Soon the Pullman car carrying little Jim, my star witness, was out of
sight, actually in the protecting arms of Uncle Sam, in the person of
Father Woburn. After getting Scotty we made for home--I mean
Canby's--as fast as the _Sprite_ would carry us. Howard was very
thoughtful 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 in
any form with us on a mission of such tremendous importance.
The next morning we anchored the _Anti-Kaiser_ over the spot where the
sunken U-boat lay. We brought the little _Titian_ along with which we
could run errands. Scotty's work consisted of standing watch and
looking out for all kinds of danger, to use the deck guns, and take no
chances.
It was slow work getting started, though the weather favored us.
Howard was timid about the diving suit first, but finally grew
confident, and the fourth day without an interruption we had all the
drowned crew in the forward hold, and about everything else loose of
any value in the captain's, officers' and crew's quarters, which, as I
explained, were separated by a water-tight bulkhead from the
cargo-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 name
of which must remain covered until the Government sees fit to divulge
it. All had to be moved from a boat in sixty feet of open roadstead
water, searched and photographed individually and in group, in both
cases showing as much of the faces as their condition would permit.
Arduous, nauseating work and we were glad that it was over. I thought
it 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, and
possibly hear from little Jim. We had eaten in the evening and were
smoking forward. Scotty patrolled as lookout as though serving on a
dreadnaught. Howard was quiet and thoughtful. I thought it was because
he was tired and depressed after ransacking a wreck for dead Huns and
having to fight swarms of sharks. I was congratulating myself on
getting a lot of supplementary proof of much importance, especially
the records of the ship and the loading and sailing orders of the
captain.
"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 three
hundred 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 less
than a million dollars; two hundred dollars a dead-weight ton, I
think, is the ruling price now."
"The Government wants submarines now, don't it?"
"The Government wants all kinds of ships, anything that can carry a
ton of freight, Howard," I replied, looking at him sharply, but he did
not 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 the
Government after you had removed the cargo. Howard, do you--do you
think there is a chance?" I asked, intensely interested.
"I don't know. So far as I can see the hull, the outside shell is
intact. It may be in the rivet joints aft. I do know that there was no
water in her freight hold, the inrush nearly killing me when I finally
got it open. With the water out of there and her submerging tanks, she
might 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 is
bound to come up, the long, dangerous work of raising the cargo
through the water is unnecessary and the sharks are pretty thick," he
said, looking out toward the barren Tortugas, dotting the evening
horizon southward. "And--and we would be rich, our fortunes would be
made."
"Howard, why do you use the plural?"
"Because this time you have got to take it. This is to be a
fifty-fifty deal. You are not going to get away from me again. You
told me how to get turpentine and rosin from stumps and then walked
away, leaving me to feel like an ingrate for not making you take
half. No, sir, you will never have another chance to serve me that
way. 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 good
reasons why you must count me out. First, by reason of my employment,
it is forbidden, absolutely forbidden, and again, I have no interest
either by discovery or recovery. Keep it--keep it for--little Jim. She
did it all when she swam under water and hung a 'terror' to the Hun's
bow."
"I can recall that I accepted such a plea twice and felt like a dog
for doing so. I tell you, you are not going to get away from me this
time. There will be plenty, but, if there wasn't----"
"Don't bother about that now, Howard," I interrupted, "plenty of time
to 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 to
change the subject. I was elated that there was a prospect of floating
the U-boat that told such a vital story. What more glory did I need
than to have been even indirectly responsible?