"I mean that if I discover the wreck of the Pandora and take the gold from her, that it is all my own. I will share it with Mr. Damon, provided he remains with me—"
"Bless my silk hat, Tom, of course I'll stay with you!" broke in the eccentric man.
"But you don't share with me," went on the young inventor, looking sternly at the gold-seeker. "What I find is my own!"
"All right—have it that way!" snapped the adventurer. "Set me ashore as soon as you can—the sooner the better. I'm sick of the way you do business!"
"Nothing like being honest!" murmured Ned. But, as a matter of fact, he was glad the separation had come. There had been a strain ever since Hardley came aboard. Mr. Damon, too, looked relieved, though a trifle worried. He had considerable at stake, and he stood to lose the money he had invested with Dixwell Hardley.
"This is final," announced Tom. "If we separate we separate for good, and I'm on my own. And I warn you I'll do my best to discover that wreck, and I'll keep what I find."
"Much good may it do you!" sneered the other. "Perhaps two can play that game."
No one paid much attention to his words then, but later they were recalled with significance.
"Get ready to go up!" Tom called the order to the engine room.
"Where are you going to land me?" asked Mr. Hardley. "I have a right to know that?"