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Then Tom got to thinking about Dixwell Hardley: "I don't like the man, and the more I see of him the less I like him. But I'm in for it now, and I'll stick to the finish. I only wish I could locate the treasure ship, give him his share, and get back to my work. I'm going to try to turn out an airship that a man can use as handily as he does a flivver now."
Not going to pick up a million dollars off the floor of the ocean, Tom? Bless my bank balance! but that's foolish, it seems to me." "Perhaps it is, but I can't help it." "What's your principal objection?" asked the eccentric man. "It isn't that you don't want the money, is it?" "Not exactly." "Then it must be that you object to Mr. Hardley personally." went on Mr. Damon.
Hardley, with a shudder, turned away from the glass windows, and Tom glanced significantly at Ned. It was another exhibition of the man's lack of nerve. "We'll have trouble with him before this voyage is over," declared the young inventor to his chum, a little later. "What makes you think so?" asked Ned. "Because he's yellow; that's why.
Damon off, by offering the latter back all the money the eccentric man had invested with his new friend. But Mr. Damon exclaimed: "Bless my gasolene tank, Tom! I'm in this thing as much for the love of adventure, as I am for the money. Now let's go on with it. You will like Hardley better when you know him better." "Perhaps," said Tom dryly, but he did not think so.
And I warn you I'll do my best to discover that wreck, and I'll keep what I find." "Much good may it do you!" sneered the other. "Perhaps two can play that game." No one paid much attention to his words then, but later they were recalled with significance. "Get ready to go up!" Tom called the order to the engine room. "Where are you going to land me?" asked Mr. Hardley.
"Have you ever had any experience in recovering treasure from sunken wrecks?" he asked Tom. "Yes," was the answer. "And it is curious that you should ask me that, for my friend here, Ned Newton, and I were just talking about that very matter. Here's what brought it up," and Tom showed the page from the Sunday paper. "Hum! Yes!" musingly remarked Mr. Hardley. "That's all very well.
"Though they do not contain any treasure, I imagine brick schooners or cargo boats would be about all." The submarine went deeper, plowing her way through the Atlantic at a depth of more than three hundred and fifty feet, for Tom wanted to subject her to a good test. Suddenly Mr. Hardley, who was now alone at the window on the port side, uttered a cry of alarm. "Look! Look!" he fairly shouted.
And indeed the motion was unpleasant. Tom, veteran airman and sailor that he was, began to feel a trifle seasick, and Mr. Hardley was in very evident distress. Suddenly, however, something happened. The M. N. 1 gave a lurch to one side and then shot upward so quickly that Ned and Mr. Damon lost their balance and slumped over on the bench that ran around three sides of the room.
Damon, looking at the double eagles on the table of the M. N. 1. "Well, at a rough guess I'd say ten thousand dollars," Tom answered. "We haven't brought it all out yet, and it's possible they may find a full box in the safe. But, unless there is one, I guess ten or fifteen thousand dollars will cover it." "And Hardley said two millions!" exclaimed Ned. "Whew, what a difference!"
Small, and evidently frightened, fish darted to and fro, but there was nothing especially to attract the attention of Tom and his friends, who had made much more sensational trips than this under water. Mr. Hardley, however, was fascinated, and kept close to the observation windows. "Are there any wrecks around here?" he asked Tom. "Possibly," was the answer.
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