"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--lat.i.tude 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 t.i.tle 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 circ.u.mstances, 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.
CHAPTER IV
AGAINST HIS WILL
For a moment it seemed that Mr. Damon, as well as Mr. Hardley, felt disappointment at Tom"s answer, for the eccentric man exclaimed:
"Bless my leather belt, Tom, but you aren"t very keen on making a million dollars!"
"Oh, yes, I like to make money," the young inventor answered. "I guess you know that, as well as any one, for you"ve been with me on several trips. And I don"t mind hard work, nor danger."
"I"ll say you don"t!" added Ned, as he thought of some of Tom"s perilous voyages, among the diamond makers and in the caves of ice.
"Well, if you are anxious to make money, as I admit I am," said Mr.
Hardley, "why can"t you give me an answer now?"
"Because," answered Tom, "there are many things to be considered.
Hunting for a treasure on the floor of the Atlantic isn"t like going to some location on land, however wild or inaccessible it might be. Do you realize, Mr. Hardley, what a large difference in miles a small error in nautical calculations makes? We might go to the exact spot where you thought the wreck of the Pandora lies, only to find that we would have to hunt around a long time.
"I must think of that, and also think of my other business affairs.
Then, too, there is my father. He is getting old, and while he is still active in the affairs of the company, particularly when it comes to taking up new lines of work, I do not like to think of leaving him, as I should have to, in case I went on this trip."
"Take him along!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "He"s gone with us before, Tom."
"He"s too old now," said the young inventor a bit sadly. "Father will never make another extended trip. But I will let you have my answer as soon as I can, Mr. Hardley, and I will give the matter considerable thought."
"I"m sure I hope you will, and also that you will consent to go," was the answer. "A million is not easily to be come at in these days after the Great War."
"I realize that," agreed Tom with a smile. "And you shall have my answer as soon as possible."
With this the visitor was forced to be content, and a little later he withdrew with Mr. Damon, the latter telling Tom that he would see him again soon.
"Well, that was queer, wasn"t it?" remarked Ned, when he and Tom were alone again.
"What was?" asked Tom, as though his mind was far away, as indeed it was.
"That this man should come in with his project to search for a sunken treasure wreck just as we were talking about how many millions were on the bottom of the ocean."
"Yes, it was quite a coincidence," Tom admitted.
"What do you think of it--and him?" asked Ned.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I didn"t take a great fancy to Mr.
Hardley," Tom said. "I think he"s altogether too c.o.c.ksure, and takes too much for granted. Still I may misjudge him. Certainly he doesn"t have a chance at a million dollars every day."
"Do you think you could get the treasure out of this wreck, Tom, if you could locate her?"
"Why, it"s possible; yes. We proved that with the Boldero."
"Would you use the same submarine?"
"No, I think I"d have to rebuild it, or make an altogether new one.
Possibly I might get one of Uncle Sam"s and add some improvements of my own."
"Yes, you could do that," agreed Ned. "You"ve done so much for the government that it couldn"t refuse you something reasonable, now that the war is over. Then do you think you"ll go?"
"Really, Ned, I can"t make up my mind yet. Now let"s forget the Pandora and all the millions and get down to business. This Criterion company seems to me to want altogether too much, We"ll have to trim their request down a bit. They owe the money and ought to pay it."
"Yes, I"ll get after them," said Ned, and then he and his chum, as well as employer, plunged into a ma.s.s of business details.
It was the next afternoon, when Tom, following a strenuous morning of work, leaned back in his chair at his desk, that Mr. Damon was announced.
"Tell him to come in," ordered Tom, always glad to see his friend.
"Wait a minute, though!" he called to the messenger. "Is any one with him?"
"No, sir; he is alone."
"Good! Then show him right in. I was afraid," said Tom to Ned, who was also in the office, "that he had Hardley with him. I"m not quite ready to see him yet."
"Then you haven"t made up your mind about going for the treasure?"
"Not exactly. I shall, perhaps, this week."
"Bless my matchbox, Tom, but I"m glad to see you!" cried Mr. Damon, as he hastened forward with outstretched hand. "I was afraid you might be out. Now look here! What about my friend Hardley? He"s very anxious to know your decision about going for that treasure, and I said I"d come over and sound you. I don"t mind saying, Tom, that if you go I"m going too; if you"ll take me, of course."