Tom Swift and His Undersea Search | Page 9

the owners had
given up the search for it, leaving it open to salvage on the part of
whoever wished to try--would that be any inducement to you to make
an attempt, Mr. Swift?"
"I should want to hear more about it before I gave an answer," replied
Tom. "As perhaps Mr. Damon has told you, I once went on a hunt for
treasure in my submarine. We found it, but only after considerable
trouble, and then I declared I'd never again engage in such a search.
There wasn't enough net profit in it."
"But there are millions in this, Tom! Bless my gold tooth, but there are
millions!" cried the excitable Mr. Damon. "Hurry up and tell him!" he
urged his friend.
"I will," assented Mr. Hardley. "I can readily believe," he went on, "that
the cost of hunting for undersea treasure is great. I have taken that into
consideration. Now, in brief, my plan is this. I will join forces with you,
and bear half the expense if I am allowed to share half the proceeds.
That's fair, isn't it?" he asked Tom.
"So far, yes," replied the young inventor.
"Now then, to business!" exclaimed the visitor. "Will you join with me
in searching for some of the wealth-laden wrecks that are rotting at the
bottom of the sea, Mr. Swift?"
"Do you mean make an indiscriminate search for any one of a number
of wrecks?" Tom wanted to know.
"I should want the understanding broad enough to include all wrecks

we might discover," was the answer, "but I have in mind one in
particular now. It is the wreck of the steamer Pandora which was sunk
off the coast of one of the West Indian Islands about a year ago."
Ned Newton quickly caught up the page of the Sunday supplement and
scanned the list of wrecks given there.
"No mention of the Pandora here," he said.
"No," agreed Mr. Hardley, "the story of this wreck is not generally
known, and the story of the treasure she carried is hardly known at all.
As a matter of fact, this money, mostly in gold, was to finance a South
American revolution, and such matters are generally kept quiet. That is
why nothing much appeared in the papers about the Pandora. But I
happen to know that she carried over two million dollars in gold, and I
know--"
"Think of that, Tom! Think of that!" cried Mr. Damon. "Two million
dollars in gold! Why bless my--bless my--"
But the eccentric man could think of nothing adequate to bless under
the circumstances, and he subsided with a murmur.
"Excuse me for interrupting you," he said to his new friend. "But I just
couldn't help it."
"That's all right," Mr. Hardley remarked, with a smile that showed two
rows of very even, white teeth. "I don't blame you for getting excited.
Does that interest you?" he asked Tom. "Two million dollars in gold,
besides a quantity of silver --just how much I don't know."
"It certainly sounds interesting," replied Tom, with a smile. "But are
you sure of your facts?"
"Absolutely," was the answer. "I was a passenger on the Pandora when
she was wrecked in a storm. I saw the gold put on board. It was not
taken off, and is on her now as she lies at the bottom of the sea."

"And the location?" queried Tom.
"I know that, too!" said Mr. Hardley eagerly. "I was with the captain
just before we had to abandon ship, and I heard the exact nautical
location given him by an officer who made the calculation. I have it
written down to the second--latitude and longitude. That will be a help
in locating the wreck, won't it?"
"Why, yes," Tom had to agree, "it will be. but if you know it, then the
captain and others must know it. And what is to prevent them from
making a search for the Pandora if they have not already done so
"The best reason in the world," was the answer. "The boat containing
the captain and the officer who gave him the ship's position was sunk,
and all on board lost. The boat I was in was the only one picked up, and
I believe I am the only one who knows exactly where the Pandora lies.
"Now, here is my offer, Mr. Swift," went on the seeker after the ocean's
hidden wealth. "I will bear half the expense of fitting out a submarine,
or for any other kind of expedition to go in search of the wreck of the
Pandora. I will furnish you with the exact nautical location, as I have it.
And when the wealth is found and brought to the surface, I will give
you half--in other words at least a million