Gulf
of Mexico. He had to go North to attend to some business, and he told me
he would let me know when he would come back and get his diving-kit. But
he hasn't come back yet, and the whole business is stowed away here on
board. Do you know anything about going down in a diving-suit?'

"Now I had never done anything in the way of diving, but I had heard a
good deal about it, and I had seen divers at work, and my whole soul was
so jumping and shouting inside of me at the very idea of going down and
searching into the secrets of those two old ships that I told the
captain I was ready to undertake the diving business just the minute he
could get things in shape.

"Well, miss, early the next morning--and I can tell you I didn't sleep
much that night--everything was ready for me to go down, and two of the
crew who had done that sort of thing before were detailed to attend to
the air-pumps and all the other business. The stock-broker he was like a
bee on a window-pane; he was buzzing, and kicking, and bumping his head
trying to find out what we expected to do. But the captain wouldn't tell
him anything; you may be sure I wouldn't; and nobody else knew.

"As soon as we could get things straightened out I was lowered over the
side of the brig, and sunk out of sight into the water. The captain and
all the crew, except the men who were attending to me, then went to work
to mend the hole in the side of the brig. And the last thing I heard as
I went under the water was the stock-broker howling and yelling and
rampaging around the deck.

"As I told you before, miss, I had never been down in a diving-suit; but
I paid the greatest attention to everything I knew, and I got down to
the bottom all right, having a hard time to keep from being scratched to
pieces by the barnacles on the sterns of the big ships.

"I clumped about for a while on the sandy bottom so as to get familiar
with the air-tubes, signal-cords, and all that, and then I signalled to
be hauled up a bit; and, after a good deal of trouble, I got on board
the vessel which I was sure was a Spanish galleon. As I stood on her
upper deck, looking around, I felt as if I was in a world of wonders.
There was water everywhere, of course--in and around and about
everything. But I could see so plainly that I forgot that I was not
moving about in the open air.

"I can't tell you, miss, everything I saw on that great ship, for it
would take too long; but as soon as I could, I set