miles, and were in great peril at times. One
reason for this was that a rival firm of submarine builders got wind of
the treasure, and tried to get ahead of the Swifts in recovering it.
How Tom and his friends succeeded in their quest, how they nearly
perished at the bottom of the sea, how they were captured by a foreign
war vessel, and sentenced to death, how they fought with a school of
giant sharks and how they blew up the wreck to recover the money is all
told of in the book.

On their return to civilization with the gold, Mr. Swift, Tom, and
their friends deposited the money in the Shopton Bank, where Ned Newton
worked. Ned was a bright lad, but had not been advanced as rapidly as
he deserved, and Tom knew this. He asked his father to speak to the
president, Mr. Pendergast, in Ned's behalf, and, as a result the lad
was made assistant cashier, for the request of a man who controlled a
three hundred thousand dollar deposit was not to be despised.

In building the submarine Tom and his father rented a large cottage on
the New Jersey seacoast, but, on returning from their treasure-quest
they went back to Shopton, leaving the submarine at the boathouse of
the shore cottage, which was near the city of Atlantis. That was in the
fall of the year, and all that winter the young inventor had been busy
on many things, not the least of which was his storage battery. It was
now spring, and seeing the item in the paper, about the touring club
prize for an electric auto, had given him a new idea.

But all thoughts of electric cars, and everything else, were driven
from the mind of the young man, when, with his father, he rushed out to
see the cause of the crash on the roof of the Swift homestead.

"There's something up there, Tom," called his father, as he splashed on
through the rain.

"That's right," added his son. "And somebody, too, to judge by the fuss
they're making."

"Maybe the house has been struck by lightning!" suggested the aged
inventor.

"No, the storm isn't severe enough for that; and, besides, if the house
had been struck you'd hear Mrs. Baggert yelling, Dad. She--"

At that moment a woman's voice cried out:

"Mr. Swift! Tom! Where are you? Something dreadful has happened!"

"There she goes!" remarked Mr. Swift, as he splashed into a mud puddle.

"Bless my deflection rudder!" suddenly cried a voice from the flat roof
of the Swift house. "Hello! I say, is anyone down there?"

"Yes, we are," answered T