Dave Fearless after a sunken treasure (2024)

"THE TERRIFIC MOUTH OF THE MONSTER WAS WIDE OPEN."—p. 28

OR

THE RIVAL OCEAN DIVERS

BY

ROY ROCKWOOD

Author of "Dave Fearless on a Floating Island,", etc.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK
GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

BOOKS FOR BOYS

BY

ROY ROCKWOOD

DAVE FEARLESS AFTER A SUNKEN TREASURE
DAVE FEARLESS ON A FLOATING ISLAND
DAVE FEARLESS AND THE CAVE OF MYSTERY

Copyright 1918 BY
GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY

PRINTED IN U. S. A.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I.Punishing a Sneak
II.The Hankers' Move
III.A Strange Hotel Adventure
IV.An Ocean Monster
V.From One Danger into Another
VI.Struck by Lightning
VII."I Cannot Talk!"
VIII.A Disastrous Hunt
IX.A Prisoner Underground
X.Dave Overhears a Plot
XI.Facing a Jaguar
XII.Well-Timed Shots
XIII.Surrounded by Savages
XIV.Another Capture
XV.A Door of Water
XVI.The Escape to the Coast
XVII.A Dash for a Rowboat
XVIII.On the Bosom of the Ocean
XIX.Fighting a Gorilla
XX.An Attack in the Dark
XXI.Dave and the Water Snake
XXII.What the Storm Brought
XXIII.On the Ship Once More
XXIV.Attacked by a Fire Fish
XXV.Left to Perish
XXVI.The Battle of the Fishes
XXVII.The Rival Divers
XXVIII.The Demons of the Deep
XXIX.The Escape from the Demons
XXX.In a Diving Bell
XXXI.The Treasure at Last—Conclusion

DAVE FEARLESS AFTER A
SUNKEN TREASURE

CHAPTER I

PUNISHING A SNEAK

"A million at the bottom of the sea,father?"

"That is what I said, Dave."

"It is a fortune!"

"There may be more than that. But I amsure of the million."

"And it would belong to us if we foundit?"

"Yes, every cent of it."

"But you say the Hankers lay claim tothe fortune," went on Dave Fearless, ahandsome lad of seventeen, the only son of AmosFearless, ex-sea captain and marine architect.

"Yes, Lemuel Hankers always did claimthe Washington fortune. His mother, youknow, was a Washington."

"But so was your father."

"Exactly; and the money was left to ourbranch of the family, no matter what theHankers may say to the contrary."

"And it was shipped from China to SanFrancisco in the steamship Happy Hour."

"Yes, but the Happy Hour belied hername, for she went down in the middle of thePacific with all on board."

"And the exact location of this wreck?"

"Was not known up to six months ago.Then the Albatross, making some deep-seafishing for the government, came upon somewreckage which proved conclusively that theHappy Hour had gone down in the exact spotwhich I have marked on the chart here."

"Do the Hankers know of this locality?"

"I think not. They were in Europe on apleasure tour when the report came in, and itis very likely that it escaped their notice."

"You must be right, for they are very rich,and if they thought they could add to theirfortunes they would fit out an expedition atonce and go in search of the sunken treasure."

"Right you are, Dave. But they wouldhave their hands full finding it, for you mustremember, the Pacific Ocean at this point isnearly two miles deep."

"Two miles!" Dave Fearless' face fell."Then we'll never see a single piece of thatgold."

"I have been thinking of the matter forseveral weeks, and I think I have solved theproblem of how to get to the wreck, if I canwork the plan I have in mind," repliedMr. Fearless, as he began to pace the floor of themodest dining room thoughtfully.

"And what is your plan, father?"

"It is this: Two weeks from to-day ourgovernment is going to send another ship tothe Pacific, the Swallow, under the commandof Captain Paul Broadbeam."

"What, dear old Captain Broadbeam,whom we used to know at Nantucket Light?"

"The same, Dave. He will be in fullcharge of the expedition, which is to soundthe depths of the Pacific, locate any newislands which may be brought to light, anddrag the bottom of the ocean for strange fishor marine animals, for the Fish Commission.For this purpose the expedition will takealong one of the new Costell diving bells."

"You mean one of those glass cages whichthey can lower to the bottom of the ocean andthen walk around on big steel legs, like anartificial crab?"

"Exactly. They say they work perfectly,and if that is so, we ought to be able to get tothe wreck of the Happy Hour and explore itwithout difficulty."

"We? Shall we go along with CaptainBroadbeam?"

"If my application as master diver isaccepted," and Amos Fearless smiled faintly.

"Then you've applied for such a position?"

"Yes. I did it as soon as I heard Broadbeamwas in charge. I know he will do whathe can for me."

"And what of me, father?"

"If I go, you shall go as assistant."

"Hurrah! Then the sunken treasure is asgood as ours!"

"Don't be too sure, Dave. Even if we aresuccessful, there is plenty of work cut out forus before we lay our hands on that milliondollars, or any part of it. We must—what'sthat?"

Mr. Amos Fearless broke off short and ranto the window of the cottage in which he andhis son lived. "A fellow running down tothe beach! He was at the window listening!"

"It's Bart Hankers!" burst from Dave'slips. "Bart Hankers, of all people! Hemust have heard all we said."

"That's too bad!" Amos Fearless gavea deep sigh. "I wanted to keep this asecret."

"The miserable sneak!" went on Dave,indignantly. "I'm going after him and seewhat he means by such conduct."

And before his father could stop him, thelad was out of the cottage and runningtoward the beach at his best speed.

As said before, Dave Fearless was a youthof seventeen, tall, well-built, and handsome.He had been brought up along the coast ofLong Island Sound, and had spent two yearsof his life in a lighthouse not far distant fromhis present residence in the village of Quanatack.

Following in the footsteps of his father,Dave had taken to the water naturally, andno boy on Long Island could swim better, rowbetter, or handle a sailboat more skillfullythan he. In addition to this, Dave had oftenbeen with his father when the latter wasworking at his trade as a master diver, andhe knew more about the work of a diver thandid many men who followed it for a living.

Father and son lived together bythemselves, Mrs. Fearless having died severalyears before. Mr. Fearless had once beenfairly well-to-do, but a fire, and the wildspeculations of a brother, now dead also, hadrobbed him of all of his savings and left himwith nothing but his hands to depend uponfor a living.

The village in which the Fearlesses livedwas not a large one, but it contained somepeople who were very friendly to the masterdiver and his son, and also contained somewho were just the opposite.

Among the latter were Lemuel Hankersand his eighteen-year-old son Bart. TheHankers were distantly related to theFearlesses, but as the latter were poor, therelationship was never acknowledged by theformer. Indeed, Bart Hankers took particularpains to snub Dave Fearless upon everypossible occasion.

Some of the snubbings flashed over Dave'smind as he sped after Bart Hankers, who wasrunning to where he had left a small boat tiedup at one of the village docks.

"I'll show him that he is not to play thesneak on us, even if he does snub me," mutteredDave, as he reached the dock, to findBart just entering the rowboat.

In a minute he was at the stringpiece ofthe dock.

"Hi, Bart Hankers, I want to talk toyou!" he called out.

"What do you want of me, Dave Fearless!"returned the rich youth, sullenly.

"I want to know what you mean by playingsneak around our house."

"Around your house? I haven't been nearyour house."

"Yes, you have. You just came fromthere."

"It's untrue. I have been up to Radley'sstore all the morning."

"I saw you and so did my father. You'rea nice sneak, you are, I must declare. If Iwere you I'd be ashamed of myself."

"See here, if you call me a sneak, I'llpunch your head for you, Dave Fearless!"howled Bart, angrily.

"Well, you are a sneak, so there!"

"So you want your head punched, do you?"

"If I do, you're not able to do the job."

"Won't I? I'll show you." And Bartleaped from the rowboat back to the dock.

"You were up under our window listeningto the talk between my father and me."

"It isn't so!"

"It's the truth."

"You say another word and I'll thrashyou within an inch of your life!" howledBart, working himself up into a magnificentrage.

"I am not afraid of you," answered Dave,calmly. The fact that Bart was two inchestaller than himself and weighed at leastfifteen pounds more did not daunt him.

"Will you take back what you said?"

"Instead of taking it back, I repeat whatI said—you are a mean sneak, and I wanteverybody in this village to know it,"answered Dave, in a loud voice.

Several boys and a man were fishing nearat hand, and now they drew closer to learnwhat was the cause of the trouble.

The man, who did some work for Mr. Hankers,sided with Bart, but the boys allfavored Dave.

"Pitch into him, Dave," piped in one ofthe smaller lads. "He puts on too manyairs, he does!"

"Don't you dare to touch Mr. Hankers,"put in the man.

"I will do as I see fit, Hank Shores,"retorted Dave. "Don't you interfere here."

"Never mind him, Shores," said Bart,with a sneer. "I can handle him well enoughalone, and I'll give him all he wants, too."

"A fight! a fight!" exclaimed several ofthe boys, and soon a fair-sized crowdcollected on the dock, for, in a village, a fight isa great event, to be talked over for many aday afterward.

"What's the trouble?" asked several.

"Dave Fearless and Bart Hankers aregoing to have it out."

"What started it?"

"Dave says Bart is nothing but a miserable sneak."

"You have got to take back what yousaid," blustered Bart, squaring off.

"I'll take back nothing," retorted Dave.

He had scarcely spoken when the richyouth struck out and landed lightly on hisshoulder.

As quick as lightning Dave returned theblow, landing on Bart's nose with justsufficient force to draw blood.

"Ouow!" howled the rich youth, andstaggered back.

"First blood for Dave Fearless!"

"Give him another like that, Dave!"

In a worse rage than ever Bart rushed atDave again and this time caught him on thechin, and nearly knocked him down.

"There's one for Bart Hankers!"

"He'll down Dave Fearless yet!"

As quickly as he could Dave recovered andrushed at his opponent.

Blows now flew thick and fast, and Davewas hit on the shoulder, on the chest, and onthe cheek.

But he returned every blow with interest,and Bart received a crack in the eye whichmade him see a thousand stars, and thenanother in the mouth, which loosened two of histeeth.

"Oh!" he groaned, and staggered towardthe end of the dock.

"Have you had enough?" demanded Dave.

"No."

Hardly had Bart answered when Davesquared off again. Bart struck out feeblyand Dave warded off the blow with ease.

Then Dave's left fist shot out, fairly andsquarely, and the rich youth received a blowunder the chin which lifted him off his feetand sent him backward with a loud splashinto the waters of Long Island Sound.

CHAPTER II

THE HANKERS' MOVE

"Bart's overboard!"

"My! but wasn't that a clever blow!"

"Dave is too many for him, even if Bart islarger."

So the cries ran on as all rushed to the edgeof the dock.

Bart Hankers had disappeared, but he sooncame up, spluttering and floundering aroundin a fashion to make many of those presentlaugh.

The water at the dock was not extra deep,and his head had become covered with blackmud from the bottom.

"You—you—rascal!" he cried, when hecould speak. "I'll—I'll have you locked upfor that!"

"Locked up!" cried several. "What for?It was a fair fight."

"Dave had no right to knock him into thewater," put in Hank Shores.

Bart Hankers' rowboat was close at handand into this the rich boy climbed slowly andpainfully, for he was still partly dazed by thecrack under the chin.

His wet and muddy appearance made manyin the crowd laugh.

"I say, Bart, you look as if you weredressed for the ball!" cried one boy.

"Now's the time to call on your best girl,Bart. You're in good shape for huggingher," added another.

"You fellows shut up!" growled the richyouth, shaking his fist at them. "If you don'tI'll make it hot for the lot of you."

"About as hot as you made it for DaveFearless, eh?" was the reply, and a shout ofderision went up.

Then one of the boys began to throw somefish bait at Bart, and in a minute half a dozenyouths were at it and Bart was struck inseveral places.

"Oh, I must get away from here," hemuttered and then cried to Hank Shores: "Rowme over to Purry's dock, will you, Shores?"

"I will," replied Shores, and leaping intothe rowboat, took up the oars. Soon the craftwas out of reach of those left behind. Butbefore Bart got out of hearing he heard thevillage lads give a hurrah for Dave Fearless.

"All right, Dave Fearless," he muttered,under his breath. "You 're on top this time,but I reckon my father and I will win in thelong run."

"He played you foul, Bart," said Shores,soothingly. He was little better than a sneakhimself.

"He wouldn't have been able to do it onlyI—er—I sprained my arm at rowing yesterday.That's why I got you to row for me,"answered Bart. But what he said about hisarm was a falsehood.

Half an hour later Bart Hankers enteredhis elegant home at the end of the main streetof the village and sneaked up to the bathroom,where he washed up and changed his wetclothing for a dry suit. Then he wentdownstairs and to the library, where his father sat,reading the stock reports in a New Yorkpaper.

"Father, the mystery is solved," he said,as he closed the door carefully, that nobodymight hear what he had to say but his parent.

Lemuel Hankers, a thin, yellow-skinnedman of fifty, looked at his son curiously.

"What mystery, Bart?" he asked.

"The mystery of the missing Washington fortune."

"You don't mean it!" And the manleaped from his chair in astonishment.

"I do mean it."

"What have you learned?"

"I know where the Happy Hour went down."

"Where did you get your information?"

"From the Fearlesses."

"Do they know?"

"They do. Quite by accident I overheardDave and his father talking."

"Indeed! Tell me the particulars," wenton Lemuel Hankers.

Without a blush Bart related all he hadoverheard while eavesdropping at the windowof the Fearless cottage. Hankers seniorlistened with close attention.

"It is a shame that we should have missedthis information when it came in," hemuttered. "We might already be on the way torecover the fortune."

"We ought to try and get that chart," saidBart.

"We won't want the chart. I can get thesame news from the government that AmosFearless has got."

"Let us go in search of the sunken treasure,dad. It certainly belongs to us."

"Of course it does, Bart. Yes, if thisnews is true, I will go after the missing million."

"But you will have to take expert diversalong, and all that sort of thing."

"I can do that easily. I own stock in theSan Francisco Wrecking Company, and it willnot be difficult for me to charter one of theirvessels, along with all the latest appliancesfor raising valuables from the ocean'sdepths."

"Then wouldn't it be advisable for us tostart at once?"

"I must find out the particulars of thismatter first."

"How will you do that?"

"The easiest way will be to make a trip toWashington."

"Then you had better go to-night."

"I will," answered Lemuel Hankers.

He was as good as his word, and the nextday found him at Washington.

He quickly introduced himself to the properparties and from them learned as much asAmos Fearless knew concerning the locationof the wrecked Happy Hour. That the shiphad been exactly located there could be nodoubt. But it was also true that the oceancurrents were gradually shifting the wreckfrom one position to another.

"If anything is to be done it must be donesoon," he said, upon returning home. "Thatsection of the ocean's bed is subject toearthquakes, and an earthquake might sink theHappy Hour so that no diver could find heragain."

"Then why don't you start for San Franciscoat once?"

"I will make up my mind inside of the nexttwenty-four hours," answered Lemuel Hankers.

"Of course, if you go you'll take mealong," went on Bart.

"I wasn't thinking of doing so."

"I don't want to stay behind. Dave Fearlessis going with his dad."

"But they are both expert divers and willdo their own work, while I will have to haveour work hired out."

"I don't care. I want to be on hand to seethe Fearlesses outwitted."

"Very well then, you shall go," answeredLemuel Hankers.

The next day saw the rich man and his sonon their way to San Francisco, to fit out anexpedition to hunt for the sunken treasure.

CHAPTER III

A STRANGE HOTEL ADVENTURE

"Father, I have news for you!" criedDave Fearless, as he rushed into the cottageall out of breath.

"What now, Dave?"

"The Hankers have left Quanatack andgone to San Francisco."

"Impossible!"

"It's true. They took the train for NewYork, and Sam Dilks overheard Bart ask hisfather what the tickets to San Franciscowould cost."

"That looks bad."

"And that isn't the worst of it. Sam alsooverheard them talking about the SanFrancisco Wrecking Company and heard Mr. Hankerssay he felt sure he could get the vesselwithout delay."

"Then they must be after the sunkentreasure beyond a doubt, Dave." Amos Fearlessgave a slight groan. "They'll get the startof us after all!"

"How about that job for us on the Swallow?"

"I have heard nothing new."

"If I were you I'd send a long letter toCaptain Broadbeam and let him know justhow we stand."

"I will do it."

The letter was sent that night, and then theFearlesses waited anxiously for a reply.

Two days later came a telegram fromWashington. It was from their old friend thecaptain and ran as follows:

"Both engaged at salary mentioned in letter.Report here without delay."

"Hurrah! We 're in it after all!" shoutedDave, flinging up his cap, and he danced a jigfor joy. "Now for the Pacific Ocean and themissing fortune!"

Father and son had prepared everythingfor a start from home, and that evening sawthem on the way to Washington. They spentthe night in New York, and reported at theCapital City at noon the next day.

"Glad to see you," said Captain Broadbeam,shaking both by the hand. "Come overto my hotel and we'll talk matters over." Hewas a round-faced, jolly old sea-dog, andnobody could help liking him.

At the hotel the captain was let into thesecret of the sunken treasure, in which heimmediately took a deep interest. WhenLemuel Hankers was mentioned he scowled.

"He is my enemy," he said. "He tried toget me out of my position so that some captainfriend of his could have the berth. I'dbe glad to knock the wind out o' his sails,consarn him!"

"Where is the Swallow now?"

"At San Francisco, all ready to sail."

"And when shall we go West?"

"Day after to-morrow, and you can goalong with me."

A long talk followed, during which AmosFearless asked about a diving bell.

"Yes, we have the very latest pattern onboard of the Swallow," answered CaptainBroadbeam, "and we shall also take along thevery best of diving outfits, deep-sea sounders,and drag-nets—better even than those on theAlbatross."

"Then we'll be fixed to go right ahead,"said Mr. Fearless. "But we must get aheadof Lemuel Hankers and his son."

"Trust me to do that, Fearless. But whenit comes to going down to a wreck as lies twomiles under the surface o' the ocean, why, youand Dave will have to do that part o' thejob."

"And we will," put in Dave, quickly. "Iknow it is a gigantic undertaking, but with;the proper outfits, I feel convinced that wewill get there sure!" and he shook his headconfidently.

In secret Amos Fearless promised CaptainBroadbeam twenty-five per cent. of any sumrecovered from the wreck, providing thegovernment would allow the officer to accept theamount.

It was not until late that night that theparty separated and Dave and his fatherretired to a room in another part of the hotel.

When they left Captain Broadbeam, a manin a room next to the captain's got up fromhis knees, for he had been down listening atthe keyhole of a door which connected thetwo apartments.

This fellow was named Pete Rackley, andhe was in Lemuel Hankers' employ.

"I'm onto their game right enough,"muttered Rackley to himself. "So they aregoing to outwit my boss? Well, I reckon not."

Before going to bed that night, Pete Rackleywrote a long letter to Lemuel Hankers,telling the rich man of what he had heard.

He felt that he must keep Dave and hisfather from going West to join the Swallow,no matter what the cost.

So he at once laid a plan to have Davearrested for supposed pocket-picking.

The next morning he met Dave in the readingroom, where he had gone to glance overthe newspapers.

Unknown to Dave he approached the ladand dropped into his coat pocket a pocket-bookcontaining ten dollars and a visitingcard upon which was written his name, PeterRackley.

Then he walked out into the hallway to thedoor of the hotel, stopped suddenly, and gavea cry:

"My pocket-book! It is gone!"

"What's that, sir?" demanded the hotelclerk, who happened to be passing.

"My pocket-book is gone! It must havebeen stolen from me!"

"Did it have much in it?"

"Ten dollars or more."

"Perhaps you dropped it, sir."

"Hardly. I had it quarter of an hour ago.when I was in the reading room. Ha, I haveit! That young man took it from me." AndPete Rackley started back to the readingroom.

"What young man?"

"The fellow who brushed up so close to meat the table. There he is!" Rackley ran upto Dave and caught him by the shoulder."You thief!" he ejacul*ted. "Give me backmy money!"

Of course Dave was taken completely bysurprise.

"Your money?" he repeated. "I knownothing of your money."

"You must have it. Sir, will you have himsearched?" went on Pete Rackley to theclerk.

"Certainly, he can search me if hewishes," said Dave, promptly. "I am nothief."

A few more words followed, and the clerkbegan to search Dave. Soon the pocket-bookwas brought to light, much to Dave'sastonishment and dismay.

"Ha! what did I tell you!" ejacul*tedPete Rackley. "Call an officer at once.I want this young rascal arrested on thespot!" and he caught hold of Dave again,that the youth might not escape.

CHAPTER IV

AN OCEAN MONSTER

Dave knew not what to say. Here he wasaccused of a robbery of which he knew absolutelynothing. The very prison doors seemedopening to receive him.

But while he stood there, not knowing whatwould happen next, an unexpected friendstepped up in the shape of a stranger, whohad been reading in a corner.

"Excuse me, but there is something wronghere," said the stranger. "That man is nothief, to my way of thinking."

"What do you know of this?" demandedthe hotel clerk.

"A short while ago I saw that man comeup behind this young man and slip thatpocket-book into his pocket. I thought at thetime he was playing some friendly joke, but itseems he was up to something more serious."

At these words Pete Rackley turned deadlypale. He was caught in his own trap, and heknew it.

"It's false!" he began. "I—I——"

"I saw the action, too," put in anotherstranger. "I thought it very queer."

"We'll have the police investigate this,"said the hotel clerk, and told a hallman to callan officer of the law.

This did not suit Pete Rackley at all.

"I—I guess there is some mistake," hestammered, and turning, he ran from theroom and from the hotel. Although he hadleft a trunk behind him, he never came backto claim the property.

"That was a queer thing to do," said oneof the strangers to Dave, after the excitementwas 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 withoutanything special happening, and soonDave and his father found themselves onboard of the Swallow, which lay at her docktaking on the last of her stores for the longtrip around the Pacific Ocean.

After a number of inquiries, Amos Fearlesslearned that Lemuel Hankers had charteredthe small steamer Raven, from the WreckingCompany, and had set sail on his treasurequest the day previous.

"Never mind, we'll make up for lost timewhen once we get started," said CaptainBroadbeam. "I fancy the Swallow isa better boat in every way than the Raven."

Two days later the Swallow sailed withMr. Fearless and Dave on board as master diverand assistant.

The diving outfits on board pleased themaster diver very much, and he was likewisegreatly interested in the diving bell the shipcarried.

"That ought to be just the thing for ourwork," he said to Dave, "if they can let itdown to where the wreck of the Happy Hourrests."

"But two miles is a tremendous distance,father."

"I know it. I have never yet gone downover 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 downto-morrow anyway, to hunt for some strangefish, said to be in these waters, a fish knownby the scientific name of Eurypharynx Pelecanoides."

"What a fearful name!" muttered Dave."Is the fish as bad?"

"Yes, and worse. The monster is said tobe all of twenty feet long, with a head largerthan a hogshead and a mouth seven feetacross. Its body and tail are covered withspines or stickers, and its teeth are like somany large needles."

"Truly an ugly customer to meet," andDave shuddered.

"I am afraid he'll be an ugly customer tobag—in a net or otherwise."

"Are we to use the diving bell?"

"Yes, we are to try it, but we are likewiseto use our diving suits, too—-just to try bothoutfits," returned the master diver.

The next day the Swallow reached a sectionof the Pacific where the strange fish describedby Amos Fearless was supposed to exist, uponthe bottom of the ocean bed, half a mile belowthe surface.

Diving suits were brought forth, andMr. Fearless and Dave were not long in preparingto descend.

Then the diving bell was adjusted to a longwire rope and let over the side, and theyentered this.

The word was given, and slowly but surelythey descended into the cold and dark depthsof the mighty Pacific.

At a distance of two hundred feet the brightsunshine overhead began to fade away, andat five hundred feet it was as black as night,that is, some distance away from the divingbell. But around the bell several electriclights in the apparatus made all as bright asday.

Down and down they went, the pressureon the diving bell becoming each second morepowerful.

At such a depth no human being could havelived without something to protect him froma weight which was ever ready to crushanything from the outside world.

At last the diving bell rested on the bottomof the ocean, and Amos Fearless sent up thesignal to stop lowering.

Then father and son inspected the ocean'sbottom with much curiosity.

Here were numerous fish of curious shapes,but none of large size. There were also seacrabs, with sharp claws and protruding reddish eyes.

But no sign of the Eurypharynx Pelecanoides,the wonderful fish, of which they hadbeen sent in search.

"It seems to be safe enough," said Daveto his father, in the sign language of divers."Let us go outside and look around."

"But not too far away from the divingbell," answered the master diver. "Thepressure may make us sick, and then we'll haveto get inside again as quickly as possible."

Soon they were ready, and with a fresh supplyof air in their helmets, they stepped outupon the slimy, black surface of the ocean'sbottom.

At sight of them the small fish thrashedaround wildly, and the sea crabs scamperedin all directions.

With caution they moved away from thebell to where the bottom appeared to slopedownward.

Here there was a large hole, and theywondered what might be at its bottom.

Dave was well in advance, when of a suddena strange sensation brought him to a haltand made him glance to his left.

A shriek of terror burst from his lips.

The dreadful Eurypharynx Pelecanoideshad appeared, and was making swiftlytowards him. The terrific mouth of themonster was wide open, as if to swallow himalive!

CHAPTER V

FROM ONE DANGER INTO ANOTHER

"I am lost!"

Such was the agonizing thought whichcrossed Dave Fearless' mind when he beheldhimself confronted by the fish known as theEurypharynx Pelecanoides, commonly calledthe Sea Devil of the Ocean's Bottom.

The monster was all of twenty feet long,with a head closely resembling a black rubberballoon. Its eyes shone like two electric-lightglobes, while its mouth opened and shut witha strange, clicking sensation which wentthrough the young diver like the piercing of aneedle.

Dave's thought was to retreat to the divingbell, but this seemed impossible, for themonstrous fish was only a few yards off andapproaching rapidly. It looked as if in anothermoment all would be over and he would beswallowed alive, like Jonah of old.

A million thoughts rushed through hisbrain—thoughts of his younger days, of hishappy life around the lighthouse—and of howthe Hankers might yet triumph over hisfather and himself. In the meanwhile themonster came closer, and now it emitted fromits mouth a horrible green slime, with whichto cover its victim before swallowing him,after the manner of its cousin on earth, theboa constrictor.

But at this moment, when the youth seemedsurely lost, something happened as quickly asit was unexpected, and which changed thewhole course of events.

Through the black waters rushed anotherfish, long, thin, and exceedingly bony. Fromthe snout of this fish stuck a sword-like spear,fully three feet long, with a point like that ofa dart.

This was the Devil's Needle, another monsterof the deep, and dreaded by all othermonsters, for it is the deadly enemy ofeverything that crosses its path.

There was a strange, hissing sound, athrust, and the sword-like spear was thrustinto the side of the Eurypharynx Pelecanoides.

It was like sticking into an inflated bladder.

The water was at once dyed crimson andthe mighty ocean monster swept back andthen began to thrash around wildly, sendingmud and sand, slime and blood, flying in alldirections.

As quickly as it had appeared, the Devil'sNeedle now disappeared.

Too faint to stand, Dave sank back on theocean bottom.

But his father was close at hand, and withrare presence of mind he caught up his sonand carried him to the diving bell.

In another moment both were inside of themachine and had the door bolted.

They were now, as they thought, safe fromharm, and Amos Fearless lost no time in turningthe electric light of the diving bell uponthe Sea Devil of the Ocean's Bottom.

It was still thrashing around in a circle, butgradually its struggles became fainter, and atlast it lay quiet.

"He's done for," said the parent, in thedivers' sign language. "I will fasten him tothe bottom of the bell and then signal them onthe ship to haul up."

"Be careful," cautioned Dave. "Thatother fish may serve you as he just served thathorrible creature."

"We will move the diving bell close to thedead creature," answered Amos Fearless.

This was done without much difficulty, bymeans of a set of levers which connectedwith the artificial steel claws of the divingbell.

Then Amos Fearless went forth once more,taking with him a short chain, which he beganto fasten around the slimy and sticky body ofthe dead Sea Devil.

The job was a nasty one, but this could notbe helped, and therefore he made the best ofit.

He had just finished the work when Davesaw the Devil's Needle again approaching.

So far the fish had not seen Mr. Fearless,but now it spotted him and made a dart forwardas if to thrust the old diver through andthrough with that bony sword.

Dave's heart leaped into his throat, for heimagined nothing could save his father fromdeath.

But then came the thought of moving thediving bell into the fish's path.

He grabbed two of the levers and pushedthem down, violently.

Acting under the impetus thus given, thediving bell made a stride forward, directly inthe path of the Devil's Needle.

Crash!

Full against the steel frame of the bell camethe sword-like spear of the fish.

Another crack followed, as the spear wasbroken off close to the creature's snout.

The great shock stunned the Devil's Needleand it turned over on its side and sank slowlyto the ocean's bottom.

Realizing that something was wrong, AmosFearless turned, just in time to witness thebreaking off of the bony spear.

He started for the diving bell, then of asudden changed his plan of action.

One of the diving bell's steel claws lay closeto the Devil's Needle, and this he raised upand placed over the monster.

Dave, inside of the bell, understood, madethe lever work, and immediately the clawfastened itself around the body of thehalf-stunned fish.

Then Amos Fearless picked up the broken-offsword spear and re-entered the bell.

In a moment more the signal was given torise, and slowly the diving bell went up to thesurface of the ocean, dragging the bodies ofthe two deep-sea monsters with it.

"A glorious find!" cried Captain Broadbeam,when the two monsters were hoistedon board of the Swallow.

"Yes, but we don't want to make anothersuch find under the same circ*mstances,"answered Amos Fearless. And then he relatedthe particulars of the adventure on the bottomof the ocean.

There were two scientists on board of theship and they went to work at once to preparethe bodies of the two fish which had beencaught.

"That sword spear can be fastened onagain," said one of the learned gentlemen."And then the specimen will be practicallyperfect."

"Folks at home ought to see them alive,"said Dave. "I never saw such a horriblesight in my life!"

"These fish could not live in ordinarywater," was the answer. "See, the breathingapparatus on each is already bursting. Theycan only live at a depth of half a mile or more.If one tried to reach the surface by swimmingupward, it would only be committing suicide."

"I don't quite understand the reason forthat, sir."

"It is simple, my lad. You know the airaround us presses us on every inch of ourbodies, and we are built to resist thatpressure. An ordinary fish is built to resist thepressure of ordinary water. Such a fish asthe Sea Devil is built to resist the pressure ofhundreds of pounds to the square inch, andconsequently when it is brought up, the pressureinside is too great for the pressure outside,and that destroys the breathing powerof the marine animal," concluded the learnedman.

By evening the Swallow was on her waywestward once more and the scientific menhad the specimens almost ready to be placedin huge tanks of alcohol.

So far, nothing had been seen or heard ofthe Raven, but a strict watch was kept eachday for the Hankers' vessel.

But one more stop was to be made, at theisland of San Murio, and then the Swallowwas to proceed directly for the locality wherethe treasure ship Happy Hour had gonedown.

Day after day passed and nothing ofimportance occurred.

One afternoon there was some slight breakin the machinery and the ship had to come toa stop for a couple of hours while repairswere being made.

It was a hot day and several of the sailorsreadily obtained permission to go in swimming.

"I think I will join them," said Dave to hisfather. "The water looks cool and tempting."

"All right, Dave," was the answer. "Buttake care you don't get a cramp."

"If I do, you can bet I'll yell for help,"laughed the young diver.

He was soon in the water and sportingaround to his heart's content.

The sailors had allowed one of the smallboats to drift astern, and Dave swam to thisand showed several of them how to make deepdives and long stretches under the ocean'ssurface.

The party were in the midst of having a lotof fun when a thrilling cry came from theship.

"A shark! A shark! Beware of the shark!"

All gazed in the direction pointed out, andsaw a huge shark approaching rapidly, as ifprepared to devour one or another of them!

CHAPTER VI

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

"We will be devoured!"

"Swim for the ship, boys!"

"See, he is coming this way!"

"Save me, somebody! Save me!"

Such were some of the cries which rang outas the sailors swam, terror-stricken, in onedirection or another.

In the meantime the shark came on rapidly.He was a big creature, with a cruel-lookingmouth and teeth that were equally ugly.

At first he turned toward one of the sailors,who was swimming for the ship.

But a rope was thrown to the tar, and thishe grasped and was hauled on board with allrapidity.

Then the shark turned for another of thesailors.

But this fellow was making for the smallboat, and soon he was on board and safe forthe time being.

Then the shark turned swiftly and came forDave.

The youth dove at once, remembering thata shark can attack under water only withdifficulty.

But the boy could not remain under the surfaceforever, and at last he had to come up,this time somewhat closer to the Swallow.

But the shark saw him and turned again toattack the young diver.

It was a critical moment, and Dave wasabout to give himself up for lost when a shotrang out, followed by another.

Amos Fearless had been in the cabin whenthe shout of "Shark!" was raised.

Knowing at once the peril of the situation,he had caught a gun from the cabin wall andlost no time in hurrying to the deck.

The shark was still ten feet away fromDave when Mr. Fearless fired.

The first bullet struck the monster in theside, doing little damage.

But the shark turned his head to learn whathad hit him and in a twinkle Amos Fearlessdischarged the weapon a second time.

This time the bullet struck the sharksquarely in the eye and entered the marinecreature's brain.

Up leaped the shark, clear above the water,to fall with a shock that sounded like thereport of a cannon.

The water flew in all directions, drenchingall who stood at the rail of the Swallow takingin the appalling situation.

In its death agonies the shark hurled itselfa*gainst the ship, lifting its tail clear to therail and wrecking a portion of the woodwork.Then it turned and dove for the small boat.The sailor on board had just time enoughto leap out and dive, when the marine creaturestruck it with all force, smashing therowboat to atoms.

But that was the last act of the shark. Ina minute more it was dead, and floated on thebosom of the ocean close to the ship.

A line was thrown to Dave and the sailors,and all were hauled on board.

"My boy! My boy!" murmured AmosFearless. "What a narrow escape for you!"

"You saved my life, father!" repliedDave. He could scarcely speak, but the griphe gave his parent's hand meant a good deal.

Some of the sailors wanted to bring theshark's remains on board, to get the teeth,and Captain Broadbeam consented, and lateron, the scientists on the Swallow prepared theskeleton for mounting, to be sent to theSmithsonian Institution at Washington.

It remained very warm, and Captain Broadbeamlooked constantly for a storm.

"Almost all ships catch 'em in theselatitudes," he remarked to Dave. "This may bea long time a-coming, but it will pay up forlost time when it does come."

In this surmise Captain Broadbeam wascorrect.

Two days later, while the sun was shiningbrightly, there appeared a cloud to thesouth-west, scarcely bigger than a man's hand.

But the cloud grew larger with great rapidity,until it covered half the sky, and thesunlight was shut out and soon all became asdark, almost, as night. The wind began toblow and soon the waves were running higherand higher.

"We must run into the teeth of the storm,"said the captain, and gave orders to changethe course.

Presently it began to rain, and thenfollowed lightning and thunder which werealmost incessant.

"Never saw anything to match it," declaredDave, as he put on his oilskins andjoined his father on the stern deck. "Thisbeats those we had off Long Island all topieces!"

"Right you are, Dave," answered AmosFearless. "Take good care that you are notswept overboard."

The storm increased in violence until theSwallow was heaving and pitching as neverbefore. At one moment she would be ridingon the top of a very mountain of water, at thenext she would be going down and down intoa tremendous hollow that looked as if it wouldswallow up the stanch ship forever.

Captain Broadbeam surveyed the stormwith anxiety, for he realized that it wasunusually severe, and threatened the veryexistence of his craft.

The lightning played all around the metalworkof the ship, and the roar of the thunderwas deafening.

"You had better go below," said the captainto Dave and his father. "You can donothing on deck."

"Yes, we will go below," answered AmosFearless. "Come, my son," and he led theway down into the cabin.

All of the ports and doors had been closed,and the air was stifling in the shut-up apartment,but of this there was no use to complain.

All crockery, glassware, and other looseobjects had long since been secured, or theywould have been flung in every direction.

Dave sat down in a chair screwed to thefloor, and did his best to keep his seat.

At one moment he felt like pitching forward,at the next he seemed about to turn aback somersault.

The electric light burned dimly, for theelectricity in the air had affected the circuit.

"We can be thankful when we are out ofthis," observed Mr. Fearless, as he, too, clungto a chair. "I never dreamed it could blowso hard and keep it up. In our eastern stormsthere is generally a lull every few minutes."

"I wonder if the Raven is in this, father?"

"There is no telling. This storm-centermay be but a few miles in diameter."

"I am almost tempted to wish the Ravenat the bottom of the ocean."

"That wouldn't be right, Dave."

"I know. But supposing they get aheadof us and the Hankers scoop in theWashington fortune?"

"Then we will have to pocket our loss andmake the best of it."

"But our claim is better than theirs."

"Morally, yes. But you must rememberthat legally the fortune will belong to whoeverfinds it, for it was abandoned at sea manyyears ago."

"I suppose that is so."

"For my part, Dave, I believe that neitherof us will have an easy job to obtain thefortune. It is going to be a great task to evenreach the sunken wreck."

"Oh, I know that. But the diving bell willhelp us."

"It will help a great deal. But you mustremember the wreck may be turned over, orburied almost out of sight in the mud of theocean bottom. In that case we'll have a lotof work to do before any of us can get into theship and even locate the lost treasure."

"Never mind, father, the amount to begained will be well worth all the trouble wewill take to gain it."

"To be sure, for such a vast sum isn'tpicked up more than once in a lifetime, evenat the best. We can be certain—Heavens! what'sthat?"

Amos Fearless broke off short, and withgood reason.

A fearful shock had come, as a bolt of lightningstruck the forward works of the Swallow.

Then followed a strange hissing as thelightning played over the electric wires of theship.

A blinding flash entered the cabin, followedby a crack as of a pistol, and Dave, halfstunned, saw his father pitch forward acrossthe table like one dead!

CHAPTER VII

"I CANNOT TALK!"

"Father! Tell me that you are alive!That you are not dead!"

Such was the agonizing cry which issuedfrom Dave's lips as he gazed upon hisparent.

Amos Fearless' face was like chalk, hiseyes were set, and he certainly looked asif the breath of life had gone from him forever.

The Swallow was rolling and pitching sofearfully that for the time being the youngman could do but little.

Yet he raised a cry which quickly broughtthe cabin boy to his side.

"What's up?" asked the boy, and then,seeing the stilled form, he continued: "Ishe dead?"

"I—I hope not. But send Doctor Barrellhere at once."

Doctor Barrell was one of the scientistsattached to the expedition. He was a learnedman, and Dave felt certain that if anythingcould be done for his parent, Doctor Barrellcould do it.

The cabin boy went off with difficulty, andit was fully ten minutes before he returnedwith the medical man.

In the meantime, Dave laid his parent onthe floor.

By placing his ear to his parent's breast,he found that his father still breathedfaintly.

He was just pouring water over thesufferer's face when Doctor Barrell came in.

"What is the trouble?" he asked. "Hashe had a tumble? I do not wonder; I havetumbled twice myself."

"No, he has been struck by lightning, doctor.Please do all you can for him."

"Struck by lightning! In here? How?"

"The lightning entered on the electric-lightwire and he got the full force of theshock. I was partly stunned myself."

"I don't wonder. You can thank your starsthat both of you are not dead."

"But my father?"

Before replying to this query, DoctorBarrell proceeded to make a thorough examination.

In the midst of this, Amos Fearless openedhis eyes and stared around him, feebly.

But he could not move his tongue.

"He will live," said the doctor, slowly."But——"

"But what, sir?"

"He may not be able to—that is, he hashad a very heavy shock."

"Yes, yes! But what will he not be able todo?" questioned Dave, quickly.

"Perhaps I had better not answer thatquestion just yet, David. There is no use ofalarming you," and the physician turnedaway to prepare some medicines for the sufferer.

The night to follow was an anxious one toDave.

Despite the storm, which did not let up foran instant, he remained constantly by hisparent's side.

It was daybreak before Amos Fearless waspronounced out of danger.

He still lay in a semi-dazed condition, buthis heart-beats were growing stronger everyhour.

"In a few days he will probably be able tobe around," said the doctor, and then heturned away to hide his troubled looks fromDave.

The youth saw the action and was moreworried than ever.

As soon as the storm had abated and somethingcould be cooked, he had a bowl ofnourishment made for his father.

The sufferer swallowed a few spoonfuls,and that was all, and even that little wentdown with difficulty.

"Do you feel better, father?" he asked,soothingly.

Slowly Amos Fearless nodded. His lipsmoved slightly, but no intelligible sound camefrom them.

"Don't try to talk," went on the boy."Take it easy and you will be yourself in afew days."

Again Mr. Fearless nodded, and then fellback, to doze off again.

The next day he was strong enough to situp. The storm was now over and the Swallowwas proceeding on her way to the island atwhich she was to stop.

"You are better now, surely," said Dave,speaking as cheerfully as he could.

For answer, Amos Fearless pointed to hismouth and then made a motion as if writingon paper.

A sudden horror seized Dave, causing acold chill to run down his backbone.

"What is it?" he cried. "Oh, father,can't you speak?"

Again the old diver made a motion as ifwriting, and Dave hurriedly brought him apencil and a writing pad.

Quickly Amos Fearless set down the following:

"My tongue is paralyzed and I cannot talk."

As Dave read the words, his very heartseemed to stop beating.

His father had become a mute!

The shock was an awful one.

He turned to the doctor, who had just come in.

"See what my father has written!" hecried. "Oh, doctor, cannot something bedone?"

"It is what I feared," replied Doctor Barrell,gravely. "I have known of such casesbefore. I had such a case to treat inRichmond, about six years ago."

"And the sufferer—does he talk now?"was Dave's eager question.

Doctor Barrell shook his head, slowly.

"I am sorry to say he does not, although inevery other respect he is a perfectly healthyman."

"But my father—cannot you give me some hope?"

"Let us hope for the best, David."

"You will do all you can for him?"

"To be sure I will."

The day was a perfect one, but Dave wasutterly downcast and refused to be comforted.

The thought that his parent might remaina mute forever almost unnerved him.

"I'd rather lose the sunken treasure," hegroaned to himself.

At nightfall the Swallow came in sight ofthe island of San Murio, and dropped anchorin a little bay surrounded by palms and othertropical trees.

The scene was a beautiful one, and hadDave's mind been free from care he wouldhave enjoyed it thoroughly.

Amos Fearless was brought on deck andmade comfortable in a steamer chair.

He was gaining strength rapidly, and thedoctor expected the old diver to be aroundagain in a week or ten days.

But he could not use his tongue for talkingpurposes, although he had little trouble inswallowing food.

Early the next morning some of the sailorsfrom the Swallow were sent ashore for water.

"I wouldn't mind going," said Dave, inreply to a question from Captain Broadbeam."But I hate to leave father."

Amos Fearless overheard this and at oncewrote on a pad:

"Go, Dave, and have a good time. I'll beall right. This will be your last chance tostretch your legs on shore for many weeks tocome."

So the young diver went ashore with themen, and while the sailors filled their watercasks, Dave and a young engineer of the ship,named Bob Vilett, went off on a hunt, takingwith them a shotgun and a rifle.

They had heard that numerous wild goatslived upon the island of San Murio, andthought to bag several of these by way ofdiversion.

"And who knows but what we'll bringdown something larger, too!" said BobVilett, who was in his way quite a sportsman.

The Swallow was to remain at her anchorageuntil the next morning, so the pair hadthe whole day before them. Dave carried apouch full of food, and Bob a good-sized waterbottle, so that they were well provided, evenif they did not bring down anything wortheating.

"Take good care of yourselves," said CaptainBroadbeam, on parting with them."Don't run into danger."

"We'll be careful," answered Dave, and offthe pair set, never dreaming of the strangeadventure and the grave peril in store forthem.

CHAPTER VIII

A DISASTROUS HUNT

The island of San Murio is not over sixmiles wide by twenty miles long. It is composedof two lines of hills, with a deep valleybetween. The hills are rocky and muchbroken, and there are numerous waterfallsand tiny brooks, as well as cliffs and caverns.The growth of trees and underwood is dense,and Dave and his friend had frequently allthey could do to push their way along.

Both were in fine spirits, and Bob wasinclined to burst into song, only Dave silencedhim.

"If you sing you'll surely scare all thegame away," he said. "A wild goat will hearyour voice half a mile off."

"Right you are, Dave," returned Bob,"However, I can't repress my spirits whenI'm ashore. It's so much better than beingdown in the hot and stuffy engine room of asteamship," and Bob threw down his rifle andmade a handspring or two, after which heresumed his walk, feeling better.

A half-hour's journey brought them closeto the top of the first series of hills, at a pointopposite a small inland lake.

"Go slow now," whispered Bob. "Theremay be goats beyond."

They peered over the top of the hill withcare, and sure enough, down at the lake shorethey made out two large goats and two kids,all drinking.

"Take the one to the right, and I'll take theone to the left!" said Bob, in a low voice."Ready? Then fire!"

Crack! bang! went the rifle and theshotgun, and both of the large goats were seento leap up and back as though struck.

But neither was fatally wounded, and bothstarted to run slowly around the lake shore,to the line of hills on the opposite side, withthe kids following.

"Come, we had better go after 'em!" ejacul*tedBob, and led the way, and Dave followed,both reloading as they ran.

It was no easy task to reach the lake front,and by that time the goats were rushing upthe hills opposite.

"Fire again!" cried Dave, and blazedaway, bringing his game to its knees. Bobalso fired, but missed his mark. Then on theywent again, over rocks and stubble andthrough a mass of trailing vines, to whereDave's goat had gone down. The animal wasdead.

"Good for you!" cried Bob. "Now Imust do as well!" and away he went again,with Dave at his heels, anxious, if possible,to add the kids to his bag.

At the top of the second line of hills thewounded goat made a sharp turn to theleft.

On went the young hunters after him, neverdreaming of the pitfall into which they wererushing.

They were now side by side, and Bob wason the point of blazing away at the woundedgoat, in full view before him, when Daveclutched his arm.

"Back!"

"What's up?"

"Nothing's up, but we'll be down if wedon't take care!"

"What do you mean?"

Before Dave could reply, Bob saw what hadcaused the young diver to become alarmed.

They were walking over some moss andbrushwood, and the mass under their feet wasshaking like so much jelly.

Both started to retreat, but it was too late!Down went the mass of brushwood, at firstslowly and then swifter and swifter.

They tried to clutch at the sides of theopening, but in vain. Everything theygrasped gave way—sticks, moss, stones,bushes, vines. Nothing could stop thatdownward course.

The moss was dry and the dust filled theireyes, almost blinding them.

"We are lost!" gasped Bob, and then thedust got into his throat and he began to coughas though choking.

In the excitement of the moment, Dave'sshotgun went off, the charge passing directlybetween him and his companion.

After falling about twenty feet, the mass ofbrushwood became wedged tight for amoment, and stopped descending.

"Oh!" came from Dave. "Now we are ina pickle. How are we to get out?"

For the moment they scarcely dared to move.

Then Bob took a step forward and theyoung diver did the same.

Instantly the mass began to sink oncemore, at first slowly and then as rapidly asever.

Down they went—thirty feet, forty, fifty,sixty—a hundred, until the top of the hole waslost to sight and they found themselves theyknew not where.

Again the brushwood and moss becamewedged fast. But now they did not dare tomove for fear of dislodging it once more.

"We are lost!" came from the engineer."We'll never get out of this alive!"

"Don't give up yet," answered Dave,bravely, yet his heart felt like a lump of leadin his bosom.

"Where can we be?"

"Down in a mighty deep hole."

"I know. But is this the bottom?"

"There's no telling. We might—we aregoing down again!"

It was true. They were again descending,but now slowly, as if the passage below wasgrowing smaller.

"Shall we ever stop!" groaned Dave.

"It's all up with us!" came from Bob."We won't be able—gracious! Water!"

The young engineer was right.

The mass of brushwood had reached thelevel of some water at the bottom of the hole.

Down they sank, into this. First up to theirankles, then to their knees, then to theirwaists.

"We shall be drowned!" cried Dave.

"It looks like it," gasped Bob. "Heavensave us!"

Soon the water was up to their necks andstill the stuff under them continued to sink.

Were they to be drowned like rats in a trap?

CHAPTER IX

A PRISONER UNDERGROUND

"What's to do now?"

The question came from Bob Vilett.

The sinking of the brushwood had ceased,and he and Dave found themselves in wateralmost up to their chins, in absolute darkness.

"I'm sure I don't know, Bob," was theyoung diver's response. "We are in a tightbox, and no mistake."

"We can't stay here forever."

"True, but if we make a move we may sinkdeeper than ever, and then it will be all upwith us."

A dead silence of several minutes followed.Presently both of the lads grew desperate.

"We'll have to do something, that's certain,"Dave began, when of a sudden the driftwoodsank once more, and they found themselvesstruggling wildly in the black watersat the bottom of the hole.

They were soon over their heads, and nowfound a strong current carrying them theyknew not where. They had hold of each other,but soon the force of the water wrenched themapart.

Down and down went Dave, and turnedover half a dozen times.

He felt as if he must be journeying towardthe center of the earth, when he reachedout his hand and struck a series of smoothrocks.

He tried to hold fast, but this was impossible,and in a twinkle he turned over again,and then his feet struck on something of asandy beach.

Hardly knowing what he was doing, hestepped forward, and then found himself clearof the water.

This set him to running, and on he wentuntil he brought up with much force against astone wall, and fell back partly stunned.

His feet lay in the water, but his head wason the sand, and thus he remained for fully aquarter of an hour, unable to move.

There was a strange ringing in his ears, andwhen he at last arose his head ached as if itwould split open.

"Oh!" he groaned, and staggered up thesand to the smooth, rocky wall.

Then he fell again, and did not move untilhalf an hour later, when his head feltsomewhat better.

Where was he, and how could he save himself?

These questions were easy to ask, but noanswer was at hand, and he sank down muchdisheartened.

Then he suddenly roused himself and calledloudly:

"Bob! Bob Vilett! Where are you?"

Again and again his voice was raised, butonly a dismal echo answered him.

Was his late companion dead?

It was more than likely.

The tears sprang unbidden to the youngdiver's eyes, but he dashed them away.

He must save himself, no matter what the cost.

He realized that he had been saved fromdeath by drowning only because he was usedto being under water a long time withouttaking a breath.

All divers practice this art, for possible useshould anything become the matter with theirdiving outfits while at work.

He felt in his clothing and found his waterproofmatchbox still safe.

Soon he had a tiny light, and seeing somedry driftwood at hand he set it on fire.

The blaze threw grotesque shadows on therocky walls around him, but revealed nothingto his gaze but those same walls and the silent,underground stream flowing between them.

He was entombed alive!

Gradually this conviction forced itself uponhim, causing him to shiver as if with theague.

Again he called out the name of his latecompanion, and again only the dull echoesanswered him.

He reckoned that he must be at least ahundred yards from the hole made by the sunkendriftwood.

To get back to the hole, therefore, was outof the question.

He thought the matter over for a while, andthen, taking up some driftwood for a torch,walked slowly along the sandy shore of theblack stream.

Presently he came to a bend, and here foundthat the stream shot downward, forming anunderground waterfall.

"I can't go in that direction," he reasoned."I want to go up, not down."

The stream was less than twelve feet wide,and did not run so swiftly but what he couldcross it without much danger.

Obtaining a fresh firebrand, for the firstwas now burnt out, he swam over to theopposite shore and began an investigation onthat side.

"Hurrah!"

The exclamation escaped from his lipsinvoluntarily.

The firebrand had dropped from his handinto the stream, leaving him in darkness.

Looking at the rocks, he had beheld a thinshaft of light striking down from some opening above.

"An opening! May it prove a way of escape!"

With a prayer for aid on his lips, Davebegan to climb the rocks as best he could untilhe reached a hollow ten feet above the stream.Here the light was stronger, and by applyinghis eyes to a long, narrow slit in the rockshe made out a broad cave beyond, the furtherend of which was wide open to the sunlight.

But how was he to get into the cave?

The opening was not over six inches wide,too narrow for the passage of his body.

The rocks were large, weighing severalhundreds of pounds apiece.

To move them would take tools, and he hadnothing.

Again in a state bordering on despair, hesat down to review his situation.

At last he leaped up, and clenching hishands, cried loudly:

"I must get out! I simply must!"

The cry was an inspiration, for, getting onhis knees, he felt around and found that twoof the big rocks were unsteady upon theirresting places.

He pulled away at the smaller stonesbeneath, and soon had them loosened.

He continued his labors, and presently, witha mighty crash, one of the rocks slid downinto the stream, disappearing beneath thesurface with a splash.

At once the light from beyond shot into theopening. He was free!

His heart gave a bound of joy, and quicklyhe scrambled through the hole and into thecave beyond.

This was a large affair, being at least fortyfeet wide and high, and several hundred feetlong.

"Now, if only Bob were safe, all would bewell," thought the young diver.

Without waiting to light another torch hebegan to move toward the outer opening ofthe cave.

But before he had gone half the distance hecame to a halt with a cry of dismay.

The cave was crossed by another undergroundstream, all of twenty feet wide, andflowing onward with tremendous swiftness.

It came out from under one rocky wall anddisappeared under the wall opposite.

Taking a bit of driftwood, Dave threw itinto the water, and it flashed out of sightinstantly.

"I can't swim across that," he thought,dismally. "To attempt it would be foolhardy."

Now what was to be done?

He examined the walls carefully.

They were perfectly smooth, thus affordinghold for neither foot nor hand.

"If the stream weren't quite so wide Imight jump it," he reasoned. "But I—somebodyis coming!"

He was right; somebody was entering thecave from the outer end.

The newcomers were two men, one dressedin the suit of an American business man andthe other in the garb of a sailor.

"We'll be alone here and can talk thematter over without fear of interruption," saidone of the pair, the man in ordinary clothes.

His voice sounded strangely familiar, andDave strained his eyes to catch a better sightof him and of his companion.

Then, astonished beyond measure, theyoung diver dropped out of sight behind arock bordering the underground stream hehad been trying to cross.

The newcomers were Lemuel Hankers, theman who had set sail in the Raven after thesunken treasure, and Pete Rackley, the rascalwho in Washington had accused Dave of robbing him!

CHAPTER X

DAVE OVERHEARS A PLOT

"They are here for no good purpose!"

Such was the thought which crossed Dave'smind immediately after making hisastonishing discovery.

As much as he wished to be saved from hispresent direful situation, he resolved to keephis presence a secret.

These men were his enemies, and by instincthe felt that Pete Rackley must be LemuelHankers' tool.

"I'll wager old Hankers had him try thatgame on me in Washington," thought theyoung diver. "It was done so that I couldn'tjoin the Swallow at San Francisco, and thatfather might remain behind, too, to get meout of the scrape."

Presently Lemuel Hankers and Pete Rackleycame so close that Dave could hear allthat was said with ease.

"It is a surprise to me that the Swallowstopped here," Lemuel Hankers was saying."Do you think she was following us!"

"Can't say as to that," replied Rackley,puffing away at a short pipe he was carrying."Anyway, she's here. Now what is yourgame? Out with it."

"The game is that I don't want theFearlesses to get at the sunken treasure,Pete."

"I've heard that before, Lemuel."

"You have always been my right-handman, Pete, and I know I can rely on you yet,even though you did make a fizzle of thataffair in Washington."

"I didn't know I was being spotted,"growled the sailor, for such Pete Rackleyreally was.

"My game is that you go aboard of theSwallow and ship with Captain Broadbeam.Tell him you are a castaway, and have beenhere nearly a year."

"But young Fearless knows me."

"You can dye your face and your hair andhe won't recognize you, I am sure. In thatsailor rig you don't look like the man youwere in Washington in a light suit and a linenshirt."

"That's true, too. But after I am on theSwallow I don't see what I can do to keepthem from going ahead to where the treasureis."

"I will tell you what to do. Wait untilyou are about a day out from here and thenwatch your chance and disable the machinery,so that they will have to put back for repairs.When the machinery is repaired, injure therudder, and that will bring them back again.Keep that up for about a month, and thetreasure will be mine, and if I get it, you shallhave ten thousand dollars in cold cash foryour work."

"It's taking a big risk," answered PeteRackley, slowly.

"And so is ten thousand dollars a big sumof money, Pete. It's more than you'll everget by working, and you know it."

"That's true, too."

"And if you are sly about it, you'll runvery little risk of detection."

"But how will I get on board of the Ravenagain?"

"After you have kept the Swallow behinda month you can let her go and desert, hidingin the woods so that they can't find you. Youcan provide yourself with plenty of food. Assoon as we have the treasure on board of theRaven, I'll come back for you and take youon board."

"You won't desert me!"

"I will not. More than that, I'll takeCaptain Nesik into the secret with me, and I'llleave behind all of my diamonds and mygold watch as an evidence of my goodfaith."

"Leave your boy Bart here for companyand I'll take you up, Hankers."

"I would even do that, Pete, but you knowwell enough Bart won't stay behind. He iscrazy to get the treasure and crow over theFearlesses. He even says he is going downhimself, in that new diving bell we broughtalong—just to show that he can work underwater as well as Dave Fearless."

"Then you must leave me all the stuff youcan, and you and Captain Nesik must promiseon your bended knees to come back for me.I wouldn't be marooned for twice tenthousand dollars."

"It will be all right. You can—hullo, whois calling?"

A form had appeared at the mouth of the cave.

"Are you in there, dad?" came the cry.

"Yes, Bart," answered Lemuel Hankers.He turned to Pete Rackley. "Come, quick!Do you accept my offer?"

"I do," answered the rascally sailor, andthe pair of villains shook hands.

"What are you up to!" went on BartHankers, as he came closer.

"Oh, we were just taking a look around,"replied his father, carelessly.

"Do you know that the Swallow is in thisport?" went on Bart, as he drew closer tothe underground stream.

"Yes."

"I wish she was at the bottom of thePacific, and the Fearlesses with her."

"You should not be so hard on them,"replied Lemuel Hankers, hypocritically.

At this Pete Rackley gave a harsh laugh.

"You're a good one," he remarked in alow tone.

"Hush; I don't want my son to know toomuch," whispered Lemuel Hankers.

By this time Bart Hankers was standingon the edge of the underground stream.

"Wish I could cross over and see what'son the other shore," he muttered.

So far Dave had kept silent, drinking inall that was said.

He realized only too well what a plot wasgoing on against his father and himself, andagainst the Swallow.

"If only I can get free, I'll show them atrick or two," he told himself.

Suddenly Bart Hankers uttered a cry.

"A snake! A snake!"

He was right; a long snake had appearedat the top of the underground stream.

It was a dangerous-looking reptile, eightfeet long, and with nasty green eyes.

Bart Hankers fell back in confusion.

But instead of climbing to the outer bank,the snake crawled out close to the rock behindwhich Dave was in hiding.

It was against human nature to remainhidden under the circ*mstances, and theyoung diver leaped up with all rapidity.

At the same time he yelled at the snake,and the reptile, much startled, dropped backinto the stream and was lost to view.

"Dave Fearless!" gasped Bart Hankers,as soon as the danger from the snake waspast.

"That boy!" came from Lemuel Hankersand Pete Rackley in a breath.

"Yes, it is I," answered the young diver,boldly.

"How did you get here?" demanded LemuelHankers, much disconcerted.

"Tumbled."

"Tumbled?"

"That is what I said, Lemuel Hankers.Have you any objection to my being here?"

"You followed us. You have been playingthe part of a spy!" cried the rich man.

"How could I have followed you, seeingthat I am on this side of the stream?"

"You leaped over."

"No, he couldn't do that, dad," interposedBart. "He must have come in some otherway."

"You overheard our talk?"

"I did."

At this Pete Rackley emitted a low whistle.

"In that case our cake is dough," he muttered.

"Not if I know it," muttered LemuelHankers, savagely. "Do you think I am tobe worsted by a mere boy?" And he shookhis fist at Dave.

All three of the young diver's enemies cameto the edge of the stream.

"How did you get where you are?"repeated Lemuel Hankers.

"As I said before, I tumbled."

"You are trying to poke fun at me."

"I was never more serious in my life."

"You think you are smart," put in Bart.

"What I think is none of your business."

"We'll make it our business," burst outLemuel Hankers, wrathfully. "Come overhere, and come instantly."

CHAPTER XI

FACING A JAGUAR

Dave was surprised. He had not dreamedthat Lemuel Hankers would carry hishighhandedness so openly.

"I cannot come over," he said.

"And why not?"

"I cannot leap the distance."

"Then swim across."

"The current is too strong. Besides, Ihave no more wish for your company thanfor the company of that snake which justdisappeared."

"Boy, you are a—a young scamp!" burstfrom Lemuel Hankers' lips.

"Thanks, but I don't wish any of yourbackhanded compliments, Lemuel Hankers.I am not half as much of a scamp as you area villain."

"A villain?"

"That's what I said."

"Don't you dare to call my dad names,"put in Bart, shaking his fist across thestream.

"I overheard your plot," went on Dave,ignoring Bart. "It's a pretty piece ofbusiness for a gentleman to propose."

At this Lemuel Hankers grew red and thenpale.

"You—you know too much, boy," he faltered."Come over here, I say. Or shall Ibring you?"

"I don't see how you are going to bringme. You can't get over the stream any betterthan I can."

"It's running very strong, dad,"announced Bart, who had been testing thecurrent with some chips. "I don't believeanybody can get across without a long plank. Hemust have gotten into the cave from the otherend."

"Then we can get in that way, too," putin Pete Rackley. "We ought to make him aprisoner," he added, in a low voice.

"I don't think you will get in," thoughtDave. "If you do, the chances are you won'tcome out alive."

A short talk followed, which Dave couldnot hear.

Then Pete Rackley left the cave on a run,to reappear a few minutes later with a good-sizedtree limb which the storm of a few daysbefore had brought down.

"Now we'll get him!" cried Rackley, andthrew the limb over the stream.

Dave was much startled. He knew notwhat to do, for to retreat was impossible.

Soon Rackley was over the undergroundstream, and Lemuel Hankers and his sonfollowed.

All three ran after the young diver, whor*treated to the extreme rear of the cavern.

Here Rackley caught him by the arm.

"You had better submit quietly," saidRackley. "If you don't, it will be the worsefor you."

Dave saw at once that resistance was outof the question.

They were three to one, and all armed,while he was unarmed, and still weak fromhis tumble and what had followed.

"You have no right to make me a prisoner,"he remarked, for the want of somethingbetter to say.

"We'll take the right," said Rackley, witha wicked grin. "Didn't expect to see mehere, after our little affair in the Washingtonhotel, did you?" he added.

"Perhaps you'll get left now, as you didthen," retorted Dave.

Rackley produced a rope which he hadbrought in with the tree limb, and soonDave's hands were bound behind him.

"I have an idea," said Lemuel Hankers."Why can't we leave him in this cave untilboth ships have sailed?"

"Just my notion," answered Rackley.

"You can feed him until the Raven getsback, and he will be kind of company foryou."

"I'll feed him if he behaves himself,"growled Pete Rackley.

All three of the others tried their best to"pump" Dave, but could get nothing out ofthe young diver regarding his father's plansor those of Captain Broadbeam.

"You must find out yourself," he answered.

He was made to march to the extreme rightof the cave, and here Rackley fastened himto a sharp rock which jutted from one of thewalls.

"There, I reckon he won't get loose fromthat in a hurry," said the rascal, after hisjob was finished.

Then the three evildoers withdrew to themouth of the cave, stopping at theunderground stream just long enough to removethe tree limb so that Dave could not cross thestream even if he did get free.

A quarter of an hour later the others wentaway from the cave, and all became as silentas a tomb.

If the young diver had been disheartenedbefore, he was now utterly cast down.

He was a prisoner of the enemy, and he feltalmost certain that Pete Rackley woulddesert him and leave him to starve.

No food had been left with him exceptingthat which was in the water-soaked pouch thathe carried.

And this he could not get at, for his handswere still bound tightly behind him.

An hour went by, and to him it seemed an age.

His thoughts wandered back to theSwallow. How was his stricken father gettingalong, and what did he think of his disappearance?

And what had become of poor Bob Vilett,who had accompanied him on this ill-fatedexpedition after game?

"Captain Broadbeam will most likely sendout an expedition in search of us," hereasoned, "but I don't think any of them willcome in here."

But then his hopes brightened a little.

Perhaps if the captain sent out somebodyto look for himself and Bob, thatperson might discover the Raven in thatport.

"If the Raven is discovered, father willfeel sure Lemuel Hankers has had a hand inmy disappearance, and he'll take the rascalto task for it."

Dave did not know that Lemuel Hankershad given strict orders to Captain Nesik, ofthe Raven, to keep out of sight of theSwallow, and that the Raven was now well hiddenin a little cove thickly surrounded by palmsand tropical vines.

In less than two hours after leaving Dave,Lemuel Hankers and his son rejoined theRaven.

"What has become of Pete Rackley?"questioned Captain Nesik.

"He went off by himself," answeredLemuel Hankers. "To my mind, he isn't justright in his head."

"Why, what do you mean?"

"He ran around like a crazy man, andbroke out into the wildest kind of singing.Said he was done with living on a ship, andwas going to become a hermit."

This story was told for the benefit of thecrew of the Raven.

In private, Lemuel Hankers told CaptainNesik the truth, and before nightfall thecaptain went ashore, pretending to look forRackley.

When he came back he announced thatRackley must be dead, for he had found hishat at the top of a high cliff overlooking theocean, and a part of his jacket on the jaggedrocks below.

That night the Raven pulled up anchor andleft the vicinity of the island. Beforemorning she was crowding on all steam, steeringstraight for the spot where the sunkentreasure ship had gone down.

On board of the Swallow there was muchanxiety when Dave and the engineer did notreturn.

Captain Broadbeam did not deem it advisableto acquaint Amos Fearless with the truestate of affairs at once.

When the old diver asked where Dave was,he was told that his son and Bob Vilett haddetermined to stay out until the next day.

In the meantime poor Dave remained aprisoner in the cave. His wet clothing gavehim something of a chill during the night,and morning found him sick and hungry, andalmost ready to give up in despair.

It was scarcely daylight when Dave heardodd-sounding footsteps approaching from theouter entrance of the cave.

He strained his eyes and at last made outa large wild animal.

It was a savage-looking jaguar, and hadtracked the footsteps of those who had cometo the cave the day before.

Presently the jaguar came to the undergroundstream.

Here it paused for a moment, then leapedto the other side.

It was now less than fifty yards from whereDave stood, a prisoner.

Suddenly the wild beast lifted its head,stared into the darkness, and gave a growl ofrage.

It had discovered the helpless boy!

CHAPTER XII

WELL-TIMED SHOTS

"I am lost now for sure!"

Such were the words which escaped DaveFearless' lips as he watched the approach ofthe jaguar that had entered the cave andleaped the underground stream.

The young diver had long since given uptrying to loosen the bonds which held him sotightly to the jagged rocks. Pete Rackleyhad done his villainous work well, and theefforts to get free had only caused the cordsto sink deeply into Dave's wrists and ankles,until now the blood was flowing freely fromthose members.

And it was this blood which the wild beastof the island forest had scented!

The growl of the jaguar echoed andre-echoed throughout the lonely cave, causingDave to shiver as with the ague.

It did indeed look as if the young diver'slast hour on earth had come.

"Hi, go away!" he cried, frantically."Go away! Scat!"

The cries caused the jaguar to pause whileyet fifty feet from the youth.

It had never before attacked a humanbeing, and the new experience caused it toproceed with caution.

But now it advanced again, crouching lowon the cavern floor, its two eyes glowing likeballs of fire in the semi-darkness of the retreat.

Nearer and nearer came the beast, untilDave imagined he could feel the hot breathof the jaguar upon his cheek. Then the tailof the animal began to oscillate slowly,showing that the jaguar was preparing to make aleap.

Bang! bang!

Almost deafening was the double report ofa repeating rifle as it rang throughout thecave. At the shots the jaguar leaped highin the air, turned over several times, and thenstretched itself in a convulsive death shudder.

Dave could scarcely believe his eyes andears. Who had thus unexpectedly come to hisdeliverance?

"Bob!" The cry was little short of ascream. "Where in the world did you comefrom?"

"From the bowels of the earth, I reckon,"was the reply, as the young engineer of theSwallow ran forward. "Is the beast dead?"he went on, as he halted at the outer edge ofthe underground stream.

"I guess he is," answered Dave, watchingthe jaguar for a moment. "You are a goodshot."

"I knew I had to kill him, or it would beall up with you, Dave. But how came youto be bound to yonder rock?"

"It's a long story. Take care of thatstream, or you'll go underground again.You'll have to get a tree limb, or something,before you can come over. I thinkyou'll find a tree limb at the mouth of thecave."

Without delay Bob Vilett ran out of thecave again, to return in a few minutes withthe very tree limb Pete Rackley had used forcrossing the stream.

Soon the young engineer was at Dave'sside, and a slash or two of a pocket-knife setthe young diver free.

Then both lost no time in quitting the cave.

Sitting down near the entrance, each toldhis story, to which the other listened withclose attention.

Bob Vilett had lost his senses after goingdown into the hole, and had recovered, to findhimself resting on a ledge in another cave,not far from the one Dave was occupying.

In trying to get out he had lost his way,and had at last emerged in the middle of atiny valley choked with brush, vines, andother tropical growth.

He had wandered around until chance hadbrought him to the cave where Dave was aprisoner, and he had been astonished beyondmeasure to hear his friend calling loudly.

"It was a lucky thing that I retained myrifle, and that the water didn't hurt thecartridges," concluded Bob. "Had it beenotherwise, the jig would have been up withyou."

"That's true, Bob, and I shan't forgetwhat you have done for me," returned Dave,warmly.

"Where have the rascals gone?"

"I don't know. Probably they have carriedout the plot they mentioned while here."

"Then the Raven has sailed."

"But what of the Swallow? Surely theywouldn't sail without us."

"I don't think they would. We must hunther up without delay."

"I must have something to eat first. I amas hungry as—as that jaguar was."

"Hurrah! I have it. Let's broil ourselvesa jaguar steak, just for the novelty."

To this Dave instantly agreed, and returningto the cave, they brought the beast forthand Bob proceeded to cut him up.

The steak was soon broiling over a firewhich Dave kindled, and the smell provedmore than appetizing.

The jaguar meat was tough and not of anextra fine flavor, yet they were tremendouslyhungry, and that made them less critical thanotherwise.

In less than an hour the dinner was over,and after getting a drink and a wash-up, bothproceeded on their way.

It was warm outside of the cave, so theydid not suffer much inconvenience because oftheir wet clothing.

"Now to find our way back to the Swallow,and with all speed," said Dave. "Whichdo you suppose is the right direction?"

"That way," and Bob pointed with his hand.

"And I was thinking it was in thatdirection," and Dave pointed at right angles tothe other course.

Then both laughed.

"We can't both be right," said Bob.

"Let us split the difference and take acourse between the two. Then we probablywon't go far wrong, Bob."

"Right you are."

On they went, into the valley which Bobhad traversed, and then up the line of hillswhere they had shot the goats just aftercoming ashore.

But now they found themselves confrontedby a deep ravine, partly choked with brushand vines.

"How are we going to get across that, Dave!"

"We'll have to walk along the bank untilwe reach some crossing-place," answered theyoung diver. "I am not going to risk atumble by taking a leap."

"Nor I. I have had tumbles enough tolast me a lifetime," and the young engineershook his head dubiously.

On they went, the way growing more perilousevery moment. They were at the edgeof a forest, and the top of the ravine waslined with loose rocks.

Suddenly Bob, having made a leap fromone rock to another, went down in a heap andgave a loud cry of pain.

"My foot! My foot!"

"What's the matter?"

"I've caught my foot under the rock!"

Dave immediately hastened forward, andsaw that his chum was indeed fast.

The foot was wedged in a crevice, and couldnot be budged until Dave rolled the rockaway by main force.

Then Bob grated his teeth and gave a deepgroan.

"My ankle! It must be broken! Oh, Dave!"

And with another moan he fell back in a faint.

If Dave had been alarmed before, he wasdoubly so now, and he scarcely knew what todo. He remembered passing a pool of watera distance back, and he ran to this, filling thewater bottle Bob had been carrying.

The water revived the young engineersomewhat, and in the meantime Dave cutloose his shoe. He found the injured anklemuch discolored, and swelling rapidly. Hebathed it, and this gave some relief, until thepain gave way to a stiff numbness.

"Now I am in a pickle," groaned Bob."Did ever anybody run up against such luckbefore?"

"Better not try to stand yet," repliedDave.

"Stand? Why, the pain would go to myvery heart if I tried it!" And poor Bob gaveanother groan.

Dave walked back and got more water, andafter another bath the sprained ankle wasbound up in some crushed leaves and somelinen torn from one of the youth's shirtsleeves.Then they made themselves as comfortableas possible on the rocks, and beganto talk over the new turn of affairs.

"Do you think I had better go on alone?"questioned Dave.

"I don't know. Somehow, I don't thinkwe ought to separate."

"I agree, and yet we ought to try to reachthe Swallow as soon as possible."

"That's so, too."

"Supposing I try to get over the ravineand to the top of the hill? I won't get outof rifle shot, and it may be I'll be able to spotour ship from the hilltop."

"All right, go ahead. But don't wandertoo far, or—gracious, look!"

He broke off short and pointed to a treegrowing close at hand.

The leaves of the tree had parted slowly,and now from between them appeared thehideous head and shoulders of a monstrousgorilla! The gorilla's eyes were bent uponboth boys, and the beast looked as if he meantimmediate mischief!

CHAPTER XIII

SURROUNDED BY SAVAGES

"He's coming down on us, Bob!"

"Jump and save yourself, Dave!"

Crack! bang!

The cries and shots were uttered almost atthe same time, and the air was instantly filledwith smoke, followed by an unearthly squealfrom the gorilla, who instantly disappearedfrom view.

But the beast was not seriously wounded,for the rifle balls had merely nipped his pawand his shoulder, and he was in a terriblerage.

"Is he dead, Bob?"

"Beckon not, for I can hear him climbingthrough the tree."

"We ought to get away from here, forthere may be more of the gorillas about."

"That's true. But I can't walk."

"I'll carry you."

And having allowed Bob to slip some extracartridges into the repeating rifle, Dave tookhis friend up in his arms.

He was just about to start down the ravinewhen the gorilla showed himself a secondtime.

He had armed himself with half-greencocoanuts, and taking aim, he let fly at Dave'shead.

"Dodge!" yelled Bob, and the cry camenone too soon, for the missile brushed overthe top of the young diver's head. Thencame several more cocoanuts, and Bob wasstruck in the side.

He could not stand the fusillade, andwatching his chance, discharged the rifleagain.

He only fired one shot, but this found itsway through the gorilla's stomach, andmortally wounded the creature.

Down dropped the cocoanuts, one at a time.Then the animal's hold relaxed, and hetoo came down, almost at the feet of theyouths.

The distorted, half-human face was terribleto look upon, and both Dave and Bob turnedquickly away.

"I never want to see another gorilla,"shuddered Dave.

"And I never want to shoot one," responded Bob.

Along the ravine went the young diver,carrying his friend upon his shoulder.

Two hundred feet of the rough way wascovered when they reached a spot where theravine might be crossed with ease.

Over they went, and then Dave set downhis burden and took a well-earned rest.

By this time night was coming on, and stillthey were at least half a mile from the sea-coast.

"We won't gain the Swallow to-day,"murmured the young diver, ruefully.

"And perhaps we won't gain the ship atall," responded the young engineer.

As is usual in the tropics, night came onsuddenly. The sun went down behind thetrees and the rim of the distant ocean, andsoon the stars shone out clearly and beautifully.

All was quiet save for the sounds of thenight birds in the thicket behind them.

To keep off the wild animals they built alarge camp fire, and at this cooked some ofthe meat they had brought along from thecave.

Bob's ankle was cared for several timesduring the evening, and the youth declaredthat it now felt much better.

They took turns watching during the night,yet little came to disturb them. Once Daveheard a wild animal approaching and broughtup the rifle, ready to fire on the instant. Butthe fire made the beast keep his distance, andhe finally slunk away without showing himself.

Both boys were up at daybreak, and Bobdeclared that he would try to walk upon hisfoot, at least as far as the seacoast.

A quarter of an hour's climb took them tothe top of the hills, and here they took a goodlook at the beach and the ocean spread outbefore them.

Not a sign of the Swallow was to be seenanywhere.

This was disheartening, and Dave's heartsank.

Were they really deserted?

"We can't see all of the beach from here,"said Bob, encouragingly. "See, yonderpatch of wood hides a good stretch from view.The Swallow may be behind that. And evenif she has gone off, remember that Pete Rackleywas to disable her so that she would haveto put back for repairs."

"And so far as he was concerned, I mighthave starved in the meantime," added Dave,bitterly.

"Yes. He must be a thorough rascal."

"He is. But no worse than LemuelHankers, to my way of thinking, Bob."

"Right you are."

They had to be careful in descending theside of the hill, for here were many treacherousstones, and neither wished to risk anothersprained ankle.

But at last they stood at the bottom, withthe ocean's shore but half a dozen rods away.

The foam from the breakers could be seendistinctly through the tall palms, and withtheir hearts beating rapidly they hurriedforward to where a long stretch of dazzling sandstood as a barrier between the woodland andthe water.

"No ship here," said Dave, soberly.

"This is not the spot where the Swallowcast anchor, Dave. The question is, was thatcove north or south of here?"

"North, I should say."

"This time I agree with you. Come, walkingalong the beach will be easy enough."

And so it proved, although the fierce raysof the sun soon made both more than willingto seek the shade of the overhanging palmsand other tropical trees which lined the beach.

At a distance ahead the beach curved, andas they approached this spot they heard asudden wild shouting, combined with a flapping,which was altogether new to their ears.

"Savages, I'll bet a dollar!" cried Bob."We had better go into hiding!"

"But what is that other noise?" queried Dave.

"I can't imagine. But come, don't stay here."

Both started for the forest, but themovement came too late.

From around the curve of the beachappeared half a dozen wild savages of the SouthSea type, and the two youths were discovered.

"Hi ki werra!" shouted one of the savages.He was armed with a bow and arrows,and quickly leveled an arrow at Dave, whowas nearest.

"Hi ki werra!" repeated the other savages,and they, too, leveled their arrows."The white demons! The white demons!"

"We are in for it now!" whispered Dave."Give them a shot from the rifle!"

"No, that would only make them mad,"replied the young engineer. Nevertheless, hepointed the rifle at the head of the nearestnative.

The effect was magical, for the savageimmediately threw up both hands and began toyell like a madman.

He had once seen a gun go off and a goatshot thereby, and he imagined the "whitedemon" was going to slay him likewise.

The other savages also came to a halt, andall lowered their arrows.

Then Bob lowered the rifle.

A long pause on both sides followed.

The natives did not know what to do, andthe youths were in a similar predicament.

One of the savages began to jabber awayin his native tongue, but neither Dave norBob understood a word of what was said.

"This is all Greek to me!" shouted Dave."Talk English."

"Englees!" repeated the savage, andshook his head. He understood that singleword, but no more.

"We want to be left alone," put in Bob."If you don't leave us alone, somebody willget hurt."

"Englees," repeated the native. Then,struck by a sudden inspiration, he advanceda few feet, threw down his bow and arrows,and held out his hands.

"He wants to be friendly, evidently," observed Bob.

"If it isn't a trick," answered the youngdiver. "I must say I don't like their looks."

"No more do I; but what are we to do, retreat?"

"Rather than fall into the hands of cannibalsI'd go back over the hills to the cave."

The native was coming closer, and he triedto put as pleasant a look on his face as possible.

But the effort was a failure, for he wasboth crafty and cruel, and this dispositionshone in every line of his reddish-black features.

"Go back!" shouted Bob, and raised therifle again.

Scarcely had he spoken when there came ashout from the rear, and looking behind them,the two youths found that they were surrounded!

CHAPTER XIV

ANOTHER CAPTURE

"We are in for it now, Dave!"

"Right you are, Bob. What shall we do,fight?"

"It would be useless, for they outnumberus ten to one."

And so speaking, Bob lowered the rifle oncemore.

It was well he did so, otherwise severalarrows would have been sent whizzingthrough his body.

In a few seconds the natives had closed inon them and taken the rifle and other thingsfrom them.

Then they were bound with thongs andcarted up the beach.

During all this time the thrashing on thebeach ahead had continued, and now the boyssaw what caused it.

In some unaccountable manner a whale hadbecome cast up by the breakers.

He was caught in some brushwood and afallen tree, but was doing his best to get backinto his native element.

The savages considered the whale a greatfind, and were doing all in their power tomake him their prisoner and kill him.

Scores of arrows had been shot into thehuge, blubbery body, and the beach was dyedcrimson with the blood of the marine monster.

Yet he thrashed around lively, and onenative who went too near was knockedsenseless by a blow from the whale's tail.

The fighting with arrows went on for aquarter of an hour longer, and in the meantimea long rope, made of vines and as toughas rawhide, was passed around the monsterand made fast to a tree back of the beach.

The whale fought to the last, but graduallyits struggles grew less and less, and finallyceased altogether.

Then arose a loud shouting, and rushingin, the savages began to dig at the body withtheir long knives and their war hatchets.

Some of the blubber they ate raw, much tothe disgust of the prisoners, who foundthemselves forced to look on.

"They are worse than Esquimaux,"muttered Dave. "Ugh! it makes me sick at thestomach."

"I wonder what they intend to do with us?"

"There is no telling. But I guess theywon't eat us so long as the whale meat lasts.They seem to relish that immensely."

The boys passed a dismal half-hour, andduring that time the savages cut up the whaleand carted the meat off in huge chunks.

Then a savage who was evidently a chiefcame up and ordered some of his followers tobring Dave and Bob along.

Still bound, the two chums were picked upby two savages, who seemed to count theirweight as nothing.

A journey lasting over an hour followed,straight into the interior of the island.

At the end of the inland lake previouslymentioned, the band of savages halted.

Bob and Dave were tied fast to two trees,and then the natives proceeded to hold acouncil of war.

They wished to question the lads, but notone of them could speak English.

Presently a loud chanting was heard, andfrom a distance the boys saw more savagesapproaching.

There were three men and half a dozenwomen.

There was likewise another man, but hewas white, even though his face had evidentlybeen stained a reddish-brown color.

This man wore an attire which was comicalin the extreme.

The suit consisted of a sailor's shirt andtrousers, the latter cut off at the knees, anda shiny stovepipe hat, the band filled withfeathers.

"Great Scott!" burst from Dave. "Lookat that scarecrow!"

As soon as the man in the silk hat appearedall of the natives began bowing and chantingin chorus, and this they kept up until thestrange one lifted his hands and let out apeculiar yell.

Then the stranger caught sight of the boysand ran up to them.

"Be th' eyes av Saint Patrick!" he cried,in a rich Irish brogue. "Who are ye, now;tell me that!"

"An Irishman!" ejacul*ted Dave, fervently."Thank Heaven, one man can talkUnited States."

"Who are you?" demanded Bob.

At this the Irishman took off the stovepipe,swung it into the air, and made them aprofound bow.

"Sure, I am Pat Stoodles, grand muck-a-muckav this wild tribe av haythins, castawaysailor from th' bark Emma D., high lord avthe island, and second cousin av the royalEmperor of Turkey, ha, ha!"

And he laughed long and loud, and thenshook hands.

"Are you putting this on for the natives'benefit?" questioned Bob. "If you are, letme say they don't understand a word."

At once a frown crossed Pat Stoodles' face.

He was indeed a castaway, and a solitarylife of several years had partly turned hisbrain.

When the savages had found him he hadacted so strangely that they had fancied hewas some inhabitant of the infernal region.At first they had wanted nothing to do withhim, but they had ended by making him somethingof a chief. In their own language theycalled him the fun-making high lord.

Pat Stoodles listened to their talk withinterest, but shook his head when theymentioned the Swallow.

"You are afther bein' mistaken about th'ship," he said. "No ship comes here. Whatlooks loike a ship is a vision in th' heavens,nothin' more!" And he clenched his fists.He had looked so long for a sail when alonethat the subject had turned his brain.

"Poor chap!" said Bob, in an undertone,"I don't believe he can help us much."

"Perhaps he can save our lives." Ourhero turned to the Irishman. "What willthese natives do with us?"

"Sure an' I don't know. Maybe they'llbe afther makin' princes av ye, me bouldb'ys!"

"We would like our liberty."

Pat Stoodles shrugged his shoulders.

"Ye can gain yer liberty on but wan nightav the month," he said. "That is whin th'moon is full an' they be afther havin' thefeast av the skulls."

They did not know if he was in earnest, orif the talk was that of a crazy man.

Having spoken with them for some time,Pat Stoodles turned to the natives and beganto jabber at them.

Evidently he had learned much of theirlanguage, for they listened attentively.

Then they brought the boys something toeat and to drink, and tried to make themotherwise comfortable.

But they would allow neither of them hisliberty.

Night came and went, and still the chumsremained prisoners of the savages.

Pat Stoodles spoke to them a long while inthe morning, and at last appeared to believetheir story of a ship.

"I will be afther lookin' fer her," he said."But it's more likely a drame. I used to beafther dramin' loike that meself." And thenhe disappeared.

The morning slipped by, and the boys werethoroughly miserable. At first the nativesleft them alone, but presently they came onone after another and pulled their noses, theirears, and their hair. One savage doused themwith dirty water from the lake, and alllaughed loudly at the trick.

Noon had come and gone, when of a suddenseveral shots sounded in the distance.

The shots were followed by a loud yellingof natives, and at once those surroundingDave and Bob ran off to learn the cause ofthe conflict.

"Something is up!" cried Dave. "Whatcan it mean?"

"I reckon we'll soon learn," answered theyoung engineer.

A few more shots followed, and soon afterall became quiet, the stillness lasting for overan hour.

Then a chanting was heard, and a body ofsavages appeared, having in their midst twoprisoners.

"Look!" cried Dave. "Captain Broadbeamand Doctor Barrell! Is it possible!"

He was right. The newly made prisonerswere the captain and the doctor, who had beensurprised while on a second hunt for themissing ones.

CHAPTER XV

A DOOR OF WATER

"Dave Fearless! And Bob Vilett! ThankHeaven you are not dead!"

So spoke Captain Broadbeam as his eyesrested upon the two youthful prisoners ofthe savages.

The captain's clothing was torn, and therewere marks of blood upon his face, showingthat he had not submitted without a struggle.Indeed, both the captain of the Swallow andDoctor Barrell had fought to the bitter end.

"We have been hunting everywhere foryou," put in the doctor. "Some thought youdead, but we were not willing to believe it."

"Did a man named Pete Rackley come tothe Swallow?" questioned Dave, quickly.

"I know nothing of a man of that name,"answered the captain, "but there came to usa poor and forlorn castaway, who said he hadbeen alone on this island for nearly twoyears."

"Please describe him," said Bob.

The captain did so. Both Dave and Bobgave a groan.

"He is a fraud!" burst out the young diver.

"And he will wreck the Swallow beforewe can get back to her," added Bob.

Of course, both Captain Broadbeam andDoctor Barrell were astonished at these remarks.

"I don't understand," said the master ofthe ship.

As quickly as he could Dave explained theplot which had been hatched out by LemuelHankers and which Rackley, his tool, was tocarry out.

"It is dastardly!" cried both the captainand the doctor.

"And to think I took him on board, gavehim new clothing, and promised him pay untilwe should get back to the States," added thecaptain.

"Even now he may be wrecking my beautifulengine!" groaned Bob. "Oh, if onlyI had the rascal by the neck!"

The savages now interrupted the talk byseparating the prisoners, tying each to a treesome distance from the others.

Pat Stoodles was nowhere to be seen, forhe had gone off in an entirely differentdirection from that taken by the natives.

Slowly the day dragged by until night wasat hand. The natives were busy preparingthe meat taken from the whale, and for thetime being paid but scant attention to theprisoners.

"We must escape to-night," thought Dave.

Yet how was it to be accomplished?

Although the natives took little notice ofthem, one of the younger men of the tribehad been set on guard, to see that none ofthem broke his bonds.

At last darkness settled down on theencampment. At first the fire blazed brightly,but at last it died down, leaving the prisonersin gloom.

The savages gathered close to the campfire,the women by themselves, and were soonwrapped in slumber.

One native remained on guard, seated on afallen tree.

Suddenly a form appeared in the midst ofthe prisoners.

It was Pat Stoodles, but so transformedthat Dave scarcely recognized the half-wittedIrish castaway.

Stoodles was dressed in a suit of skins, andon his head rested a crown made of horn, setwith peaco*ck feathers.

In his hand the Irishman carried a long knife.

"I am the King of the Island Windjammers!"he cried, in a low tone. "I am sentto free the world! Avaunt, ye ghosts ofships! Begone, ye rats of my brain!Ha! and how is that, my bonnie b'y! An' that!An' that!"

Rambling on in this fashion, he quickly cutthe ropes which held Dave and Bob. Thenhe turned to Captain Broadbeam and of asudden he stopped with mouth wide open.

"Captain Broadbeam, or is it another avthim drames?" he gasped.

"Pat Stoodles!" cried the captain. "Andso you are the king of these savages. Releaseme at once!"

"I will! I will!" answered Stoodles, andcut the bonds, and also those of the doctor.

All this time the savage on guard was lookingon in silence, for he dared not interferewith the doings of Stoodles. Yet he grewuneasy when he saw all the prisonersliberated and saw the Irishman shake CaptainBroadbeam by the hand. He gave a suddenand shrill cry.

Quick as a flash Stoodles turned upon him.

"That's fer ye!" roared the Irishman, andknocked him flat with a blow of his fist.

"Quick, we must get away!" cried Dave."See, all of the savages are awake!"

He spoke the truth, and the others felt thatthey must fly on the instant or it would be toolate.

"To the woods!" cried the doctor. "Perhapswe can hide!"

"I will show ye a spot!" put in Stoodles."I have a cave all me own where they won'tbe afther findin' ye!"

He led the way and the others followed,through the brush and up a hill back of thelake upon which the encampment was located.

It was a crooked and dangerous path, yetby keeping close to Stoodles they avoidedmany a nasty pitfall.

Soon they heard the savages on their trail.At first they were some distance off, butgradually they grew closer and closer.

"I can't go much further!" gasped poorBob. "My ankle pains me somethingawful!"

"Don't ye be afther givin' up!" said PatStoodles. "We'll soon be at me castle, whichall the savages on the island can't conquer."

They were now passing along the bed of asmall stream which flowed into the lake.Presently before them arose a beautifulwaterfall, twenty feet high and eight or ninefeet broad.

"That's the dure av me castle,"announced Stoodles. "Make a quick sthepinside an' ye'll not git overly wet."

With this he dove straight into thewaterfall and disappeared from view.

"Gracious! What does that mean?" camefrom Dave.

"He is mad and has committed suicide,"muttered the doctor.

"Perhaps not," came from Bob. "Thatwaterfall may conceal the entrance to acave."

"Hurrah! I believe you are right,"answered Dave. "And I am for finding out,"and he took a step forward.

But the captain caught the young diver bythe shoulder.

"Don't be rash, lad. It may cost you yourlife."

Scarcely had Captain Broadbeam spokenwhen Stoodles reappeared through thefalling sheet of water.

"Come on!" he cried. "Don't be afraid.The futtin' is safe enough," and again hedisappeared.

None of the others hesitated any longer.Dave went first, holding his breath as he tookthe plunge. To his surprise the falling bodyof water was less than four inches thick, andin a moment he found himself on a smooth,rocky floor.

"That's the greatest yet!" muttered Bob,when all were safe in the cave under theupper stream. "Don't the savages know ofthis?" he asked of the Irishman.

"Sure not. Once they followed me up thestrame an' I scared the wits out av thim,talkin' to thim from the wathers!" AndPat Stoodles laughed loudly, a laugh thatechoed and re-echoed throughout the cavern.

It was pitch-dark, but soon they had a light,and Stoodles brought forth a torch.

Then he led the way to a branch of thecave, on higher ground.

Here the flooring and walls were perfectlydry, and here the castaway had something ofa comfortable home, with a rude table, abench, a sea chest, and a cupboard with dishesand other household articles.

In one corner of the cave was a roughfireplace, the smoke of a fire going up throughhalf a dozen small cracks.

It was easy to see that the castaway hadnot always been simple-minded.

"I knew him years ago quite well," saidCaptain Broadbeam. "He once sailed underme. He is suffering for the want ofcompanionship. Many a castaway, you know,has gone stark mad through loneliness. Thesavages were really no company for him."

"Do you think he will get over it?" askedDave.

"I think he will," put in the doctor. "Ihave seen such cases before. Sometimes therecovery is quite rapid, when the castawaygets back among his own people."

Leaving the crowd seated around a comfortablefire, in order to dry their clothingbefore going to sleep, Pat Stoodles returnedto the entrance of the cave.

He was gone the best part of half an hour,when he returned in considerable excitement.

"The haythins have tracked us to thewaterfall!" he whispered. "An' wan avthim—Chief Walru—is thinkin' av thryin'to git behind th' water into the cave!"

CHAPTER XVI

THE ESCAPE TO THE COAST

The announcement that the savages weretrying to get into the cave under the waterfallfilled Dave and his friends with new alarm.

"You are sure of this, Stoodles?" questionedCaptain Broadbeam, as he leaped tohis feet.

"I am," was the Irishman's answer.

"We ought to be able to hold them back,"put in the doctor. "Can't we hurl them intothe stream as fast as they appear?"

"That's the talk," came from Bob. "Letus line up just this side of the waterfall."

"Perhaps we can scare them," suggestedDave. "I know all savages are verysuperstitious."

All made their way to the edge of thewaterfall, and Pat Stoodles showed them acrack in the rocks, at the side of the falls.

Here they could see the savages lined upoutside, with Chief Walru at their head.

Several were talking excitedly, and thechief was wading in the water at the veryfoot of the falls.

Now the chief took up a rock and hurled itinto the waterfall.

It whizzed past Doctor Barrell and struckthe flooring some distance to the rear of thecave.

Dave saw the movement, and of a suddena strange idea came into his head.

He would scare the savages if he could.

Filling his lungs with air, he let out a mostblood-curdling scream, followed by a seriesof wild and unearthly groans and a longhiss.

The savages were thunderstruck, and thoseon the bank of the stream took to their heelswith all possible speed, while Chief Walrutumbled backward and then began to scrambleover the rocks for dear life.

Again Dave let out a scream, and thengroans which were more dreadful than theothers.

In less than three minutes not a savage wasto be seen.

"They have gone!" said Bob.

"If only they don't come back," returnedCaptain Broadbeam.

"I have an idea," said the young diver."Why can't we pile up some stones in frontof that opening? Then if the savages try toget through the waterfall they will get badlyleft."

"That's the talk!" came from Bob. "Arethere stones handy, Stoodles?"

"Sure, plinty of thim."

And the Irishman showed the way to wherelay a quantity of stones, large and small.

With the doctor holding a torch to lightthem, all hands began to haul stones to theopening. Those that were flat were placed onthe bottom and soon the opening was filled upto within two feet of the top. Other stoneswere piled up behind, so that those in frontmight not be shoved back.

"Now we are safe—at least for the timebeing," said Captain Broadbeam. "But thenext question is, how are we to escape and geton board of the Swallow?"

"Isn't there another exit from the cave?"asked the doctor.

Pat Stoodles shook his head.

"If there is, I never was afther findin'wan," he remarked.

All were utterly worn out by their adventuresand by the work on the stone wall, andglad enough to rest.

Yet each took his turn at a two hours'watch, so that they might not be surprised.

But the savages did not come back duringthe night, nor did they see anything of thenatives during the morning.

Pat Stoodles had provisions stored in thecave and they made a hearty breakfast, afterwhich all felt decidedly better.

From the Irishman, who seemed to begrowing clearer in his mind every hour, theylearned that they were about half a mile fromthe seacoast.

The way to the shore lay through a thickjungle, with here and there a treacherousswamp.

With extreme caution they left the cave andstarted up the stream and into the jungle.

They were constantly on the lookout for thesavages, but a quarter of a mile was coveredand not a native showed himself.

"Dave scared them for fair," said Bob."Perhaps they have left the island altogether."

"Don't be afther foolin' yerself,"answered Pat Stoodles. "Thim haythins iswust whin they are sthill."

In this remark the Irishman was correct,for hardly had he spoken when an arrowwhizzed through the air and pierced DoctorBarrell's hat.

"They are after us!" cried several inchorus.

"We must run fer it!" came from Stoodles."Folly me, an' be amazin' quick aboutit, too," and away he leaped at top speed.

Nobody needed a second warning, and allkept as close to the Irishman's heels aspossible. He led them into a thicket of vines andunderwood. In the meantime several morearrows came flying through the air, and Davewas struck in the shoulder.

"I am hit!" he murmured, and stopped short.

"Is it bad?" asked Captain Broadbeam,who was close to him.

"I—I guess not. But it doesn't feel verygood," and the young diver gave a gasp forbreath.

As quickly as he could the captainextracted the arrow, and when they were in thethicket the wound was bound up. It was notserious, but it gave Dave a stiff side forseveral days afterward.

Once the thicket was gained, Pat Stoodlesdid not halt, but led the way deeper anddeeper into the jungle. Some rocks werepassed and then they came out on what lookedlike the edge of a moss-covered opening.

"Stop!" yelled the Irishman at Bob, whowas going ahead. "Stop, if ye value yer loife!"

"What's wrong now?" asked the youngengineer.

"That spot is afther bein' worse nor thebogs av ould Ireland," explained Pat Stoodles."It's as sticky as glue. Perhaps wecan lead the savages into it."

He led the way around the opening and allfollowed, pausing on the opposite side.

At that moment the body of natives appeared,and, seeing the whites, broke into atriumphant yell.

A shower of arrows were sent forth, butthe whites ran for the shelter of the nearesttrees and nobody was struck.

Then out into the opening rushed the savages,still yelling and brandishing their bowsand arrows.

But they did not go far.

Less than a rod of the opening was passedwhen they began to sink into the black oozebeneath the green moss.

They tried to turn back, but it was in vain.

From their ankles they sank to their knees,and then to their waists.

Their war cries changed to shrieks of alarmand then to frantic appeals to their comradesto help them.

Over a dozen were caught in the glue-likebog, and every one of the number was in dangerof losing his life.

The whites were totally forgotten, and theothers, coming up, turned their whole attentionto rescuing those in such dire peril.

Pat Stoodles laughed loud and long overthe success of his ruse.

"Now it's good-by to ye!" he cried, shakinghis fist at the natives. "I'm no more thegrand muck-a-muck, but a dacent Irish sailorcome back to his siven senses."

Again he led the way through the jungle,striking out directly for the ocean shore.

To force their way through the tropicalgrowth was not easy, and made every one ofthe party pant for breath.

They stirred up many tropical birds andonce came upon a colony of monkeys, whofled, shrieking and chattering, in all directions.

At last they could plainly hear the boomingof the surf.

"The ocean!" cried Dave.

"If only we come in sight of the Swallow!"put in Bob.

"Perhaps we had better be careful beforewe show ourselves," remarked Captain,Broadbeam. "There may be natives on thebeach."

The matter was talked over, and it wasdecided that Stoodles and the captain should goforward to investigate.

The pair were gone less than ten minuteswhen Captain Broadbeam came running backin excitement.

"The Swallow is not in sight," he said."But another ship is."

"Another ship?" queried Dave, and thenseeing a queer look on the captain's face, headded: "You don't mean the Raven?"

"Yes, I do mean the Raven!" was theanswer, which filled the others with dismay.

CHAPTER XVII

A DASH FOR A ROWBOAT

The Raven and not the Swallow was insight!

The several members of the party lookedat each other questioningly.

What was to be done now?

"I'm sure I'm not going to ask LemuelHankers for help," said Dave, decidedly."I'd rather put up with the savages."

"No! no! That would be foolish," put inDoctor Barrell. "Why, if those natives gothold of us now they would kill us on the spot."

"An' be afther eatin' ye in the bargain,"added Pat Stoodles.

"But to go aboard the enemy's ship!"protested the young diver.

"They wouldn't dare to kill us," said CaptainBroadbeam.

"They will have to transfer us to our ownvessel," said the doctor.

While they were discussing the situation,Stoodles went back to learn what the savageswere doing.

Presently he ran up with the informationthat the natives had divided into two parties,one to help those in the morass and the otherto continue the pursuit of the whites.

"An' the second party is afther comin' upfast," he concluded. "Ye must run fer it orinvite capture."

"Come, we will join the Raven and trustto luck," said Captain Broadbeam. And soit was decided, although against Dave'swishes.

Soon they were out on the beach and runningfor the cove where the Raven lay at anchor.

The ship had gone into hiding to escape beingdiscovered by those on board the Swallow.

Lemuel Hankers felt certain that PeteRackley would so disable Captain Broadbeam'scraft that the Swallow would neverreach the spot where the sunken treasure lay,at the bottom of the Pacific.

Lemuel Hankers was on deck with his sonwhen the party came into sight of the ship.

He gazed intently at the group of runningpersons who were waving their hands,frantically, toward the ship.

"Give me a glass!" he cried, quickly.

The powerful marine glass belonging toCaptain Nesik was handed to him.

He gave one look, then muttered an imprecationnot to be placed upon these pages.

"Who is it?" questioned Bart.

"Dave Fearless, Captain Broadbeam andsome others, probably men from the Swallow!"

"What!" ejacul*ted the youth. "Andlook, they act as if they wanted to board ourship!"

"They must have learned of Pete Rackley'sdoings!" burst from Lemuel Hankers' lips,and his face grew deadly pale.

"Then our jig is up, dad."

"They wish to make trouble!" groanedthe rich man.

"I wouldn't let them on board," put inBart, quickly. "Let us pretend not to seethem and sail away."

"We'll do it," answered the father.

He ran to where Captain Nesik stood, andgave the necessary order.

The anchor was hove apeak in double-quickorder, and the command was passed to theengine room to back the Raven, full speed.

Fortunately for the evildoers, steam wasup, and in less than half a minute the Ravenhad left the cove and was moving swiftly outinto the Pacific Ocean.

Those on shore could scarcely believe theireyes.

"She is sailing away!" burst from Captain Broadbeam.

"They do not intend to take us on board!"put in Doctor Barrell.

"But do they know who we are?" questioned Bob.

"They must know," said Dave. "Remember,they have powerful glasses on board.Perhaps they spotted us as soon as we cameinto sight."

"It would please them, I suppose, to havethe savages kill us," went on the captain. "Iwouldn't have believed it before, but I donow—since you have told me what this PeteRackley was to do."

In bitter disappointment the crowd randown to the very edge of the cove, PatStoodles at their heels.

They saw a number of persons standing onthe stern deck of the Raven, but coulddistinguish no faces.

In less than half an hour the ship was farout to sea.

While the party on the beach was watchingthe receding ship, Stoodles uttered a cry.

"The savages. They be afther coming onagain, bad cess to 'em!"

The Irishman was right. The savages hadfound their trail and were once again afterthem hot-footed.

Which way now? That was the question inthe mind of every member of the party.

It was Dave who solved the problem. Gazingacross the cove, he espied a good-sizedrowboat half hidden among some bushes.

The boat had been left there by those onthe Raven the night before, and in theexcitement of the departure had been completelyforgotten.

"A boat! A boat!" he cried. "Come!"

He led the way on a run, with the othersclose upon his heels.

But to circle the cove, which was surroundedwith tropical trees, vines, and sharprocks, was not easy; and before half thedistance was covered they heard the cries of thesavages.

"They are coming closer!" came fromBob. "Perhaps we had better hide again."

"Don't ye be afther doin' such a foolishthing," answered Pat Stoodles. "They kintrack ye quicker nor an Indian could do th'thrick. Take to the boat—it's safer."

On they went, over the rocks and throughthe tangle of undergrowth. Often one oranother would stumble, and scratches and rentclothing were numerous. Closer and closercame the natives. When the latter saw howfresh the trail was they let out a blood-curdlingcry of triumph.

At last our friends were within a hundredyards of the boat. But now poor Bob wasexhausted, for his foot still pained him greatly.

"I—I can't run any—any more!" he gasped.

"Then we'll carry you," answered CaptainBroadbeam, and caught the young engineerup in his arms.

At last the rowboat was gained and theywere delighted to note that it contained twopairs of stout oars. Into the craft theytumbled as rapidly as possible, and it was Davewho helped Captain Broadbeam to shove off.

The movement came none too soon, forscarcely were all but poor Bob seated at theoars than the natives burst into view throughthe jungle back of the stretch of beachsurrounding the cove.

"Hi gi! We-ra!" they yelled, and then ashower of arrows was aimed at our friends.One arrow cut through the captain's coat andanother buried itself in the stern of therowboat.

"Pull! Pull!" shouted Dave.

And then they all pulled as never before,Captain Broadbeam giving the stroke, andsoon the rowboat was carried a hundred feetfrom shore. But now came a second flight ofarrows and Pat Stoodles was hit in the back.

"I'm done fer!" he moaned, and fell in aheap at the bottom of the craft.

"Give me his oar!" came from Bob, andwith his teeth set grimly, he caught up thedrifting blade and took his place among therowers.

Shower after shower of arrows now flewall around the rowboat and its occupants andnearly all on board were struck, although noneseriously, for the distance was now too greatfor the savages' aim.

"Keep it up—we'll soon be out of range,"panted Captain Broadbeam, and straight outinto the broad Pacific plunged the rowboat,over the breakers and then into the mightyswells beyond.

At last the cove began to fade from viewand the arrows no more reached them.

""We are saved!" murmured Bob, andthen fell unconscious beside Pat Stoodles.

Leaving Dave to continue rowing, that theboat might not be upset by the long oceanswells, Captain Broadbeam and Doctor Barrellturned their attention to Bob and to PatStoodles.

It was found that Bob was suffering froma wound in the shoulder, and the loss of blood,following his former weakness, had been toomuch for him.

"He'll be all right after a while," said thedoctor, after binding up the wound. "Thatis, unless there was poison on the arrow tip,and I see no evidence of such poison in theappearance of any of our wounds."

Poor Pat Stoodles was worse off and it wasa grave question whether he would live or die.

He did not regain consciousness, althoughthe doctor did his best for the poor Irishman.

"He needs stimulants," said Doctor Barrell.

"And we haven't so much as a drinkof water," answered Captain Broadbeam,soberly.

An hour went by and the hot sun poureddown fiercely upon those in the rowboat.

They knew not which way to turn, fearingthat if they attempted to land again thesavages would follow them up.

"We will row in the direction of the landingplace where we first came ashore," saidCaptain Broadbeam, and this was done.

An hour later Dave let out a cry of dismay.

"The savages! They are after us again!"

He was right. Around a distant point ofland had appeared at least a dozen savages,and all were making for the rowboat with allspeed!

CHAPTER XVIII

ON THE BOSOM OF THE OCEAN

"We can't land here!" cried Dave.

"You are right," answered CaptainBroadbeam. "See, more savages are comingfrom behind yonder trees."

"What shall we do?" questioned the doctor,his face full of concern.

"There is but one thing to do—put to seaagain," came from the master of the Swallow.

The savages came on with a rush, yellingat the top of their lungs. As they approachedthe water's edge they let fly a shower of arrows.But fortunately for our friends, all fellshort of the mark.

As quickly as it could be accomplished, therowboat was turned around and headed oncemore from the island. All who had beenrowing were tired, but did their best to get thecraft away from the shore.

As soon as the savages saw the boat leavingthey set up another yell, and several rushedaway to find those who were out in thecanoes.

But the latter were on the other side of theisland, and before they could be notified ourfriends had, for the time being, made goodtheir escape.

Dave was all but exhausted, and at lastdropped his oar and sank in a heap on theseat.

"Played out, eh?" came from CaptainBroadbeam. "Well, I don't wonder. I'mabout played out myself."

An hour went by and the rowboat rose andfell on the broad swells of the Pacific Ocean.

In vain they looked in all directions for theSwallow. The vessel was not to be seen.

All in the rowboat were exceedingly thirstyand would have given much for a drink ofwater.

Crouched on the seats, with poor Bob andPat Stoodles beside them, Dave, the captain,and the doctor talked the situation over.

"We are certainly in a pickle," said Dave."If we can't find the ship, what then?"

"We must find the Swallow," declaredCaptain Broadbeam. "Unless we do, we'llstarve to death."

"We might return to the island at nightfall,"said the doctor. "Remember, we needwater and so do these poor sufferers." Andhe pointed to Bob and the Irishman.

"That's a scheme," cried Dave. "Wemight land under cover of darkness and hidesomewhere until we can locate the ship."

Slowly the day wore away. Towards nightfallthe wind began to blow strongly, sendingthe spray flying in all directions.

"We can't stand this," was Dave's comment."If it blows any harder, we'll beswamped."

"We must take to the oars and keep theboat up to the seas," said the captain, andthis was done.

A little later it began to rain. At first itdid not amount to much, but presently itbegan to pour. As best they could, theygathered a small quantity of the water and drankit greedily. They also gave Bob and Stoodlesa drink, which did the injured much good.

At last night was upon them, black andthreatening. The rowboat was drifting in thewind and the rain, but where to none couldtell.

"We must take what comes," said CaptainBroadbeam, gravely. "We are in the handsof Providence."

Dave was so exhausted he could not keep hiseyes open and soon he went sound asleep, andnot long after this the doctor followed hisexample. Only the captain remained awakeand he was so exhausted he could doabsolutely nothing.

It was about three o'clock in the morningwhen the wind began to blow a regular hurricane.The mad plunging and pitching of therowboat aroused Dave.

"What's up?" he cried.

"The storm is increasing," answered thecaptain.

"Are we still out on the ocean!"

"Yes."

Captain Broadbeam had scarcely spokenwhen there came a shock that almost turnedthe rowboat over.

"We have struck!"

"We are going to the bottom!"

The shock aroused all but Pat Stoodles.Bob would have gone overboard had it notbeen for Dave, who caught the unconsciousman by the shoulder and held him.

"Don't—don't hurt me!" groaned Bob. "Oh!"

A moment later came another shock. Thenthe rowboat appeared to slide over a sand bar,and of a sudden Captain Broadbeam felt thelimb of a tree brush his side.

"Hullo! what's this?" he ejacul*ted. "Atree limb—and here's another! Can it be afloating tree——"

"Hurrah! Here's land!" burst out Dave,peering into the darkness. "A shore of somekind."

"Beware of the savages," cautioned DoctorBarrell. "They may be close at hand."

"I'd rather meet the savages than drownin this storm," came bluntly from CaptainBroadbeam.

The rowboat had indeed drifted to somesort of a shore. Close at hand was a sandybeach, and beside this some rocks and a groveof tropical trees. The details of the scenewere lost in the darkness.

As the rowboat struck on the beach the captainleaped out and hauled the craft up. Buthe was not quick enough to escape thebreakers and one swept over the craft, nearlydrowning all on board. Then Dave sprangout, and at last the pair had the boat out ofthe reach of the sea.

"Thank Heaven we have landed somewhere,"declared the youth. "I thought surewe were bound for Davy Jones's locker."

The rowboat was dragged along the beachand the captain, the doctor, and Davesucceeded in turning it over on some rocks, thusmaking of it a sort of shelter from the storm.Under it they placed Bob and the Irishman,making them as comfortable as circ*mstancespermitted. This done, the three foundsomething of a shelter under the trees and theresank down to rest until morning.

When Dave opened his eyes the sun wasshining brightly and close at hand a numberof tropical birds were singing gayly. Forthe moment he could not remember what hadoccurred and he sat up, gazing around inbewilderment.

"We are shipwrecked," he murmured atlength. "I wonder if those savages areanywhere near?"

He arose and stretched himself and thenwalked out on the shore of the island. Noneof the others were awake, and he determinedto let them rest as long as they wished,providing no danger was at hand.

Not a soul was in sight and the place lookedmuch different from that where the savageshad been encountered.

"It looks to me as if this is anotherisland," he reasoned, and he was right.

On the shore were a number of oysters andclams, and he lost no time in picking up asmany as he thought they might use for a meal.Then he caught up several stones and sticksand went after the birds. He was good atthrowing and soon brought down three birdsof fair size.

"Hullo, what's doing?" was the cry, andhe saw Captain Broadbeam approaching.

"I'm trying to gather something for breakfast."

"Good enough. Seen anything of the savages?"

"No."

"This doesn't look like the same island."

"Just what I think, captain."

"Well, I hope there are no savages here.Seen anything of the Swallow?"

"Nothing whatever."

Some brushwood and sticks were gathered,and after a little trouble a fire was started.The smell of the cooking clams and oystersaroused the others.

"Ha! a fire and breakfast!" cried thedoctor. "That interests me!"

"How do you feel, Bob?" questioned Dave,bending over his friend.

"Tired all over, Dave. Where are we!"

"On one of these islands of the ocean."

"Have we escaped from the savages?"

"For the present, yes."

"I'm mighty hungry."

"You shall have breakfast as soon as it iscooked."

"Sure an' I'm hungry meself," came fromPat Stoodles.

"How are you feeling?" questioned the doctor.

"Loike I had been through a clotheswringer, docthor," was the answer. "Badcess to thim savages!"

Not long after this the clams and oysters,as well as the birds, were ready for eating,and Bob and the Irishman were given whatthe doctor thought was best for them. Theothers ate their fill, and after the repast wasover all felt much better.

"There are just two things for us to do,"said Captain Broadbeam: "Keep out of theway of the savages and find the Swallow."

"And in the meantime we have got to feedourselves and take care of the wounded,"added Doctor Barrell.

The matter was talked over and it wasdecided that the doctor should remain with Boband Stoodles, while the captain and Dave wenton a short tour of exploration.

"I do not imagine that this island is verylarge," said the captain, as he and Dave setout. "To my mind it won't be a bad ideato skirt the shore first."

"Just as you say," answered the youth.

"We want to keep our eyes peeled for thesavages, though."

It was an easy matter to follow the shoreon two sides of the island, but to the northand the west were numerous rocks, and theyclimbed over these only with the greatestdifficulty.

"Be careful, or you'll sprain an ankle,"said the captain.

"There seems to be a hill near the centerof the island," said the young diver."Wouldn't it be a good idea to climb to thetop of that?"

"Yes, as soon as we have finished skirtingthe shore."

Presently they came to a spot where someextra high rocks hid what was beyond fromtheir view.

"Hark!" cried Dave, coming to a suddenhalt. "What was that?"

"I don't know," answered the captain."Sounded like somebody calling, didn't it?"

Both listened, and presently from the otherside of the rocks came a low whine, followedby a scream.

"Somebody is there!" murmured Dave."Perhaps a savage!"

"We'll take a peep," began Captain Broadbeam,when of a sudden a hairy form leapedon top of the rocks and confronted them.

The form was that of a gorilla. The creaturewas all of four feet high, with stronglimbs and a face of peculiar ferocity.

"Look out!" yelled Dave. "He means mischief!"

The young diver was right. The gorillagave a snarl, and the next instant made a leapfor Captain Broadbeam's shoulder. It landedfairly and squarely on the captain and borethat individual to the ground.

CHAPTER XIX

FIGHTING A GORILLA

The appearance of the gorilla had been sounexpected that for the instant Dave knewnot what to do. As the captain went downwith the creature on top of him, the youngdiver fancied that the man would surely bekilled.

"Help!" cried Captain Broadbeam, andthis call aroused the youth to his senses.Catching up a stick, he hit the gorilla aresounding whack on the head. Then he struckat the beast's body.

The gorilla did not like such treatment, andwith a snarl it dropped its hold on thecaptain and turned towards Dave. A momentlater it was on the young diver's breast andDave was doing his utmost to throw thecreature off.

It was now the young diver's turn to callfor assistance, which he did most lustily.

"I'll help you!" cried the captain, andcatching up a stone, he hit the gorilla in theside with it. The creature gave a snarl andsprang back to the top of the rocks. Then itdisappeared as suddenly as it had come.

"Ugh!" murmured Dave. "What a horrid beast!"

"Are you hurt?"

"Only a scratch or two."

"We were lucky to get off so easily, lad."

"Is he gone for good!" asked Dave, witha slight shiver.

"I'm sure I don't know."

Each now lost no time in arming himselfwith a stout club and with a couple offair-sized and sharp stones. They listened, butcould hear nothing of the gorilla.

"I'd feel safer if I knew that beast wasdead," said the captain. "He may take itinto his head to attack us again."

"And he may be only one of a regulartribe," put in Dave.

"No, Dave; gorillas don't live togetherlike monkeys. At the most you'll find twotogether."

With great caution they climbed to the topof the rocks and peered over. Not a livingcreature of any sort was in sight.

"He has gone, that's certain," said Dave,and gave a sigh of relief.

They went on their way, and inside of anhour had walked completely around the island,which was not over half a mile in diameter.

"Now we'll go up the hill and take a lookaround," said Captain Broadbeam.

On the side of the hill the tropical growthwas thick, and they had to fairly cut their waythrough the tangle of underbrush and longtrailing vines.

"This is what I call work," said Dave,panting. "How much further have we to go?"

"Not very much further, Dave. Ithink—listen!" The captain broke off short andboth listened. But only the murmur of thebreeze through the trees came to their ears.

"What did you hear?" asked the young diver.

"I fancied I heard that gorilla again."

"Oh, don't say that!"

"Perhaps I was mistaken. But it wouldbe just like the beast to follow us," continuedthe master of the Swallow.

"We will have to be on our guard."

Both looked around with care, but could seenothing of the gorilla. Then they pushed ononce more, up the rocks and through a tangleof vines until they reached a bit of a clearingon the very top of the hill.

"Here we are, safe and sound!" said thecaptain. "I wish we had a spyglass."

They took a careful look around, and notedthat the island was circular in form, with asmall cove on the south shore, where therowboat had landed.

On all sides stretched the rolling Pacific,the waves glistening brightly in the strongsunshine.

Not another island of any sort was in sight.

"I believe that other island is to thewestward of this," said the captain. "But it'stoo far off to be located with the naked eye."

"I don't see anything of the Swallow, orof any other ship," came from Dave, after hehad gazed around for several minutes.

"The ship is probably in the vicinity ofthat other island."

From the top of the hill they could see thatthe island was uninhabited. Whether or notany wild beasts outside of the gorilla werelocated there they could not determine.

"I hope we don't have to stay here toolong," remarked the young diver, as theystarted back for the spot where they had leftBob and Stoodles.

"We'll have to stay until we find the ship."

Halfway down the side of the hill CaptainBroadbeam gave a sudden leap into the air.

"Look out!" he screamed.

"What's the matter?" queried Dave.

"Spiders! As big as your hand!"

The master of the Swallow was right. Hehad stepped on a mound which was a spiders'nest, and out from the soil issued ten or adozen big brown and yellow spiders, mostferocious in their appearance.

The creatures made after both the captainand Dave, and both lost no time in putting agood distance between themselves and thatvicinity.

"Gosh! I never saw such spiders in mylife!" gasped Dave, when he thought himselfsafe.

"They certainly were large, Dave. Butsuch things grow big in the tropics."

"They looked as if they might be poisonous."

"They are. We must watch out for themin the future."

Not long after this they came to a spotwhere a number of bushes were growing,covered with large, oval-shaped berries.

"These berries are perfectly good and verynourishing," said the captain. "Let us picka quantity and take them back to the camp."

Back of the patch of berries was a finespring and here they procured a cold drinkof water. Just below the spring was a widepool several feet deep, and in this poolnumerous small lizards were darting around.

"Everything is full of life in the tropics,"remarked the young diver. "Just look at thebirds and fish, and lizards and spiders, and ahundred and one other things!"

"Yes, and the vegetation is very plentiful,"added the captain.

They were still some distance from theshore when Dave called a halt.

"Look at the big birds yonder," he whispered."Can't we bring down two or threewith sticks or stones? They will make fineeating."

"We can try it, Dave."

Sticks and stones were handy, and armingthemselves they approached a large tree uponwhich the birds were resting.

"Ready?" asked Dave.

"Yes."

"Throw!"

The youth let fly a short stick and the captaina sharp stone. Down came two birds, onedead and the other seriously wounded. Theothers set up a wild squawking and flew away.

"Not so bad!" cried the captain, and ranto dispatch the wounded bird.

As he stooped over the bird there was astrange cry from another tree close by andthen a whir through the air.

"The gorilla!" ejacul*ted Dave. "Look out!"

The young diver's cry came too late. Downcame the beast that had attacked them before,landing directly on Captain Broadbeam'sshoulder and clutching the man by the throat!

For the instant Dave was almost paralyzed.But then he realized the captain's peril andrushed in to the man's assistance.

In his hands the young diver clutched aheavy stick, and this he brought down withall force on the gorilla's head.

The creature was taken by surprise anddropped its hold. But its skull was too thickto mind greatly the blow which had beendelivered, and an instant later it leaped forwardonce more, this time for Dave.

The young diver dodged, and in a twinklingthe gorilla had Dave around the waist whilethe youth had the creature around the shoulderand neck. Then began the struggle, thebeast trying to bite and Dave trying his bestto prevent such a movement.

In the midst of the melee Captain Broadbeamrushed to the rescue. He had picked upDave's stick, which the young diver haddropped, and now he struck the gorilla twiceacross the back and then across the lowerlimbs.

Not knowing what to make of this lastattack, the creature turned once more anddropped its hold of Dave. But at anotherblow from the stick it began to retreat, andsoon was lost to sight in the jungle on thehillside.

"He has gone!" said the captain, breathingheavily from his exertions.

"What a fighter he is!" gasped Dave. Hehad all he could do to catch his breath.

"I wish we had killed him, lad. Then hecouldn't bother us again."

"Yes, it's too bad we didn't finish him. Hewill probably lay low for us now. Maybe he'llattack us while we sleep."

"We'll have to stand guard."

Making certain that the gorilla had reallyleft the vicinity, they continued the journeyto the shore, reaching the camp a little whilelater. They found Doctor Barrell waitingimpatiently for their return. Both Bob and theIrishman were sleeping soundly.

"And what did you discover?" asked theman of science.

"Very little," answered the captain. "Butwe have had a couple of nasty fights."

"With the savages?"

"No, with a gorilla."

"Is it possible! Did you kill the creature?"

"No, he got away."

"Too bad! I would give much to catch agorilla alive. We could add him to our collection."

"Thanks, but no live gorilla in mine,"came promptly from Dave. "Give me a deadone every time."

The doctor listened to their story with muchinterest and was glad to see they had broughtsome berries and the birds for a meal.

"I have found some herbs and plants andgiven both of the sufferers medicine," saidhe. "I think Bob Vilett will recover rapidly,but it will take time to bring Pat Stoodlesaround."

It was now midday, and the sun was scorching.This being so, all were content to rest inthe shade. A fire was built, and over it thebirds and also some oysters were done to aturn, and these, with the berries, made a goodmeal for all.

During the afternoon Dave made himselfa good bow and also several arrows. Thecaptain followed his example, and also cutseveral good-sized clubs.

"We must arm ourselves as best we can,"said Captain Broadbeam. "If those savagesshould happen to come this way we'll be attheir mercy."

It was almost sundown when Dave chancedto go down to the ocean front once more. Helooked out to sea and then gave a cry thataroused all of the others.

"A ship! A ship!"

CHAPTER XX

AN ATTACK IN THE DARK

Dave's cry brought Captain Broadbeam tothe shore in a hurry.

"Where is the ship?" he demanded.

"There!" and the young diver pointedwith his hand.

"You are right, lad. But she is not headedfor this island."

"Can she be the Swallow?"

"I should say not."

"Maybe she is the Raven."

"It is possible, Dave. But she is notcoming here, that is certain."

"Shall we set up a shout?"

"It will do no good. They could not hear us."

"We might fly a signal of distress."

"It is too dark for that now."

Both watched the ship with interest. Thecaptain was right, the vessel was not headedfor the island, and in a few minutes it passedfrom view.

"If that was a friendly vessel, it's a chancegone," was Dave's sober comment.

"True, but it cannot be helped."

As usual in the tropics, night came onquickly. There was no moon, but countlessstars shone from on high. The birds ceasedtheir songs, and presently all was quiet.

"I suppose we may as well proceed tomake ourselves comfortable," said Dr. Barrell.

"Somebody has got to remain on guard,"came from Dave, who was not inclined toforget that the gorilla was still at large.

"We'll divide up the night into threewatches of three hours each," said thecaptain. "I can take one watch, Dave another,and the doctor the third."

So it was arranged, and it fell to Dave togo on guard first.

"That suits me," said the young diver."I hate to break in on my night's rest afterI have once retired."

A comfortable spot had been selected forall hands. It was located about two hundredfeet from the shore, where there was a seriesof rocks and some trees. The doctor hadfashioned some brushwood into a shack, andgathered additional brushwood for bedding.

To keep himself awake Dave began to walkaround the camp, and also made several tripsdown to the ocean front. He carried his bowand his arrows with him, to help guardagainst any surprise.

On his second trip down to the shore henoticed a strange fire a long distance off.

"That must be a camp-fire of some sort,"he mused. "Perhaps it is that of the savageson that other island."

He watched the fire for a quarter of an hourand gradually it died away, leaving the oceanas dark as before.

It must be confessed that his day's trampinghad made Dave sleepy, and it was all hecould do to keep his eyes open.

"I'll be glad when it comes my turn to goto bed," he thought.

The young diver had less than half an hourto remain on guard when his attention wasattracted to a peculiar sound among the treesclose at hand.

He looked in the direction, and was horrifiedto see two shining eyes glaring down athim.

"A wild beast, sure," he reasoned. "Wonderif the thing wants to attack me?"

As quickly as he could, he got his bow intoposition and adjusted one of the arrows to thestring.

The eyes were still turned upon him andthe sight was enough to make his blood runcold.

"Here goes!" he muttered, and takingcareful aim, he let the arrow fly with all force.

His aim was true, and no sooner had thearrow struck than there was an unearthlyshriek, and out of the tree dropped a largedark object. It flipped and flopped over theground, uttering snarl after snarl.

"What's the row?" cried Captain Broadbeam,leaping to his feet and seizing a club.

"I've struck something!" answered Dave."Take care!"

"It's that gorilla!"

"So I see—now," said the young diver.

The creature was seriously but not mortallywounded and continued to flop around, utteringthe most unearthly of shrieks and cries,which awoke all of the others in the camp.

"In mercy's name what does this mean?"demanded Doctor Barrell, nervously.

"Here is your gorilla, doctor!" sang outDave. "Come and get him if you want him."

"Ugh! what a horrid creature. Is—is hedangerous still?"

"He will be if you get too close to him."

"Kill him! kill him!" cried Bob. "Don'tlet him come this way!"

Watching his opportunity, Captain Broadbeamlet fly with his club, hitting the gorillain the neck. Then Dave put another arrowinto the creature's body, and at last it gavea shudder and a gasp and rolled over dead.

"Kilt, is it?" came weakly from PatStoodles. "Sure an' it's a good job done, soit is!"

The camp-fire was stirred up and the captainpicked up a torch and walked over to thegorilla.

"Dead as a stone," he announced, and thenDave and the doctor approached.

"We can save the skin and the skull," saidDoctor Barrell. "They, at least, can do usno harm."

"I am glad he is dead," came from the captain."Dave, you gave him a good one in theeye."

"I'm glad I had the bow and arrow to do itwith," answered the young diver modestly.

After this Captain Broadbeam went onguard, and, utterly exhausted, Dave lay downand slept soundly until long after the suncame up on the following morning.

"Now I feel like a new man," said theyoung diver on arising. "I can tell you asound sleep is a wonderful thing."

"The question is, what are we to do next?"came from the doctor. "We cannot remainon this island forever."

"Well, we shall have to remain untilsome ship takes us off," said Captain Broadbeam.

"And in the meantime we have got to providefor ourselves," put in Dave. "And thatis not going to be so easy unless we live onclams, oysters, fish, and berries."

"Don't forget the birds," said the captain.

Dave wanted to go fishing, and after a gooddeal of trouble succeeded in making a hook ofa big pin Bob had been using in place of abutton on his jacket. For bait he used a bigbug he found under a dead tree limb.

"I don't know how this is going to work,"he said.

"Well, there is nothing like trying,"answered the captain. "I'll see what I can doto bring down some more birds and find somefruit."

Dave started to fish in the cove, and it wasnot long before he got a bite and pulled in afish weighing a couple of pounds. Thisencouraged him, and inside of an hour he hada mess of nine to his credit.

"We'll be able to get all the fish we want,that is sure," he reasoned. "Living on theisland wouldn't be half bad, if it wasn't thatthose fellows on the Raven may sail away andget at that treasure before we have a chanceto reach the spot."

Dave could not help thinking, too, of thoseon the Swallow, and he wondered how hisfather was faring.

Having caught all the fish he wished he waspresently joined by Captain Broadbeam, whohad brought down two more birds.

"I think I'll take a swim," said Dave. "Ifeel as if I needed the wash."

"Very well, I'll sit on the shore and watchyou," replied the captain.

The young diver was soon in the water,which felt cool and refreshing. He loved tosport around, and dove and swam about to hisheart's content.

"Better come in," he said to the master ofthe Swallow.

"Not to-day, lad," came back the answer."How is the bottom where you are swimming?"

"Sandy, with a few shells," answeredDave. "Do you know what I am thinking?"he went on. "There may be pearls here."

"Perhaps."

"I'm going to do some diving and take alook around."

Dave was as good as his word and dove notonce but a dozen times. He brought up a peckof oysters, but none containing pearls.

"Must have been mistaken," he said. "I'lltry it once again."

He made a beautiful dive and reached thebottom with ease.

But scarcely had he put out his hand for anoyster when he saw something that filled himwith alarm.

A long, dark object was moving along theocean bottom towards him.

At first he could not make out what it was,but presently discovered that it was a slimywater snake. The reptile was all of ten feetin length and five or six inches in thickness.

Dave had no wish to encounter such ahorrible-looking creature, and turning, he startedto swim to the surface.

The water snake came after him rapidly,and just as he got his head above water Davefelt something slippery curl itself around oneof his legs and start to draw him under.

CHAPTER XXI

DAVE AND THE WATER SNAKE

"Help me, Captain Broadbeam!"

"What's the matter, Dave!"

"A water snake has me by the leg."

Before Dave could say more the watersnake began to pull so fiercely that the headof the young diver was forced under thewater.

He struggled desperately, trying his bestto get away.

But now the reptile swung the fore part ofits body around and embraced Dave's otherleg, rendering the youth almost helpless.

The young diver kicked as hard as he could,but the reptile only clung the closer.

Down went the youth, until he felt that hemust be drowned or strangled to death.

He was afraid to feel for the snake withhis hands for fear of losing control of thosemembers also.

With a wild effort he arose almost to thesurface, so that he could see above him.

Whizz! It was a rope, thrown to him byCaptain Broadbeam. It belonged to therowboat and the captain had been carrying it,thinking it might be useful in one way oranother.

The end of the rope just failed to reachDave, but as soon as he saw it the young diverdid his best to get hold of the object.

His breath was fast leaving him when hemanaged to clutch the rope with one hand.Then he drew it towards him and caught itwith his other hand also.

Captain Broadbeam was watching anxiously,and as soon as he felt the rope tightenhe began to haul in, slowly at first and thenwith might and main.

Nearer to shore came Dave, dragging thehorrible water snake behind him. In vain thereptile tried to stay its progress. Then itthrashed around and caught Dave at the neck.In self-defense the youth had to take onehand and try to force the water snake away.But this could not be done.

At last Dave could walk on the bottom, andthen he struggled into shore with all speed.

As he did this, Captain Broadbeam cameto his assistance, and clutched at the reptile.But the water snake was out of its elementon land, and in a trice it loosened itself,dropped back into the ocean, and disappeared.

Dave was so exhausted he pitched headlongon the sand, where he lay, panting for breath.

"Did he sting you?" queried the captain,anxiously.

"I don't think so," was the gasped-outreply. "But he came pretty close to drowning me!"

"I reckon you won't go bathing again, lad."

"Not for a million dollars!"

"That's the worst of bathing in unknownwaters. You don't know what you are goingto run up against."

"I didn't imagine there were water snakeshere."

After resting awhile, Dave dressed himself,and the pair went back to the camp.

Dave was delighted to note that Bob wasrecovering rapidly and that Pat Stoodles wasalso doing as well as could be expected.

"You want to be careful, Dave," said Bob."We can't afford to lose you."

"And I don't want to be lost," answeredthe young diver, grimly.

"Have you seen anything of the savages?"

"Not a sign."

"They must wonder what has become of us."

"Perhaps they think we escaped to the ship."

"If we only had!"

"That is so, Bob, but we have got to makethe best of it."

"And you can't see a sign of the ship anywhere?"

"Not the least bit of a sign."

"Too bad!" and the young engineer gavea deep sigh.

Slowly the hours dragged by. It was verywarm, but there were signs of a storm in theair.

Dave set to work to gather some firewood,thinking a good fire would serve to keep themcomfortable in case of a heavy rain.

"I shouldn't be surprised if we got a heavyone, when it does come," remarked CaptainBroadbeam, as he gazed at the sky.

"Storms in the tropics are apt to provesevere," said Doctor Barrell.

Having collected the firewood, Dave wentout with his bow and arrows to see if he couldbring down some more birds.

At first he moved but a short distance fromthe camp, but presently he saw some extrafine birds at a distance and followed themtoward the north shore of the island.

He had just brought down one bird and wastrying for a second when the storm broke andthe rain began to come down heavily.

"This is severe, and no mistake," hemurmured. "Guess I'll have to find shelterunless I want to get soaked."

Not far away were some tall rocks, backedup by a clump of bushes and vines.

The young diver moved towards the rockson the run. He was but a few feet away whenhe saw an opening in front of him—a split inthe rocks of unknown depth.

He tried to step back to safety, but it wastoo late. His feet slipped and down he wentfor several yards.

"Hullo, this won't do!" he cried. "Idon't want to get into another undergroundcave!"

He tried to climb up the rocks, but again hisfeet slipped and he went down a yard or twomore. This time he struck a solid flooringof rocks, so to descend further wasimpossible.

"Thank fortune the hole isn't any deeper,"he said half aloud.

The fall had shaken him up somewhat andfor the minute he remained where he was, tryingto get back his breath.

He noticed that the rocks around him wereall perfectly smooth, but did not realize whatthis meant until he tried to crawl to the top ofthe opening.

He could not get a hold anywhere, and asoften as he got up a foot or two, he slippedback again.

"Well, this is provoking, to say the least,"he muttered. "How in the world am I to getout of here?"

The rain was now pouring down steadily,and in a very few minutes he was wet to theskin.

"If I had a rope or a pole I might get out,"he reasoned. But he had absolutely nothingwith which to help himself.

A quarter of an hour went by and then toDave's alarm he found the water pouring intothe hole steadily from a rivulet above. Soonthe water was up to his ankles and it arosesteadily to his knees.

The storm was now on in all of its fury, andin the forest he could hear the trees swayingand snapping under the pressure of the highwind that was blowing.

Again he made an effort to crawl out of theopening. But the rocks were now wet andslippery and afforded no foothold whatever.

The wind was increasing steadily until itblew a regular hurricane. High overhead hesaw some branches of trees sailing throughthe air.

"I hope those in camp are safe," he saidto himself.

A little later came an extra heavy blast ofwind. There followed a great crashing, andin an instant a big tree fell directly over theopening, cutting off much of the light above.

One of the tree branches pressed down onDave's head, forcing him to a sitting positionin the hole.

"This is the worst yet!" he muttered,after he realized that he was not harmed."Now I am a regular prisoner. I can't movethat tree, that's sure!"

By the aid of the tree limb the young divercrawled upward until he reached the trunkacross the opening.

The branches were so thick he had toliterally force his way along.

The opening was almost closed by the bigtree trunk, but to one side there were severalloose rocks, and after an effort he succeededin shoving them into the hole and thus makinga place through which he crawled, althoughnot without great difficulty.

He was now free once more, and despite thefury of the elements set off for the camp withall speed.

To travel was not easy, and often he had tomake a detour in order to avoid a fallen treeor a deep pool of water.

He was still a short distance from campwhen there came another terrific whirl ofwind that sent tree limbs flying in alldirections. One struck Dave on the shoulder andhurled him flat.

"Phew! this is awful!" he muttered, andthen stopped short, as a cry from a distancereached his ears.

"Help! help!" came in Doctor Barrell'svoice. "Help, or I shall be killed!"

CHAPTER XXII

WHAT THE STORM BROUGHT

As quickly as he could Dave picked himselfup once more and hurried into the camp.

Here he ran into Captain Broadbeam.

"Hullo, did you call?" asked the captain.

"No, it was Doctor Barrell," answered theyoung diver. "Where is he?"

For reply came another call from the scientificman, and now they located him down nearthe shore of the ocean. He was lying on hisback, with a small tree pressing him downinto the sand. The waves were sending theirspray flying over him.

It was but the work of a moment to lift thetree. While Captain Broadbeam did this,Dave helped the doctor to crawl to a point ofsafety.

"Ugh! what an experience!" mutteredDoctor Barrell, as he gave a shudder."Thank you for rescuing me."

"How did it happen, doctor?" questioned Dave.

"I came out to look for you. Just as Ireached the spot the wind sent the tree downand over me. I am thankful that I was notkilled."

All hurried into camp, and here Dave toldhis story. Then they had to watch out,fearful that the storm would do them furtherinjury.

But the wind went down as rapidly as ithad come up. The rain, however, continued,and did not cease until noon of the next day.

"I don't want to encounter many suchstorms," said Dave, when the sun shone oncemore.

"You'll have to put up with them, if youremain in the tropics," answered CaptainBroadbeam.

When Dave and the others went forth afterthe storm they picked up a great number ofdead birds. The ocean shore was strewn withstranded fish.

"Here is eating enough for a month, ifonly it would keep," said Captain Broadbeam.

"I hope we don't have to stay here amonth," answered Dave.

"Right you are, lad. But we must takewhat comes."

"Don't you think we'll have a spell of goodweather after such a storm as this?"

"Certainly."

"Then I move we take to the boat and tryto find our ship. We can take the dead birds,fish, and some oysters, clams, berries, andcocoanuts along for provisions. And also somebamboo sticks full of fresh water."

The idea appealed strongly to CaptainBroadbeam and also to Doctor Barrell. Boband the Irishman were willing to do anythingthat the others wished.

"Let us start out to-morrow," said thecaptain, and after that no time was lost inpreparing for the expedition.

The rowboat was carefully overhauled, andthen loaded with the things that seemednecessary to take along. Water was to be hadin plenty, and they filled many big, hollowbamboo stems with it, corking up the stemsuntil the water should be wanted.

"We must remember to keep the island inview," said the captain. "We may be gladenough to return, in case we cannot locate theSwallow."

At last came the time set for starting out,and Bob and Pat Stoodles were helped intothe rowboat. The others followed, and thecaptain and Dave pushed away and took tothe oars of the craft.

"I trust we find the ship," sighed Bob. Inhis weakened condition he longed for thecomforts which had been denied to him while onthe island.

"So do I hope we find the Swallow," answered Dave.

"We must keep a close watch for those savages,"came from Captain Broadbeam. "Ishouldn't wish to fall into their hands again."

"Bad cess to thim!" cried Pat Stoodles."Niver do I want to set me eyes on thimag'in!"

The rowboat passed around one corner ofthe island and all looked eagerly for some signof a sail.

"Nothing in sight," said Dave.

"I see something drifting upon thewaves," announced the doctor.

All looked in the direction which he pointedout and saw a large mass of driftwood floatingtoward them.

"That means a wreck of some sort," criedthe captain. "Let us make an investigation."

The others were willing, and not long afterthis they came up beside the wreckage, whichproved to be a spar with cordage and part ofa forecastle and rail.

"Can that wreckage be from theSwallow?" asked Dave, anxiously.

"It may be," answered the captain. "Still,I am not sure."

"Perhaps it is from the Raven," camefrom Doctor Barrell.

"I'd rather it was from that vessel thanfrom our own," said the young diver, quickly."But it may be from the Swallow, and I'lltell you why," he added, suddenly.

"Well?"

"Don't you remember about Pete Rackley?He may have disabled our ship."

"If he has done so he should be swungfrom a yardarm," came from CaptainBroadbeam, hotly.

As they could make nothing of the wreckagethey allowed it to drift by and continuedtheir journey around another point of theisland.

Not to tire themselves, they took turns atrowing.

Bob and Stoodles were made as comfortableas possible on the seats, with palmbranches laid over them, to protect them fromthe fierce rays of the sun.

Thus an hour passed and still nothing ofimportance came to view.

They saw some more wreckage at a distance,and rowing up to it, discovered severalempty chicken crates and an empty watercask.

"These prove nothing," said the captain."The crates may have been thrown overboardon purpose."

"It's queer, with so much wreckagearound, we don't sight some ship," saidDave.

"You are right, lad, for that wreckage isnot water-soaked and old."

Before long they began to grow hungry,and stopped their search long enough to geta lunch of berries and cold fish, washed downwith water from one of the bamboo stems.

"This is a great way to carry water," wasDave's comment. "It keeps it very sweet."

"So it does, Dave," said the doctor."But the water is bound to evaporate veryrapidly."

The lunch over, they resumed their journey.They had put far out to sea on one sideof the island. Now they returned, to put outon the opposite side.

They were within three hundred feet of theisland when Doctor Barrell set up a cry ofwarning.

"Stop! Do not land!"

"What's the matter, doctor?" came fromthe captain. "We were not going to land.We are bound for the other side of theisland."

"I saw some persons moving behind yonderbushes and rocks," went on the man ofscience.

"Saw somebody?" ejacul*ted Dave.

"Yes."

"White men?"

"No, savages!"

"Are you sure of this?" demanded Captain Broadbeam.

"I—I think I am," stammered the doctor.

"Where are they?"

"Gone now."

"Perhaps you were mistaken, doctor,"said Dave.

"It is possible—but I do not think so."

The rowboat was allowed to drift, and allgazed earnestly toward the island. But nota person of any sort appeared.

"This is mighty queer," was the captain'scomment. "The savages couldn't have beenthere when we left."

"Maybe they just arrived," said Dave.

"That is possible. Still——"

"I—I may have been mistaken," said DoctorBarrell. "Remember, my eyesight is notof the best."

"I wish we were sure of this," went on thecaptain. "If the savages are on the islandin force I don't know as we shall care to goback, even if we don't locate the ship."

"Perhaps they are hiding, thinking thatwe will return," said Dave. "One thing issure, we have got to be careful of what wedo after this."

They talked the matter over for a few minutesmore and then resumed their journey tothe other side of the island. They kept theireyes toward the shore, but neither man norbeast came to view.

"Maybe he saw some gorillas," said Bob,who had listened to the talk. "They looklike savages from a distance."

"Well, a lot of gorillas would be as bad asa band of savages," answered Dave.

Slowly the rowboat proceeded on its journeyuntil they rounded another point of theisland. Then Dave set up a shout of dismay.

"What is it?" questioned the captain andthe doctor quickly.

"Savages! They are after us in their canoes!"

The young diver spoke the truth. There,at no great distance from the island shore,were two long war canoes, each filled withthe enemy.

As soon as the savages discovered thewhites they set up a mad yell of delight, andthen hurried in pursuit of our friends.

CHAPTER XXIII

ON THE SHIP ONCE MORE

"We are in for it now!" cried Dave, ashe watched the approach of the two warcanoes loaded down with savages.

"It certainly looks like it," mutteredCaptain Broadbeam, grimly. "Well, a man candie but once, and we had better fight to thebitter end."

"That is true," came from Doctor Barrell."But I am afraid that three against twodozen or more will make a poor showing."

The savages now became aware that theywere discovered, and they set up a fierceshout. Those at the long sweeps began torow more swiftly than ever, as if thirstingfor the blood of the whites.

"If we only had a gun or two," said Dave."But we haven't a thing."

"Only the oars, and they'll make poorweapons," answered Captain Broadbeam,"I'm afraid it's all up with us, lad. Wemust look for the worst."

"Can't we outdistance them by rowing?"

"I think not."

"But we might reach shore again and taketo the jungle. That will be better than beingslaughtered on the ocean."

"Yes, yes, let us try for the shore!" burstout the doctor. "We have at least a fightingchance of reaching it."

As quickly as possible the rowboat wasturned about, and its bow pointed to a distantheadland. All pulled with might and main,the perspiration pouring down their facesand backs.

But it was useless. The war canoes creptcloser and closer.

And now, as if to make doubly sure ofthem, there suddenly appeared upon thebeach another crowd of natives, brandishingknives and war clubs.

The din was hideous, and the cry from theshore was echoed and re-echoed by thesavages in the canoes.

They felt certain that the whites wouldbecome their prisoners.

Captain, doctor, and young diver lookedat each other with blanched faces.

They felt that their last hour on earth wasat hand.

Swiftly the war canoes came closer.

Then of a sudden something happenedwhich came as a great shock to our friendsand as an even greater shock to the savages.

Boom!

Dull and sullen a ship's gun boomed outand a shot sped across the bow of theforemost of the canoes.

"A shot!" ejacul*ted Captain Broadbeam,leaping to his feet. "What can itmean?"

"It means that there is a steamship insight!" cried Dave. "See the smoke aroundthe bend of the island. Here she comes!"

"It is the Swallow!" came from thedoctor. "Heaven be praised!"

The physician was right; it was indeedthe Swallow, and now another shot boomedout.

The ball struck the stern of the leading warcanoe, and the craft began immediately to fillwith water.

The yelling was terrific, for the nativeswere taken completely by surprise.

As the first of the canoes began to sink,those on board leaped into the water.

Some started for the other canoe, but themajority swam toward shore, thinking thatthe second craft would soon be served like thefirst.

But the natives on the shore were not yetdaunted, and with another yell they let flya shower of arrows at those in the rowboat.

"Down!" cried Captain Broadbeam, andall hurled themselves to the bottom of thecraft.

It was well that they did this, for thearrows must otherwise have killed one ormore of them.

Boom! A third shot from the Swallow wasnow directed at those on shore.

The aim was a good one and two nativeswere seen to pitch forward, to rise nomore.

Seeing this, the others took to their heelswith all speed and disappeared into thejungle.

It was the last of the attack upon ourfriends.

The savages had had enough of the contestand now thought only of saving themselves.

The second canoe was beached in a greathurry and the occupants disappeared as ifby magic.

As soon as they felt free to do so, ourfriends resumed their oars and rowed in thedirection of the Swallow.

On the deck they saw the lieutenant of theship, Amos Fearless, and several otherfamiliar faces.

Soon the steamship and the rowboat cametogether, and then Bob and Pat Stoodles werehoisted aboard the larger craft. Dave, thecaptain, and the doctor followed.

"Father!" cried Dave, and rushed intohis parent's arms.

Amos Fearless could not speak, but hisface showed plainly his great joy.

"And how are you, father?" went on his son.

"He is doing nicely," answered the firstmate of the Swallow. "But his speech hasnot yet come back to him."

Bob and Pat Stoodles were carried to staterooms,and here Doctor Barrell proceeded tominister to their comforts through the stockin his medicine chest.

While this was going on Captain Broadbeamstarted in to learn if Pete Rackley hadshown himself.

"Why, certainly; he is on board," said themate. "He's a poor, down-hearted cast-away,isn't he?"

"He's a rascal!" burst out CaptainBroadbeam. "Where is he? I'll put him in irons!"

A search was at once instituted and at lastPete Rackley was found hiding in the forecastle.

He was the picture of misery when broughtbefore Captain Broadbeam.

"It's all a mistake," he said, in atrembling voice. "All a mistake."

"It is no mistake," said the captain,sternly. "Dave Fearless is here to testifyagainst you."

"But—but——"

"You need make no more denials, Rackley.You have played the game and lost. Nowanswer me truthfully: Have you done anyharm as yet to the Swallow?"

"No! no!"

"You are telling the truth?"

"I am—I swear it."

"I will order a strict investigation. Ifanything is wrong——"

And the captain ended with a stern shakeof his forefinger at the rascal.

Pete Rackley was then bound and cast intothe brig of the ship.

The assistant engineer was closelyquestioned, and he said Rackley had been seenfrequently around the engine room.

Then the entire machinery of the ship wasinspected.

At one point several bolts were found filedalmost in two.

At another point an oil cup was broken, sothat the part might get dry and thus causeconsiderable delay.

These things were all mended, and CaptainBroadbeam ordered that Rackley be chainedup in the brig because of his falsehoods.

The day was spent in the vicinity of theisland, looking for the Raven, but that vesselfailed to appear.

By the next morning both Bob and PatStoodles were pronounced out of danger bythe doctor.

A conference was held and it was decidedthat the Swallow should now proceed with allhaste to the spot where the Happy Hour hadgone down with the treasure.

Nothing of special interest happened forseveral days.

Bob Vilett grew better rapidly and wasable to be around at the end of a week.

Pat Stoodles' recovery was slower. Butto the satisfaction of the friends he had madeit was seen that the Irish castaway's mindwas becoming clearer every day.

"He'll be as clear-headed as any of uswhen he gets on his feet once more," saidDoctor Barrell, and his statement proved correct.

Day after day went by and the Swallowkept steadily to her course.

Amos Fearless was now as well as everexcepting for his voice.

He could occasionally speak a few wordsin a hoarse whisper, but that was all; and hewould sometimes break down in the midst ofa sentence.

This grieved Dave very much, but he coulddo nothing for the sufferer.

"It is time alone can do it," said DoctorBarrell, encouragingly.

But Dave was downcast. What if hisfather should never be able to talk again asof old?

"I'd rather let the fortune go than havethat happen," he told himself, over and overagain. He was afraid that the afflictionmight grow worse, so that his parent wouldnot be able to make any sound at all!

CHAPTER XXIV

ATTACKED BY A FIRE FISH

"And this is the spot where the HappyHour went down?"

"It is, according to the markings on thechart, Dave."

"And how deep do you reckon the oceanis at this point?"

"The chart says 12,500 feet—a little overtwo miles."

"It is a deep distance. Regular diverscould never make it. They would be crushedto death by the mere pressure of the water."

"I have thought the matter over, Dave,and I think it will be best for both you andyour father to go down only a half-mile thefirst day. Then, if that is successful, you cango a little deeper each day, until the bottomis reached. And you will have to use thediving bell at all times."

"I know that. And if we leave the divingbell at all it will have to be in those newsteel-ribbed diving suits we had made in Washingtonespecially for this trip," concluded theyoung diver.

The Swallow lay at rest on the broad bosomof the mighty Pacific Ocean.

Nothing had been seen of the Raven, andat present not a sign of a strange sail showeditself anywhere.

It was high noon, and Captain Broadbeamhad just concluded his calculations to provethat he was at the very spot which was saidto be that where the Happy Hour hadsunk.

Dave looked thoughtfully over the side, intothe greenish waves, lit for a depth of onlythirty or forty feet below the surface.

What fortune did that silent body of waterhold for his father and himself?

A touch on his elbow aroused him, andturning, he found his parent standing besidehim.

Amos Fearless could not say a word, buthe motioned to the water and smiled. Thenhe spoke to Dave in the sign language of thedivers.

"This is the spot," he signed. "Howsoon does Captain Broadbeam calculate to letus go down?"

"I think to-morrow," replied Dave.

A long talk followed, by word of mouth onDave's part and by signs on the part of theparent.

It was a sad sight to see Amos Fearless tryto talk with his mouth and fail. His tonguewould cling to his teeth and refuse to budge.At last he turned away with tears in his eyesand Dave was equally affected.

The remainder of the day was spent in gettingthe diving bell into shape for use.

This was inspected with great care, for itwas understood by all that the two divers,father and son, would be taking their lives intheir hands in going down such an immensedistance as contemplated.

"It's queer we don't see anything of theRaven," said Dave to Captain Broadbeam.

"Perhaps Lemuel Hankers knows enoughto keep out of our reach," was the answer."He may know that we—or rather, you—areon board and have exposed Pete Rackley,and he may wish to keep his own head out ofdanger."

"That must be it."

"If Hankers came near us I would be aptto make it hot for him."

"And I'll do the same."

It was a clear day overhead when Dave andhis father entered the diving bell and werehoisted over the side of the Swallow.

Slowly the immense cable unwound itself,letting the bell down deeper and deeper.

Soon the light of day was shut out and allbecame as black as night and as cold as atomb.

Amos Fearless turned on the electric currentand the diving bell sent out several raysof light.

The light attracted numerous fish, whoswam up swiftly, only to stop just as fast andgaze stupidly through the glass of the bell'ssides.

There was one fish in particular, commonlycalled the electric-light fish, the scientificname being linophyrne lucifer, which hadwhat looked like an electric light on the endof its sharp snout and a rope-like appendageunder its lower jaw. It had a square mouthand sharp, curved teeth, and a look whichwas enough to give an ordinary mortal achill.

"We must secure a specimen of that fish,"said Amos Fearless, in the sign language."The captain and the doctor spoke about itparticularly."

"And also a specimen of that long, thinthing," answered Dave, pointing to what isfamiliarly called in Borneo the ray of fire.The ray of fire is a white fish four or five feetlong and less than three inches thick. It hassilver scales which flash out like fire wheneverit swims quickly.

Soon they had reached the half-mile limit,and the diving bell came to a standstill.

Then a door in the bell was opened andthey prepared to spread out a strong net withwhich to catch what was desired.

It was by no means an easy task—indeed,the most of a diver's labors are very hard,and before the net was properly adjustedboth Dave and his parent were almostwinded.

Then they moved the diving bell around,from one spot to another, on the lookout forthe electric-light fish and the ray of fire, socalled.

Soon they saw one of the electric-light fishin the vicinity.

They had brought some bait along, and thiswas tied up in the net.

The monstrous fish scented the bait andcame forward slowly and cautiously.

He was hungry, yet he did not altogetherlike the appearance of the diving bell.

He had never seen a live human beingbefore, although he had feasted upon the bodyof more than one dead sailor, coming downwith some wreck.

Amos Fearless and Dave remained asmotionless as statues.

Nearer and nearer came the electric-lightfish.

The light on his snout blinked and winkedin an odd fashion and was once or twiceturned upon Dave and his father.

Then, like a flash, the monstrous fish sweptinto the net after the bait.

Snap! went the line attached to the top ofthe net, and Dave and his father began pullingthe net shut with might and main.

They had to work like lightning, for, feelingthat something was wrong, the electric-lightfish began to thrash around at a livelyrate.

The net swept to and fro as the fish dartedhither and thither in its efforts to escape.

Bang!

Up against the diving bell came net andfish with a shock that threatened to shiver theglass into a million fragments.

"Shove away!" motioned Amos Fearlessto his son, and Dave caught hold of a rod towhich the net was fastened and the net wasplaced at a distance from the bell.

At last the wonderful electric-light fish wasa prisoner in the net. It still continued tothrash around, and fearful that he mightbreak loose in spite of the strength of the net,Amos Fearless signaled to those on the shipto haul up the prize.

Slowly the net ascended until it was out ofsight and only the occasional blinking of thefish's light lit up the path he was taking to theoutside world. Then even this died out.

"A good haul," said Amos Fearless, in thesign language. "Now for that ray of fire andour day's work will be done. And I will beglad of it."

"So will I be glad," answered Dave."We'll want several days down here in orderto get used to deep-sea work once more."

The diving bell was supplied with a secondnet—smaller and of a much tighter mesh, andthis they now put out in the hope of catchingone of the rays of fire.

Two were in the vicinity and eying the belland those inside with much curiosity.

"Nasty, snaky-looking things," observedDave, as he helped to bait the net. "Andthey look wicked, too."

"All of the deep-sea fish are wicked-looking,"was the answer. "I never saw anything different."

They waited for fully ten minutes beforeone of the strange fishes came up to the net.

Then it darted inside and began biting atthe bait.

"We've got him!" cried Dave, and beganto pull on the string which shut the net up.

At once the ray of fire tried to escape.

But it was too late, for the top of the netclosed tight just as he shoved his nose against it.

Then an odd thing happened.

The fish began to lash around in a circle,emitting a strange sound like the roll ofdistant thunder.

Sparks flew from its tail which droppeddown into the water like the sparks from aRoman candle.

"What a beautiful sight!" began Dave,when of a sudden he heard a swishing throughthe water.

He turned, to behold his father in a trulyperilous situation.

The second ray of fire had come upand wound itself around Amos Fearless'neck.

Its hard body was like a wand of rubber,and unless the fish were released the old diverwould speedily be strangled to death!

CHAPTER XXV

LEFT TO PERISH

For one moment Dave Fearless' heartseemed to stop beating.

The sight before him was a terrible one.

Vainly was his father struggling to freehimself from the deadly embrace of thecreature which had attacked him.

There were three coils of the ray of firearound the old diver's neck and these wereslowly but surely choking the life out of theman.

His eyes were bulging from their sockets—histongue stuck from his mouth. In a fewseconds more all would be over.

Close at hand stuck a knife in a case on thewall of the diving bell.

With a leap Dave secured the blade. Anotherleap and he was at his parent's side.

But how should he attack the strange,snake-like fish? A false cut and he might stabhis father in the throat.

But he must act, or it would be too late.

With a cautious movement of the knife heslit the fish along the back.

There was a strange hissing and the ray offire swung loose the end of its tail.

It caught Dave around the wrist, holdingthat member as in a vise.

At first the youth was inclined to drop theknife, but he managed to hold on.

Then began an intensely interesting struggle between boy and fish.

Dave tried his best to twist the hand aroundso that he might cut the fish a second time.

He brought up his other hand, in an endeavorto transfer the knife, but as quickas a flash the ray of fire unloosened itself andcaught both wrists.

In its own way it was fighting for its mate,a prisoner in the net.

Dave's two hands were now drawn tightlyto his father's throat, as if the horriblemonster of the deep meant to make the boystrangle his own parent!

"I must get my hand free!" thought theyoung diver.

Again he struggled, the sweat standingout on his forehead inside of his divinghelmet.

At last he managed to turn one wrist andgot the point of the knife again into the fish'sbody.

He cut and twisted as best he could and feltthe ray of fire quiver with pain and rage.

The fish could not stand the cutting andpresently raised its head in order to make anew move.

Exerting all of his strength, Dave made aslash at the head and cut into the light on thefish's snout.

A rush of phosphorescent blood followed,and on the instant all of the light died out inthe creature's body.

Again Dave made a cut, striking deep intothe fish, so deeply in fact that he made an uglyscratch on his father's neck.

This last blow was too much for the ray offire, and slowly it fell away and floated off,Dave did not know to where.

Freed from his captor, Amos Fearless sankin a heap at the door of the diving bell.

Was he dead?

In frantic haste the youth pulled himselfand his parent into the bell and shut thedoor.

Then he gave a quick signal to be raised tothe surface.

There was no immediate answer, and afresh alarm took possession of the youngdiver.

"What does this mean? Why don't theypull us up?" he asked himself.

Generally the life-line, as it is termed, iswatched constantly, and every signal of adiver is acted upon on the instant.

Were this not so, many a man of the deepwould go down never to come up.

A minute went by and still the signalremained unanswered.

To the boy the time seemed an age.

Feeling that his parent might die beforebeing brought up, he began to empty thediving bell of water.

There was a fresh-air hose attached to thebell, and as the water was forced out the aircame in, until at last the bell was as dry as ahogshead that has been emptied.

The moment the water was out, Dave beganto work upon his diving suit.

It was no easy job to get it off without assistance.

Generally one diver helped the other, buthe could obtain no aid from that form nowlying stiff and motionless upon the floor ofthe diving bell.

At last his arms and his head were free andhe turned his attention to his parent.

He unscrewed the helmet and then the restof the old diver's suit.

Amos Fearless was almost black in the faceand there was an ugly mark around his throat,mingling with the blood from the scratchDave had caused.

Putting his ear to his parent's breast, theboy made out that his father still breathedfaintly.

In the diving bell was some liquor, to beused for restorative purposes, and some ofthis Dave poured down his father's throat.

But still the man did not stir, and Davebegan to rub his hands and move his arms, thathis lungs might again get into working order.

Ten minutes passed and at last Amos Fearlessgave a slight gasp.

Taking this for a good sign, Dave continuedhis labors and was presently rewarded byseeing his father open his eyes and shudder.

"Father! are you all right now?" askedthe boy.

The only reply was a groan. But thenAmos Fearless gave a long breath, and Daveknew that he was saved.

"You had a narrow escape, father," hesaid. "The light fish tried to strangle you.I had to cut him to pieces with the knife. Icut you a little on the neck, but that couldn'tbe helped."

Amos Fearless made a feeble sign. "Iknow—brave boy," was what he said, andcaught his son by the hand.

In the meantime the ray of fire in the netwas still threshing around on the outside ofthe bell.

But to this fish they now paid no attention.

"Let us go up," signed Mr. Fearless, aftera pause of a few minutes.

"I have signaled," was the son's answer."I will signal again."

He pulled the cord several times in livelyfashion.

Then he waited—five seconds—ten seconds—afull minute. And still the diving bell didnot move.

"They have given up watching the lifeline,"he reasoned. "How careless! I'llgive Captain Broadbeam a talking to whenthey do haul us up."

"Something must be wrong," said thefather, in his sign language. "CaptainBroadbeam would not forget us in thisfashion."

Slowly the minutes went by and eachinstant father and son grew more anxious.

They could not ascend of themselves, norcould they leave the diving bell and float tothe surface.

Had they left the bell without their suitsthe water would have crushed them, for thepressure was enormous at this distance underthe surface.

The air in the diving bell was anything butpure, and now of a sudden it stopped comingin altogether.

"We are lost!" cried Dave. "We shallbe smothered to death!"

"I cannot believe Captain Broadbeam hasforgotten us," signed Amos Fearless. "AsI said before, something must be wrong!"

The old diver was right; something wasvery wrong on board of the Swallow.

While the two divers were at work underthe surface of the ocean, a wild cry had arisenon board of the ship, a cry which thrilledeveryone who heard it to the heart.

It came from the cook's galley and wasquickly taken up on all sides.

"Fire! fire! The ship is on fire!"

The report was true. Some fat on thecook's stove had boiled over and taken fire,and now the burning fat was flowing in alldirections.

It looked as if the Swallow and all on boardof her were doomed!

CHAPTER XXVI

THE BATTLE OF THE FISHES

"Fire! fire! fire!"

This cry, echoing throughout the Swallow,is the most dreadful that sailors on the highseas know.

What hope is there for those on board of aship going down in mid-ocean, thousands ofmiles from land?

"We must put out that fire!" came fromCaptain Broadbeam. "Man the fire hose andsend word to the engine room to turn on thewater!"

His orders were obeyed as quickly as possible.

Yet everything takes time, and before thehose could be brought into play the cook'sgalley was a mass of flames from beginningto end.

The wind was blowing the sparks directlyforward, so the captain had the ship swunground, that the fire might be carried largelyover the side.

A bucket corps was formed and they, too,poured all the water possible on the conflagration.

It was fierce, hot work, and for some timeit looked as if the fire would get the best ofthe workers and destroy the Swallow.

Small wonder then that Amos Fearless andDave were for the time being forgotten.

Ten minutes went by—twenty minutes—andboth began to grow desperate.

"We must perish!" groaned Dave.

Amos Fearless shook his head, dismally.

Both became too weak to stand up, and sankon the floor of the diving bell.

The air was now stale and made them sleepy.

Gradually Dave's eyes closed.

He tried to arouse himself, but the effortwas a failure.

It was the beginning of the sleep of death,and the young diver knew it!

He caught his father's hand and a warmgrasp was exchanged in silence.

After that all became as a dream to theyoung diver.

He thought he was out in the ocean andthat numerous fierce fish were swimming closeto him.

Then one large fish swallowed him and hefound himself cut off from all air.

He fought desperately and at last cut a holein the fish's side and stepped out into theupper world.

Oh, how good the fresh air tasted. He filledhis lungs and took breath after breath—andthen——

Dave opened his eyes and stared vacantlyaround him. He was on the deck of theSwallow and Doctor Barrell was bending overhim, a look of deep anxiety on the kindlyface.

"Dave, how do you feel now!" came inanxious tones. "Can you breathe?"

He could not answer excepting to take along breath; but he now understood thesituation. He had been hauled up to theSwallow's deck and was saved! Then of a suddenhe became unconscious again.

Quarter of an hour later Dave found himselfsitting up and swallowing some medicineDoctor Barrell was forcing into his mouth.He still felt very weak, and when he tried tostand, all swam before his eyes.

"You must keep quiet, lad," said thedoctor. "You have had a narrow escape fromdeath."

"My father——" began Dave. He couldsay no more.

"He was brought up with you, of course."

"And is he—is he——"

"He is slowly recovering, but of course heis older than you and not so strong, and itwill, consequently, take longer."

"But he will get well?"

"I think so."

After that Dave was silent for a long while.Then Captain Broadbeam came in, his facecovered with smoke and grime.

"I suppose you thought we had desertedyou," said the captain. "We had a hot timeof it, I can tell you."

"A hot time? What do you mean?"

"Don't you know the ship has been afire, lad?"

"No."

"Well, it has been, and that's why wedidn't haul you up before. I was afraid wewere all bound for Davy Jones' locker, sure."

Of course, Dave was surprised and he listenedto the particulars of the fire with interest.

"The galley is burned off clean and clear,"said the captain, "and we've got an ugly holein the forward deck. But otherwise the shipis all right."

The remainder of the day was spent incleaning up the muss, and then the ship'scarpenter went to work, with several sailorassistants, to build a new galley and mend theburned deck.

It was several days before Dave felt ableto do any more diving, and even then it wasonly the thought of locating the sunkentreasure that made him go down.

Amos Fearless was too weak to do anything,so Dave had to go down alone.

"Be sure and pull me up," said the youngdiver, as he was about to enter the divingbell.

"I will see to that," replied Amos Fearless,in his sign language. "Don't stay downtoo long."

Down and down into the dark and coldwaters of the Pacific sank the diving bell.

The trip before had been about half a mile;this time Dave intended to go down twice thatdistance.

If this trip was successful he was resolved,on the next day, weather permitting, to godown to the very bottom, two miles below thesurface.

After what seemed a journey without endthe diving bell came to a stop.

The mile limit had been reached.

The young diver turned on the electriclights and gazed around him, curiously.

He gave a start of surprise, and notwithout reason.

The waters were no longer dark and black.

There was a peculiar glow of light comingup from somewhere below, and in the waterfloated something closely resembling smokeor clouds.

"What did this mean!"

"It's like another world," he thought."And what strange fish!"

But then he caught sight of somethingwhich filled him with alarm.

A number of small fish had come up aroundthe diving bell and were now swarming allover it, inside and out.

Each fish was less than six inches long, butthere were hundreds of them darting hitherand thither, churning up the water as before,and emitting a strange, hissing sound.

He tried to get back to the diving bell, butfound the effort a failure.

The fish swam against him, plunging andleaping, and finally turned him completelyover.

He was in the power of a new enemy, andwhat the end of this adventure would be therewas no telling.

The fish were indeed curious—some longand thin, others short and fat, but all withsomething extremely unusual in their makeup.

One fish had horns on its head, another hadwings like those of a bird, and many hadfeathers instead of scales on their bodies.

And then came a fish shaped very muchlike a long, spiral spring, with a square-lookinghead and horns all of two feet long justover his eyes, which set out like two yellowand white eggs.

"I must try and get you, my beauty,"thought the young diver, and prepared to putout the net for that purpose.

He had to work with care, being alone, andit took considerable time before he openedthe diving bell and let in the water.

The first thing that struck him when he feltthe water on him was that it was no longercold, but warm—even warmer than at the surface.

This was not unpleasant, but he could nothelp but wonder how much hotter it might beat the very bottom.

"This part of the ocean may be over asubmarine volcano," he reasoned. "If thatis so it will be boiling at the bottom, and toget to the wreck will be impossible."

At last his net was set and he baited it withcare.

Then he waited.

Several small fish came up and nibbledat his bait, but not the spiral fish he wasafter.

"He's a shy one," thought Dave. "He'snot going to be caught if he knows it."

But at last the young diver was rewardedby seeing two of the spiral fish approaching.

One apparently urged the other on, untilboth came into the net and began to chew atthe bait, which was purposely very tough.

With all speed Dave set to work to shut thenet.

This was no easy task for a single person,and in order to accomplish it the young diverhad to step outside of the diving bell.

He was just finishing up the task when astrange rushing behind him caused him toturn around.

At first he could see but little, for the waterbehind him was churned up into a milk-whitefoam. Then he saw a great mass of littlefishes pressing toward him.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE RIVAL DIVERS

"Gosh, but this is something new!"

So thought Dave Fearless as he tried topass the little fish in order to get into thediving bell.

But the little chaps were both frisky andpowerful and got in his way continually.

They smelt of his legs, his body and hishead, and then each gave him a resoundingslap with the tail.

It was like a hundred tack hammers playinga tattoo over his entire body.

Never had the young diver been in such apeculiar position before.

At last he hit out straight ahead of him.

It was like striking into a mass of jelly.

The little fish flew in all directions, only toreturn the moment the young diver's arm washauled back.

Slowly but surely, however, he got closer tothe diving bell.

At last he gained the door and hauledhimself inside by main strength.

The bell was full of the tiny fish, and he hadliterally to squeeze them out in order tosqueeze himself in.

Once in the bell he hardly knew what to donext.

To shut the door under the circ*mstanceswas out of the question.

Yet he could not remain below the surfaceforever.

But while he was meditating upon theunexpected turn of affairs some other fish cameto his aid.

They were long, fat fellows, with stomachson them resembling balloons.

There were a score or more of them, andthey began to gobble down the little fish asrapidly as they could swallow them.

A fight ensued between the little fish andthe big fish, and in the end nearly all of thefish of both sorts left the vicinity of the divingbell for parts unknown.

Realizing what was going on, Dave watchedhis chance and when only a few of each kindof fish remained in the diving bell he shut thedoor.

Then he began to pump out the water, andat the same time signaled to those on the shipto raise him to the surface.

"A splendid haul!" cried Doctor Barrell,on examining his strange catch. "Two spiralwhipsnaps, to use the vulgar name, and halfa dozen fish which are new to science."

Captain Broadbeam had taken up one ofthe little fish and was examining it with interest.

The fish was dead, having been cut openduring the struggle in the diving bell.

"He's got something inside of him thatdon't belong there, I reckon," said thecaptain. "Creation, look here!"

And he held up—a small gold coin!

"A gold coin!" cried Dave. "A Chinesepiece, too!"

"You are right," said Doctor Barrell.

"Perhaps it came from the sunken treasure,"put in Amos Fearless, who stood near.

"Perhaps."

"Then the treasure must be down here, atthe bottom of the ocean," added Dave.

"It's not unlikely," said the doctor."Although such a fish might swim a long distancewith such a coin in his insides."

While the party was talking the matterover, and Doctor Barrell was preparing toplace the spiral fish in a safe place, there camea cry from the lookout:

"Sail oh!"

"Where away?" cried Captain Broadbeam.

"Dead ahead, sir."

"Can you make her out?"

"A steamer, sir."

"Perhaps it is the Raven," said Dave.And his heart gave a leap.

Slowly the newcomer came closer until, atnoon, she was within hailing distance.

She was really the Raven and she cameup boldly, with Lemuel Hankers, Bart, andseveral others on her deck.

The Raven would have gained the spotseveral days before, but an unexpectedbreakdown of her machinery had caused a delay.

The wait was maddening to Lemuel Hankersand his son, yet their rage did them nogood.

The Raven came to a standstill whenwithin hailing distance of the Swallow.

"Raven, ahoy!" shouted Captain Broadbeam,through his speaking trumpet.

"Ahoy, the Swallow!" came back fromCaptain Nesik.

"You're a pretty set of rascals!" burstout the honest commander of the Governmentvessel.

"Don't talk that way to us!" retortedCaptain Nesik.

"Why didn't you rescue us from the savages?"

"We were running on a reef and had tolook after our ship," was the lame excuse.

"You're a set of rascals!" burst out DaveFearless, and he shook his fist at those on theRaven.

"Don't call me a rascal!" ejacul*ted LemuelHankers.

"But you are one, and your son isanother," came from Dave. "The mask is off,and in the future you had better keepyour distance, or there will be trouble foryou."

"What are you doing here?" demandedBart, leaning on the rail.

"You know well enough."

"You are after the sunken treasure."

"If we are it is because it belongs to myfather and myself," retorted Dave.

"We are on the high seas," came fromLemuel Hankers. "The treasure was abandoned,and it will belong to whoever succeedsin raising it—if it can be raised."

"By gum! I reckon he's right there," mutteredCaptain Broadbeam.

"Well, we intend to raise it, so you hadbetter clear out," said Dave, boldly.

At this there arose a howl of derision fromthose on the Raven.

"Go ahead and do as you please," camefrom Lemuel Hankers. "But let me tell you,you have got to have pretty slick divers to getahead of those I have hired."

"Whom have you?" questioned CaptainBroadbeam, curiously.

"I am not afraid to let you know—CalVixen and Sam Walton."

At this announcement the faces of CaptainBroadbeam, Amos Fearless, and Dave fell.

Cal Vixen and Sam Walton were known tobe the best divers on the Pacific coast.

What Amos Fearless and his son had doneon the Atlantic shore for the Government,Cal Vixen and Sam Walton had accomplishedon the Pacific shore.

"Rivals for fair!" murmured Dave.

"Yes, my lad," answered Captain Broadbeam."I reckon it will be nip an' tuck betweenye!" And he shook his head doubtfully.

There was a pause in the talk.

"Have you a castaway on board?" questionedLemuel Hankers, at length.

"No, but we've got a prisoner named PeteRackley," answered Captain Broadbeam,with, a chuckle.

"A prisoner!"

"Exactly—and you know what for, LemuelHankers, you old fraud!" said Dave.

"I? I know nothing."

"You know everything. Your well-laidplot failed to work, and Pete Rackley shallremain a prisoner until we can hand him overto the United States authorities."

A wordy quarrel followed, and presentlythe two rival divers came forward.

"We are going down to-morrow," saidVixen, the leader of the pair. "If you godown, mind and keep your distance."

"You mind and keep yours!" retortedDave. "Remember, neither I nor my fathercan be scared by you."

"We have been hired to bring up thattreasure and we mean to do it."

"I expect to do the same thing—and youshall not stop me."

"All right. Only look out, or you'll berunning up a lot of trouble on your back!"came from Vixen, and then he and his matefell back, and the two ships drifted apart, outof talking distance.

"They mean business," said Dave, to CaptainBroadbeam.

"Yes, and they will cause you a lot of troubleif they can," replied the captain. "Watchthem closely, every time they come near you."

The next day the hunt for the sunken treasurebegan in earnest.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE DEMONS OF THE DEEP

As early in the day as possible CaptainBroadbeam made another astronomicalcalculation and worked out the position of theSwallow on his set of charts.

It was found that the ship lay about onehundred yards to the westward of where theHappy Hour was reported to have gone down.

This was not much, but the captain immediatelygave orders that the ship be broughtto the correct position.

"You'll have work enough locating her asit is," said the captain. "More than likelythe ocean current has shifted her considerably."

Luckily Amos Fearless was now feelingmuch better, having quite recovered from hisexperience at the time of the fire on the ship.

With the Raven on the scene, it was decidedby father and son that the diving bell shouldbe taken directly to the ocean's bottom, if thething could be accomplished.

"I know we are running a risk," said theold diver, in his sign language, "but we mustbe the first to discover the Happy Hour, nomatter what the cost. To suffer defeat wouldkill me."

By ten o'clock in the morning the divingbell was over the side and father and son hadentered it.

Those on the Raven were also getting out adiving bell, and Vixen and Walton were busyoverhauling their deep-sea outfits.

It was indeed to be a race for the treasure.

Soon Dave and his parent had left theoutside world behind and were going down anddown into the mighty ocean's depths.

On this occasion it had been agreed not tolook for anything but the sunken treasureship; consequently, the fish net and severalother similar appliances had been left behind.

In their places the diving bell containedseveral tools for digging and hauling and alsoseveral under-water firearms, for use againsta possible enemy. In addition to the firearms,father and son had provided themselves withlong and sharp knives.

"There is no telling what we may runacross away down there," said Amos Fearless,in his sign language. "We are takingour lives in our hands, to my way of thinking."

And what he said was true—as eventsspeedily proved.

Soon they passed through the darker portionof the ocean and knew that the first mileof the downward journey had been covered.

Then those above lowered more slowly andwatched keenly for the first signal thatdanger might be encountered by those below.

"See, it is growing lighter," said Dave,presently, and turned off the electric lights.

His father had his hand upon the glass sideof the diving bell.

"It is also growing warmer," motionedthe parent, in his sign language.

A mile and a half had been covered and nowthe waters of the ocean were so clear and lightthat they could see for a hundred feet aboutthem.

The water glistened and sparkled like diamondsas it washed against the sides of thediving bell.

"The light is growing brighter," observedDave, presently. "Isn't it wonderful!"

They now felt they were approaching thebottom of the Pacific, for the diving bell wasmoving very slowly. Soon they saw great,ribbon-like grasses, the ends floating upwardpast the diving bell.

At this Amos Fearless shook his head.

"We don't want to get caught in thosegrasses," he signed. "They may proveworse than ropes of wire."

Suddenly a slight jar on the bottom of thediving bell told them that the machine hadstruck something. It no longer descended,but wabbled from side to side.

At once Amos Fearless signaled throughthe air-tube to stop lowering. Then a smallglass trap was opened in the diving bell'sbottom.

Through this they saw what had causedthe machine to stop. It was caught in thetop-most branches of a submarine tree. Belowthem, upon all sides, was a regular submarineforest.

The trees were two to three hundred feettall, twisted and gnarled in all directions,with branches stretching out of their sight.

Some of the trees boasted of most gorgeousflowers, while from others floated what lookedlike luscious fruits.

Below the trees could be seen strangemosses and sponges, of every imaginable hueand shape, and between them bushes andcreeping vines.

"This is a submarine paradise!" whisperedDave. "Did you ever dream of anythingso lovely?"

"Lovely—and dangerous!" came fromAmos Fearless. And then he added: "I seenothing of the Happy Hour."

He was right—there was no sign of asunken ship anywhere.

"Let us take the diving bell in a grandcircle around this spot," suggested Dave.

His father agreed, providing the thingcould be accomplished without positive danger.

To move around, they had to pull the machinealong from one tree-top to another bymeans of the crab-like claws attached to thebottom.

The diving bell worked like a charm andsoon a distance of several hundred yards hadbeen covered.

Sometimes the crab-like claws would slipon the tree-tops and at others the trees wouldbreak off with a dull, snapping report. Whenthis would happen the sap flowing from thetree would be pure yellow in color.

In order to see at a great distance AmosFearless now adjusted a powerful light whichhad been brought along, using a smallreflector behind it.

Suddenly Dave let out a cry:

"The rival divers!"

He was right. At a great distance he hadseen the other diving bell coming down.

It contained Vixen and Walton. BartHankers had said he was coming down with them,but had backed out at the last moment, muchto the divers' satisfaction, for they hadcounted that he would only be in theirway.

As swiftly as the other diving bell hadcome into view, it now faded from sight beyondanother portion of the great submarineforest.

"They are close upon our heels," mutteredDave, and again Amos Fearless shook hishead, doubtfully.

At last the diving bell gained the edge ofthe forest and came to a rest upon one of thebanks of moss of many colors.

A short distance away the bank slopeddownward into a sort of valley.

Here it was darker, and what there was atthe bottom of the valley there was no tellingwithout an investigation.

Should they leave the diving bell upon anexploring tour?

They debated the subject for several minutes.

It would be a risky thing to do, althoughas yet they had encountered no strange fishor marine monsters at this great depth.

With care they adjusted their diving suitsand then armed themselves with their knivesand submarine guns.

Then the door of the bell was opened slowly.

The pressure of the water became enormousand their suits of steel creaked as if tocrash in upon them, as a shell can squeeze inupon the inside of an egg.

But they had calculated upon all this, andthe suits held as expected.

When they stepped out upon the moss theyfound it as soft and yielding as a thick velvetcarpet.

They advanced with caution toward theedge of the slope before them, casting theireyes continually upon all sides for the firstsign of danger.

They had thus gone a distance of twohundred feet when Dave pointed to a mound totheir right.

He had seen something strange movingamong the moss.

Of a sudden the moss was uplifted like ablanket and the young diver fell back inamazement.

Before him stood a monster as startling asit was horrible.

Whether it was fish, beast, or demon, hecould not tell, but it was certainly so awfulthat his very heart appeared to stop beatingas he gazed upon it.

It had a long, round body, fat and blubbery,with two legs in the center, two arms near theneck, and at the end the tail of a fish.

The head was shaped like a huge pear, witheyes blinking savagely from either side of anose which was as long and pointed as a cow'shorn.

The mouth of the demon was wide open,showing a double row of sharp, bluish teethand a tongue covered with yellow slime.

All told, the creature was at least ten feetlong, and when it stood up it towered wellover the heads of the two divers.

On the instant Dave raised his gun, but hisfather was before him, and a bullet fromAmos Fearless' submarine gun took thedemon squarely in the breast.

Hardly had the bullet reached its mark thanthe demon uttered a roar which rang in thedivers' ears like thunder.

As if by magic the roar was answered fromhalf a dozen near-by places and the moss wasflung right and left.

The demons of the ocean's bottom had beensleeping, and the roar had aroused them to asense of danger.

They came walking and swimming up fromevery direction, and in a twinkle AmosFearless and Dave found themselves surroundedand hopelessly cut off from the diving bell!

CHAPTER XXIX

THE ESCAPE FROM THE DEMONS

It was a situation calculated to make thestoutest heart quail.

Amos Fearless and Dave were surroundedby the demons of the deep!

The horrible ocean monsters pressed closeupon them, their big eyes fairly starting fromtheir heads, their long arms working convulsively,and their sweeping tails working thebrine up into a milk-white foam.

Evidently the battle-cry had gone forth, formore monsters were coming up each instant.

Father and son looked at each other mutely.Both felt that the end must be near.

The din increased, and being under waterwas so painful to the two divers that theyalmost fainted from the concussions.

In the midst of the uproar, however, therecame a sudden and dead silence.

Other monsters were approaching, leadingto the scene a monster larger than the rest.It was the king of the submarine demons.

At the approach of the king all the othersfell back.

The king advanced, with eyes as staring ashis followers, but with a tail that was motionless.

Ten feet from Amos Fearless and Dave hehalted.

For a moment nothing was done uponeither side.

Evidently the king of the demons wascalculating the best manner of attacking thestrange objects which had appeared in hisrealm.

He had seen the dead bodies of human beings,but never had he beheld live humanbeings, with skins of steel and rubber.

At last he came up cautiously and put outone long and bony hand towards Dave.

The movement was so slow that Dave wasfilled more with curiosity than with fear.

The king of the demons felt of Dave's legs,his body and his arms.

Then he took hold of the submarine gunand suddenly wrenched it from the youngdiver's grasp.

With the gun he went back to his followers.

In the meantime the demon that had beenshot was slowly dying, surrounded by anumber of his friends.

As soon as he was dead the others rent himlimb from limb and began to eat him up!

They were cannibals!

The king of the demons handled the gun hehad taken rather gingerly, nevertheless hishand, or paw, struck the trigger, and thesubmarine weapon was discharged full into theface of another demon sitting near.

A wild sound immediately arose, and as theshot demon fell back dead, several otherdemons closed in upon the king.

Soon the monsters were fighting wildlyamong themselves. The water was dyed halfa dozen shades, shutting in the fighters as ina cloud.

Amos Fearless touched Dave on the armand motioned his son to follow him.

The young diver understood, and in hastethe pair withdrew from the circle of combat.

Then they literally ran for the diving bell.

It was a fearful strain upon each, for theirdiving suits weighed seventy-five poundsapiece.

They were still a score of feet from the bellwhen some of the demons saw them runningand started in pursuit.

"We are lost now!" thought Dave, butcontinued to run, and urged his parent beforehim.

At last both gained the diving bell, all butexhausted.

Entering, they snapped the door shut andsent the signal up.

Soon the bell was rising. To assist, theybegan to pump the water out of the bell.

The demons swarmed all around the bell,but did not dare to touch the glass sides orthe crab-like claws.

Soon the bell passed from the zone ofsubmarine light and then the demons droppedback, for they could not breathe in the upperportions of the ocean.

The bell cleared of water, father and sontook off their diving suits.

"Thank Heaven we are out of that!"came in the sign language from AmosFearless.

"We were lucky to escape," answeredDave, earnestly. "But, father, thetreasure—how will we ever get at it, with thosedemons around?"

At this the old diver shook his head slowly.

It was a problem difficult, if not impossible,to solve.

"I wouldn't like to meet those fellowsagain for a million dollars," went on Dave.

And his father agreed with him.

It seemed a long while before they emergedfrom the ocean, at the side of the Swallow.

Those on the ship lost no time in bringingthem on board and questioning them regardingwhat they had discovered.

The story about the demons was listenedto with keen interest by Doctor Barrell.

"Ah, they must belong to the lost orderof chilusia damondaribytis!" cried thelearned man. "They are supposed to have livedat one time upon the lost continent of Atlantis.But if so, how did they come here, in themiddle of the Pacific? It is a great mystery.You must bring up one of them in the net."

"Thanks, but I don't want the job," repliedDave, quickly.

"But, my dear young man, think of the interestto science—the—the great fame it willbring you."

"Not if the chilu-what's-his-name chewsme up, doctor. You just ought to see them.Why, they are enough to give you bad dreamsfor a month."

"Then I will go down myself in the divingbell. If it is light, as you say, perhaps I canget some snapshot photographs of them,"went on the learned man.

"What if they take it into their heads tosmash the diving bell to pieces?"

"Cannot you keep them at a distance withthe submarine firearms?"

"Hardly; but I was thinking we mighttake down some submarine torpedoes," wenton Dave, suddenly.

The matter was talked over for fully anhour, and at last it was decided that anothertrial should be made the next day, and thedivers should take along two submarinetorpedoes, with which to blow up the demonsshould the latter molest them.

In the meantime Captain Broadbeam hadhis glass trained upon the Raven, andpresently he announced that the diving bell fromthat ship was coming up.

All watched eagerly for the reappearanceof Vixen and Walton, the rival divers.

At last the men were hauled up on the deckof the Raven.

It was seen that Walton was injured andhad to be carried to the cabin by some of thesailors.

The rival divers had met only two of thedemons of the deep, but an awful conflict hadoccurred, and Walton had had his left armnearly torn from the socket and was sufferingfrom the effects of the water which hadpoured into his diving suit.

"I'll not go down again," announcedVixen. "Not for a thousand dollars a trip."

"What, you don't intend to give up thesearch already?" cried Lemuel Hankers, inhorror.

"I do."

"But you agreed to find the Happy Hour,"put in Bart. "You must stick to your agreement."

"It's wuss nor putting your head into alion's mouth," persisted Cal Vixen. "If youdon't believe it, go down yourself."

"I will go down—if you'll go with me,"said Bart. He was so anxious to get theWashington fortune that his former timiditywas overcome.

Vixen held out all day about going downagain, but several drinks of liquor at lastmade him bolder, and he agreed to try oncemore, providing Bart would go with him, andproviding the bell was stored with explosiveswith which to fight off the demons if theyshowed themselves again.

The day proved cloudy, and it looked as ifa storm were brewing.

"But I don't reckon we'll get it rightaway," said Captain Broadbeam. "And ifyou want to get ahead of the Raven's crowdyou had better go down. I see they aregetting ready to put their bell over again."

At half-past nine the Swallow's diving bellwas hoisted into the Pacific once more, andDave and his father entered it.

"We may never see you again, captain,"said the young diver. "If we don't, good-by!"

A minute later the diving bell disappearedbeneath the surface of the mighty Pacific.

CHAPTER XXX

IN A DIVING BELL

Down and down went the bell.

The spot chosen was about five hundredfeet to the northward of where the bell hadgone down before—directly over the valleythe divers had discovered.

Amos Fearless was of the opinion that ifthe Happy Hour was at all in that vicinityshe must lie at the bottom of the valley.

The dark zone of waters was passed, andnow they came into the light once more.

The water was warm and as clear as crystal,showing nothing of the dye and foam producedby the battle of the deep-sea monsters.

A number of curious fish sailed past thediving bell—fish which they had not seenbefore.

One was jet-black and shaped exactly likea pillow tied in the middle.

Another was red, white, and blue, with sixeyes which shone like stars of silver.

"That's a regular starry-flag fish," wasDave's comment. "I wonder if we can takethe sight of that for a good sign?"

"Let us hope so," answered Amos Fearless,in his sign language.

The old diver's voice was graduallyimproving, and that morning he had spoken afew words to Dave in a hoarse whisper.

At last they came in sight of that mossyplain, which, the day before, had almost beenthe scene of their death.

The diving bell was halted and they gazedaround sharply for some sign of the demons.

Not a monster of the deep was in sight.

The moss was torn up on all sides, andhere 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 graduallythe diving bell slipped down the slopeof the valley beyond.

Here the light was not so good and theyhad to turn on the electricity.

At the bottom of the valley grew a numberof submarine trees and bushes, with vineswhich sent up their swaying bodies severalhundreds of feet into the crystal-like water.

At last the diving bell came to a stop atthe very bottom of the valley, among thetrees.

They signaled to stop lowering and thenbrought out a tiny searchlight which hadbeen brought along.

This was swept in every direction.

Suddenly Dave uttered an exclamation:

"Look! There is something whichresembles a ship's stern!"

The young diver was right. Far down thevalley his eye had beheld some woodwork,half buried in the muck and moss.

In a few minutes both father and son wereworking the claw-like feet of the diving belland moving toward the wreckage in crab-likefashion.

As they advanced they saw a dark objectabove them coming down swiftly.

Amos Fearless caught his son by the armand both drew back.

Then Dave gave a start.

The dark object was the diving bell fromthe Raven!

The bell contained Cal Vixen, LemuelHankers, and Bart.

Dave motioned to his father in the signlanguage of the divers:

"Come, let us get to the wreck first."

Amos Fearless caught his son by the armand moved forward once more.

But the rival diving bell was between themand their object, and they had to make asemicircle with their own diving bell.

The rivals now saw the bell from theSwallow, and as both bells came closer,Lemuel Hankers shook his fist at the Fearlesses.

"You're a cheerful enemy," was Dave'sdry comment.

Soon our friends were close to the wreckage,and Dave gave a shout:

"The Happy Hour! See, the name is onthe stern!"

He was right, the wreck was indeed thatof the ship for which they had searched solong.

The second diving bell now came up andcame to a standstill directly at the side ofthe wreck.

But Dave was the first on board, and asVixen approached he motioned to the rivaldiver in the sign language:

"We claim this wreck, which we discovered first."

"We claim the wreck," returned CalVixen.

And he made several motions to LemuelHankers and his son.

It soon looked as if there would be a fightthen and there, but this would have beensuicidal for all hands.

Yet when Dave and his father tried to enterthe cabin of the Happy Hour, Cal Vixenattempted to bar their way.

Instantly Amos Fearless seized the rivaldiver and hurled him back.

"Touch me or my son and you will paydearly for it," he motioned to Vixen.

At this the rival diver fell back, knowingfull well that Amos Fearless was not aperson with whom to trifle.

Slowly and cautiously Dave entered thecabin of the Happy Hour.

His father followed, and at a respectabledistance came Cal Vixen and the two Hankers.

The cabin was badly wrecked, and in itnothing of value remained.

"I wonder if we can get down into thehold," thought Dave, and motioned to hisfather.

"We will try," came back from the olddiver. "But be careful, or you won't getout alive."

The pair advanced with great caution,going down through the forward hatch.

In the meantime the rival party entered thehold by the rear hatch.

It was very dark, and the electric lightshone but dimly here, for the water was sofoul it contaminated the air they carried.

To the intense surprise of all, the hold ofthe Happy Hour was absolutely bare!

Dave could scarcely believe the evidence ofhis senses.

The great treasure was gone!

Their trip to the middle of the Pacific andto the bottom of that mighty ocean hadavailed them nothing.

Father and son stared helplessly at eachother and then at the rival party.

All were equally dumfounded.

The rage of the Hankers knew no bounds.

Lemuel Hankers would not believe thetruth, and had Cal Vixen go with him andBart on a thorough search throughout thewreck, and all around it.

It was useless; the Happy Hour and thevicinity were absolutely bare of the first traceof gold, or, in fact, of anything of value.

With heavy hearts the Hankers party returnedto their diving bell.

"The jig is up!" cried Bart, as soon ashe was inside and could speak. "Oh, whata sell!"

"I was mad to believe in it!" came fromLemuel Hankers. "And to think that I havespent thousands of dollars on a fool's;errand!" And tears of miserly rage floweddown his cheeks.

"I reckon we might as well go up," put inCal Vixen. He, too, was disgusted.

They gave the signal, and gradually theirdiving bell began to leave the valley at theocean's bottom.

But less than quarter of a mile of thedistance to the surface was covered when therecame a shock on top of the diving bell which,sent all inside sprawling headlong.

Then came another shock and the waterbegan to pour into the bell.

Some great monster of the deep had hit thebell and cracked some of the upper joints.

The collision showed those above thatsomething was wrong, and they began to haulin faster than ever.

But great damage had been done also tothe monster, which was somewhat similar toa deep-sea whale.

He became entangled in the guide line ofthe diving bell and was hauled up to thesurface in spite of himself.

"Hullo, what's this?" cried CaptainNesik, when the monster came into view.

Then ensued a battle royal for fully fiveminutes.

At last the monster was cut loose anddisappeared, with a loud splash, into the ocean.

Then the diving bell was hoisted aboardand opened.

It was found that those inside had beenalmost drowned, and all were unable to helpthemselves and had to be carried to the ship'scabin. Here they lingered for many hoursbetween life and death.

The diving bell was ruined, and it wasdoubtful if another search for the treasurecould be made by the Hankers' party.

CHAPTER XXXI

THE TREASURE AT LAST—CONCLUSION

Little dreaming of the accident which hadovertaken their rivals, Amos Fearless andDave returned to their own diving bell.

The heart of each was heavy, and forseveral minutes neither felt like speaking.

"A wild-goose chase," said the old diverat last. "I might have known it would proveso."

"But what has become of the gold!" returnedDave. "It couldn't walk off of itself."

"That is true. Perhaps those on board ofthe Happy Hour took it off, when they foundthe ship was about to sink."

"But they never brought any of the treasureto land."

"No—at least, none that was reported.They might have done such a thing insecret."

"Supposing we move the bell around andmake another search," suggested Dave."The demons appear to have vanished."

They pumped in a fresh supply of air andthen moved around in a large circle.

It was hard work, and the confinement ofthe diving bell gave each a headache and astrange ringing in the ears.

Presently they came to a curiously shapedmound of shells, covered with moss.

"Hullo, what's this?" said Dave. "Hangme if it doesn't look like the home of somesubmarine animal. Perhaps it's a meetinghouse for those demons."

"If it is, we had better move on," repliedAmos Fearless, in the sign language.

But Dave was curious to investigate, andpresently they replaced their helmets, took insome fresh air, and sallied forth to examinethe mound.

Inside all was damp—a dampness differentfrom that produced by the water aroundthem.

The mound proved to be hollow, with thewalls covered with brilliant seashells of allcolors.

At the top was a round hole to admit light.

In the center was a smaller mound, with acurious hump in the middle.

"Nothing here," signed Amos Fearless,when of a sudden something glittering caughtDave's eye.

He stooped and picked up—a gold coin!

In a moment he was digging away at thesmall mound in the center of the shell-likestructure.

The moss came away readily, and to theirgaze was disclosed—a heap of shininggold!

"The treasure!" burst from the youngdiver. "Found at last!"

His father was equally pleased.

The gold was mixed with bits of otherbright metal and glass, for whoever hadstored it there had known no difference invalue and had simply made a collection ofstuff bright to the eye.

"Let us go back and fill up the divingbell," said Amos Fearless, by signs.

Dave was more than willing, and they soonhad the diving bell as close as possible to thedoor of the mound.

They had brought several bags along, andinto these they began heaping the gold.

It was hard work, but this they did not mind.

The finding of the treasure meant to thema lifetime of leisure, had they a mind to takeit.

At last the bags were full and still more ofthe gold remained.

"We will pile it on the floor of the divingbell," signed Amos Fearless. "Let us makeone trip of it. After this I never wish to visitthe bottom of the sea again."

Both worked steadily, and in half an hourhad every piece of gold in sight picked up.

They were just taking the last of the goldto the diving bell when a horrible roar brokeupon their ears.

The demons of the deep were returning tothe locality.

"Quick!" cried Dave. "Or it will be allup with us!"

Father and son ran for the diving bell.

But now the demons saw them and the roarincreased.

Soon fully fifty of the ferocious creatureswere leaping and swimming toward themound.

Their sharp teeth clicked together as ifanxious to bury themselves in the bodies ofthe human beings.

With all haste Amos Fearless and Davegot into the diving bell. But before theycould close the door one of the demons wasupon them.

He caught the old diver by the head, intendingto pull that member from the rest ofthe body.

Dave's heart leaped into his throat, yet hispresence of mind did not desert him.

Raising one of the submarine guns heblazed away and caught the monster of thedeep straight in the mouth and throat.

Mortally wounded, the demon fell back, onearm still within the doorway of the divingbell.

As quickly as possible Amos Fearlessturned and shoved the arm outside.

Dave was about to close the door when hisfather motioned him to desist.

Then the old diver caught up one of thetorpedoes which had been brought along, setit* clock-like movements in motion, andhurled it forth among the approachingcompany of demons.

It fell in their midst, and, attracted by theshining metallic covering of the torpedo, allcrowded around the object.

As they did this, the door of the diving bellwas closed and the signal was sent up to hoistaway immediately.

Hardly had the diving bell begun to movewhen a fearful shock made it quiver fromtop to bottom and cracked one of the glasssides.

The torpedo had exploded, dealing deathand destruction among the demons of thedeep, impossible to describe.

Fully a score of the monsters were utterlyannihilated, while nearly every one of theothers was badly wounded.

One that escaped came after the divingbell, trying vainly to destroy the bell andthose inside.

But an unlucky movement caused thedemon to come in contact with one of thecrab-like claws of the bell, and seeing this,Dave worked the claw instantly, thus makingthe demon a prisoner.

The creature flopped violently, but as thebell ascended to the upper waters of theocean, it seemed to become stunned, andbefore the surface was gained it lay utterlyhelpless.

Soon the diving bell was hoisted aboardof the Swallow.

"The gold at last!" cried Captain Broadbeam."Hurrah! I was afraid somethingawful had happened."

"And the wonderful monster," put inDoctor Barrell. "What an odd creature! Itwill make a grand exhibition at theSmithsonian Institution."

"You'll have to pickle him in alcohol,doctor," said Dave, with a laugh.

Both Amos Fearless and Dave were veryweak from having remained at the ocean'sbottom so long, and it was several daysbefore either felt entirely like himself again.

Strange to say, however, the trip after thetreasure had helped Mr. Fearless' organs ofspeech, and soon he could talk almost as wellas ever.

"This is the best yet," declared Dave."It's better than finding the treasure."

"I am thankful from the bottom of myheart," answered the old diver, and his faceshowed that he spoke the truth.

"I don't think that I want to go to thebottom of the Pacific again, father."

"Nor I, Dave. It is too full of perils."

The storm that had been threatening brokethe next day, and was a great strain on theSwallow and likewise on the Raven. Thelatter ship sprung a leak, and the Swallowstood by, ready to offer assistance if sheshould go down.

During that time those on the Raven heardof the finding of the treasure.

"I claim half of that treasure," saidLemuel Hankers.

"You'll never get it," replied Amos Fearless,firmly.

When the two ships separated it wasdiscovered by those on the Swallow that PeteRackley was missing.

"Do you know what I think!" said Dave."I think he escaped to the Raven."

"Well, let him go," said Captain Broadbeam."We can well afford to do without him."

"Do you think the Hankers will make anyfurther trouble for us?" asked Dave of hisfather.

"That remains to be seen," answeredAmos Fearless. The Hankers and theirfriends did try to make trouble, and how willto be told in another volume, to be called "DaveFearless on a Floating Island; or, The Cruise ofthe Treasure Ship."

After the storm the weather became pleasant,and then Captain Broadbeam began the longjourney home.

THE END.