the notion in your head,” the latter told him, -laughingly, “that it’s good-bye this time for good. I expect to come -up again in good shape. If you keep your head about you there’s little -danger, Hicks says.” - -“One thing I hope is that you don’t happen to run across a man-eating -shark while you’re down below,” Ballyhoo went on to say, with a -shudder; for he could not forget the close call he himself had passed -through. “We saw a whopping big pirate swimming around, you remember, -when we were hunting for the wreck; besides that pair we watched -scrapping.” - -Apparently what he said did not deter Oscar in the least. He had -learned just the course he must pursue in case a shark did come around, -and act as though too curious regarding the unwieldy creature prowling -about the wreck. And both divers had assured him there was little need -of anxiety. - -So presently he started over the side of the float. The sun was just -about an hour above the western horizon, so that he would not have any -great amount of time to do his looking about. - -It was a queer feeling that assailed the boy when the sea waters closed -over his head, and he continued to descend step by step, following the -ladder down into the depths. - -Presently he reached the terminus of the structure. When he lowered -his foot again it encountered only empty space. Thereupon he gave the -signal to those on the float that he was about to swing off, after -which he lowered himself, making use of his hands upon each round until -in the end he was being sustained simply by the life line. - -Down he continued to go foot after foot, with more or less of a rotary -motion. When it seemed as though he must have descended dozens of -yards, all at once Oscar discovered by the aid of the faint light -penetrating to those depths that he was hovering over a patch of the -waving greenish white growth that could pass under the name of sea -ferns. - -Another few seconds and he felt his feet strike the ground. Here his -first duty was to straighten out the lines, so that his pipe might not -get foul, cutting off the flow of fresh air that was being pumped down -to him from the raft. After that he commenced to look around, using the -electric torch, which had been placed in his hand before the start. - -Before him in one particular quarter he discovered a dim object rearing -up, and which he realized must be the long sought hulk of the ancient -galleon. Toward this he immediately proceeded, trying to remember the -distinct directions given by the divers, by following which he would -most likely save himself considerable trouble in gaining entrance to -the old vessel. - -Now he was clambering up the sloping deck, taking advantage of the -several devices which those experienced campaigners had arranged to -facilitate this entry, knowing how often it must be repeated in the -course of their labors. - -Then the yawning cavity lay before him, being what at one time had -stood for the companionway, by means of which the cabin under the -stern deck of the ship could be reached. Time and the action of the -waters in these cycles of years had demolished parts of the original -superstructure of the ship, so that it was difficult to tell just what -parts of it still remained intact. But having been coached by the -divers, Oscar felt sure of his ground. - -He looked carefully about him, first of all. This was partly to -familiarize himself with his surroundings, so that he might not by any -accident get lost while carrying out his investigations. After that he -boldly swung himself loose, and commenced to drop into the interior of -the vessel. - -It was always necessary to drag his air hose after him, and be very -vigilant in order to make sure that no injury befell the same; also to -see that the life line did not become entangled so that if he suddenly -needed either to send a signal up or be drawn forth bodily himself -there would be nothing to interfere. - -He saw many things, but nothing of an awe-inspiring nature. Doubtless -there may have been ghastly reminders of the tragedy that had overtaken -the treasure-ship, but the ceaseless eddying of the water to and fro, -in and out of the wreck, had long ago hidden them from view. - -Oscar had figured on enlarging upon the plan spoken of by the diver. -He believed that the oscillation of the hulk would gradually move -the heavy ingots of precious metal in a certain general direction. -Accordingly, he kept continually on the watch to find the three stones -piled on top of one another in the shape of a cairn, or marking spot. - -When presently he discovered this, he knew he was on the right track. -After that it was only necessary for him to keep pushing ahead, -entering upon the region that, owing to lack of time, the diver had not -yet explored. - -Then he tripped over something that felt solid. Hastily turning the -soft glow of his waterproof electric torch down, what was his joy to -find that his suspicions were confirmed, and that he had actually come -upon another of those brick-like objects for which they were searching. - -Encouraged by this success, Oscar pushed further on. He soon found a -second, which he succeeded in placing alongside the first. At the same -time he knew he would not have much more time to continue his search, -for it was exhausting work, especially to one unaccustomed to wearing -all that heavy material in the way of suit, headpiece, and shoes with -leaden soles that ordinarily would seem as though they weighed a ton, -though when in the water this result was neutralized. - -When he came upon a third ingot amidst the rubbish that had collected -in the lower part of the hulk, Oscar decided he must give up the -search. To carry these three heavy articles to the outside of the wreck -took considerable time. Here he managed to get them safe inside the -stout sack designed for that special purpose, after which he gave the -signal that he was to be hauled up. - -It was time, for he felt his head spinning, and a terrible yearning -seize him for fresh air. Indeed, it seemed to Oscar that never in all -his life had his tortured lungs drawn in a sweeter breath than when the -headpiece was finally unfastened, and he saw the faces of his chums -about him. - -“Say, you were nearly all in, old scout,” said Ballyhoo sympathetically. - -“Pull up the sack!” was all Oscar could gasp, and as the men finished -doing this task, to disclose the three prizes the amateur diver had -drawn in the lottery, Jack and Ballyhoo shook hands together, while -Oscar managed to regain enough breath to add: “And I believe there are -more of the same kind still down there in the old hulk, only I don’t -want the job of going after them. It was awful being in that slimy -place, with all sorts of giant crabs, and strange sea creatures staring -at me, and sliding past, wriggling as they went. But still I’m glad I -had the experience.” - - - - -CHAPTER XV WHEN MORNING CAME - - -The setting sun told them that evening was near at hand. Captain Shooks -had determined to work through the whole night, using shifts so as to -make the labor continuous; and he himself promised to share this duty -with the two divers. - -The sooner they exhausted the chances of finding more of the treasure -the better. With the _Dauntless_ so close at hand their operations -might be brought to an abrupt termination at any time. Should Captain -Badger become alarmed at not having received a report from his spies, -and start out to investigate, of course the result would be the -discovery of the float, and a windup of the work. - -Jack, for one, was not sorry. He fancied that he had made about all the -pictures possible in that particular field, but believed there were -other submarine depths waiting to be explored, and made to live in -motion pictures, for the education and enjoyment of untold millions of -patrons of the “movies.” - -This being the case, Jack, as a true artist, eagerly awaited the time -when they should start out to seek those new fields of adventure. -With him the finding of the long lost treasures of the sea took -second place; of far more importance was the discovery of those rare -curiosities that had, ever since the world began, been hidden from the -eyes of mortal man, but were now about to be revealed in all their -startling grandeur. - -Oscar and the skipper talked matters over late into the night, when -the others had retired to their bunks. The work was still going on, -lanterns being used on the float to show the men how to carry on their -operations. By the dim light of these the diver was sent down below, -and the pump kept laboring steadily so as to give him a plentiful -supply of air. - -It made a weird scene, and one Oscar would never forget. Indeed so -fascinating had it become to the boy that it was midnight before he -could tear himself away from the society of the captain, and seek his -own bunk. There he dreamed of untold treasures coming up from ocean -depths, accompanied by all manner of terrible monsters fashioned -after the manner of Chinese dragons, and those gigantic lizards of -prehistoric days, such as we see now and then fancifully sketched in -publications, or discover arranged in museums of fossil remains. - -It had been arranged upon the conclusion of their work in this -particular spot at Coco Key, to seek still another Caribbean Sea -island, where their map told of a more modern sinking of a vessel -believed to carry much specie in its safe. After that they could take -their choice of numerous contemplated enterprises, even passing through -the Panama Canal, and continuing their search in the blue waters of the -Pacific Ocean. - -Jack had been a strenuous backer of this last suggestion. Of course he -wanted to have a chance to capture a series of pictures dealing with -the famous waterway connecting the two oceans, and which would add more -or less spice and variety to his work. - -So far as that was concerned both Ballyhoo and Oscar were quite as -enthusiastic as Jack about the project of passing through the canal. -They had heard and read so much about those wonderful locks, and -the strategical value the canal added to the defense of Uncle Sam’s -dominions, that it was only natural all of them should wish to see the -same with their own eyes. - -When Ballyhoo, chancing to awaken, heard the steady sound of the pump -going outside, and turning on the electric current close to his hand -found that it was past seven, he gave a shout that aroused both his -mates. - -“Time we showed a leg, I’m telling you, fellows!” was the burden of his -call. “I c’n smell breakfast in the air, to boot, and it must be broad -daylight out there.” - -“The pump is still wheezing,” remarked Jack, “which tells that they’ve -kept it up steady all night long. They’ll be about played out by now, -and must have a rest.” - -“There, it’s stopped working now. I wonder how many more of those jolly -bricks they’ve hauled up,” observed the Jones boy, as he hurriedly -proceeded to get his clothes on. “From the fact of their keeping busy -while we slept I reckon they must have been meeting with some good -luck. I hope they don’t weight the old tub down with the stuff so -there’ll be danger of her foundering. Sometimes a fellow can get too -much of a good thing; I’ve been in that fix myself when they had a -party at our house, and ice cream left over.” - -“Don’t worry about that,” laughed Oscar. “If it comes to it the captain -can jettison heaps of stuff to make room for the ingots. Those barrels -and planks took up a lot of space, you remember. And if necessary some -of us could go back on a regular steamer.” - -“Of course you’re only joshing me when you say that, Oscar,” -remonstrated Ballyhoo reproachfully. “There will be plenty more queer -things to be seen in this under-the-sea hunt, and we started out to get -all there are.” - -Soon afterwards they climbed to the upper deck, to find Captain Shooks -just coming over from the raft. One of the divers had been hauled to -the surface, and the men manning the air pump had quit work. - -“Looks like we had about come to the end of our rope here, lads,” -remarked the skipper pleasantly, though he did look tired to death from -being on duty so long, not to mention the several times he had donned -a diver’s suit and gone below. - -“Cleaned out, do you mean, Captain?” demanded Ballyhoo. - -“Well, we haven’t found anything since three o’clock this morning, when -the last pair of bricks came up,” replied the other, yawning wearily, -“and I rather reckon all the balance of the stuff must be buried under -fathoms of sand outside the hulk.” - -“That means no living being will ever see it again, doesn’t it?” asked -Jack. - -“Well, if the day ever comes when they get an excavating machine that -can work a hundred or two feet under the surface of the sea,” replied -the skipper humorously, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d root out -heaps of gold that’s been buried for centuries. But till that time -comes it’s going to stay hidden.” - -“Well, the chef told me to say breakfast was ready, Captain,” Oscar -reported. - -“And I’ll be mighty glad to get some strong coffee, for I’m played -out,” the other admitted. - -“But you mean to do some more looking about, don’t you, while we have -the apparatus rigged?” Ballyhoo wanted to know. - -“I reckon we’ll make a few more tries, lad, before we pull up stakes -and clear out,” he was informed. “I’m hoping that something will fetch -that old filibuster over this way before we quit. I’d like to leave him -the bag to hold.” - -All through the night one of the men had been stationed near the end -of the Key, seated in the small boat. His duty was to keep a vigilant -lookout for any sign of a moving light; for Captain Shooks had been a -little fearful lest the enemy steal on them unawares, and catch them -either napping or at work. - -This man was recalled by a signal, and another sent off in his place. -Then breakfast occupied their attention, nor were any of the boys sorry -to find such a bountiful spread put before them. - -After that work was resumed at the old stand. One of the divers, -who had had several hours’ sleep, was sent down, the other resting -meanwhile. Captain Shooks also announced his intention of giving it one -more try personally, not being quite satisfied that the “pocket” had -been wholly exhausted. - -Ballyhoo was wondering whether it would be worth his while to try and -see what it was like, but his fear of sharks finally forced him to -decide against anything of the sort. - -The early hours of the morning wore away. When the diver came up he -brought nothing with him, though he had explored diligently in several -fresh places. - -“I reckon we’ve cleaned the old hulk out,” Captain Shooks had said on -hearing his report; “but since I’ve made up my mind to have one last -look, here goes.” - -Accordingly, he went over the side of the float, and vanished from -their sight. The boys were “spelling” the tired men at the air pump. -It gave them something to do, and at the same time relieved the -sailors who had been keeping this sort of thing up for many hours. - -“I hope now,” Ballyhoo remarked, as he labored manfully, “that nothing -happens in the way of an accident, just when we expect to pull out of -here shortly. That would be too tough for anything, and we’d miss the -skipper dreadfully, too, you know.” - -“You old croaker, whatever puts such things in your head?” said Jack -scathingly. “He’ll be up again in half an hour or so, if there’s -nothing doing; and then we expect to get a move on. As for me I’m crazy -to start for that next stand, because there’ll be a chance for a new -kind of film business.” - -When the captain did appear later on he told them, just as soon as -his helmet was removed, that there was no use of any further efforts. -The treasure lode had been worked to the bone, and no matter how they -continued to search, small chance remained for finding another one of -the precious Spanish ingots. - -Hardly had he spoken than Ballyhoo made a discovery. - -“Hey! what do I see coming this way like fun? A man in our little -collapsible, and paddling for all that’s out in the bargain. Guess he’s -fetching some news, Captain. There, see him wave his hand; that settles -it. He’s sighted a vessel heading this way. Now see us get a move on, -will you.” - -The man increased his efforts, and soon reached the float where the -little group awaited his arrival, the skipper hastily discarding his -diver’s suit. Just as the boys had suspected, there was a vessel in -sight. Seen through the glasses this boat bore all the marks of the -black hulled _Dauntless_. - -Immediately the skipper gave orders for making ready to clear out. - -“It’s too bad that we’ll have to abandon all these barrels, and the -lumber,” he went on to say, “but the time is too short to take the -float to pieces and stow the stuff away. Besides, we can easily run -in at some port and get a fresh supply. Fetch those three men up from -below; we can leave them here on the float to wait for their fellow -pirates to come along and rescue ’em.” - -The officer and his two men looked curiously about when they came up -out of the hatch, and blinking their eyes in the bright sunlight saw -the hasty preparations for departure. However, they did not attempt any -resistance when ordered on to the raft. - -“Your boat is heading this way, and they’ll pick you up in good time,” -Captain Shooks told them, at which the officer allowed a sardonic -smile to creep over his face, doubtless under the belief that possibly -they would be lucky enough to also secure a few of these heavy ingots -of gold, such as he had seen brought up from the hulk of the sunken -Spanish ship. - -There was nothing else to do now. The skipper had carefully gone -over everything, and even had the collapsible boat taken aboard, to -be stowed away below. Then the order was given, and the submarine, -with anchor raised, commenced to leave the float behind. The three men -continued to stand there watching the departing treasure seeking craft, -and evidently still anxious as to their own ultimate fate. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI LEFT HOLDING THE BAG - - -“There she is!” exclaimed Ballyhoo, just as soon as they began to pass -out from behind the island, and pointing as he spoke. - -It was the _Dauntless_ without any question, and the steam yacht was -also heading directly toward the Key behind which all those recent -operations had been taking place. No doubt there must have been quite -a flutter of excitement aboard the other craft when the submarine was -thus discovered coming into view. When they also caught the sunshine -glinting from the wicked-looking rapid-fire gun that Captain Shooks had -had brought up from below, and placed forward on the deck, possibly -they would be apt to think twice before deciding to make any attack -upon the rival treasure hunting craft. - -The skipper appeared to be heartily pleased when he announced that he -could recognize Captain Badger standing there near the wheelhouse of -the steam yacht, and staring through his glasses at them. - -“I’d give half a year’s wages,” he affirmed, “just to hear the hot -stuff he’ll get rid of when he realizes the little trick we’ve played -on him. The man who gets the better of the sly old fox has to rise -pretty early in the morning. I’ve owed him a grudge of long years’ -standing, and now we’re even again.” - -“Do you suppose he’ll keep on after us, or start for the island?” asked -Jack. - -“Oh! he must be wondering why he didn’t get any report from that gang -of spies he left on Coco Key,” explained the captain, grinning amiably, -“and so the first thing he’ll be apt to do will be to take a run in -there.” - -“Then what will happen, sir?” continued Jack. - -“Why, when he hears from those late prisoners of ours what took place, -and how they’ve been kept aboard our craft while we worked all night -long raising some of those grand gold bricks they saw us handling, I -reckon nothing will do Badger but that his divers must go down and take -a look around. That business will delay him a day or two, during which -time we can be making a port, and laying aboard another supply of the -stuff necessary for our work.” - -“I wonder if that’s the last we’ll be apt to see of the _Dauntless_?” -remarked Ballyhoo Jones, as they looked back over the foamy wake of the -submarine, and saw the other craft still heading for the island. - -Oscar shook his head in the negative. - -“I could wish it might be,” he went on to say, the skipper’s having -ducked down to see about something in connection with the engines that -did not exactly please him; “but Captain Shooks seemed to figure that -we’ll be troubled off and on during our entire cruise by those fellows.” - -“Then one thing is plain,” asserted Jack; “they’ve managed to get hold -of a duplicate of our itinerary in some way, and know the different -places we mean to visit, even if ignorant of the clues we have by which -we hope to run onto the wrecks. On this account they are helpless -beyond a certain point, and can only expect to catch us at work, and -run us off, so as to seize the prize themselves.” - -“Well, here’s hoping they’ll have a warm session doing that same,” -jeered Ballyhoo. “And if ever it comes to a scrap, believe me, that -little beaut of a quick-firer over yonder is ready to give a good -account of itself. Captain Shooks has been through the mill too -often to knuckle down to such a pirate as that _Badger_,” and as he -pronounced the name he snapped his fingers blithely, as though holding -the notorious adventurer in contempt. - -Shortly afterwards they saw the steam yacht turn the end of the -island, when, for the first time, those aboard doubtless discovered -that suggestive float, with their trio of men upon the same. The boys -pictured the scene that would follow, and how, inspired by the fairy -tales these worthies could spin, of the wonderful ingots they had seen -hauled to the surface from the wreck, Badger would hasten to send his -divers down, in the hopes of having frightened the others away before -the mine was wholly exhausted. - -“Won’t he be a furious man, though,” Ballyhoo laughingly said, as they -talked this over, “when he realizes that we only left him, as our -skipper remarked, an empty bag to hold?” - -“It’s beginning to kick up considerable out here, for one thing,” -announced Jack, as the squat undersea boat began to pitch more or less, -and the waves could be seen running higher and higher. - -“Yes, and once again you can notice clouds gathering over there,” Oscar -added, as he swept his hand around to indicate the direction. “We may -run into another storm before the day is much older.” - -“Huh! what does that matter to us?” Ballyhoo chuckled, “when we can -drop out of all the rush, and lie at the bottom as snug as you please, -waiting for the waves to quiet down, and the winds to cease? I tell you -these tubs may not be very comfortable in a whole lot of ways; but when -it comes to dodging trouble in the shape of storms they’ve got a hunch -on everything going, believe me.” - -Lest the enemy might think to keep a lookout so as to report their -course, skipper was taking a false tack. Later on this could be easily -remedied, and the lost time made up. - -An hour afterwards the little Key was almost out of sight, even with -the glass, for with the rising of the clouds, and the freshening -breeze, there had come a slight mist in the air that rendered seeing -difficult. - -“Good-bye to Coco Key, then,” Ballyhoo had said, waving his hand toward -the distant northwest where the island lay. “And I warrant you those -chaps are the busy lot right now, sending a diver down, and holding -their breath until he comes up again to report nothing doing. But say, -it’s getting beyond a joke out here. You’ve got to hold tight unless -you want to be tossed overboard. I move we go below, boys, and settle -down; any old time now the skipper will be giving orders to close the -hatch, because we’re meaning to dip under.” - -It happened that they received notice to leave the “hurricane deck” -before Ballyhoo’s advice could be acted on. And the last glimpse they -had of the ocean things were certainly looking pretty stormy. - -Then followed the customary sounds that told they were taking on -water ballast, and sinking fast. After that the rocking, sickening -motion gradually ceased until they were moving on an even keel, with -everything steady around them. - -As usual the boys, not being able to move around much, sought their -bunks, to lie there and doze, or else converse on the many subjects -that were of interest to them. Oscar wandered off at one time, there -being something he wished to see in connection with the working of the -submarine at such a time as this. - -Jack, upon finding that nothing could be discovered through an -observation bull’s-eye, when he opened the stout shutter, save a -surging mass of green water rushing past, realized that picture -taking would not pay him just then. Besides, he began to fear that he -would make too great inroads on his stock of reserve films unless he -exercised considerable caution, so he determined to bide his time, as -there were undoubtedly wonderful things yet in store for him. - -Hours crept by. - -The tired divers no doubt welcomed this opportunity to recuperate after -their recent strenuous employment. Captain Shooks, too, must have spent -much of this time in his bunk, for the boys saw nothing of him; though -he may have been up in the conning tower several times for aught they -knew, advising the man at the wheel, or taking an observation by means -of the periscope as to the condition of the weather above. - -When the three chums were beginning to feel dreadfully tired of being -shut in such cramped quarters, and with poor air to breathe at that, -Ballyhoo made the pleasing discovery that the electric pumps were busy -again. - -“We’re going to the surface, boys!” he told the others gleefully. “Oh! -how I’m longing for a lungful of that salty air. I never knew how -glorious pure air could be until I first spent three hours cooped up in -an undersea boat. Why, right now I can taste oil and gas to beat the -band. This sort of travel may be novel enough, but it isn’t all it’s -cracked up to be, by a jugfull.” - -Presently they knew they were drawing near the surface on account of -the renewal of that pitching motion. Captain Shooks, however, must have -figured that it would be perfectly safe for them to emerge, for the -pumps continued to work, and in the end through the bull’s-eyes they -could catch occasional glimpses of daylight, though, as a rule, surging -water blinded their view. - -When this had continued for perhaps an hour they felt a sudden relief, -showing that the hatch above the conning tower must have been opened to -allow fresh air to circulate through the boat. The ventilators, too, -were in use again, and conditions seemed vastly improved. - -Being allowed to climb aloft later on, the boys saw nothing around them -in any direction but a tumbling sea, with foam-crested billows. It was -surely an inspiring sight, especially when seen from the deck of a low -craft like a submarine, that lay on the heaving waters like a duck. - -Jack, unable to resist the temptation to immortalize that picture, -managed to get his camera on deck, and, with the help of both his -comrades, work off part of a film that would give them great delight -in some of the days to come, when they were once more safely back in -quiet, sedate little old Melancton. - -The wind was dying down, however, and by evening they expected there -would be a quiet sea, with simply long rollers running, over which they -could make rapid progress. - -Nothing happened of any moment during the next night, though they -continued on their set course, heading for a certain port where Captain -Shooks had often touched, and hence felt sure he could obtain all the -supplies required. - -It was somewhere about the middle of the second day when they sighted -land, and the boys were told they would soon have an opportunity to -stretch their legs ashore for a few hours; possibly they would remain -in port until the following morning, since there was no great need of -haste. - -This news pleased them all very much. It was, indeed, hard to be -contented and happy when compelled to occupy such cramped quarters. -Ballyhoo wondered what the crew of a raiding submarine must feel like -when kept aboard for weeks at a time. He concluded that this one -experience was going to do him for the rest of his life; if fortune was -kind enough to allow him to see his native town again he meant to take -a solemn vow to confine the balance of his roving to dry land. Whether -this resolution on the part of Ballyhoo would hold good only the -uncertain future could prove, for he chanced to be one of those boys -who often change their minds. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII VIA WIRELESS - - -Some hours later and the queer looking undersea boat entered the harbor -of Curacao, belonging to the Dutch, and situated off Dutch Guiana. Here -their coming kicked up no end of a sensation, for it was immediately -supposed that this must be a German submarine, intending to raid -British commerce of the Caribbean; and all sorts of complications with -regard to the meaning of “strict neutrality” came up to worry the port -officials. - -But the sight of “Old Glory” being flung to the breeze from the conning -tower of the unwelcome visitor reassured the officials. They were -later on stunned to learn that the _Argonaut_ was not a war vessel in -any way, but a peaceful commercial venture, and really what her name -signified, for she was seeking the Golden Fleece. - -Here they were allowed to come to a dock and tie up, though closely -watched lest that flag overnight change into the double eagles of -Germany, and a dash be made for the open sea, there to commence the -work of nautical destruction. - -It was a strange cargo that Captain Shooks contracted for. The crowds -that gathered around and watched, expecting to see ammunition brought -aboard, and possibly all sorts of war munitions and arms, stared to see -oil barrels, that were undoubtedly empty at that, being delivered by -the dozen, also stout planks of a certain size. - -No sooner had they tied up than the three boys went ashore, camera in -hand, and bound to look the port over. They had often read about this -place, though none of them could remember whether it was famed for its -rum, molasses or cocoa. But Jack soon found interesting sights that -occupied his whole attention; and, besides, they certainly did enjoy -being able to stretch their legs again, after such a long siege aboard -the submersible. - -It was on the following morning that Oscar had a peculiar thing happen -to him. He had gone ashore to make a little purchase, which had been -forgotten on the preceding day. Captain Shooks had told him they would -not start until four bells, or ten o’clock, so the boy was taking his -time. - -He noticed a young fellow hovering around him as he walked, and -wondered what it could mean. Presently the other seemed to make bold -enough to approach him, and Oscar noticed that the young chap had his -jaws set, as though fixed in some resolve. - -“Is your name Oscar?” he asked the first thing. - -“That’s what it happens to be; what can I do for you?” remarked the boy. - -“And did you come in yesterday aboard that submarine boat?” continued -the other, apparently more relieved when he found that the boy met his -advances half-way. - -“Yes, with two chums of mine. We’re taking motion pictures of deep -sea subjects, and going down in a submersible gives us plenty of fine -chances to get films of the queer things to be met with at the bottom -of the sea.” - -“Well, do you happen to know anybody named Captain Badger?” continued -the young man, at which, of course, Oscar started, for he realized that -something of importance was coming next. - -“I certainly know who the party is,” he instantly replied; “would you -mind telling me why you asked me that?” - -“I’m meaning to do just that same,” continued the young fellow. “My -name is John Baxter. I was aboard a schooner that came here to load -for Boston. I fell sick, and my captain deserted me here, without even -paying me what wages were due. And I’ve had a hard time of it since I -got well. Right now I’m not strong enough to work, and I want to get -back to my home in Savannah the worst kind. I thought perhaps you might -feel like helping me after I’d told you something that came by wireless -last night.” - -“Go on and tell me,” said Oscar. “There’ll be no trouble about staking -you to enough money to get you home, if it proves to be worth anything -at all.” - -“Why, you see,” the other hurriedly went on to say, “I got to know the -wireless operator here. I did some little thing to help him, and he’s -been kind enough to let me sleep in his room at the station while he’s -on duty. I’ve picked up a little knowledge of the game myself, and can -read messages fairly well. Fact is, when I get back home I’m bent on -taking a course in wireless, and trying for a job.” - -“Yes, and what happened that you think concerns me?” asked Oscar -impatiently. - -“Excuse me for being so personal. What I was going to say was this. -During the night my friend had occasion to go back to his room for -something; he was feeling sick, and in need of some medicine he had -there. So, as I was sitting with him, he asked me to just keep an ear -open, and pick up anything that passed by worth while. Well, I caught -a message from a man who signed himself Captain Badger. He was calling -Curacao, and asking if a submarine under the American flag had put in -there, and promising a reward for an answer. He spoke of those boys -being aboard, and I made out that the name of one was Oscar. Somehow I -just guessed that was you.” - -Oscar nodded his head. He remembered that the _Dauntless_ was equipped -with wireless apparatus, so that it was nothing unusual for the steam -yacht to be casting out feelers in every direction. - -“Thank you for telling me of this,” he said to the other. “It is of -considerable importance to me and my friends, also the skipper of the -submersible. If you will come back with me on my return, I’ll see that -you are given what money is needed to take you to Savannah. Of course -when the operator returned to his post he had that message; what answer -did he send?” - -“Oh! he told Captain Badger that such a vessel as he mentioned had -arrived at Curacao yesterday afternoon, and was even then in port. He -even explained about your boat taking aboard empty oil barrels and -lumber. I reckon that must have just pleased this Badger a heap, for he -promised to see my friend when his boat came into port for supplies, -perhaps tomorrow.” - -Oscar was as good as his word, and later on before the _Argonaut_ left -the Dutch island, he saw that John Baxter was given a sum more than -enough to pay his passage to Savannah, Ga. - -This news, while interesting, did not cause any of them great concern. -It simply confirmed their suspicion that after finding the “orange had -been sucked dry,” as Ballyhoo expressed it, Badger had once more set -out to chase after the undersea will-o’-the-wisp boat, determined to -try again and again in the hope of outwitting his rivals, and, perhaps, -securing all the prizes that had already fallen to their share. - -Forewarned was forearmed, and they would keep a bright lookout for that -same steam yacht of the sable hue. - -Once more they were off on the bounding waves, and with a secret -destination in view. The splendid success that had been their portion -thus far encouraged all hands in the belief that fortune smiled on -their enterprise, and that, consequently, the future would have more -like triumphs to reward their energy and perseverance. - -Two days later they approached another island in the Caribbean Sea. -This time they were further to the west, and, indeed, not more than two -days off the Mosquito Coast, where the great canal starts across the -isthmus of Panama. - -They had sighted numerous craft coming from or heading toward Colon, -so that this section of the sea differed in many respects from the -locality where their first effort had been carried out. Here, in the -neighborhood of this island, a steamship had gone down some years back, -which boat was said to have on board a considerable amount of gold, -locked in the safe. - -The crew and passengers had deserted their sinking vessel just in time -to see her pitch headlong into the maw of the sea. They had luckily -managed to reach the island, and in due time were taken off by a -passing vessel. - -Several attempts to locate the sunken steamer had resulted in failure; -and so far as was known her treasure chest had never been looted. It -was in the hope of locating this wreck and salvaging her safe with -its valuable contents that now engaged the attention of the daring -adventurers with whom our young friends had joined fortunes. - -All that was known about that night of storm had come from the accounts -published in the papers of that time. These were very vague, save that -they agreed the steamer was being carried _toward_ the island from the -_northeast_ when her sinking condition caused crew and passengers to -take to the boats; and that she went down in many fathoms of water long -before reaching the reefs that partly protected the island from the -storm’s fury. - -This at least was enough to give Captain Shooks his cue. He must start -his investigation on the northeast side of the island, scouring the -bottom of the sea over an increasingly wide area, until he had either -found the object of his search or else felt compelled to give it up as -a bad job. - -So once again the boys found themselves looking out at masses of -vegetation covering the deep sea valleys. Jack caught many a novel -picture of amazing spectacles that must later on thrill all those who -were interested in this new and heretofore untried field of discovery. -They saw such creatures as they had never dreamed existed; all sorts -of curious formations that seemed to possess life, for they fought one -another furiously, and rubbed their queer snouts against the glass of -the bull’s-eye observation windows, as though consumed with a horrible -curiosity to scrape an acquaintance with the inmates of this visiting -boat. - -For three hours the search went on. So far it was without avail, and -the skipper finally came up so as to get his bearings afresh, when he -would try again. He did not believe in such a thing as failure, until -every artifice imaginable had been first of all exhausted. - -After going down again in a fresh spot luck came their way. The intense -white glow of the searchlight shooting ahead showed them the grotesque -outlines of a vessel. Yes, and it was undoubtedly a sunken steamship -in the bargain, so that the chances seemed to be they had finally run -across the object of their submarine search. - -Once this was made certain, and they again arose to the surface. But -the sea was running too strong just then to allow of making a float, -and starting operations as before. Nothing remained but to bide their -time; so after marking the spot with a buoy, they steamed nearer the -shore, and the boys, taking the collapsible, landed, meaning to amuse -themselves for a spell, hunt shells, see if there were all the promises -of a fair and calm day on the morrow that navigators could wish; and it -was with hope beating high in their hearts that they partook of supper, -and afterwards sought their bunks. - -Morning proved that the captain had been a good weather prophet, for, -as the sun rose, it showed a sea almost as quiet as a mill pond. Only -the long swells washed up on the little shell beach of the island -with a murmurous complaint, as though voicing the voices of those -who in centuries past and gone had found a grave beneath these same -sub-tropical seas. - -Feeling that time meant a good deal, the skipper had his men at work -even before breakfast could be considered. The empty barrels were -thrown overboard, and collected so that the platform of planks could be -fastened over them, and thus a float fashioned, upon which the diving -apparatus might be worked. - -Storms come up with very little warning in the treacherous Caribbean -Sea, and, consequently, it was necessary to work at a lively rate in -order to get all these preparations started. - -Then a diver went down, and, as on that other occasion, the submarine -was sunk in order to give him the benefit of the electric plant. Once -more the boys watched the whole operation through their peepholes, and -Jack thought it well worth his trouble to feature the diver making his -way aboard the sunken steamer. - -Two hours afterwards the second man went down in the wake of the -pioneer, who had taken up most of his time cutting a way into the -wreck. Finally he, too, came up to report that while he had managed to -enter, and make his way to the captain’s quarters, he was too near the -point of exhaustion to finish the job. In fact, it was apparent that -the man had come across sights inside the steamer that chilled his -enthusiasm, even accustomed as he was to seeing skeletons in some of -the hulks where duty in the past had taken him. - -Oscar, it was noticed, made no sign about wishing to be allowed to take -a turn in the diver’s suit. As for Ballyhoo Jones, money could not have -tempted him, once he heard Jack say what he thought that diver must -have come across in the way of grisly reminders of the sea tragedy. - -Captain Shooks was gone but half an hour. When they received the signal -to commence drawing him up the boys exchanged suggestive nods. These -told that they, one and all, feared they were going to meet with a -severe disappointment. Had things been favorable the skipper surely -would have remained below at least a full hour. - -Oscar and Ballyhoo attended to the task of assisting him to a seat, -where the water dripped from his heavy suit. They also busied -themselves in removing his heavy helmet. - -As soon as the captain’s face was revealed, they found that he had a -disappointed expression on it that told the story before a word had -been uttered. - -“You found the safe, did you, Captain?” asked Ballyhoo finally. - -“That’s what I did, younker, because nobody wanted that piece of heavy -furniture,” came the booming reply; “but hang the luck, it was busted -wide open, and cleaned out. We have been out-generaled, that’s all.” - -“But how could Badger have got here ahead of us, I want to know?” -gasped Ballyhoo. - -“Who said it was that pirate?” roared the skipper, gulping in huge -draughts of fresh air. “The party who found the wreck was here at least -a year ago, though it’s been kept a dead secret, for some reason or -other. See, here are some coins I managed to find scattered around -on the floor in the cabin, with a lot of other truck. They’ve been -lying there for some time, I warrant you; you can see how they’re -half covered with green mold. Well, that’s the full amount of the -_Shannon’s_ hoard our Company will ever set eyes on. So it’s up to us -to get away from here in a jiffy, and make for some other field, where -better luck may be waiting for us.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII IN THE CANAL LOCKS - - -Despite his keen chagrin, the skipper was not at all discouraged. - -“We would have won out easy enough,” he protested stoutly, as he -watched the men dismantling the float, since there was no use of -loitering longer at that place, because the prize had already been -taken; “yes, we could have guzzled all that stuff ourselves if only -some enterprising chap hadn’t stepped in before us.” - -“Which goes to show,” said Ballyhoo, “that of all the agencies so far -invented, and tried out, intended for finding treasures lost in the -deep sea, the diving boat takes the cake. There’s no place within -reason where you can’t go to look around, and locate missing wrecks. -But let’s hope we’ll strike better luck next time.” - -“Oh! one shot out of two is going some, you must remember,” Jack told -him; “and, besides, think of all the thrilling pictures I’ve been able -to pick up. Why, from the standpoint of art alone, this expedition -ought to be considered a booming success. And then those nice, -dull-looking bricks will each pan out something like ten thousand -dollars.” - -“Please don’t think I’m complaining, Jack!” exclaimed the Jones boy, -with a grin. “Fact is, I’d call this well worth while just to see what -we’ve already done. Some of the things that have happened to us, or -under our watchful eyes, will never fade from our minds. I know I’ll -shiver when any one mentions the word sharks. I’m seeing things in my -dreams these nights, and you needn’t be surprised to hear me let out -a shriek any old time. If an ant bit me I’d imagine my leg had been -snapped off between those terrible sharks’ teeth.” - -By the time the barrels and the planks had all been safely stowed -away, and the undersea boat turned her prow in the direction of the -great canal entrance, black smoke discovered in the east told of -an approaching vessel. When Captain Shooks learned this he laughed -heartily, apparently under the belief that it might be the _Dauntless_. - -“Late to the feast, as usual,” he observed merrily. “I wonder now if -Badger, when he hears about that empty safe in the captain’s room -below, will take it for granted we cleared it out. I hope he does, for -I’d like to rub it into him good and hearty. It’ll take a heap to wipe -out the debt I owe Cap. Badger.” - -When Ballyhoo noticed the tender way in which the skipper caressed -his cheek as he made this remark, he had an illuminating thought. -Afterwards when he and his two comrades found themselves alone, -Ballyhoo spoke of this fact. - -“I wouldn’t be a bit surprised, fellows,” he said, in a low tone, “if -that scar Captain Shooks carries on his left cheek had something to -do with this same tough old adventurer, Josephus Badger. My opinion -is they’ve had a scrap at some time or other, and our skipper bears -the marks of his rival’s knife to this day. It must have been a pretty -lively affair, I guess.” - -“Some of these fine days,” Oscar mused, “those old war-dogs are going -to come to grips again, and wind up this feud. They seem to hate each -other like those two cats of Kilkenny, each of which thought there was -one cat too many; so they fought and they bit, they scratched and they -fit, till, save the ends of their nails and the tips of their tails of -those two cats of Kilkenny, there wasn’t any. I don’t know whether I’ve -got it just right, but that’s the idea.” - -“Where do you suppose we’re going to head for next?” inquired Ballyhoo. - -“Well, there are several other likely spots around the Caribbean that -it might pay us to visit,” replied Oscar, to whom the question had -really been put. - -“But how about that one over there in the Pacific, down off the coast -of Peru?” the Jones boy wanted to know. “From what the skipper said, I -should think that’d be our best call.” - -“He didn’t tell me positively,” continued the other, “but from certain -things I heard him saying later on I more than half believe we’ll head -that way now.” - -“Meaning the canal, Oscar?” chirped Ballyhoo, eagerly, his eyes -betraying the tremendous interest he felt in the subject. - -“Yes. It happens to be open now, after that last landslide that kept it -closed ever so long; so we can get through without much trouble.” - -“Course the mere fact that this is a submarine vessel needn’t prevent -us from a passage through?” asked Ballyhoo. - -“Why should it?” Oscar replied. “We are bent on peaceable pursuits, -and this is a commercial vessel just as much as one of those -American-Hawaiian steamships that carry the products of our insular -possessions through the canal.” - -“Well, I should say they couldn’t hold us back,” laughed Jack. “Why, -right now we’re engaged in proving to the world that Americans can -build just as reliable undersea boats as Germany, or any other country. -See the voyage we’ve undertaken without any accident; and remember -the clever work we’re carrying on. Folks will soon know that all our -submarines are not in the same class with that one that sunk, and -stayed on the bottom, its crew caught like rats in a trap.” - -There was considerable patriotism about those three Motion Picture -Comrades, and it frequently burst its bonds. Jack echoed the sentiments -of his two chums; but in saying what he did he was not boasting, simply -stating facts. - -It was learned a little later on that Captain Shooks did not mean to -head directly for the canal. He had sent a duplicate part of machinery, -likely to be needed at some time in the near future, to a certain port -of call, and it was now necessary for them to go considerably out -of their way in order to secure this. Once they had passed into the -Pacific and no one could say when they would be coming back again, -or if it would be by the same route; so the wise skipper believed in -“making hay while the sun shone.” - -Two days later they approached the coast of Panama, intending to enter -the canal with as little delay as possible, and cross over the isthmus. -Jack, of course, had made all his preparations for taking a wonderful -series of pictures, showing the route from end to end, including the -famous dam, and the great locks that are the marvel of the age in their -massive efficiency. - -They met with a certain amount of delay on the way across, but nothing -beyond reason, and when night came on congratulated themselves on -having made such good progress. - -“We’re going to enter the lock right away,” announced Ballyhoo, who -had been, as he termed it, “cruising around,” picking up information. -“It’s true night has fallen, and we may have to lie here until morning -comes; but think of being able to say we actually slept in the locks of -the Panama Canal. How few people can ever boast of such a feat as that, -tell me?” - -Both the other boys were, of course, interested. Jack had stowed away -his camera, since with the coming of dusk he had no use for the -instrument. In the morning he anticipated catching the strange little -submarine craft being towed through the canal with the aid of those -powerful electric engines on the massive cement walls, as well as a -number of other interesting features connected with the situation. - -They stood there on the “hurricane deck” watching all that took place. -Not a single move was made but that their vigilant eyes detected it, -and many were the comments made, as well as good-natured arguments -advanced. - -“Seems like there’s another vessel going to come along after us, and -be locked in at the same time,” announced Ballyhoo, as he heard much -“tooting” from the quarter whence they themselves had just come. - -“Well, two’s company, three’s none,” laughed Jack; “so long as they -don’t crowd us, what do we care? It’s little sleep we can expect to get -to-night at the best. We’ll have to be on deck to see everything that -goes on.” - -The submarine had attracted considerable attention, and a number of -people even had the audacity to drop down on the lower deck to take -a look around. Captain Shooks good-naturedly did not order them off, -though, of course, he would not think of allowing any intruder to see -the inside of the undersea boat. The comments of these people amused -the boys, even as they watched the dim, shadowy shape of the other boat -drawing closer in the electric light. - -“Great Scott!” Ballyhoo was suddenly heard to exclaim, as though he -had received a great shock; “what’s this I see, fellows? Take a good -look at that boat, and tell me if you’ve even glimpsed the same before; -because, as sure as you live it’s no other than our old friend, the -_Dauntless_!” - - - - -CHAPTER XIX BLOCKING THE GAME OF BADGER - - -“Here’s a pretty kettle of fish!” declared Jack, in a disgusted tone. - -“To think that we’d have to run across that duffer right here in the -canal locks,” Ballyhoo went on to say gloomily. “What if those two old -filibusters get to scrapping while we’re neighbors here for a while? -It might mean the finish of our fine little cruise; for if anything -happened to knock Captain Shooks out of the running there’s no one else -could manage this queer old tub.” - -“We’d have to take charge, pay off the crew, ship the cargo home, and -then store the submarine down here in some boatyard until the company -decided what to do with her,” said Oscar decidedly; “but what’s the -use crossing a bridge before we come to it? The two skippers may not -exchange a single word, knowing how they’d get in a fighting humor in -consequence.” - -It turned out that Ballyhoo was wrong in guessing they would have to -remain in the lock all night. With such magical artificial illumination -as was afforded by the numerous electric lights scattered along both -sides of the great walls, work could be carried on just as well during -the hours of night as in the daytime. - -It was not long afterwards when water began to come into the lock, and -both boats commenced to rise toward the higher levels. The boys could -see that their craft was an object of great curiosity to the entire -crew of the steam yacht, for a group of sailors gathered along the side -to watch them. - -Something caused the trio of boys to go ashore in order to observe at -close hand the working of the magnificent machinery by which the locks -were controlled. Jack hoped that on the return trip they would be -passing through here by daylight, for he must secure a set of pictures -that would show just how the conditions were. - -Evidently strict orders had been given to the crew of the other boat, -for there was none of the customary interchange of salutations and -jokes, such as might be expected. Those men knew who those aboard the -submarine were. They possibly labored under the impression that they -had been cheated out of more or less prize money by Captain Shooks’ -shrewd policy in getting ahead of them on two occasions. Hence they -felt a bitter animosity toward the crew of the _Argonaut_, and it was -well for the sake of peace in the Canal Zone that the rivals were kept -apart. - -When the time came for their release from the lock, the boys hastened -to once more get aboard. The captain was sitting on the little deck -above the conning tower. Oscar believed he was holding some sort of -weapon in his hands, though he could not be quite sure about this, for -the skipper hastened to conceal whatever he had there. - -“The expected storm didn’t break, eh, lads?” he remarked, as they -joined him. - -“If you mean trouble with those other chaps,” Ballyhoo quickly said, -“we’re just shaking hands with ourselves that nothing happened. We’ve -heard some one whooping things up aboard the other boat, which we kind -of imagine must have been Captain Badger. The men seemed to jump every -time he shouted anything, and it’s plain to be seen they’re afraid of -him when his mad is up.” - -“Yes, he was always reckoned a terror,” admitted the skipper, between -his set teeth; “and I’ve half expected to be favored with a visit from -him. But the sight of those boys in khaki along the walls of the lock -must have kept him from bothering us.” - -“But what about after we pass out of the lock, Captain?” remarked -Ballyhoo; “it strikes me there may be places along the canal, or in the -big lake we’ve got to pass through, where he might give us trouble, -such as ramming into us, and claiming it was a sheer accident?” - -“I’ve thought of all that,” the other admitted, “and when we pass out I -mean to tie up here close by, and spend the balance of the night within -touch of these same U. S. regulars. Then if we have any trouble, we can -look to them for assistance.” - -Somehow the boys all approved of this idea. It seemed both reasonable -and prudent in their eyes. While ready at all times to defend -themselves, as every American should, if they wish to maintain their -self-respect, all the same they did not believe in going around with a -“chip on their shoulder,” and inviting an attack. - -So they remained there on the upper deck, watching all that took place. -The boys knew that after the crew of the _Dauntless_ had dispersed to -their quarters, at the command of their captain, others were constantly -watching the submarine. They could see dim figures flitting back and -forth, and acting as though they were desirous of remaining under cover. - -“Hope they’ll know us another time,” grunted Ballyhoo, after the -captain had stepped ashore to see about a matter of business; for fees -had to be paid to cover their passage through the locks, since the U. -S. Government does not propose to run a “free show,” after going to -such heavy expense. - -“I’d give something just to know what they’re saying about us over -there,” Jack went on to observe; “because there’s no question but what -that’s Badger himself and his officers who are watching all we do here.” - -“For one thing,” chuckled Ballyhoo, vindictively, “I reckon they’re -trying to figure just where we keep all those bully ingots of gold we -cribbed from the old Spanish hulk, where they’d lain under the sea for -some hundreds of years. They’d like to be able to use Roentgen Rays, -and look right through the sides of our boat so they could count how -many bricks we stowed away. But even if they had that knowledge what -good would it do ’em, tell me?” - -Neither of the others appeared to know; at least they failed to answer -Ballyhoo’s question. - -Later on the submarine skipper was notified that his vessel could leave -the lock and proceed. He had already made arrangements, however, to -stay in the canal just beyond until morning, allowing the steam yacht -to pass him by, and go ahead. - -It was a singular happening when those two boats ranged alongside each -other. There was an utter absence of the usual greetings and rough -badinage, and this must have struck any idle observer on the canal wall -as peculiar, though the true inwardness of the situation might not be -apparent to him. - -Then the _Dauntless_ passed on, and the squat submarine, looking like -an ugly whale, being low down in the water, and with only the conning -tower rearing itself above the superstructure, remained at her moorings. - -“Well, we’re not sorry to see the last of that steam yacht, if we told -the honest truth about it,” remarked Ballyhoo. - -The boys being tempted to once more leave the boat and go ashore, for -there seemed to be a number of other interesting sights they had missed -on the previous occasion, spoke to one of the men about it, asking him -to sit there on deck, and make sure that no stranger slipped aboard. - -After another hour or so they had seen all that was possible under -the conditions, and again made their way back to the boat. More than -ever were they struck with the queer and ungainly appearance of the -submersible, as they drew alongside, to find the sailor smoking his -pipe and apparently keeping a faithful watch above. - -“But,” said Ballyhoo, when this fact was mentioned, “she’s a dandy in -her own specialty, which is diving, and staying under water. They ought -to have named her the _Mallard_, it strikes me, because she’s built on -that order.” - -None of them cared to remain up any longer. The skipper made his -appearance just then, and announced that he would see to it that a -guard was posted on the upper deck, and armed in the bargain. - -“It may be those sharks won’t think to try and do us any harm while -we’re here in the canal,” he went on to say dubiously, “because it -might be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs; for their -only hope seems to be to chase around after us, and try to swoop down -on something we’ve found. But I’m taking no chances. You see, I know -Badger too well to trust him one minute. He’s well named, though Weasel -might fit him even better.” - -Going below Oscar and his two chums soon made themselves comfortable -in their several bunks. As the hatch in the conning tower was open, -and the ventilators doing their regular work in addition, it seemed -much more comfortable down below than ordinary, for the weather was -excessively warm during the days. - -Oscar remembered lying there for a little while, thinking of things in -the past; but he finally went to sleep. The other pair were already far -in dreamland, as their regular breathing attested. - -When Oscar awakened he could not tell why it was he seemed to feel a -strange sensation, just as though some deadly peril hovered over them. -A slight sound drew his attention, and turning his head on his pillow -he saw something that caused him to hold his breath with amazement. - -There was always a dim light left in the apartment the boys occupied, -which, in fact, bordered the little den Captain Shooks dignified by -the name of “office.” Where he lay Oscar could look straight through -the open doorway, and see the whole interior of this “cubby-hole,” as -Ballyhoo always called it. - -Some one was stooping over in front of the desk at which the skipper so -often sat when writing up his papers, and entering events in his log -of the cruise. Oscar saw to his dismay that it was not Captain Shooks, -but an utter stranger, a small, wiry fellow, who had managed in some -mysterious way to get inside the submarine. Instantly Oscar suspected -that the sailor they had left in charge of the upper deck while they -went ashore must have been unfaithful to his duty, and left the hatch -unguarded for a few minutes while he crept below, possibly to get his -pipe. - -It did not matter so much _how_ the spy had managed to get aboard as -that he was searching eagerly through the skipper’s private papers, -evidently looking for the priceless chart that told, as near as was -known, the exact location of a dozen other sunken treasure ships, -besides the two already visited. - -Oscar could not hold in any longer. Giving a shout he sprang from his -bunk, and made a swift lunge toward the door of the office, intending -to close this, and keep the intruder shut in until the skipper could -attend to him. - -Unfortunately, Oscar caught his foot in some object that may have -been purposely placed there with the intention of tripping any of the -sleepers should they awaken while the spy was at work. - -As the boy went headlong to the floor, he saw the stranger shoot past -him and make for the ladder leading up into the conning tower. As soon -as Oscar could get to his feet, although half dazed from having struck -his head severely, he hastened to chase after the vanished figure. -Ballyhoo and Jack were at his heels, though utterly in the dark as to -what it all meant. - -When they got above they found that the man on guard was staring into -the half gloom alongside the moored submarine. He had been thrust aside -by something that came bolting out of the hatch; for, not expecting -danger from that quarter, the sentry was caught unprepared; and before -he could recover enough to use the gun with which he had been armed, -the unknown had utterly vanished. - -But after all it might have been much worse, for no particular damage -had been done. The skipper told them he had the precious chart and -directions where no spy could ever find them; and so Oscar and the -other boys finally went back to their bunks, though an additional guard -was stationed in the conning tower for security. - - - - -CHAPTER XX THE END OF THE CRUISE--CONCLUSION - - -In the morning the voyage was resumed, but they did not hurry, it being -the purpose of Captain Shooks to let the _Dauntless_ have plenty of -time to reach the Pacific and go on. If they should find her hovering -around as though waiting for them, nothing could be more simple with -regard to getting rid of the rival boat than for them to submerge, and -keep moving under the water until night came on. - -This time they were meaning to head further south. They had a pretty -accurate account of an old-time buccaneer that had preyed upon the gold -coast with impunity, until finally it ran upon a disguised British -sloop of war, which proceeded to hammer it so well that in the end the -pirate sank. The account also stated, on the authority of competent -witnesses who had left a record behind them before they passed away, -that the notorious commander of the buccaneer had all his wealth on -board at the time, it being his intention to give up the nefarious -business, and settle down under an assumed name in some Continental -country, there to enjoy the ill-gotten fruits of his many sackings of -towns and ships. - -Of course, all that amazing treasure went down with the ship, though -some of the crew, it appears, did manage to swim ashore and escape. -Many unsuccessful attempts had been made to find the sunken piratical -vessel, but then none of these were one-half so well fixed for -exploring the bottom of the sea as the one Captain Shooks commanded. - -So with ardent hopes they pointed the prow of their odd-looking boat -toward the Peruvian coast, and in due time reached their destination. -It proved to be by long odds the toughest job they had as yet -undertaken, owing to the diverse ocean currents they struck after they -had gone down to investigate. - -For days they prowled around that region. When one clue failed the -skipper seemed to have another at hand, upon which he depended to show -them the object of their persistent hunt. - -Jack was having the time of his life taking pictures of all the amazing -things they discovered while prosecuting this search. He added several -films to his already wonderful collection, and only feared his supply -would run short before the subjects gave out, and wished he had waited -at Panama for the new lot ordered shipped on from New York. - -As time passed, and no reward came to their labors, even the confident -Ballyhoo began to despair of meeting with success. - -“I guess the Pacific is our hoodoo, fellows,” he was telling them on -one occasion, as they sat on the edge of the lower bunk, or it might be -a stool, for chairs were at a premium in those close quarters. “After -all we’d better be cutting stick, and going back to the Caribbean Sea, -where we did meet with our usual good luck.” - -“Here’s the skipper coming to tell us something,” remarked Jack, “and -from the look on his face I guess it’s good news in the bargain.” - -“Three to one he’s decided to clear out of this mess, and get through -the canal again to where we know our ground,” ventured Ballyhoo -confidently. - -However, Ballyhoo was wrong for once. Captain Shooks had information of -an altogether different nature to communicate. - -“We’ve stopped moving,” he started to say, “and in a cleared spot just -ahead, where our illuminator makes every little object stand out like -daylight, we’ve discovered something that tells us a vessel must have -gone to pieces about here. The fragments look like an old-time anchor, -for one thing, and some other metal parts.” - -“Then you think, do you,” asked Oscar, sensing the meaning conveyed -in these words of the skipper, “we’re about on the spot where that -pirate sank; and that she’s been washed around in these currents until -nothing’s left of her hulk?” - -“That’s just what I’m afraid of, lad,” admitted the other; “and that -we’ll have come down here on a fool’s errand. However, now that we’re -on the spot we must try as hard as we can to learn the truth.” - -Soon they had arisen again to the surface, and placed a buoy to mark -the spot, so they could come again; for just then there was too much -sea running to think of making use of a float. - -After waiting there for two days the skipper could not stand any -further delay; so it was arranged that one of the expert divers go -down from the forward deck of the submersible, which, being low down -near the water, might be made to answer the purpose temporarily. If -he struck anything that promised good results they would linger still -longer, waiting for the weather to change. - -This plan was put into operation, though with much difficulty, and not -a little added risk. But the diver knew no fear, and was soon down on -the bottom, moving around, and looking for signs to tell the fate of -the once notorious pirate ship. - -While this was going on the boys, as well as the captain, remained -there watching the men work the air pump, and wondering what luck would -follow their venture in Western waters. - -An hour passed. Then the long anticipated signal came to let them know -the diver wished to be drawn up. One thing they soon learned, which was -that his bag was empty, proving that at least he had not run across any -more ingots such as rewarded their first search under the sea waves. - -When his helmet had been removed, and he sucked in more or less of the -fresh sea air, Hicks looked at Captain Shooks and grinned. - -“In my hand pouch, sir, you’ll find just one lone gold piece,” he told -the other. “That I found wedged in a crack in what I made out to be -part of a door that was held down in the sand by the anchor. I guess, -sir, that’s all the loot anybody will ever recover from the wreck of -the old pirate ship. There are some queer currents racing about down -there, that must get pretty fierce at times; and by degrees they’ve -just pulled the hulk all to pieces, and scattered everything around for -miles, I take it.” - -Captain Shooks knew then that the game was up, so far as any hope of -recovering pirate loot went. That lone gold piece, a Spanish one it -turned out to be, he gave to Oscar, just as a memento of the occasion. -And immediately afterwards orders went out to turn the prow of the -submersible toward the north again. - -They meant to abandon the Pacific for the time being. It seemed that -Shooks believed he had enough results already aboard to justify him in -turning back, and once more heading for Baltimore. Then, if all was -well, he could make a start for the far distant Eastern seas, where -many rich cargoes of treasure were known to have been located, but -never recovered. - -The three boys had been talking it all over among themselves, and come -to a decision. This was to quit the expedition at Panama, and remain -there for a week or so, until a steamer came along to pass through the -canal bound east, on which they might engage passage. - -To tell the honest truth all of them were heartily tired of their -cramped quarters aboard the submarine, not to mention what they had -to endure from bad air whenever the boat was below the surface. The -novelty had long since worn off, and they frankly confessed they knew -when they had had enough. - -Besides, Jack wanted to get those precious submarine pictures of his -ashore, and securely on the way home by some better carrier than a boat -that spent most of the time diving under the water, with a consequent -moisture, inside as well as out, that could not be very good for -delicate film material. - -They saw nothing more of the _Dauntless_, and hoped that Captain -Badger, despairing of securing any profit from trying to spy upon his -rival, had gone off on a hunt of his own, following some clues he may -have picked up. - -Fortune allowed them a chance to make this change of base before two -days had elapsed, and it was not long before a steamer was starting for -New York City, on which they took passage, with all their possessions. - -So far as they knew they were returning after having accomplished their -several missions in the most successful manner. This being the case it -can easily be understood that they saw the shore of Panama disappear -below the hazy horizon one morning, and then looked toward the North, -where home and friends would await their coming, with the complete -satisfaction that victory always brings. - -THE END - - * * * * * - -THE BOY VOLUNTEERS SERIES - -By KENNETH WARD - -_12mo. Cloth. Fully Illustrated 50c per Volume_ - -THE NEWEST BOYS’ BOOKS ON THE EUROPEAN WAR, RELATING THE ADVENTURES -OF TWO AMERICAN BOYS AND THEIR EXPERIENCES IN BATTLE AND ON AIR SCOUT -DUTY. ALL PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED WITH AUTHENTIC DRAWINGS. - -The Boy Volunteers on the Belgian Front - -Describes the adventures of two American boys who were in Europe when -the great war commenced. Their enlistment with Belgian troops and their -remarkable experiences are based upon actual occurrences and the book -is replete with line drawings of fighting machines, air planes and maps -of places where the most important battles took place and of other -matters of interest. - -The Boy Volunteers with the French Airmen - -This book relates the further adventures of the young Americans in -France, where they viewed the fighting from above the firing lines. -From this book the reader gains considerable knowledge of the different -types of air planes and battle planes used by the warring nations, as -all descriptions are illustrated with unusually clear line drawings. - -The Boy Volunteers with the British Artillery - -How many boys to-day know anything about the great guns now being used -on so many European battle fronts? Our young friends had the rare -opportunity of witnessing, at first hand, a number of these terrific -duels, and the story which is most fascinatingly told is illustrated -with numerous drawings of the British, French and German field pieces. - -The Boy Volunteers with the Submarine Fleet - -Our young heroes little expected to be favored with so rare an -experience as a trip under the sea in one of the great submarines. In -this book the author accurately describes the submarine in action, and -the many interesting features of this remarkable fighting craft are -made clear to the reader by a series of splendid line drawings. - - THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY - PUBLISHERS NEW YORK - - * * * * * - -THE HILLTOP BOYS SERIES - -By CYRIL BURLEIGH - -The Hilltop Boys; A Story of School Life - -Jack Sheldon, a clean-minded and popular student in the academy, gains -the enmity of several of the boys, but their efforts to injure him -fail. A mystery, connected with Jack’s earlier life, is used against -him, but he comes off with flying colors. - -The Hilltop Boys in Camp; or, The Rebellion at the Academy - -A strange situation arises in which an airship figures as the bearer of -an important letter. The head-master acts without investigating all the -facts, but matters are all finally adjusted to the satisfaction of all -concerned. - -The Hilltop Boys on Lost Island; or, An Unusual Adventure - -The scene now shifts to the West Indies and Jack figures as the hero -of a daring rescue. Their experiences in tropical waters form a most -stirring narrative, and the young reader is assured of a tale of -gripping interest from first to last. - -The Hilltop Boys on the River - -The Doctor takes a number of the boys on a cruise up the Hudson. An -unlooked for incident finds Jack Sheldon equal to the occasion, and -what at one time promised to be a disastrous trip for all concerned was -turned into a complete victory for our young friends. - -_12mo. Cloth 50c per volume_ - - THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY - NEW YORK - - * * * * * - -THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUTS - -A SERIES OF BOOKS FOR BOYS - -By Capt. ALAN DOUGLAS, Scout-master - -These stories are from the pen of a writer who not only possesses a -thorough knowledge of his subject but who is gifted with the ability -to describe the various experiences of the Hickory Ridge Scouts so the -young reader may enjoy and be benefitted thereby. - -The narratives are normal and healthful in their tone--in other words, -_real_ scout stories which hold the reader’s interest to the last page. - - =The Campfires of the Wolf Patrol= - =Woodcraft; or, How a Patrol Leader Made Good= - =Pathfinder; or, The Missing Tenderfoot= - =Fast Nine; or, a Challenge from Fairfield= - =Great Hike; or, The Pride of the Khaki Troop= - =Endurance Test; or, How Clear Grit Won the Day= - =Under Canvas; or, The Hunt for the Cartaret Ghost= - =Storm-bound; or, a Vacation Among the Snow Drifts= - =Afloat; or, Adventures on Watery Trails= - -Boy Scout Nature Lore to be Found in The Hickory Ridge Boy Scout -Series, all Illustrated: - -Wild Animals of the United States--Tracking--Trees and Wild Flowers of -the United States--Reptiles of the United States--Fishes of the United -States--Insects of the United States and Birds of the United States. - -_Cloth Binding. Cover Illustrations in Four Colors 50c per Volume_ - - THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY - 201 EAST 12th STREET NEW YORK - - * * * * * - -THE CAMPFIRE AND TRAIL SERIES - - =1. In Camp on the Big Sunflower= - =2. The Rivals of the Trail= - =3. The Strange Cabin on Catamount Island= - =4. Lost in the Great Dismal Swamp= - =5. With Trapper Jim in the North Woods= - =6. Caught in a Forest Fire= - =7. Chums of the Campfire= - =8. Afloat on the Flood= - =9. The Cruise of the Houseboat= - -By LAWRENCE J. LESLIE - -A series of wholesome stories for boys told in an interesting way and -appealing to their love of the open. - -_Each, 12 mo. Cloth 50c per Volume_ - - THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY - 201 EAST 12th STREET NEW YORK - - * * * * * - -THE MOUNTAIN BOYS SERIES - - =1. Phil Bradley’s Mountain Boys= - =2. Phil Bradley at the Wheel= - =3. Phil Bradley’s Shooting Box= - =4. Phil Bradley’s Snow-Shoe Trail= - =5. Phil Bradley’s Winning Way= - -By SILAS K. BOONE - -These books describe, with interesting detail, the experiences of a -party of boys among the mountain pines. - -They teach the young reader how to protect himself against the -elements, what to do and what to avoid, and above all to become -self-reliant and manly. - -_12mo. Cloth 50c per Volume, Postpaid_ - - THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY - 201 EAST 12th STREET NEW YORK - - * * * * * - -THE MERRYVALE BOYS - -By ALICE HALE BURNETT - -Six real stories for small boys, each complete in itself, telling about -the many interesting doings of “Toad” and “Chuck” Brown, and their -friends, “Fat,” “Reddy” and others. - -The books are written so the boy may read and understand them and the -action faithfully portrays boy life in a small town. - -CIRCUS DAY AT MERRYVALE - -“Toad” and “Reddy,” by good fortune, each earn two tickets to the -circus, although they find watering elephants a harder task than it at -first seemed. A jolly party of boys visit the circus. - -FATHER BROWN’S INDIAN TALE - -Dad’s story is followed by an unexpected visitor who at first startles -then interests all of the little party gathered around the fireside. - -THE PICNIC AT MERRYVALE - -Did you ever go to a picnic in a large farm wagon, filled with boys and -girls? Then did you catch a fine lot of trout and broil them before a -camp-fire? “Toad” and “Reddy” did these very things and had a day long -to be remembered. - -CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS IN MERRYVALE - -Daddy Williams’ Toy Shop is the center of interest to “Toad” and his -friends long before Christmas arrives. They plan a surprise that brings -joy to a poor family. The boys erect snow forts and the two sides have -a battle royal. - -MERRYVALE BOYS ON THE FARM - -“Toad’s” grandmother invites him and “Reddy” to spend a month in the -country. Their experiences at Sunnyside farm, with its horses, cows, -pigs and chickens, are most entertainingly told, and they have the time -of their lives boating, swimming and fishing in the creek. - -HALLOWE’EN AT MERRYVALE - -For many days the boys had been looking forward to the party to be held -at Toad Brown’s house, but the evening finally arrived and a number of -new games were played, although a few things happened which were not on -the program. - -_Illustrations in Color 12mo. Cloth 40c per Vol., Postpaid_ - -THE NEW YORK BOOK CO., 201 E. 12th St., New York - - * * * * * - -THE MERRYVALE GIRLS - -By ALICE HALE BURNETT - -Six delightful books for the smaller girls, each a complete story in -itself, describing in simple language the interesting experiences of -Beth, Mary and Jerry, three little maids of Merryvale. - -Beth’s Garden Party - -The three girls take part in a very formal little affair on the lawn of -Beth’s home, and each of the guests receives a present. The drive home -in Beth’s pony cart furnishes a few exciting moments, but Patsy bravely -comes to the rescue. - -A Day at the County Fair - -The girls are taken to the fair in a motor, but a slight delay occurs -on the way. How they finally arrived at the fair ground and their -amusing experiences are most entertainingly told. - -Geraldine’s Birthday Surprise - -Geraldine, whom we know better as Jerry, plays hostess to her many -friends, although it must be admitted that her guests knew of the -affair before she did. A jolly evening is spent by the girls which is -shared in by our young Merryvale boy friends. - -Mary Entertains the Sewing Club - -Mary has the club at her home, and the efforts of the members cause -many outbursts of merriment. The girls hold a “fair of all nations” -for the benefit of the Merryvale Day Nursery, and their plans succeed -beyond their expectations. - -Merryvale Girls at the Seaside - -The three girls are invited to the light-house where they see many -wonderful things. A luncheon on the shore and days spent in sailing -with the captain make their visit a round of pleasure. - -Merryvale Girls in the Country - -A real old-fashioned farm affords the girls a most enjoyable time and -every hour is filled with delightful experiences. - -_12mo. Cloth. Illustrations in Color. 40c per Volume, Postpaid_ - -THE NEW YORK BOOK CO., 201 E. 12th St., New York - - * * * * * - -The Ethel Morton Books - -By MABELL S. C. SMITH - -This series strikes a new note in the publication of books for girls. -Fascinating descriptions of the travels and amusing experiences of our -young friends are combined with a fund of information relating their -accomplishment of things every girl wishes to know. - -In reading the books a girl becomes acquainted with many of the -entertaining features of handcraft, elements of cooking, also of -swimming, boating and similar pastimes. This information is so imparted -as to hold the interest throughout. Many of the subjects treated are -illustrated by halftones and line engravings throughout the text. - -LIST OF TITLES - - ETHEL MORTON AT CHAUTAUQUA - ETHEL MORTON AND THE CHRISTMAS SHIP - ETHEL MORTON’S HOLIDAYS - ETHEL MORTON AT ROSE HOUSE - ETHEL MORTON’S ENTERPRISE - ETHEL MORTON AT SWEET BRIER LODGE - -_Price 50 cents per volume; postpaid_ - - PUBLISHED BY - The New York Book Company - 201 EAST 12TH STREET NEW YORK, N. Y. - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -The two footnotes have been moved to the end of their chapter and -relabeled consecutively. - -Punctuation has been made consistent. - -Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have -been corrected. - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MOTION PICTURE COMRADES -ABOARD A SUBMARINE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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