g room in the stern. I smashed the door, and there were the boxes. I
went to work at one of them with my hatchet; and I had just forced up
one corner of the lid, and had seen that it was filled with big gold
pieces, when I felt a pull on my signal-rope, and knew that they wanted
me to come up. So I put my fingers into the crack and got out a few of
the coins. I could not take a whole box; it would have been too heavy.
And then I went out of that room, and signalled that I was ready to go
up. It was time, I can tell you, miss, for I was getting mighty nervous
and excited, and I needed rest and something to eat.

"When I was safe on the deck of the brig, I found everybody gathered
there, waiting to hear what I had to tell. They had stopped work for
dinner, and that is the reason I had been signalled.

"But I didn't say anything to anybody. As soon as my helmet was
unscrewed and I was out of my diving-suit I went below with the
captain; and although the stock-broker followed us close and nearly
pushed himself into the cabin, we shut the door on him and kept him out.
Then I told the captain everything, and I showed him the three gold
coins, which I had kept all the time tightly clinched in my right hand.
I can tell you the eyes of both of us were wide open when we looked at
those coins. Two of them were dated sixteen hundred and something, and
one of them fifteen hundred. They were big fellows, worth about ten
dollars apiece. The captain took them and locked them up.

"'Now,' said he, 'do you think you will be able to go down again to-day?
If you want to see what's in the other ship you've got to be lively
about it, for I think we can get the brig pumped out in twenty-four
hours; and if a stiff breeze should spring up to-morrow afternoon--and I
am inclined to think it will--we don't want to be caught here. If the
other ship's a treasure-ship,' he went on to say, 'you know it would be
a good deal better for our company; and so it might be well to find
out.'

"I didn't need any spurring to make me go down again, for I was all on
fire to know what was on board the other ship, which I was sure was
English, having had a good opportunity of looking at it while I was down
there.

"So as soon as I had taken a rest and had had my dinner, I went on deck
to get ready for another diving expedition. There was the stock-broker,
watching me like a snake watching a bird. He didn't stamp around and ask
any more questions: he just kept