land
in little more than nine days, only about 200 miles being done by steam.

Half-past two P.M. found our travellers bathed, dressed, shaved, dined,
and ready to receive company in the grand parlor of the _Occidental
Hotel_. Captain Bloomsbury was the first to call.

Marston hobbled eagerly towards him and asked:

"What have you done towards fishing them up, Captain?"

"A good deal, Mr. Marston; indeed almost everything is ready."

"Is that really the case, Captain?" asked all, very agreeably surprised.

"Yes, gentlemen, I am most happy to state that I am quite in earnest."

"Can we start to-morrow?" asked General Morgan. "We have not a moment to
spare, you know."

"We can start at noon to-morrow at latest," replied the Captain, "if the
foundry men do a little extra work to-night."

"We must start this very day, Captain Bloomsbury," cried Marston
resolutely; "Barbican has been lying two weeks and thirteen hours in the
depths of the Pacific! If he is still alive, no thanks to Marston! He
must by this time have given me up! The grappling irons must be got on
board at once, Captain, and let us start this evening!"

At half-past four that very evening, a shot from the Fort and a lowering
of the Stars and Stripes from its flagstaff saluted the _Susquehanna_,
as she steamed proudly out of the Golden Gate at the lively rate of
fifteen knots an hour.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE CLUB MEN GO A FISHING.

Captain Bloomsbury was perfectly right when he said that almost
everything was ready for the commencement of the great work which the
Club men had to accomplish. Considering how much was required, this was
certainly saying a great deal; but here also, as on many other
occasions, fortune had singularly favored the Club men.

San Francisco Bay, as everybody knows, though one of the finest and
safest harbors in the world, is not without some danger from hidden
rocks. One of these in particular, the Anita Rock as it was called,
lying right in mid channel, had become so notorious for the wrecks of
which it was the cause, that, after much time spent in the consideration
of the subject, the authorities had at last determined to blow it up.
This undertaking having been very satisfactorily accomplished by means
of _dynamite_ or giant powder, another improvement in the harbor had
been also undertaken with great success. The wrecks of many vessels lay
scattered here and there pretty numerously, some, like that of the
_Fl