ded. Eric was perfectly astounded by the effects of the report.

It seemed as if huge rocks had fallen upon his helmet; and such a
crashing, rending sound as accompanied the shock! It was quite as much as
he was able to bear in the way of noise. Mr. Lacelle told him afterwards,
that the noise of the report in the air would be no louder than that of a
common fire-cracker.

Eric hoped that Mr. Lacelle would make no more experiments in sound, and
the diver did not seem at all anxious to do so.

It was rather awe-inspiring, Eric thought, to be walking easily about at
the bottom of the sea, knowing that around and above him lay the mighty
element of death. And there, under the water, the eighth psalm came into
his mind, and he realized its beauty as he had never been able to before.

He walked around, picking up shells and curious plants, and being careful
to keep near Mr. Lacelle, who was making some calculations about the
building of a huge bridge, contemplated by the king. Several large fish
swam lazily up to Eric, eyed him curiously, and let themselves be patted
upon the back.

"How amused Nettie would be!" he thought, and wished the huge fish were
less inquisitive, as he did not particularly fancy them. He was quite
interested in the flowers, which were as brilliant and beautiful as any
upon the land, when suddenly he discovered a heap of shells quite similar
to those which Mr. Lacelle had described the day before. He put several
handfuls of them into his diver's basket, and then, moving off a few
steps, he watched to see what they would do.

When all was quiet, they moved slowly at first, then more rapidly, and all
crawled away in the same direction.

"That is very curious," thought Eric to himself. "I wish I knew what they
are."

When he moved again, something struck his foot. Looking quickly down
through the window in his helmet, he saw a small, square box, made of tin,
and fastened with a padlock. A key was in the lock, and Eric turned it and
opened the box, wondering what it could contain. The lid flew back, and
disclosed an inner cover, on which was painted a coat of arms, with the
name "Arthur Montgomery" engraved beneath. A spring was visible, and,
pressing it, Eric disclosed to his astonished vision a number of English
sovereigns--gold coins worth about five dollars apiece.

His first impulse was to show the prize to Mr. Lacelle, but he could not
readily attract his attention. So, putting the box in hi