the Commodore.

"So down he goes an' does it, an' very soon after that the _Agamemnon_
went into action again, and blazed away at the walls o' the owld place
harder than ever."

"That _was_ a good case, an' a _true_ one," said Joe Baldwin, with an
approving nod.

"And these divers, Mr Edgar," continued Joe, "sometimes go on their own
hook, like we have done this time, with more or less luck. There was
one chum of mine who took it into his head to try his chances at the
wreck of the _Royal Charter_, long after all hope of further salvage had
been abandoned, and in a short time he managed to recover between three
and four hundred pounds sterling."

"An immense amount of money, they do say, was recovered from the _Royal
Charter_ by divers," observed Maxwell.

"That is true, and it happens," said Edgar, sadly, "that I know a few
interesting facts regarding that vessel. I know of some people whose
hearts were broken by the loss of relatives in that wreck. There were
many such--God comfort them! But that is not what I meant to speak of.
The facts I refer to are connected with the treasure lost in the vessel.
Just before leaving London I had occasion to call on the gentleman who
had the management of the recovered gold, and he told me several
interesting things. First of all, the whole of the gold that could be
identified was handed at once over to its owners; but this matter of
identification was not easy, for much of the gold was found quite loose
in the form of sovereigns and nuggets and dust. The dust was ordered to
be sent up with the `dirt' that surrounded it, and a process of
gold-washing was instituted, after the regular diggings fashion, with a
bowl and water. Tons of `dirt' were sent up and washed in this way, and
a large quantity of gold saved. The agent showed me the bowl that was
used on this occasion. He also showed me sovereigns that had been kept
as curious specimens. Some of them were partly destroyed, as if they
had been caught between iron-plates and cut in half; others were more or
less defaced and bent, and a few had been squeezed almost into an
unrecognisable shape. In one place, he told me, the divers saw a pile
of sovereigns through a rent in an iron-plate. The rent was too small
to admit a man's arm, and the plates could not be dislodged. The
divers, therefore, made a pair of iron tongs, with which they picked out
the sovereigns, and thus saved a large sum of money. One very curious