"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 dollars! Does that appeal to you?""I must say it is a fair, though perhaps strange, offer," conceded Tom.
"And a million dollars is not made every day nor every year.But what about the title to this money? After we have recovered it--provided we are successful--will not some person or some government lay claim to it?""None can successfully," declared Mr.Hardley."As I told you, the money was to finance a revolution.It was raised for an unlawful purpose, so to speak, and no one has a valid claim to it under the circumstances, so lawyers whom I have consulted have told me.But if that is not enough, I have papers to prove that those who might be called the owners have given up the search for it.More than a year has elapsed, and though I don't know just how long it takes to outlaw an under-ocean claim, I feel sure that we would have a legal and moral right to take this gold if we could find it.""I should want to be satisfied on that point before I undertook the search," said Tom.
"Then you will undertake it?" eagerly exclaimed Mr.Hardley.
"I will think it over," Tom answered quietly--so quietly that distinct disappointment showed on the face of the visitor.
