"Yes, Sir," said Brocket, modestly. "I think we do the leading business in that line."
"I will tell you frankly my object in calling upon you. I have just come from the East Indies for the purpose of organizing a systematic plan for the pearl fisheries. You are aware that out there they still cling to the old fashion of diving, which was begun three thousand years ago. I wish to see if I can not bring science to bear upon it, so as to raise the pearl-oysters in larger quant.i.ties."
"That"s a good idea of yours," remarked Mr. Brocket, thoughtfully.
"I came to you to see if you could inform me whether it would be practicable or not."
"Perfectly so," said Brocket.
"Do you work with the diving-bell in your business or with armor?"
"With both. We use the diving-bell for stationary purposes; but when it is necessary to move about we employ armor."
"Is the armor adapted to give a man any freedom of movement?"
"The armor is far better than the bell. The armor is so perfect now that a practiced hand can move about under water with a freedom that is surprising. My men go down to examine sunken ships. They go in and out and all through them. Sometimes this is the most profitable part of our business."
"Why so?"
"Why, because there is often money or valuable articles on board, and these always are ours. See," said Brocket, opening a drawer and taking out some silver coin, "here is some money that we found in an old Dutch vessel that was sunk up the Hudson a hundred years ago. Our men walked about the bed of the river till they found her, and in her cabin they obtained a sum of money that would surprise you--all old coin."
"An old Dutch vessel! Do you often find vessels that have been sunk so long ago?"
"Not often. But we are always on the lookout for them," said Brocket, who had now grown quite communicative. "You see, those old ships always carried ready cash--they didn"t use bank-notes and bills of exchange. So if you can only find one you"re sure of money."
"Then this would be a good thing to bear in mind in our pearl enterprise?"
"Of course. I should think that out there some reefs must be full of sunken ships. They"ve been sinking about those coasts ever since the first ship was built."
"How far down can a diver go in armor?
"Oh, any reasonable depth, when the pressure of the water is not too great. Some pain in the ears is felt at first from the compressed air, but that is temporary. Men can easily go down as far as fifteen or sixteen fathoms."
"How long can they stay down?"
"In the bells, you know, they go down and are pulled up only in the middle of the day and at evening, when their work is done."
"How with the men in armor?"
"Oh, they can stand it almost as well. They come up oftener, though.
There is one advantage in the armor: a man can fling off his weight and come up whenever he likes."
"Have you ever been down yourself?"
"Oh yes--oftener than any of my men. I"m the oldest diver in the country, I think. But I don"t go down often now. It"s hard work, and I"m getting old."
"Is it much harder than other work?"
"Well, you see, it"s unnatural sort of work, and is hard on the lungs.
Still, I always was healthy. The real reason why I stopped was a circ.u.mstance that happened two years ago."
"What was that?"
Brocket drew a long breath, looked for a moment meditatively at the floor, and then went on:
"Well, there happened to be a wreck of a steamer called the _Saladin_ down off the North Carolina coast, and I thought I would try her as a speculation, for I supposed that there might be considerable money on board one way or another. It was a very singular affair. Only two men had escaped; it was so sudden. They said the vessel struck a rock at night when the water was perfectly still, and went down in a few minutes, before the pa.s.sengers could even be awakened. It may seem horrid to you, but you must know that a ship-load of pa.s.sengers is very profitable, for they all carry money. Besides, there are their trunks, and the clerk"s desk, and so on. So, this time, I went down myself. The ship lay on one side of the rock which had pierced her, having floated off just before sinking; and I had no difficulty in getting on board.
After walking about the deck I went at once into the saloon. Sir," said Brocket, with an awful look at Brandon, "if I should live for a hundred years I should never forget the sight that I saw. A hundred pa.s.sengers or more had been on board, and most of them had rushed out of their state-rooms as the vessel began to sink. Very many of them lay on the floor, a frightful mult.i.tude of dead.
"But there were others," continued Brocket, in a lower tone, "who had clutched at pieces of furniture, at the doors, and at the chairs, and many of these had held on with such a rigid clutch that death itself had not unlocked it. Some were still upright, with distorted features, and staring eyes, clinging, with frantic faces, to the nearest object that they had seen. Several of them stood around the table. The most frightful thing was this: that they were all staring at the door.
"But the worst one of all was a corpse that was on the saloon table.
The wretch had leaped there in his first mad impulse, and his hands had clutched a bra.s.s bar that ran across. He was facing the door; his hands were still clinging, his eyes glared at me, his jaw had fallen, The hideous face seemed grimacing at and threatening me. As I entered the water was disturbed by my motion. An undulation set in movement by my entrance pa.s.sed through the length of the saloon. All the corpses swayed for a moment. I stopped in horror. Scarcely had I stopped when the corpses, agitated by the motion of the water and swaying, lost their hold; their fingers slipped, and they fell forward simultaneously. Above all, that hideous figure on the table, as its fingers were loosened, in falling forward, seemed to take steps, with his demon face still staring at me. My blood ran cold. It seemed to me as though these devils were all rushing at me, led on by that fiend on the table. For the first time in my life, Sir, I felt fear under the sea. I started back, and rushed out quaking as though all h.e.l.l was behind me. When I got up to the surface I could not speak. I instantly left the _Saladin_, came home with my men, and have never been down myself since."
A long conversation followed about the general condition of sunken ships. Brocket had no fear of rivals in business, and as his interlocutor did not pretend to be one he was exceedingly communicative.
He described to him the exact depth to which a diver in armor might safely go, the longest time that he could safely remain under water, the rate of travel in walking along a smooth bottom, and the distance which one could walk. He told him how to go on board of a wrecked ship with the least risk or difficulty, and the best mode by which to secure any valuables which he might find. At last he became so exceedingly friendly that Brandon asked him if he would be willing to give personal instructions to himself, hinting that money was no object, and that any price would be paid.
At this Brocket laughed. "My dear Sir, you take my fancy, for I think I see in you a man of the right sort. I should be very glad to show any one like you how to go to work. Don"t mention money; I have actually got more now than I know what to do with, and I"m thinking of founding an asylum for the poor. I"ll sell you any number of suits of armor, if you want them, merely in the way of business; but if I give you instructions it will be merely because I like to oblige a man like you."
Brandon of course expressed all the grat.i.tude that so generous an offer could excite.
"But there"s no use trying just yet; wait till the month of May, and then you can begin. You have nerve, and I have no doubt that you"ll learn fast."
After this interview Brandon had many others. To give credibility to his pretended plan for the pearl fisheries, he bought a dozen suits of diving armor and various articles which Brocket a.s.sured him that he would need. He also brought Cato with him one day, and the Hindu described the plan which the pearl-divers pursued on the Malabar coast.
According to Cato each diver had a stone which weighed about thirty pounds tied to his foot, and a sponge filled with oil fastened around his neck. On plunging into the water, the weight carried him down. When the diver reached the bottom the oiled sponge was used from time to time to enable him to breathe by inhaling the air through the sponge applied to his mouth. All this was new to Brocket. It excited his ardor.
The month of May at last came. Brocket showed them a place in the Hudson, about twenty miles above the city, where they could practice.
Under his direction Brandon put on the armor and went down. Frank worked the pumps which supplied him with air, and Cato managed the boat. The two Brandons learned their parts rapidly, and Louis, who had the hardest task, improved so quickly, and caught the idea of the work so readily, that Brocket enthusiastically a.s.sured him that he was a natural-born diver.
All this time Brandon was quietly making arrangements for a voyage.
He gradually obtained every thing which might by any possibility be required, and which he found out by long deliberations with Frank and by hints which he gained by well-managed questions to Brocket.
Thus the months of May and June pa.s.sed until at length they were ready to start.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE ISLET OF SANTA CRUZ.
It was July when Brandon left New York for San Salvador.
He had purchased a beautiful little schooner, which he had fitted up like a gentleman"s yacht, and stored with all the articles which might be needed. In cruising about the Bahama Isles he intended to let it be supposed that he was traveling for pleasure. True, the month of July was not the time of the year which pleasure-seekers would choose for sailing in the West Indies, but of this he did not take much thought.
The way to the Bahama Isles was easy. They stopped for a while at Na.s.sau, and then went to San Salvador.
The first part of the New World which Columbus discovered is now but seldom visited, and few inhabitants are found there. Only six hundred people dwell upon it, and these have in general but little intelligence.