AN OCEAN MONSTER
Dave knew not what to say. Here he was accused of a robbery of which
he knew absolutely nothing. The very prison doors seemed opening to
receive him.
But while he stood there, not knowing what would happen next, an
unexpected friend stepped up in the shape of a stranger, who had been
reading in a corner.
"Excuse me, but there is something wrong here," said the stranger.
"That man is no thief, to my way of thinking."
"What do you know of this?" demanded the hotel clerk.
"A short while ago I saw that man come up behind this young man and
slip that pocket-book into his pocket. I thought at the time he was
playing some friendly joke, but it seems he was up to something more
serious."
At these words Pete Rackley turned deadly pale. He was caught in his
own trap, and he knew it.
"It's false!" he began. "I--I----"
"I saw the action, too," put in another stranger. "I thought it very
queer."
"We'll have the police investigate this," said the hotel clerk, and
told a hallman to call an officer of the law.
This did not suit Pete Rackley at all.
"I--I guess there is some mistake," he stammered, and turning, he ran
from the room and from the hotel. Although he had left a trunk
behind him, he never came back to claim the property.
"That was a queer thing to do," said one of the strangers to Dave,
after the excitement was over. "Is he your enemy?"
"He must be, but he is a stranger to me," answered our hero.
The trip to San Francisco was made without anything special
happening, and soon Dave and his father found themselves on board of
the _Swallow_, which lay at her dock taking on the last of her stores
for the long trip around the Pacific Ocean.
After a number of inquiries, Amos Fearless learned that Lemuel
Hankers had chartered the small steamer _Raven_, from the Wrecking
Company, and had set sail on his treasure quest the day previous.
"Never mind, we'll make up for lost time when once we get started,"
said Captain Broadbeam. "I fancy the _Swallow_ is a better boat in
every way than the _Raven_."
Two days later the _Swallow_ sailed with Mr. Fearless and Dave on
board as master diver and assistant.
The diving outfits on board pleased the master diver very much, and
he was likewise greatly interested in the diving bell the ship
carried.
"That ought to be just the thing for our work," he said to Dave, "if
they can let it down to where the wreck of the _Happy Hour_ rests."
"But two miles is a tremendous distance, father."
"I know it. I have never yet gone down over three hundred feet."
"Perhaps we shall fail."
"We must try a short distance first, Dave. We can't go down those
two miles at the start. Captain Broadbeam wishes us to go down
to-morrow anyway, to hunt for some strange fish, said to be in these
waters, a fish known by the scientific name of Eurypharynx
Pelecanoides."
"What a fearful name!" muttered Dave. "Is the fish as bad?"
"Yes, and worse. The monster is said to be all of twenty feet long,
with a head larger than a hogshead and a mouth seven feet across.
Its body and tail are covered with spines or stickers, and its teeth
are like so many large needles."
"Truly an ugly customer to meet," and Dave shuddered.
"I am afraid he'll be an ugly customer to bag--in a net or otherwise."
"Are we to use the diving bell?"
"Yes, we are to try it, but we are likewise to use our diving suits,
too---just to try both outfits," returned the master diver.
The next day the _Swallow_ reached a section of the Pacific where the
strange fish described by Amos Fearless was supposed to exist, upon
the bottom of the ocean bed, half a mile below the surface.
Diving suits were brought forth, and Mr. Fearless and Dave were not
long in preparing to descend.
Then the diving bell was adjusted to a long wire rope and let over
the side, and they entered this.
The word was given, and slowly but surely they descended into the
cold and dark depths of the mighty Pacific.
At a distance of two hundred feet the bright sunshine overhead began
to fade away, and at five hundred feet it was as black as night, that
is, some distance away from the diving bell. But around the bell
several electric lights in the apparatus made all as bright as day.
Down and down they went, the pressure on the diving bell becoming
each second more powerful.
At such a depth no human being could have lived without something to
protect him from a weight which was ever ready to crush anything from
the outside world.
At last the diving bell rested on the bottom of the ocean, and Amos
Fearless sent up the signal to stop lowering.
Then father and son inspected the ocean's bottom with much curiosity.
Here were numerous fish of curious shapes, but none of large size.
There were also sea crabs, with sharp claws and protruding reddish
eyes.
But no sign of the Eurypharynx Pelecanoides, the wonderful fish, of
which they had been sent in search.
"It seems to be safe enough," said Dave to his father, in the sign
language of divers. "Let us go outside and look around."
"But not too far away from the diving bell," answered the master
diver. "The pressure may make us sick, and then we'll have to get
inside again as quickly as possible."
Soon they were ready, and with a fresh supply of air in their
helmets, they stepped out upon the slimy, black surface of the
ocean's bottom.
At sight of them the small fish thrashed around wildly, and the sea
crabs scampered in all directions.
With caution they moved away from the bell to where the bottom
appeared to slope downward.
Here there was a large hole, and they wondered what might be at its
bottom.
Dave was well in advance, when of a sudden a strange sensation
brought him to a halt and made him glance to his left.
A shriek of terror burst from his lips.
The dreadful Eurypharynx Pelecanoides had appeared, and was making
swiftly towards him. The terrific mouth of the monster was wide
open, as if to swallow him alive!