A CLOSE CALL.
CHARLEY'S eyes were becoming accustomed to the semi-gloom and a few
steps forward gave him a clear view of the dark object. One glance, and
he turned to his chum with a cry which was lost in his muffling helmet.
Before the two lads lay the wreck of a once stately ship, her masts
broken short off and a great gaping hole in her side. She had evidently
lain long in her bed amongst the coral and sponges for long tendrils of
sea moss streamed out from her barnacle-covered sides.
Someone had been there before them for the moss and marine growth had
been scraped from the vessel's stern revealing the name, "Golden Hope".
Charley turned from the spelling out of the indistinct letters to see
his chum beckoning to him wildly and he hurried to his side.
Walter was stooping over an opened box partly filled with what had
once been shining gold pieces but which were now tarnished and almost
unrecognizable in their coat of gray slime. The box had been recently
torn open as was evident from the freshly-splintered wood.
Charley sat down on the box's edge and did some rapid thinking. The
crew's excitement was now accounted for. They had not come upon a
rich bed of sponges as he had suspected but had discovered a treasure
such as men for ages have fought, struggled, and died to attain. The
half emptied box showed that the divers had already begun to remove
the gold. For a moment, the lad was puzzled to know how they had been
able to bring up what was missing without its being seen. There were
no pockets to the diving suits and they could have carried but a few
pieces at a time in their closed hands. A moment's reflection, however,
brought him to the only possible explanation; the gold must have been
sent up in the sponge basket hidden amongst the lumps of mud from which
it could have been removed by the crew without much risk of discovery.
But it was not the removal of the gold which gave the quick-witted
lad the most concern. The amount taken by the Greeks was likely but a
mere trifle when compared with that which remained. It was the effects
the discovery of such a treasure would have upon an already unruly
crew that he feared. As he had said to Walter but the day before, he
believed it needed but a trifle to fan the Greeks' growing discontent
into open mutiny. Here was riches enough to tempt the most steady band
of sailors and it was but reasonable to suppose that it would tempt
the lawless Greeks to deeds of violence and bloodshed. These thoughts
surged through the lad's mind in far less time than it has taken to
tell of them. He would have liked to have talked the matter over with
his chum and settled upon the wisest plan to follow, but that was
impossible below the surface and signs were useless to convey exact
ideas. He must decide alone upon their immediate course of action and
trust to Walter's quick wit to fall in with what he decided upon.
Arising he turned to his chum and laid one finger across his lips.
Walter nodded his ponderous head-piece to show that he understood the
sign for silence regarding their discovery.
Taking up his sponge basket, Charley retraced his steps to the spot
where they had descended followed by his observant chum. Here the
sponges grew in abundance and he at once began to fill his basket, an
example which Walter immediately followed.
As he bent over to tear up an unusually large sponge he became suddenly
sensible of an agitation of the water near him. Straightening up, he
stood frozen to his tracks with fear and horror. Not ten feet from
where he stood lay a gigantic shark, its belly gleaming white through
the clear water. Its little green eyes were fixed upon him with a
wicked unblinking stare. He let the basket drop from his grasp and
flung up his arms with an unreasoning instinct to protect his head from
the impending attack. At his sudden movement the great fish darted
away. Evidently, it was equally as frightened of the strange unknown
monster it had encountered.
The shock had left the frightened lad weak and trembling and he had to
rest a few minutes before he could resume the filling of his basket.
As he placed the last sponge in the basket he turned to signal to his
chum to ascend, but Walter was already gone, his figure, grotesque in
the diving suit, was already well up from the bottom and shooting up
with astonishing swiftness. At the same moment Charley became aware of
a strange sickening sensation. He was choking and gasping for breath.
Before he could realize what had happened the frightful sensation had
passed and he was able to breathe fully and freely, and he felt himself
being pulled swiftly to the surface.
In a moment he was hoisted above the surface, hauled aboard the boat
and his helmet removed. The captain, white-faced and shaken was leaning
against the mast his revolver in his hand. Chris, ashen-hued, and a
sailor, was still pumping faintly. Close beside the air pump lay Manuel
in apparent unconsciousness.
"What's happened?" Charley cried.
"Manuel keeled over in a fit or something," said the captain, brokenly.
"I thought you would both be dead before we could get you to the
surface. It seemed ages before I could get Chris to the pump and the
fellows to hauling you up. They seemed to move mighty slow 'till I
threatened to shoot. They maybe didn't understand what I said but the
sight of the gun made 'em more lively," he concluded, grimly.
Charley walked over to the prostrate Greek and stood gazing down at his
upturned face.
"He has no business to faint when he's working the air pump," he said
savagely. "I guess I'll kick him a good hard one in the face for
punishment."
The manly lad had no such intention of carrying out such a brutal
threat but he wanted to test whether the treacherous Greek was, as he
suspected, really shamming.
The prostrate man's features twitched, he sighed heavily and rolled
over on his side, Charley's suspicions were confirmed.
"Captain," said the lad distinctly, "if anything happens to Walter and
I when we are below the surface, I want you to shoot this man without
the slightest hesitation. He is the only one who can understand your
orders and he must be made responsible for our safety."
"I'll shoot him the first time anything goes wrong," the captain
declared wrathfully, as he caught the wink of Charley's eye. "I feel
like killing him now, for the fright he gave me."
The shamming Greek did not seem to relish this threatening talk. He
showed signs of surprisingly rapid recovery. In a few minutes he was
able to sit up and look around.
"I am overjoyed to find you both alive," he said faintly to the two
boys. "Everything grew suddenly black before me when I was pumping and
I knew no more. It is my heart, it troubles me at times. You young
gentlemen must go down no more, it is too risky."
"We have had enough of it for to-day, but we may try it again
to-morrow," Charley replied, cheerfully. "It is very beautiful and
interesting down below."
"I hope you avoided the bad place on the bottom," said the Greek,
anxiously. "The divers say it is a dangerous hole."
"You must think we are fools to venture near such a place," said
Charley, indignantly, and the man looked greatly relieved.
Above all, the prudent lad wished to keep the crew from thinking that
he and Walter had come upon the treasure. As long as they believed
them ignorant of its existence they would likely continue the work of
secretly removing it without open violence.
He could not talk over the matter with his chums without danger of
being overheard, and he was forced to appear unconcerned and look on
with indifference while the divers sent up basket after basket of
sponges, in every load of which he was convinced was hidden several
hundred dollars of the gold coins.
He greatly admired Walter's manner. The lad chattered over the
beautiful gardens they had seen below without a hint in his voice or
manner of the secret they had stumbled upon.
From time to time the crew shot glances of scowling suspicion at
the little group, but they were evidently reassured by the boys'
cheerfulness and apparent unconcern.
It was like sitting beside a powder mine with a lighted fuse in it, and
both lads were greatly relieved when the long day dragged away to its
close and the diving boat was headed back for the schooner.
They were met at the schooner's rail by the cook who seemed greatly
excited and who greeted them with a torrent of rapidly spoken words.
Manuel listened with a look of sadness, real or assumed, on his face.
"He says," he interpreted swiftly, "that the wounded man went suddenly
crazy this morning and flung himself into the sea."