a few minutes they became used to it, and stepped out on the floor
of the ocean. They could not, of course, speak to each other, but Tom
looked through the glass eyes of his helmet at the captain, and the
latter motioned for the lad to follow. The two divers could breathe
perfectly, and by means of small, but powerful lights on the helmets,
the way was lighted for them as they advanced.

Slowly they approached the wreck, and began a circuit of her. They
could see several places where the pressure of the water, and the
strain of the storm in which she had foundered, had 'opened the plates
of the ship, but in no case were the openings large enough to admit a
person. Captain Weston put his steel bar in one crack, and tried to
pry it farther open, but his strength was not equal to the task. He
made some peculiar motions, but Tom could not understand them.

They looked for some means by which they could mount to the decks of
the Boldero, but none was visible. It was like trying to scale a
fifty-foot smooth steel wall. There was no place for a foothold. Again
the sailor made some peculiar motions, and the lad puzzled over them.
They had gone nearly around the wreck now, and as yet had seen no way
in which to get at the gold. As they passed around the bow, which was
in a deep shadow from a great rock, they caught sight of the submarine
lying a short distance away. Light streamed from many hull's-eyes, and
Tom felt a sense of security as he looked at her, for it was lonesome
enough in that great depth of water, unable to speak to his companion,
who was a few feet in advance.

Suddenly there was a swirling of the water, and Tom was nearly thrown
off his feet by the rush of some great body. A long, black shadow
passed over his head, and an instant later he saw the form of a great
shark launched at Captain Weston. The lad involuntarily cried in alarm,
but the result was surprising. He was nearly deafened by his own voice,
confined as the sound was in the helmet he wore. But the sailor, too,
had felt the movement of the water, and turned just in time. He thrust
upward with his pointed bar. But he missed the stroke, and Tom, a
moment later, saw the great fish turn over so that its mouth, which is
far underneath its snout, could take in the queer shape which the shark
evidently thought was a choice morsel. The big fish did actually get
the helmet of Captain Weston inside its jaws, but probably it would
have found it impossible to