CHAPTER XIII
UNDER THE SEA
In the boat they had installed the radio apparatus necessary forlocating submerged objects, together with a log to be used as a buoyattached to a long length of cord. The purpose of this was to mark thesite of the wreck if they should be so fortunate as to locate it.
Benton, who was rowing the boat, was skeptical over Phil's radio outfit,and did not hesitate to express his doubts.
"I know you've tried to explain the business to me, Phil," he said, "butI'm blest if I understand it yet. How do you figure to locate that wreckwith radio waves?"
"It's not so complicated as it seems," said Phil. "This set is equippedwith unusually sensitive vacuum tubes, and with certain condenserarrangements, radio waves affected by metal deposits are receivedthrough the water. Now, in the receivers of this set I can hear theincoming radio waves, and the second that they vary in strength I knowthat we are near some large quantity of metal. That's simple enough,isn't it?"
"Well, yes, but this was a wooden ship, remember," objected Benton.
"Yes, but if it's the one we are after, there is plenty of metalaboard," said Phil. "Yellow metal--gold, in other words, as well asanchors, windlass and other metals."
"I only hope you're right," said the other, still a little doubtfully."We must be pretty close to the location now, if the old Spaniard didn'thave his facts twisted."
Phil was listening intently to the message conveyed by his earphones, attimes adjusting his condensers to get the maximum strength. Still therewas no perceptible change in the intensity of sound, and Phil's facebegan to wear a worried look, while Benton grew more and more skeptical.
"The old fellow says in his papers that the ship had barely cleared thereef when it sank," said Phil at last. "Perhaps it went further than hethought, Jack. Let's try it out a little further."
The other bent to his oars, and they zigzagged away from the reef,drawing out toward the open sea. Suddenly the sounds in the receiversbecame softer for a few seconds, but then resumed their former tone.
"Back water, Jack!" exclaimed Phil. "Something happened just then, asthough we were skirting along the edge of something down there."
With renewed energy Benton pushed the boat back over its path, and sureenough, in a few seconds the sounds faded. With his hands Phil motionedto turn to the right, but then the signals became loud again, so hehurriedly motioned to the left. This time he was evidently on the righttrack, for the sounds grew steadily fainter until he could hardly hearthem, and then increased as they kept on rowing.
"Back water just a little way, Jack!" said Phil excitedly, and seizedthe buoy with its attached anchor. This time, as the signals faded outto almost nothing, he dropped the buoy anchor with a splash, andsnatched the earphones from his head.
"We've located something, all right!" he exclaimed, as he switched offthe battery. "It may not be the wreck we're after, of course, but I'llbet anything that it's _some_ wreck."
"You row and let me listen," said Benton, so Phil took the oars whilethe other put on the headphones. As Phil rowed toward the buoy, Bentonheard the signals diminish just as they had before, and for the firsttime seemed really convinced that Phil's radio was a practicalproposition.
"Back we go for the diving apparatus, then," he said eagerly. "It'searly yet, and if they've got it ready we can make a descent beforedark."
Phil was as anxious as he, and they both took a pair of oars and made arecord trip back to the beach. When the others saw them coming at such apace they surmised that their trip had been successful, and even beforethey landed were shouting questions at them.
Phil told them briefly what they had discovered, and they were alleagerness to go out with the raft. It was an ideal day for divingoperations, with a calm sea and no sign of a cloud in the sky so, as theapparatus was all rigged on the raft, they started forthwith.
It was slow work towing the cumbrous raft, and seemed all the more slowon account of their impatience to arrive at the scene of operations. Butafter an hour's backbreaking toil they located the buoy, and were soonanchored alongside it.
Phil would not hear of anybody going down ahead of him, so he donned theheavy suit, with helmet and lead weighted shoes. Then they tried out thewindlass to make sure that it was working properly, and at Phil's signalthey lowered him over the side of the raft.
The water was not cold, and he hardly felt its chill as he was loweredinto the translucent depths.
The diving suit that he was using was on the model of that which Bentonhad recommended when they were laying their plans for the cruise, but ona smaller scale and of lesser weight than the kind designed for greaterdepths.
As Phil descended steadily the pressure increased, and diminishedsomewhat the intensity of the lights that were attached to his suit. Ina short time his feet were on the sandy bottom. Strange but beautifulplants grew on the ocean floor, while queer fish floated before theheavy glass windows of his helmet.
He had not progressed far when there loomed before him the hulk of anold ship, and Phil moved toward it with the grip of great excitement athis heart. So far his radio had not deceived him. Here was the sunkenship that it had indicated. But was it the right one? That onlyexploration could tell.
Phil had landed some distance in front of its bows, and they rose highabove his head, precluding the possibility of boarding the wreck at thatpoint. Phil moved slowly along the side, and found that the high bowsswept sharply down toward the waist. It was easy to see that the shipwas of an ancient type, and Phil's heart beat faster as he noted thisand the fact that the heavy timbers had partly rotted away, indicating agreat length of time under water.
He reached the middle of the old vessel and here had little difficultyin clambering aboard. Once more a man stood on the old deck thatcenturies ago had been teeming with life and had known the hot suns ofmany seas. Now sunk in the still depths of the ocean and half buried insand, it had an inexpressibly mournful appearance, and it seemed almostsacrilege to disturb that age-old quiet.
He must have yielded to the spell cast upon him much longer than he hadthought, for he was recalled from them by a sudden feeling ofoppression, and with a start he realized that his air was rapidlybecoming close and unbreathable. He had only taken a limited supply ofoxygen in his tank for this preliminary survey, which he figured wouldtake him but a short time. Still he was not greatly worried, and he gavea sharp tug at the line by which he had been let down. There was noresponse. And then with a sinking of the heart he realized that the linemust have been fouled on some part of the wreck.
There was no time to lose and he set about instantly to find where thecable was caught. It was not long before he discovered that it had beencaught by the projecting stump of the bowsprit. This was high above hishead, and already he was suffering from the first pangs of suffocation.He realized that unless he freed himself in a minute or two he would betoo far gone to help himself and would perish miserably in the cold,green depths.
Summoning the last of his strength, he struggled up hand over handtoward the tangle that seemed so far away. By dint of sheer will powerhe reached it at last. Black spots were floating before his eyes and itseemed as though his laboring lungs must burst, but he finallysucceeded, and as he gave a tug at the freed line consciousness lefthim.
When he came to, bright sunlight was in his eyes and delicious salt openair was entering his lungs. The anxious faces of his friends peered downat him, but when he opened his eyes they gave a cheer that startled thesea birds circling about overhead.
"Glory be!" exclaimed Benton, fervently. "We were just getting ready todive for you as a last resort. What caught you?"
Phil briefly recounted what he had found, and the narrow escape he hadexperienced.
"But I'm all right now, and we've located the wreck," he concluded. "Ihaven't much doubt that it's the one we're looking for. But it's socovered with sand that the only way we'll ever be able to get at theinsid
e is to blow it open."
"Well, old man, dynamite is a fast worker," said Benton. "I wish we hadbrought some with us on the raft, but I guess we've done enough forto-day, anyway. You must have had enough underwater experience for oneday, Phil."
"If we had the dynamite here, I'd go down again right now," declaredPhil. "Only this time I'd keep a closer watch on the line. I got sointerested in the wreck that I forgot it for a time."
They were all jubilant over the certainty that they had the wrecklocated, and pulled back to the beach in high spirits. Had it been alittle earlier they would have gone out again, but the afternoon waswaning, and besides the sky had become overcast and there wereindications of a coming storm. So they reluctantly decided to postponeoperations for the day, and repaired to the cave. The evening was spentin excited discussion of the day's happenings and plans for the morrow,and they were up early the following morning to put them into execution.
What was their disappointment to find a heavy wind blowing with a roughsea breaking against the outer reef. Obviously there was nothing to bedone but wait until the wind and sea subsided, and in the meantime theydecided to explore the island.
The Radio Boys Under the Sea; or, The Hunt for Sunken Treasure Page 13