ned. Now
go ahead and tell him what you told me, and how many millions there are
in it."

"Very well," assented the visitor. "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. Part
of it is true; but I imagine most of it is the work of imagination of
some enterprising reporter. Of course there is no question but that
there are untold millions on the bottom of the ocean. The only trouble,
as I think you will agree with me, Mr. Swift, is in coming at the
money."

"Exactly," said Tom.

"And will you bear me out when I say that if the wreck of a treasure
ship could be exactly located in water that is not too deep, half the
trouble would be solved?" asked Mr. Hardley.

"A good share of it would," answered Tom. "That is usually the chief
difficulty--locating the wreck. Nearly always they are anywhere from
one to five miles from where the persons seeking them think they are.
And five miles, or even half a mile, is a good distance on the bottom
of the ocean."

"Exactly," echoed Mr. Hardley. "Then if I could give you the exact
location of a sunken treasure ship, and prove to you that the owners
had given up the search for it, leaving it open to salvage on the part
of whoever wished to try--would that be any inducement to you to make
an attempt, Mr. Swift?"

"I should want to hear more about it before I gave an answer," replied
Tom. "As perhaps Mr. Damon has told you, I once went on a hunt for
treasure in my submarine. We found it, but only after considerable
trouble, and then I declared I'd never again engage in such a search.
There wasn't enough net profit in it."

"But there are millions in this, Tom! Bless my gold tooth, but there
are millions!" cried the excitable Mr. Damon. "Hurry up and tell him!"
he urged his friend.

"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 youn