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

by Victor Appleton

  CHAPTER III

  THINKING IT OVER

  "Father, is that you?" asked Tom. "Father hasn't been feeling well, oflate," he said to the assembled company, "and I told him to go to liedown. But he's hard to manage, and he won't rest more than ten minutesat a time. My father, I might explain, Mr. Hardley," Tom went on, "isactively associated with me in business."

  "So I have understood," said the man who had been introduced by Mr.Damon.

  "Dis Koku!" came the guttural voice of the giant from the other side ofthe door. "Koku want more work. Hall, him all clean. Maybe I help datno-good Rad now."

  "No you don't, Koku!" exclaimed the young inventor, with a laugh. "Youkeep away from Rad. You'll get to disputing again and interrupt me, andI have business on hand. Here, wait a minute. I'll find something foryou to do," he went on, opening the door to disclose the immense manstanding outside, a broom in his hand seeming like a toy.

  "Excuse me one moment," went on Tom to his friends. Taking up his desktelephone he called one of the shops, asking: "Have you any heavy workon hand this morning; lifting big castings, or anything like that? Youhave? Good! I'll send Koku right over."

  Turning to the giant who apparently had not paid much attention to thetalk over the wire, Tom said:

  "Koku, go over to shop number ten, ask for the foreman, and he'll keepyou busy. There are some five-hundred-pound castings that needassembling, and you can help him."

  "Good!" exclaimed the giant, with a cheerful grin. "Koku like bigwork--no like sweep. Good for women and Rad, but not for Koku!"

  "He spoke the truth there," remarked Ned Newton, as the giant stalkeddown the hall. "I never saw such a strong man. I'm afraid to shakehands with him, for fear I'll be minus a couple of fingers in theoperation."

  "Well, he's disposed of," remarked Tom, as he closed the door. "Andnow, Mr. Hardley, I'm at your service, as far as listening to yourproposition is concerned."

  "Thank you. I shall endeavor to be brief," remarked the visitor. "Am Icorrect in assuming that you have had some experience in submarinework? I believe Mr. Damon mentioned something of that sort."

  "Submarine work? Bless my hydrometer, I should say so!" exclaimed theeccentric man. "And not only in submarine, but in aeroplane! but youdon't need any aeroplanes, my dear Mr. Hardley. It's the submarine endof it that you are interested in, as far as Tom Swift is concerned. Nowgo ahead and tell him what you told me, and how many millions there arein it."

  "Very well," assented the visitor. "Have you ever had any experience inrecovering treasure from sunken wrecks?" he asked Tom.

  "Yes," was the answer. "And it is curious that you should ask me that,for my friend here, Ned Newton, and I were just talking about that verymatter. Here's what brought it up," and Tom showed the page from theSunday paper.

  "Hum! Yes!" musingly remarked Mr. Hardley. "That's all very well. Partof it is true; but I imagine most of it is the work of imagination ofsome enterprising reporter. Of course there is no question but thatthere are untold millions on the bottom of the ocean. The only trouble,as I think you will agree with me, Mr. Swift, is in coming at themoney."

  "Exactly," said Tom.

  "And will you bear me out when I say that if the wreck of a treasureship could be exactly located in water that is not too deep, half thetrouble would be solved?" asked Mr. Hardley.

  "A good share of it would," answered Tom. "That is usually the chiefdifficulty--locating the wreck. Nearly always they are anywhere fromone to five miles from where the persons seeking them think they are.And five miles, or even half a mile, is a good distance on the bottomof the ocean."

  "Exactly," echoed Mr. Hardley. "Then if I could give you the exactlocation of a sunken treasure ship, and prove to you that the ownershad given up the search for it, leaving it open to salvage on the partof whoever wished to try--would that be any inducement to you to makean attempt, Mr. Swift?"

  "I should want to hear more about it before I gave an answer," repliedTom. "As perhaps Mr. Damon has told you, I once went on a hunt fortreasure in my submarine. We found it, but only after considerabletrouble, and then I declared I'd never again engage in such a search.There wasn't enough net profit in it."

  "But there are millions in this, Tom! Bless my gold tooth, but thereare millions!" cried the excitable Mr. Damon. "Hurry up and tell him!"he urged his friend.

  "I will," assented Mr. Hardley. "I can readily believe," he went on,"that the cost of hunting for undersea treasure is great. I have takenthat into consideration. Now, in brief, my plan is this. I will joinforces with you, and bear half the expense if I am allowed to sharehalf the proceeds. That's fair, isn't it?" he asked Tom.

  "So far, yes," replied the young inventor.

  "Now then, to business!" exclaimed the visitor. "Will you join with mein searching for some of the wealth-laden wrecks that are rotting atthe bottom of the sea, Mr. Swift?"

  "Do you mean make an indiscriminate search for any one of a number ofwrecks?" Tom wanted to know.

  "I should want the understanding broad enough to include all wrecks wemight discover," was the answer, "but I have in mind one in particularnow. It is the wreck of the steamer Pandora which was sunk off thecoast of one of the West Indian Islands about a year ago."

  Ned Newton quickly caught up the page of the Sunday supplement andscanned the list of wrecks given there.

  "No mention of the Pandora here," he said.

  "No," agreed Mr. Hardley, "the story of this wreck is not generallyknown, and the story of the treasure she carried is hardly known atall. As a matter of fact, this money, mostly in gold, was to finance aSouth American revolution, and such matters are generally kept quiet.That is why nothing much appeared in the papers about the Pandora. ButI happen to know that she carried over two million dollars in gold, andI know--"

  "Think of that, Tom! Think of that!" cried Mr. Damon. "Two milliondollars in gold! Why bless my--bless my--"

  But the eccentric man could think of nothing adequate to bless underthe circumstances, and he subsided with a murmur.

  "Excuse me for interrupting you," he said to his new friend. "But Ijust couldn't help it."

  "That's all right," Mr. Hardley remarked, with a smile that showed tworows of very even, white teeth. "I don't blame you for getting excited.Does that interest you?" he asked Tom. "Two million dollars in gold,besides a quantity of silver--just how much I don't know."

  "It certainly sounds interesting," replied Tom, with a smile. "But areyou sure of your facts?"

  "Absolutely," was the answer. "I was a passenger on the Pandora whenshe was wrecked in a storm. I saw the gold put on board. It was nottaken off, and is on her now as she lies at the bottom of the sea."

  "And the location?" queried Tom.

  "I know that, too!" said Mr. Hardley eagerly. "I was with the captainjust before we had to abandon ship, and I heard the exact nauticallocation given him by an officer who made the calculation. I have itwritten down to the second--latitude and longitude. That will be a helpin locating the wreck, won't it?"

  "Why, yes," Tom had to agree, "it will be, but if you know it, then thecaptain and others must know it. And what is to prevent them frommaking a search for the Pandora if they have not already done so?"

  "The best reason in the world," was the answer. "The boat containingthe captain and the officer who gave him the ship's position was sunk,and all on board lost. The boat I was in was the only one picked up,and I believe I am the only one who knows exactly where the Pandoralies.

  "Now, here is my offer, Mr. Swift," went on the seeker after theocean's hidden wealth. "I will bear half the expense of fitting out asubmarine, or for any other kind of expedition to go in search of thewreck of the Pandora. I will furnish you with the exact nauticallocation, as I have it. And when the wealth is found and brought to thesurface, I will give you half--in other words at least a milliondollars! Does that appeal to you?"

  "I must say it is a fair, though perhaps strange, offer," conceded Tom."And a million dollars is not made
every day nor every year. But whatabout the title to this money? After we have recovered it--provided weare successful--will not some person or some government lay claim toit?"

  "None can successfully," declared Mr. Hardley. "As I told you, themoney was to finance a revolution. It was raised for an unlawfulpurpose, so to speak, and no one has a valid claim to it under thecircumstances, so lawyers whom I have consulted have told me. But ifthat is not enough, I have papers to prove that those who might becalled the owners have given up the search for it. More than a year haselapsed, and though I don't know just how long it takes to outlaw anunder-ocean claim, I feel sure that we would have a legal and moralright to take this gold if we could find it."

  "I should want to be satisfied on that point before I undertook thesearch," said Tom.

  "Then you will undertake it?" eagerly exclaimed Mr. Hardley.

  "I will think it over," Tom answered quietly--so quietly that distinctdisappointment showed on the face of the visitor.