by A. Stone
CHAPTER XXIII
Soon the Pullman car carrying little Jim, my star witness, was out ofsight, actually in the protecting arms of Uncle Sam, in the person ofFather Woburn. After getting Scotty we made for home--I meanCanby's--as fast as the _Sprite_ would carry us. Howard was verythoughtful but not depressed. He locked the store and put up a notice.We took Don along to cook, as we didn't want an unknown quantity inany form with us on a mission of such tremendous importance.
The next morning we anchored the _Anti-Kaiser_ over the spot where thesunken U-boat lay. We brought the little _Titian_ along with which wecould run errands. Scotty's work consisted of standing watch andlooking out for all kinds of danger, to use the deck guns, and take nochances.
It was slow work getting started, though the weather favored us.Howard was timid about the diving suit first, but finally grewconfident, and the fourth day without an interruption we had all thedrowned crew in the forward hold, and about everything else loose ofany value in the captain's, officers' and crew's quarters, which, as Iexplained, were separated by a water-tight bulkhead from thecargo-hold forward.
It was a very unpleasant, gruesome job. There were twenty-four,instead of a crew of ten or twelve, of the sunken cargo sub, the nameof which must remain covered until the Government sees fit to divulgeit. All had to be moved from a boat in sixty feet of open roadsteadwater, searched and photographed individually and in group, in bothcases showing as much of the faces as their condition would permit.Arduous, nauseating work and we were glad that it was over. I thoughtit would get on Howard's nerves, but they seemed of iron again.
Don had gone with the _Titian_ to get mail and telegrams for me, andpossibly hear from little Jim. We had eaten in the evening and weresmoking forward. Scotty patrolled as lookout as though serving on adreadnaught. Howard was quiet and thoughtful. I thought it was becausehe was tired and depressed after ransacking a wreck for dead Huns andhaving to fight swarms of sharks. I was congratulating myself ongetting a lot of supplementary proof of much importance, especiallythe records of the ship and the loading and sailing orders of thecaptain.
"Wood," he began quietly. "How much is that vessel worth; that is,what would it cost built now?"
"I don't know, Howard; what would you guess her dead-weight tonnage?"
"The last time I was down I went all around her. She is over threehundred feet long and twenty-five or thirty-foot beam, amidships,tapering a little toward each end."
"Perhaps five thousand tons?"
"I would guess her that big anyway."
"A submarine that size cannot be built at the present time for lessthan a million dollars; two hundred dollars a dead-weight ton, Ithink, is the ruling price now."
"The Government wants submarines now, don't it?"
"The Government wants all kinds of ships, anything that can carry aton of freight, Howard," I replied, looking at him sharply, but he didnot answer for some minutes.
"Supposing by any chance she could be floated, where would we stand?"
"I am not even an amateur authority on Admiralty laws. Practically,you would have a first-class, 'made-in-Germany' submarine to sell theGovernment after you had removed the cargo. Howard, do you--do youthink there is a chance?" I asked, intensely interested.
"I don't know. So far as I can see the hull, the outside shell isintact. It may be in the rivet joints aft. I do know that there was nowater in her freight hold, the inrush nearly killing me when I finallygot it open. With the water out of there and her submerging tanks, shemight rise."
"You think you are right; the freight hold is the biggest part?"
"At least two-thirds and if her submerging tanks are pumped out she isbound to come up, the long, dangerous work of raising the cargothrough the water is unnecessary and the sharks are pretty thick," hesaid, looking out toward the barren Tortugas, dotting the eveninghorizon southward. "And--and we would be rich, our fortunes would bemade."
"Howard, why do you use the plural?"
"Because this time you have got to take it. This is to be afifty-fifty deal. You are not going to get away from me again. Youtold me how to get turpentine and rosin from stumps and then walkedaway, leaving me to feel like an ingrate for not making you takehalf. No, sir, you will never have another chance to serve me thatway. Half is yours this time. You've got to take it."
"Howard, I understand the spirit that moves you. I am glad your big,generous heart is working again normally, but there are two goodreasons why you must count me out. First, by reason of my employment,it is forbidden, absolutely forbidden, and again, I have no interesteither by discovery or recovery. Keep it--keep it for--little Jim. Shedid it all when she swam under water and hung a 'terror' to the Hun'sbow."
"I can recall that I accepted such a plea twice and felt like a dogfor doing so. I tell you, you are not going to get away from me thistime. There will be plenty, but, if there wasn't----"
"Don't bother about that now, Howard," I interrupted, "plenty of timeto count the chickens after they are hatched. I can see Don coming.Four days is a long time to be out of the world," I said, glad tochange the subject. I was elated that there was a prospect of floatingthe U-boat that told such a vital story. What more glory did I needthan to have been even indirectly responsible?