o twenty-five fathom, an' they ought to know what's
possible if any one should."

"That's true, David," remarked Rooney, as he filled his pipe, "but I've
heard of a man goin' down twinty-eight fathom, an' comin' up alive."

"Oh, as to that," said Berrington, "_I_ have heard of one man who
descended to thirty-four fathom, at which depth he must have sustained a
pressure of 88 and a half pounds on every square inch of his body--and
_he_ came up alive, but his case is an exception. It was fool-hardy,
and he could do no effective work at such a depth. However, here we
are, and here we must go to work with a will, whatever the depth be.
You and I, Joe, shall descend first. The others will look after us.
I'll put on a Siebe and Gorman dress. You will don one of Heinke and
Davis, and we'll take down with us one of Denayrouze's lamps, reserving
Siebe's electric light for a future occasion."

In pursuance of these plans the boat was moored over the place where the
wreck lay, a short ladder was hung over the side of a smaller boat they
had in tow with its pendent line and weight, the pumps were set up and
rigged, the dresses were put on, and, in a short time our hero found
himself in his old quarters down beside the great crank!

But ah! What a change was there! The grinding had ceased for ever; the
great crank's labours were over, and its surface was covered with mud,
sand, barnacles, and sea-weed, and involved in a maze of twisted iron
and wrecked timbers--for the ship had broken her back in slipping into
deep water, and wrenched her parts asunder into a state of violent
confusion. Thick darkness prevailed at that depth, but Denayrouze's
lamp rendered the darkness visible, and sufficed to enable the divers to
steer clear of bristling rods and twisted iron-bands that might
otherwise have torn their dresses and endangered their lives.

The work of inspection was necessarily slow as well as fraught with
risk, for great difficulty was experienced while moving about, in
preventing the entanglement of air-pipes and life-lines. The two men
kept together, partly for company and partly to benefit mutually by the
lamp. Presently they came on human bones tightly wedged between masses
of timber. Turning from the sad spectacle, they descended into the
cabin and made their way towards the place where Berrington knew that
the treasure had been stowed. Here he found, with something like a
shock of disappointment, that the stern