y were fit for an empress.

Captain Jules was besieged at his little house up the bay, although, as
usual, he kept the door fastened against intruders. Half the fishermen
and oystermen in the vicinity begged to be permitted to accompany the old
sea diver in his descent into the water. Captain Jules politely explained
that he needed no companions; he was merely going on a diving expedition
to amuse two of his friends, Phyllis Alden and Madge Morton, who had a
taste for watery adventure. He did not expect to find anything of value
in the bottom of the bay. They were going down merely for sport.

There was one person at Cape May who listened eagerly to any tale of the
fabulous riches that the old pearl diver was evidently expecting to
unearth. He was Philip Holt. The time of his visit at Cape May was
rapidly passing. Mrs. Curtis was exceedingly kind and interested in her
guest, but Philip did not feel that he dared approach her too abruptly
with the request for so large a sum of money as five thousand dollars.
Besides, Philip Holt knew that Tom Curtis disliked him heartily. Tom was
not likely to approve a man whom Madge mistrusted; nor would Mrs. Curtis
give away or lend five thousand dollars without first consulting her son.
So the marvelous tale of the pearls to be found in the Delaware Bay
rooted itself in Philip Holt's imagination. Here was another way to get
out of his scrape. He was not fond of adventure, but he would do anything
in the world for money. Perhaps he could find pearls enough not only to
pay his debt, but to make him rich forever afterward.

Quietly, and without a word to any one, Philip Holt made a secret visit
to the house of the three sails. He implored Captain Jules to make him
his diving companion. He attempted to bribe him with sums of money that
he did not possess. He even threatened the old sailor that he would make
investigations about his life and expose any secrets that the captain
might wish to keep. Captain Jules only laughed at these threats. He was
not going down in the bay for treasures, he declared. He expected to find
absolutely nothing of any value. Positively he would not allow any one to
accompany him but the two girls.

Madge and Phyllis had a hard fight to persuade Miss Jenny Ann to give her
consent to their plan for playing mermaid. But she was getting so
accustomed to the exciting adventures of her girls that, when Captain
Jules assured her there was really no special danger, s