IN A DIVING BELL
Down and down went the bell.
The spot chosen was about five hundred feet to the northward of where
the bell had gone down before--directly over the valley the divers had
discovered.
Amos Fearless was of the opinion that if the _Happy Hour_ was at all in
that vicinity she must lie at the bottom of the valley.
The dark zone of waters was passed, and now they came into the light
once more.
The water was warm and as clear as crystal, showing nothing of the dye
and foam produced by the battle of the deep-sea monsters.
A number of curious fish sailed past the diving bell--fish which they
had not seen before.
One was jet-black and shaped exactly like a pillow tied in the middle.
Another was red, white, and blue, with six eyes which shone like stars
of silver.
"That's a regular starry-flag fish," was Dave's comment. "I wonder if
we can take the sight of that for a good sign?"
"Let us hope so," answered Amos Fearless, in his sign language.
The old diver's voice was gradually improving, and that morning he had
spoken a few words to Dave in a hoarse whisper.
At last they came in sight of that mossy plain, which, the day before,
had almost been the scene of their death.
The diving bell was halted and they gazed around sharply for some sign
of the demons.
Not a monster of the deep was in sight.
The moss was torn up on all sides, and here and there lay parts of
bodies and bones, but that was all.
"Perhaps they all killed each other," suggested Dave.
"Let us hope so," came from his father.
The mossy plain was now passed, and gradually the diving bell slipped
down the slope of the valley beyond.
Here the light was not so good and they had to turn on the electricity.
At the bottom of the valley grew a number of submarine trees and
bushes, with vines which sent up their swaying bodies several hundreds
of feet into the crystal-like water.
At last the diving bell came to a stop at the very bottom of the
valley, among the trees.
They signaled to stop lowering and then brought out a tiny searchlight
which had been brought along.
This was swept in every direction.
Suddenly Dave uttered an exclamation:
"Look! There is something which resembles a ship's stern!"
The young diver was right. Far down the valley his eye had beheld some
woodwork, half buried in the muck and moss.
In a few minutes both father and son were working the claw-like feet of
the diving bell and moving toward the wreckage in crab-like fashion.
As they advanced they saw a dark object above them coming down swiftly.
Amos Fearless caught his son by the arm and both drew back.
Then Dave gave a start.
The dark object was the diving bell from the _Raven_!
The bell contained Cal Vixen, Lemuel Hankers, and Bart.
Dave motioned to his father in the sign language of the divers:
"Come, let us get to the wreck first."
Amos Fearless caught his son by the arm and moved forward once more.
But the rival diving bell was between them and their object, and they
had to make a semicircle with their own diving bell.
The rivals now saw the bell from the _Swallow_, and as both bells came
closer, Lemuel Hankers shook his fist at the Fearlesses.
"You're a cheerful enemy," was Dave's dry comment.
Soon our friends were close to the wreckage, and Dave gave a shout:
"The _Happy Hour_! See, the name is on the stern!"
He was right, the wreck was indeed that of the ship for which they had
searched so long.
The second diving bell now came up and came to a standstill directly at
the side of the wreck.
But Dave was the first on board, and as Vixen approached he motioned to
the rival diver in the sign language:
"We claim this wreck, which we discovered first."
"We claim the wreck," returned Cal Vixen.
And he made several motions to Lemuel Hankers and his son.
It soon looked as if there would be a fight then and there, but this
would have been suicidal for all hands.
Yet when Dave and his father tried to enter the cabin of the _Happy
Hour_, Cal Vixen attempted to bar their way.
Instantly Amos Fearless seized the rival diver and hurled him back.
"Touch me or my son and you will pay dearly for it," he motioned to
Vixen.
At this the rival diver fell back, knowing full well that Amos Fearless
was not a person with whom to trifle.
Slowly and cautiously Dave entered the cabin of the _Happy Hour_.
His father followed, and at a respectable distance came Cal Vixen and
the two Hankers.
The cabin was badly wrecked, and in it nothing of value remained.
"I wonder if we can get down into the hold," thought Dave, and motioned
to his father.
"We will try," came back from the old diver. "But be careful, or you
won't get out alive."
The pair advanced with great caution, going down through the forward
hatch.
In the meantime the rival party entered the hold by the rear hatch.
It was very dark, and the electric light shone but dimly here, for the
water was so foul it contaminated the air they carried.
To the intense surprise of all, the hold of the _Happy Hour_ was
absolutely bare!
Dave could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses.
The great treasure was gone!
Their trip to the middle of the Pacific and to the bottom of that
mighty ocean had availed them nothing.
Father and son stared helplessly at each other and then at the rival
party.
All were equally dumfounded.
The rage of the Hankers knew no bounds.
Lemuel Hankers would not believe the truth, and had Cal Vixen go with
him and Bart on a thorough search throughout the wreck, and all around
it.
It was useless; the _Happy Hour_ and the vicinity were absolutely bare
of the first trace of gold, or, in fact, of anything of value.
With heavy hearts the Hankers party returned to their diving bell.
"The jig is up!" cried Bart, as soon as he was inside and could speak.
"Oh, what a sell!"
"I was mad to believe in it!" came from Lemuel Hankers. "And to think
that I have spent thousands of dollars on a fool's errand!" And tears
of miserly rage flowed down his cheeks.
"I reckon we might as well go up," put in Cal Vixen. He, too, was
disgusted.
They gave the signal, and gradually their diving bell began to leave
the valley at the ocean's bottom.
But less than quarter of a mile of the distance to the surface was
covered when there came a shock on top of the diving bell which sent
all inside sprawling headlong.
Then came another shock and the water began to pour into the bell.
Some great monster of the deep had hit the bell and cracked some of the
upper joints.
The collision showed those above that something was wrong, and they
began to haul in faster than ever.
But great damage had been done also to the monster, which was somewhat
similar to a deep-sea whale.
He became entangled in the guide line of the diving bell and was
hauled up to the surface in spite of himself.
"Hullo, what's this?" cried Captain Nesik, when the monster came into
view.
Then ensued a battle royal for fully five minutes.
At last the monster was cut loose and disappeared, with a loud splash,
into the ocean.
Then the diving bell was hoisted aboard and opened.
It was found that those inside had been almost drowned, and all were
unable to help themselves and had to be carried to the ship's cabin.
Here they lingered for many hours between life and death.
The diving bell was ruined, and it was doubtful if another search for
the treasure could be made by the Hankers' party.