"And some souvenir to take to our friends on the Jules Verne," replied "Cap" Austin as the party made ready to vacate the Nautilus.
CHAPTER XV Trapped in the Diving Bell
JAY Thacker and Dick Monaghan, together with their friend Larry Seymour, took to the new diving ship of the Bridgeford Salvage Company like the proverbial ducks to water. Starting with their first trip the day they reclaimed a binnacle lamp from the deck of the lost submarine chaser E-70, they showed a ready aptitude for the work at hand and soon proved themselves adepts.
News of the Jules Verne's accomplishments had been flashed to all corners of the world and maritime engineers were much interested. Many of them came to inquire into her merits and were well pleased after an inspection of the twin craft.
Usually Jay and Dick worked together in the diving chamber. At times they had little to do except to keep an eye upon things generally. Upon these occasions they had ample opportunity to discuss their own personal affairs, and so naturally fell into talk about the new college year. Both were anxious to make the 'varsity football team for one thing and they were wondering how many of the old boys would be back and what the chances would be for turning out a championship team. The gridiron sport was their favorite.
"Wonder if Bob Greer and Chick Wharton will be back?" speculated Jay, recalling that it was a great game the pair had won through their individual efforts in the last game they had played for Brighton just before enlisting for the war.
"Yes, and I hope Jack Hammond and Ted Wainwright are on hand, too," replied Dick, recalling two of his best chums who had enlisted early in the Navy and gotten into the submarine service.
One day in early August the boys had gone down in the Nautilus to place a bomb under the deck of a coal barge that had been located that morning. More than two thousand tons of coal were to be reclaimed and the boys realized they would come in for a good premium on the job, which meant a lot to them, in view of their anxiety to get together as much of a pile as possible before college opened in the fall.