g inventor.

"Now then, to business!" exclaimed the visitor. "Will you join with me
in searching for some of the wealth-laden wrecks that are rotting at
the bottom of the sea, Mr. Swift?"

"Do you mean make an indiscriminate search for any one of a number of
wrecks?" Tom wanted to know.

"I should want the understanding broad enough to include all wrecks we
might discover," was the answer, "but I have in mind one in particular
now. It is the wreck of the steamer Pandora which was sunk off the
coast of one of the West Indian Islands about a year ago."

Ned Newton quickly caught up the page of the Sunday supplement and
scanned the list of wrecks given there.

"No mention of the Pandora here," he said.

"No," agreed Mr. Hardley, "the story of this wreck is not generally
known, and the story of the treasure she carried is hardly known at
all. As a matter of fact, this money, mostly in gold, was to finance a
South American revolution, and such matters are generally kept quiet.
That is why nothing much appeared in the papers about the Pandora. But
I happen to know that she carried over two million dollars in gold, and
I know--"

"Think of that, Tom! Think of that!" cried Mr. Damon. "Two million
dollars in gold! Why bless my--bless my--"

But the eccentric man could think of nothing adequate to bless under
the circumstances, and he subsided with a murmur.

"Excuse me for interrupting you," he said to his new friend. "But I
just couldn't help it."

"That's all right," Mr. Hardley remarked, with a smile that showed two
rows of very even, white teeth. "I don't blame you for getting excited.
Does that interest you?" he asked Tom. "Two million dollars in gold,
besides a quantity of silver--just how much I don't know."

"It certainly sounds interesting," replied Tom, with a smile. "But are
you sure of your facts?"

"Absolutely," was the answer. "I was a passenger on the Pandora when
she was wrecked in a storm. I saw the gold put on board. It was not
taken off, and is on her now as she lies at the bottom of the sea."

"And the location?" queried Tom.

"I know that, too!" said Mr. Hardley eagerly. "I was with the captain
just before we had to abandon ship, and I heard the exact nautical
location given him by an officer who made the calculation. I have it
written down to the second--latitude and longitude. That will be a help
in locating the wreck, won't it?"

"Why, yes," Tom had to agree, "it will be, but if you k